Dancing Cheek to Cheek

Dear Emily,
You are now 1 year old as of a few weeks ago!  This first year of life with you- even with many sleepless nights- has been an absolute pleasure because of your disposition.  You are a absolute joy! Your smile and laugh are contagious and your cheeks are irresistible!  One of my very favorite things to do is hold you up so we're face to face and rub cheeks with you.  It's a big ol' slice of heaven.

A few weeks before your 1st birthday, many big developmental things happened at once.  You started to crawl, popped your first 2 teeth, began to pull yourself up on things and even started to stand for a few seconds without holding on to anything!  This week you started drinking actual milk (goodbye formula!) from a sippy cup on your own. You seem to LOVE your newfound independence to crawl where you want to go and drink when you want to drink.  (Readers: Think frat boy pounding beer but much more innocent.)  Here are some things I want to remember from your first year of life:

• I was a little anxious before giving birth to you and this angel of a nurse said that when she was about to give birth to her second she was worried she wouldn't have enough love to give since she had SO much love for her first and she had plenty.  I do too!  The love for you is overflowing, actually. 
• The first thing they said when you came out was "Woah!  She is so big!"  You are the most huggable, snuggle-able (not a word, I know) baby.  You like love to eat like we do!  You fit right in.
• You were named after my two grandpas- Ern and Harlan (Buddala).  For the first year of your life- including the day we left the hospital- we've been seeing groups of white butterflies so often.  I had never seen a purely white butterfly until you were born.  I'm pretty sure it's Ern coming to say hello to us and especially you.  He had a very calm, peaceful presence like they do.
• You have a lot of nicknames: Em, Emmy, pumpkin, EmDogg
• You seem to enjoy yourself wherever you are and whoever you're with.  You love daycare.  You love home days.  You even have a few buddies- Maya and Ella- at the ripe age of 1. 

Thanks for being born and thanks for being you.  I'm so excited to keep watching your personality blossom!

Love,

Mama

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Leading up to Sydney and Emily's birthdays (August and September) I found myself feeling extra sentimental and even a little bit sad.  They LOVE us and depend on us when they're babies and they keep getting older (weird- they're the only ones! haha!).  Then a good friend pointed out to me exactly what I needed to hear.  He said, "Well, what's the alternative?".  That was exactly the shoulder shaking that I needed.  These girls are thriving, growing, and happy AND they're ours!  Since then I've mostly just been basking in the gratitude that we have these ridiculously funny, loving and healthy girls.  HAPPY late birthday to you, Syd and Em!

An Interview with Syd the Kid

Hello!!!!  Wow- it's harder to fit in time to write the blog these days.  Being a mama of two, building a business and having fun are pretty time consuming (and wonderful)!

For this blog... drum roll please... I did an interview with the dynamic, hilarious, sweet 3 and 3/4 year old Sydney Reese. Here goes.

Me: What's your favorite color? 
Syd: Ummm, red?

Me: Favorite animal? 
Syd: Little baby animals (little tigers, little bears, and little wolves)

Me: Favorite food? 
Syd: Meatballs on your nose

Me: Favorite song? 
Syd: I love you mommy

Me: What are you doing now that you're a big girl?
Syd: Playing nicely.  Playing with my sister nicely.  Loving my sister.  Letting my sister take naps.  That's it!

Me: How's preschool?
Syd: Great  

Me: What do you like about preschool?
Syd: I want to touch your glasses.  

Me: What do you love about your baby sister, Emily?
Syd: I want to play with her.  That's it.

Me: Do you want me to ask you more questions?
Syd: No, I'm too tired.  Your turn!
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Me: Okay, what questions do you have for me?

Syd: What do you like about your parents?
Me: I like that they're funny and that they listen to me.  I know that they love me. They're also very good grandparents.  Do you want to ask me a few more questions?

Syd: No, I'm too tired.

The end.  As Syd sums up, life is really really good.  Cannot complain.  A few final updates for now: Emily is sitting, eating baby food, learning to clap, and smiling/giggling like it's her job (especially at her older sis)!  Sydney has a LOT of preschool pride and is officially over her fear of dogs.  She's like our little neighborhood mayor.  She says she learned her friendliness from Gma Jean, as she does not pass anyone without saying "hello!".  Todd is cute as ever.

Ch Ch Changes!

There are so many changes happening in the Jasonogg household these days!  Our biggest news is that Syd got a spot at a preschool.  On her last day of daycare I was incredibly emotional. This is the first sign that our little girl is starting to grow up!  That said we are both so excited for her to be around children her age and have more structure!  Syd seems to be thriving there despite her asking us several times on the first day to please take her home.  Here are some of Syd's current "tricks":

• Every night as part of her nighttime routine, we ask her what 3 things she wants to dream about.  Her response is to say "Oh! I found an animal box!".  The animal box is her scrunched up hand and she pulls at least 3 pretend surprise animals out to be in her dreams
• Her creativity continues to amaze us.  A few nights ago Syd literally played with a teeny piece of white lint for over an hour.  She transformed the lint into a pet firefly named Poosie.  I hope she holds onto that trait of finding amazement in the simple stuff. 

Em is 4.5 months now and starts part time daycare in a few weeks!  She's belly laughing now and has a very smiley disposition. She loves to cuddle and try to grab things. She also finds her hands to be delicious. When she hungrily shoves them in her mouth you would think she's at a break the fast or something!

To say parenthood is all happiness and laughs would be misleading.  Recently I was so tired and in need of adult conversation with my husband that I was crying and having a hard time catching my breath.  It can be exhausting and overwhelming.  Still this time in my life with small kids is beyond worth it. 

In other big news I left my job after being there for almost 8 years. Girls are inspiring this leap to be a self employed life coach.  I want flexibility to be able to work from home and hang with them more while doing something that feels like both a stretch and a calling. Thank you Todd for being so supportive of this big step and for making it doable! 

I'd love to hear what's up with you. Please shoot me an email back!

Love,

Me