*

Ben got this old swing set from craigslist this weekend. It was going to be $20, but after he had to purchase a metal file to get the old bolts loose as well as kill the wasps' nest inside, she let him have it for free. Totally brings me back to our old swing set on Iris Street - especially the 2-seater see-saw swing. So far it's a hit!

*firefly (luciénaga?)

The other day Vera had a great idea [she always has "an idea!!"] - she put her wings on and then had Ben duct tape this flower planter to her bottom for a tail. She put a small bottle of nail polish in the tail "so that it will glow." Pretty stinkin cute... and funny. She got really mad because Ben probably couldn't keep a straight face and took pictures - and then got really mad because she didn't want me to even see the costume [I was putting baby to bed]. The whole thing ended with her having a bit of a fit in time-out. Poor thing :)

*

Edie loves this - I set her down in front of the toy box and she rifles through the whole thing. It keeps her busy for while - like long enough for me to do the dishes. One of those "antiSoulemama" moments we have around here :)

mom, look at this one!

*amiguitos

This is Fiona - Edie's first little baby friend ♥. Fiona just turned 1 and was 5 months old when Edie was born. It's been fun to see the age gap between them slowly get smaller and smaller. It will be so fun to see them play together!

Vera and Jack (her big brother) are about the same age difference and they have always been the greatest little friends, 2 peas in a pod for the most part. They definitely love being super silly together - one of the first times we went for a walk with them they shouted nonsense words back and forth from their strollers the whole time, laughing hysterically. The last couple times we've gotten together they come marching in from the playroom playing their instruments in a little show, it's really cute. Here was a perfect little photo opportunity as they read together on his little couch - I was about half a second too late and will have to try again:

Edie at their house practicing crawling skills:

*del jardín

*

she *loves* rolling around on our bed!

*la pintura

Vera has always loved to paint, but until recently she didn't get to do it too often. It always seemed like such a hassle and a pain to get everything out, to cover surfaces, get her clean water etc. However, in the last couple months she has been painting every single day. I just let it go and realized it's not that big a deal. Sure her space is kind of a mess, but it doesn't extend elsewhere. I do get her clean water, but she pours her own paint, finds her own paper and can pretty much do it independently. Once in a while I clean up her table and organize her paintings - which, of course, are impossible to throw away! I love each and every one :)

Here's a few...

a TV in the middle, a bottle of rainbow juice on the left:

She likes to fold the paper to make a mirror image [learned at preschool]. This was Edie's birth announcement which I've been meaning to post on here [for 4 months now] since I got really disorganized sending them out and lost track of who got one! sorry if you were one of those!

one of many family portraits - I love the little Eden:

the art table:

She pretty much does what she wants. I walked downstairs here as she was painting her hands to make prints:

*

Ben sent me this picture while I was at work today - it made me smile.

"Edie's rehearsal dinner"

*el pan

Hopefully Vera learns better from her grandma than me: my bread is always heavy and dense - my mom's is light and fluffy and heavenly :)

*

Ben hid some treasure for Vera in her sandbox today: nuts, bolts, marbles and pennies. She wanted "a lot of jars" to store her treasure in and came in to tell me she also needed "a lot of tops." I wasn't able to help her and so she got busy making her own. I used to love cutting things up, gluing and taping them together to make what I needed - it's so fun to see Vera be creative in that way. Which reminds me that she didn't watch anything this afternoon and didn't even ask! This is what I'd like every afternoon...

*una ensalada

My parents treated Ben and I out to a fancy dinner date this week, it was such a treat - we both LOVE to go out to eat.

Our salad was so incredibly good that we recreated it the next night:

lettuce [that heirloom lettuce costco has now was perfect]
fava beans [just blanched and shelled]
pepitas [I sauteed the raw trader joe's ones in olive oil and salt]
whole mint leaves

shaved ricotta salata

red wine vinegar
honey
a very little bit of olive oil
salt+pepper
[My mom made the vinaigrette, so I don't know the proportions]

I'm telling you, it was so delicious!! Obviously I don't get the credit, but I was sure pleased that I was able to copy it so well :)

*7 mesitos

These last couple months Edie really has started to show us her personality, and it's been so much fun! Not so much when we're out in public, but at home she laughs and smiles and babbles a lot [now saying babababa instead of just uhhhhhh]. She's started kind of playing with us - if I try to change her diaper on our bed, she flips over real fast, looks back at me with a grin and starts rolling all over trying to get away. She loves to grab my hair and pull hard, twisting it around her drooly little fingers. I probably shouldn't yelp and say HEY! - she definitely thinks it's funny. She also just started putting her little head on my shoulder once in a while in a little act of affection - so sweet, Vera was never a cuddler as a baby [she is more now].

She is still waking usually twice a night - sometimes 3 times and wonderfully last night just once at 5am. I would like her to sleep all the way through, but actually kind of enjoy a middle of the night cuddling time with her - just one though... we need to figure out how to make that work because she does not need to be waking 3 times! I don't let her fuss back to sleep if it's taking too long, because it doesn't seem fair to sleeping Vera. Anyway, we'll see what I report at 8 mos. :)

she was actually laughing here because she'd just peed on our bed: nice.

♥

*el parque

last week:

***

*dando pecho

I thought I'd share a little about my new job! After nearly a month of training, in the last few weeks I've finally been able to start working as a lactation counselor. I can't tell you how much I have learned - it is really amazing! You might remember me complaining about how badly nursing went with Edie [you might not have caught how truly horrendous it was - I'm not kidding and I am surprised myself that I stuck with it!]. Well as I go through my reading, training seminars and conversations, I can make a long long list of all the things I Wish I Had Known. That's really why I'm so excited to have this job - to help moms to succeed in feeding their babies the best*, to educate them beforehand and to be there when things aren't going well. When I was having problems with Edie, a few of you friends gave me advice and I can't tell you how invaluable that was.

It's amazing the misconceptions that are out there, as well as the lack of "baby-friendly" practices in the hospitals. I read, for instance, that over 50% of "breastfed" (not babies who are going to be formula-fed) babies are given formula supplements in the hospital! I can tell you from experience (with Vera) that that is setting you up for some serious difficulties with breastfeeding and immediately increases your chance of weaning early. Another misconception is that so many mothers think they don't produce enough, or that their milk started "drying up" - when in fact it's really rare. Not that they are lying - they really perceive it that way and it's sad because there are many ways to help them either produce more or see that they are producing enough. It is the #1 reason babies are weaned early.

ARG. I had written a whole lot more, edited and saved it last night to find it mostly erased just now. I'm just going to leave the above as it is now. Anyway, I'm really excited about the job - especially that I get to speak a lot of Spanish! I've had several moms give me a sincere thank you and that is such a big reward.

*I don't want to sound preachy or know-it-all or anything with all this - I just want to share what I've learned! Breastfeeding vs. formula has become so polemic lately and that's really sad. Formula isn't evil - my one brother who was formula-fed is the most smart, healthy, successful, affectionate one of us. But research does show that breastfeeding is so incredibly beneficial and superior in so many ways: I just wouldn't want someone to resort to formula because there wasn't anyone there to help/educate them otherwise. I work at a low income clinic and these are the moms who really need the benefits of breastfeeding both for their babies and themselves!

**In case you're wondering - I'm only working 8-10 hours a week. The job is super flexible and most of my hours are during preschool and nap times when Ben isn't too inconvenienced by watching the girls. I feel really blessed to be able to do this!

*matchy

*besos

You can't not give her kisses:

this last spot is the best : she giggles every time

*en la cocina

Vera still loves making pretend food - both in her kitchen and her sandbox. She now asserts that it's not pretend and was really trying to get me to let her use real chocolate in this soup. It's hard because once you do, it's almost impossible to go back. She also wanted to put it in the real oven - she even used a metal bowl this time, because the other day I told her we couldn't because her bowl was plastic! I compromised and put it in the toaster oven for her for a few minutes, which was pretty exciting. She then took it down to Ben in his office and he *got* to try it :) Water, salt, pepper, parsley and one gummy vitamin, mmm.



This is one of my all-time favorite videos. I love how she communicated - how she was so intentional with her "words." Also she did something here that she never did again - when she "talks" about how funny daddy is. It was SO CUTE. Another that -as a mom- I can watch over and over and over:

*una madre muy agradecida

I'm feeling really thankful today for the immense blessing of my family and the privilege of being Vera and Eden's mom. It's hard work and often tedious, boring, "unfulfilling" in the worldly sense to stay home and dedicate myself to taking care of two little human beings. I mean I just spent the first part of Edie's nap folding diapers - I thought about how much time I spend just focused on keeping her peeing and pooping sanitary. Or the time I spend picking up toys, or the ENDLESS dishes and endless laundry [the dishes really get to me. why can't it just stop for a minute?!]. All for kids who will sometimes tell you outright that "Daddy is my favorite" or who will yell and cry and fuss all afternoon for no [discernible] reason. This is totally cliché, but really it is amazing that despite all the hard parts about it, you wouldn't trade it for anything.

These are the moments that will stay with me: seeing Edie smile at Vera's silliness, peacefully nursing her at 4am, when she buries her head in my chest or grabs me with two hands and tries to eat my face, getting her up from a nap and taking her over to Ben to play peek-a-boo for a minute, her adorable little naked body, seeing glimpses of pride on her face when she can wiggle her way over to a toy 2 feet away and her little excited noises that still have no consonants: all ooohhh and uuuhhh. I love listening to Vera read to herself during quiet time, watching her love for painting lately and the dozens of family portraits she's made, seeing her practice and practice something until she's satisfied she knows it well - currently "sounding things out" and counting to diez in Spanish, watching her have so much fun with her friends who she really loves dearly, the way she awkwardly uses her hands for expression when she talks, her amazing hearty laugh when she watches old Donald Duck youtubes with Ben... and the list goes on :)

This morning all I wanted was to sleep in and to have a croissant from Tulie. Ben also surprised me with a framed copy of this picture of me and my girls. Yesterday we went to Red Butte Gardens - it was so beautiful!! A really wonderful weekend.

Edie in the new Ergo. It's nice, but I do wish she could face out like in the Bjorn..

Going down the pole for the first time: