two whole years

I probably don't have as much time to write about Lil's birthday as I'd like— Lil and Bitty are both napping, and have been for some time now— let me just say that it was a fun-filled event which culminated with "happy cake" for Lil, and a somewhat emotional, even bittersweet day for me. For one thing, I played this song about a dozen times, and perused blog entries from the early days. I also went back to my Facebook post for January 16, 2011:

"I had a baby today."

And then on January 28, 2011:

"This week beats the most beautiful hawaiian vacation hands down."

I have traded in Hawaiian getaways (for now) for something I can't say is more relaxing than 10 days on a white sandy beach, snorkeling with turtles, and drinking mai tais and dark and stormies under a grass beach umbrella, but Little Lil, my darling, I wouldn't trade you for the ocean. I wouldn't trade you for the sun. I wouldn't trade you for the world.

Sometimes, though, I am tempted to trade you for a mai tai or two.

Love—Mama.

where parenting fails, sistering succeeds.

obviously, this go against all the manufacturer's safety warnings.

Quick story— Lil and I were cleaning up this evening while Bitty was chillin' in her bassinet with the Sleep Sheep. When Bitty started to fuss, I ignored her and continued picking up, but Lil walked right into my room where Bitty was stationed. I caught up to Lil just as she hoisted herself into the bassinet with Bits. "Lil? What are you doing?"

"I need to see my baby sah-sah!" Lil responded, and lay down next to her. While I was trying to calculate the maximum load of the bassinet and make sure she didn't crush Bitty's tiny rib cage, Lil put her arm around the baby and whispered, "don't cry, baby."

And Bitty stopped crying.

"my work here is done."

another cross-dressed infant

I don't really care if people mistake my baby girls for boys. If it matters less now, maybe it will matter less down the road when they're older and choose their own outfits. It's important to keep an open mind, even in (baby) fashion. Besides, infants have no idea there's a difference between boys and girls, and they have no idea at all what gender they are. So if navy blue happens to bring out Mariel's eyes, then I'll dress her in it. Admittedly though, I didn't choose this outfit, but it's got a nice print, so I quickly got over the color. The sweater was one of Lil's, and it's one of the best baby sweaters ever. Yup. As long as they keep making awesome baby and kids' clothes for both genders, my kids will wear awesome baby clothes for both genders. *shrug*

can't get enough of Lil + Cat (video)

Last week I uploaded these videos of Lil with the Cat. It's anyone's guess what she's actually telling him, but I think she's trying to convince him to stop being naughty, and gives him a "tiny blanket."

He is a naughty cat. He tries to eat Lil's food, and picks on his sister, Kitty, all the time. He also chews on wee Mariel's pacis. Anyway. They're pretty cute, but the uploads only provide little snippets. Here are a few still images that were captured by Lil's papa.

s.w.a.k.

grown up... all most

Lil's been growing like crazy, though you wouldn't know it from this poor, sad, neglected blog. The only consolation is that I'm busy mothering actual people, not just failing to rant on the internet, so that's a plus (right?). A few weeks ago I snapped some  photos of Lil in a fitted beatnik turtleneck and skinny jeans, with her hair pulled back in a messy pony tail, á la, Kate Moss circa 2008. Yes, Lil looked much cuter (and a little chubbier) than Ms. Moss, but what was really stunning was her ability to transform from a baby to a little girl one frame to the next. These pics did not span months or weeks— just a few minutes and a couple emotions.

baby...

...little girl.

pony tail.

falling into place

Sometimes I miss the early days of the blog. We had a well-lit living room, and a baby with bright sparkly eyes who sat relatively still. Gorgeous pictures were easy to come by. Nowadays Lil is just too fast for me, and she rarely puts a good outfit together or combs her hair. Most of our pics make for good Facebook fodder, but that schmutz on her chin is not quite blog-worthy.

 Oh, but then a couple weeks ago we went to the park—before that Sandy came through and knocked all the leaves off the trees (and knocked the trees of the trees)— and found a path canopied by the colors of fall. Our delayed start meant that we arrived at the perfect time of day, and the bright autumn sun lit up everything from the carpet of fallen leaves to those aquamarine eyes of her's. Add to that a pond full of water foul, the playground, Mama, Dada, and her sweet bebe sister, and you end up with the most picture-perfect Brooklyn afternoon. And of course, some pretty decent pictures.

Prospect Park, one week prior to that bitch Sandy.