Thursday, June 2, 2011

She's a good girl, loves her mama...

Free Fallin' by Tom Petty, for those of you who were unsure. This is my Ellie song as of late. Miss E is a mama's girl and even James doesn't cut it in those instances. Mia is totally in a "Daddy" phase, so being needed by the little one is pretty nice and soothes my ego.

It's hard to believe it's June already. We've been on the go for much of the last month, as the temperatures warmed up and spring really set in. This mommy is on a mission to get in shape, so we've been walking everywhere and I'm starting to run (really). We're also visiting all the parks we can find locally. Mia is loving her swing set and pool and Ellie is happy as long as we bring something she can chew on.

May was a challenging month with the toddler. Stubborn and smart are a dangerous mix in a two year old. We have had many battles and lots of tears (mostly mine) but some sage mommies gave me some great advice and a lot of perspective. Happily, things are going much better. And of course, she's as funny as ever. Tonight, James put her to bed. We're going to a man to man defense with regards to bedtime. I take Ellie because Ellie wants it that way and James takes Mia. I hear them over the monitor and Mia is crying. James asks her what she needs and I hear her answer in a pathetic little voice, "Mommy's iPad and some marshmallows make me feel better Daddy" sniffle, sniffle. The drama! The manipulation! I'm also dealing with frequent requests to wear her gladiator sandals and her "bathing ute" to the grocery store/Target/library/cleaners, etc. Miss Fashionista.

Ellie became a fun little monkey this month. She can grab all her toys on the playmat and bouncer and figures out how to get them in her mouth, even if she has to twist in six different directions. Anything in her reach is fair game. Unfortunately, this includes Mia's hair and Mia is not a fan of this. She's so close to rolling and scoots herself 360 degrees while on her back. She's cooing and "talking" to us, and smiling up a storm. I call her "the diplomat" because she'll catch a stranger's eye and started grinning at them and cooing. Instantly charmed! She's sleeping fantastically - usually goes to bed around 8 and sleeps until 5 or 6. At that point she eats and goes back to bed for another 2 hours or so. We are supremely lucky with this, we know.

We're gearing up for a very fun summer. We'll be spending lots of time outside, because when you only get a few months of nice weather you want to make the most of it. Plus, I owe Mia a much better summer than the last one, where I was sick as can be and we stayed indoors most of the time.