Catching up - barely

Holy hell. It's only been a month - maybe two but so much has happened I don't even know where to begin.

In no particular order, because I don't know how to keep track.

1. My baby is no longer in Kindergarten. SAY.WHAT. 
   
   
   
   
2. My baby baby is no longer a baby - she's two. WHAT THE WHAT?
   
3. The summer is here and we are working it out to make it fantastic.
   

   

   Dinners outside and spent loving.

   
   
   
4. We took a 2 week vacation, haven't done that - almost ever.
   
5. Related: the Jersey Shore is not just for trancing and MTV reality shows. It's magical.  More magical than the magic capital of the world.
6. Related to the 2 week vacation, we did so by way of a 10 hour road trip - each way.
   

   

   Local fun - and Google photos makes gifs? All good.

    
7. We are making friends - or trying to. It's hard work.
    
8. Took JJ to her first real movie. We all survived. It was very much like her sister - popcorn is key.
    
9. We have our first lost tooth. After weeks of wiggling and throwing up in my mouth (it's a horror show - loose teeth) we have one down, one to go that is loose. In the meantime? She has shark teeth - rows of teeth coming in it's horrifying.
   
   
10. There are so many real stories within these small

    

    Summer outside movie fun.

     line items. So many stories to tell - but we're busy. Livin. Put that on a magnet. Pin it.
    

Still the best big sister ever, just a clear view on the reality of the situation

Prologue: I would have posted this - either way.  I like to document the things my kids say & do. Sometimes I post something on Facebook that I think is hilarious. I wonder... am I the only one that finds this hilarious? And then something happens. People crawl out the woodwork & like it.

Huzzah - validation! Nailed it.

This is one of those things. Our life, a direct quote.

Hot off the presses:

L, "I wish JJ was good. All the time."
Me, "Ya, I know - but then she wouldn't be the baby sister. She wouldn't be her. We love her - so we like her the way she is."
L, "Yea, I just wish she was good all the time."
Me, "I know you think it isn't ideal..."
L, "What's 'ideal?'"
Me, "Like, the best way it can be..."
L, "Oh, like if we sent JJ to live with someone else."

The big sister who put up with it all has left the building, 2 years later - she's ready to bargain.

Funny Girl

True story: L has discovered youtube.com and found a video of a baby laughing. She wasn't alone out there on the world wide web, don't worry! She found a few that she LOVED and wanted to watch them over and over again.  Something a little like this:

Fast forward, the other day,  I hear SCREAMING from the living room.

 

"COME QUICK it's JJ!!!!" my heart drops, I just went to the bathroom - what happened? Jesus Christ, this is what 20/20s are made of.

I come in to find L standing over her baby sister with a smile ear to ear- prouder than I've ever seen her. 

JJ was laughing (or so L thinks - she's too young I think) but she was kinda squealing like a little laugh? 

L, "Mama, look at JJ - look what I made her do!"

Oh how I love their love with a side of please let this last forever. 

Order Confirmation

The kid is really keen on details, don't know where she gets that from (that's sarcasm). We've been talking about the baby en route before the baby was en route so I feel pretty comfortable that she is "getting it" as best as she can.  We keep talking about it though and as soon as she got the good word, her Godmother, my Aunt, sent a long some books to review - to help the kid understand about this miracle of life we have incubating. One was UBER graphic and since we are committed to telling the whole truth, I haven't really pushed the book as I don't have the strength (yet) to talk about uterus-es and such. We've been sticking to the Dora book since she is a favorite (the kid, not us). That book, however, has lead to fears that she is going to get a two for one big sister status.

At first, she loved it. It had Dora, Boots, the Map - all good. But at the end, when she comes home for her independent trip out with a monkey and a map that sings (seriously?) she comes home to find that she has TWO new babies in her house. Not one.

In all seriousness, she asks, concerned:
"Wait. There is only one baby coming home, right?? ARE YOU SURE?"

Thanks, Dora. You are the best (that's sarcasm).