you take the good...

you take the bad. you take it all and there you have the facts of life...the facts of life. wow, will the dorkiness never end? more importantly, will there ever come a time in my life when i will forget all these tv theme songs from the eighties?????!

today i had the best mommy day i have had since layla has been born. and actually before that because you have the whole end of pregnancy misery that made parenting kaia even difficult. so many monumental (for layla! for kaia! for me!) things happened...all in one day. of course they did, since i just brought myself to write about how overwhelmed i'd been in my last post.

it all began last night, in the middle of the night after layla's feeding. she typically cannot get to sleep without nursing. and the dear also refuses to use a pacifier. so, mommy it is! anyway, she was done eating, but would not get off the boob. i gently took her off and put her in the bassinet, but she kept waking up. so, i'd pick her up again and put her on my boob, repeat the previous scenario, etc. finally i got fed up (and really kind of tired since it was 3:30am by this time) and decided to try something else (novel idea, right?) so i left her in the bed, put my hand on her belly and shushed her to sleep! this is the first time IN HER LIFE that she's gone to sleep without my boob in her mouth. so, YAY!

this morning we went to a hullaballoo concert with playgroup. layla screamed the whole way there in the car, so i was really hoping she could hold it together once we got there (and doubting that she would). but, she was cool! she hung out for awhile with kelly's mom and then started fussing a bit. i fed her and she fell asleep in my arms and stayed that way through the rest of the concert and while the kids played. she eventually woke up, but was still okay as long as i was holding her. she did begin crying towards the end of the playdate, but omg...WHO CARES! we had a great time and i was so happy.

once we got home both girls ate and then i swaddled layla and put her in her crib in her own room (for the first time). she napped in there for 2.5 hours! the amount of time is not really a huge deal because she sleeps a lot during the day anyway. BUT, she usually sleeps in the swing during the day, which is in the same area that kaia plays, so i'm constantly trying to walk the line between telling kaia to be quiet, which isn't fair and letting her play freely, which frequently wakes layla up. so, to come downstairs and tell kaia that she was free to play and make whatever noise she wanted was great. soon after she went to sleep also, so mommy had a break...always a nice punctuation to a great day.

once layla woke up, i fed her again and then put her in the moby wrap. i've been putting her in it at home for just 15 minutes a day, trying to get her used to it. if i can get her to be comfortable in a wrap, it just opens so much for our day to day outings. i could grocery shop! anyhow, some days she can do 20 mins, but that's pushing it and she gets fussy. today she was in it for 1.5 HOURS!!! and she fell asleep in it!!!!!!! this was the greatest milestone for me. and i know not to expect that this is how it will be from here on out, but it was sure great to know that it was possible.

kaia peed and pooped in the potty all day today with the exception of the time we were gone to playgroup. she did have one accident, but hey, she's getting there.

kaia and i played outside all afternoon after she woke up from her nap. we watered the flowers and took lots of pictures. she made some soup in a bucket, with sand and flowers and bugs and i ate it up. the laughter and pure joy that emanates from that child should be a constant reminder of how lucky i am. she is so smart, funny and beautiful. it seems like that gets lost in the constant toddler battles we face. i try to make a point of telling her these things everyday. and if i fail to verbally tell her all these things, the most i can hope for is that she just knows. from all the hugs and all the kisses and all the times i tell her how proud of her i am.

i was patient and kind to both of my children all day long. i never yelled at kaia. i never acted exasperated when i had to put her in time out 10 or more times this afternoon. i felt peaceful and capable. and all of this on a day when kevin had duty...

and both girls were in bed and asleep by 8:15 pm. which gives momma time to recharge before another amazing day with these little people who have so completely changed my world.

we've come a long way, babies. i love you both so much.

here's to a summer full of love and laughter...