Our morning routine is pretty, well, routine. We wake up at some ungodly hour (it used to be 6:30, then 6ish, and now I consider it a fabulous morning when I'm forced out of bed anytime after 5:30!), and head downstairs for breakfast and Daddy time. After this all-too-brief and precious family time, we venture back upstairs to begin the task of getting everyone dressed. Cecily is fairly easy- she has yet to form vocal opinions about what she'd like to wear (other than her incredible distaste for socks or anything on her feet whatsoever!) and generally only complains when a toy is removed to allow arms into shirts, etc. Maia... ah Maia. She loves to dress herself. And she loves to wear dresses, dresses, and more dresses. We've encountered a few problems with this- first, she doesn't actually own all that many dresses. If skirts counted, we'd be doing much better, but they only count on particular days (and she hasn't yet clued us in as to what determines said particular day). This wouldn't be so much of a problem if Mommy was better at getting to the laundry... let's just say- there are four loads of clean laundry sitting on the guest bed begging to be folded and an overflowing hamper of dirty clothes waiting to be taken to the basement. Clearly, I need a laundry fairy. Anyhow, the second problem with Maia's dress obsession is that it has been unbelievably, ridiculously, insanely cold lately. As in 6 degrees is the high cold! Tights are great, but... even under snow pants they just don't cut it. I'm sure it will come as no surprise that we have had many "discussions" in the morning over what can and cannot be worn to school. Daddy made it clear that whatever Maia dressed herself in, we had to allow her to wear (assuming, of course, that it met our weather appropriate requirements). We've had some interesting outfits... and being the incredibly organized mother that I am, I have yet to capture them on digital. (I promise to make a better effort!) A recent favorite combo consisted of black leggings, with white socks pulled up to meet the leggings, a cute denim skirt, a lovely pink, purple, and red v-neck with 3/4 sleeves, and a bright yellow cardigan kept open to make sure the shirt underneath could be seen. (Lucky for me, she took off the sweater as soon as she got to school, determining she was too hot. The rest of the outfit actually worked pretty well, particularly when she donned her hot pink faux-fur slippers!) After getting everyone dressed, brushing teeth, etc., we head back downstairs to feed the dog, and then wrestle into jackets, hats, mittens, boots, car seats, etc., while remembering snow pants, snack baskets etc. Finally, a mere two and a half hours after we've left the warmth of bed, we're heading to the car to drive Maia to school and Daddy is heading to the train. It's exhausting!
A few weeks ago, as Cec and I were walking Maia into her school, a fellow Mommy stopped and said to me, "How do you do it? You always look so put together and your kids always look so happy! Seriously, what's your secret?" I laughed politely, thanked her, and continued walking while subtly shaking my head. I wanted to laugh for hours and say to her, "oh, if you only knew!" Perhaps I should have- it's a little amazing to me, as I talk with Mommy friends, how it often looks so easy to a casual observer, but in truth it's really incredibly challenging for all of us! Yes- my kids are really happy, and I'm incredibly lucky for that. And let's be honest, I'm way too self-conscious and, argh, I'll say it, vain, to arrive at school looking like I just rolled out of bed after getting 5 hours of sleep in hour and a half stretches. But, boy, there are some days when I can't imagine I'll ever see the tops of our kitchen counters or the colors in my living room rug or the comforter on my bed or... the list is pretty much endless. One of the few things I miss from my days as a professional was the completion of a project. I'd work for months on something, finally get it all pulled together, pass it on to wherever it was supposed to go, check it off on my list, and then head home with a sense of accomplishment, ready to start something new the next day. Can a stay-at-home Mom ever experience that sense of completion? I just unloaded the dishwasher and it's already 2/3s full. Did I mention the laundry situation? That said, no finished project ever brought me the unbelievable joy and delight I reveled in the first time Maia called Mommy and reached out for me or the first time Cecily stopped crying and burst into a smile when I walked into the room. As I think about it, that joy peeks out everywhere- the toys strewn on the floor as I remember Maia putting on a puppet show for Cec, the Cheerios crushed into the high chair that Cec was illegally feeding to a delighted Gritty. As they say, Life is Good.
It's hard to keep up with how much the kids have been growing and changing! Cecily said her first word this week... kitty! (This also happens to be Maia's first word, at just about the same age.) Cec is obsessed with Maddy Cat. As soon as she sees her, she starts laughing and saying a bunch of random babble with a clear "kitty" thrown in here and there. She's getting closer and closer to crawling, and my money is on Maddy as the final motivation that gets her going. Cecily is also loving her music class. (I started taking Maia to Music Together when she was 6 months old. She finished last Spring, just before she turned three and started school. Each session of MT is named for a different instrument, bells, drums, etc., and comes with a CD of songs. The first session Maia and I took was Bells. And the session Cec and I are now taking... Bells. I've made the complete cycle, and here I go again!) Our class has five baby girls in it, between the ages of 7 months and just 1 year. They are so cute to watch! Cec adores it, and really seems to be getting into it! (Must have been all that time she spent in the womb rocking out to Maia's favorite MT songs!) Here are some photos from our class this morning:
Cec clapping along as Anabelle eyes me warily:
Ah, babies- everything right into the mouth!
Let's taste the ribbon now...
Maia is really interested in art. Her very favorite activity these days is painting. She would honestly spend two or three hours painting each day if she could. We have an easel and all kinds of paint supplies, but we don't have an accessible place to leave it set up. We're hoping to redo our basement enough to have an arts and crafts space in one corner asap. In the meantime, we bring out the easel whenever we can, and have filled our house with beautiful paintings. Here's our refrigerator:
There is a wonderful art supply wholesaler one town over from us. I've been feeling bad that Maia can't paint as often as she wishes, so I took Cec there the other day to check it out and see if there were any brilliant ideas for getting her more art time I hadn't thought of. And, of course, there was one... watercolors! No easel required, easily done at a table, easy to clean up- a perfect fit. We picked up some watercolors and paper, along with a few other fun projects to save for a snowy day. We got the snowy day faster than I anticipated! Yesterday was Maia's first official snow day. She was incredibly disappointed not to be able to go to school. She kept insisting that she had to go, that she didn't care if no one was there, that she needed to be there. She was so distressed that I broke out my snowy day stash earlier than I planned. She was thrilled! Here she is, pausing during a watercolor to say goodbye to Daddy:
Cec wanted to get her cuddles in, too:
While Maia was painting at the table, Maddy Cat danced and played around Cec, just tempting her to try to catch her:
Watching Maddy come back:
Teething Beauty:
Our painter, loving every moment:
Maia still loves her old Music Together CDs. She knows pretty much every song by heart, and demands them at all times in the car. (I give in much more often than Daddy, though she knows it's news on the way to school!) She also loves to have music class with Cec. Here are some shots of our jam session after school one day last week:
Santa had a hard time deciding what to bring for Cecily. We have LOTS of toys, and we didn't need much. He found this fabulous Zebra named Ryan. Ryan has all kinds of baby-friendly activities- crinkly ears, bead-filled shakers, a pretend microphone... Cecily is a huge fan, and has lots of fun playing with his various attributes.
It's hard to say what Maia and Daddy are checking out on the computer... knowing them, it's probably the Bruins or the Celtics!
Nonni gave Maia some light sabers for Christmas... the original thinking was that they would help Maia get over her fear of the Mouse King before I took her to The Nutcracker. (I think Nonni also wants to make sure we aren't a completely doll/makeup/pink kind of house!) Cecily LOVES the light sabers. She doesn't get to play with them as often as she'd like, but when she does... she's all business: 
I guess that's it for recent photos. I always mean to take them more frequently, rather than a ton at sporadic intervals. Ahhh, the life of a Mommy- always such good intentions! Cheers to all!
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