Bath Time

My friend Michelle gave Eve some tablets to put in her bath to turn the water different colors and Eve has wanted to take a bath every night since then. Eve loves to linger in the bath once you get her there, but sometimes it takes a bit of convincing before she'll get in. Now all I have to say is, "What color do you want your bath to be today?" then I have to hold her back to keep her from jumping in the tub before it's full. She's tried every color so far and the only time she's opted for clear water was when she scraped her knee and was certain the color would make it hurt more.

Sophia's Solids

I started Sophie on solids three weeks ago because for about a month or so I'd had a feeling that I wasn't producing enough milk for her. She absolutely refuses formula in any form and now we've got her wary of bottles in general and she won't accept them even if they have my milk in them.
So as soon as she was old enough, I got some rice cereal and she loved it! She has now tried oatmeal, green beans, sweet potatoes, peas, and prunes. Every new flavor she accepts eagerly and eats as though she's been starving. In the evening she will eat a full cup (if not more) of baby food and nurse afterwards. I can't believe how much she eats! After I feed her she will lay on the floor and play happily until bedtime, her tummy tight as a drum. She already feels heavier and I am so glad to be relieved of the pressure of being her only source of food.

"Schlumply"

Eve went through a stage almost a year ago where she'd make up words and casually integrate them into her daily vocabulary. The most prominent of these words was schlumply (I'm guessing on the spelling here). She'd say things like "Oh mommy, your hair is soo schlumply!", or "Daddy, that's pretty schlumply isn't it.". We thought it was so funny but then I found myself saying it at work where I'd get the funniest looks before noticing what I'd said.
I'm still not really sure what it means but I think it it some kind of cross between frumpy, silly, and cuddly with a little bit of fun mixed in. I suppose that about describes our life so I decided to use it as the name of our little blog. You should have seen the spellcheck go berserk (perhaps another child's invention?) with all these made-up words. :)

A Tragic Loss

The time had finally come to cut Eve's hair. Every time I had to wash, brush, or fix Eve's glorious mane she would fuss and whimper pathetically and finally I couldn't take it anymore.
Occasionally I would ask her if she wanted me to cut it she'd emphatically say no and on Thursday night she confessed that she was worried that her babies might not think she was their mommy anymore if she had short hair. I told her that I would cut it the same length as mine and she came to see that this haircut must be the "mommy haircut", so after carefully thinking it over she agreed (I must say that sometimes I am amazed and a little apprehensive that I have so much power to sway the minds of my children...).
It was with great sadness and a bit of relief that we cut her hair on Thursday night. I cut it so that it just brushes her shoulders. She looks adorable with it short and after her bath yesterday she didn't fuss at all when it came time to brush her hair out, but Josh and I both miss her long blond highlighted, beautiful silky hair. I think I may just let it grow out again. We'll see.

Spanish

Last weekend while I was at work, Eve, matter-of-factly told Josh that she now knows how to speak Spanish.
"Really?" he asked with eyebrows raised.
Eve then sat on the chair and began to recite all the Spanish words she "knew". Having just learned how to twirl her tongue she assumed that when one is using this highly developed skill to speak, the twirling sound turns any English words into Spanish words. The placement of the sound doesn't matter and isn't confined to places where an "r" is present. Any old place will do just so long as the sound is used.
"dthrear means ear, haidthr means hair, dthreye means eye..." and so she went, sounding superior and almost bored, as though she couldn't believe Josh didn't already know these words.

Our Little Sleepers

Josh and I have been feeling pretty bummed about our little Sophie being such a bad sleeper. We had finally gotten her to sleep through the night when she was 12 weeks old (twice as long as it look her sister), but after about a month of blissful sleep she stopped. After three more months of waking up once or twice each night I was becoming a horrible monster of a mommy. I'd hear her cry at night and squeeze my eyes tighter, a little voice in my head saying "She's going to go back to sleep, give it five more minutes." Somehow I will have myself half convinced that Josh has started lactating sometime during the night and would be overjoyed to get up and nurse the baby. Finally I would drag myself from bed, stumble to the girls room and swear to myself that tomorrow night I'd make her cry it out.
Eve and Sophie share a room since we are in a two bedroom apartment right now, so needless to say Eve wasn't getting much sleep either and had taken to spending half the night in transit between our bed and hers. Finally we'd had enough.
We set up an air mattress and sleeping bag in the living room for Eve, turned on the bathroom and kitchen fans for background noise and hunkered down for a long night. The first night Sophia cried off and on for close to an hour, but she went back to sleep and slept in until eight o'clock. Feeling triumphant we moved did it again the next night and this time she didn't wake up at all and slept for more than ten hours. Success! Triumph!! Feeling giddy with a full nights sleep we had a most wonderful day and decided to let Eve sleep on her little palate for the rest of the week to ensure that this was permanent. That weekend Josh went camping with David so I let Eve sleep on his side of the bed. Little did I know this night would bring great enlightenment on the sleep issues of our girls. As I was dropping off to sleep thinking of moving Eve back to her room in the morning I receive a swift kick in the small of my back. I turned to look at Eve and she, though still sleeping, was thrashing around and fussing. I figured it was a bad dream so I told her it was ok and rolled her over. This turned out to be the first of about four such fits. I put her next to the bed on her palate so I could sleep, but I still woke up every time she thrashed. Once I was awoken by her laughing hysterically in her sleep. As I lay there in the dark, my eyes wide open I realized our Sophie had been misunderstood. Could she talk she would have informed us that she would love to sleep all night but was disturbed by her fitfully sleeping sister across the room.
Eve has set up a cozy sleeping nook in our spacious closet complete with glowing stars and a little spot for her babies. Now all is quiet in our house at night except, of course for the little thrashing sound coming from the general direction of the master bedroom's closet.