My girls

Can I brag about my kids for a while? Is that ok? Because there were moments over this past weekend where I felt like I was going to explode with excitement over them. (and because right now I don't really feel like talking about how Reegan still gets up to eat in the middle of the night or that Riley won't sleep past 6:30).

Reegan is 5 months old. Yes, this happened Sunday and I am totally as shocked as you are. On Friday morning I was getting ready for the day and it hit me...I went running down the stairs and announced to Chris..."Reegan is going to be 5 months old on Sunday!" He's all "yeah, I know." And I'm all "What? You knew this and you didn't tell me?" Of course he's thinking..."you were there and well, with that kind of delivery I didn't think you'd ever forget." I kept thinking she was about 4.5 months. You know...I got stuck at 4 months and 2 weeks. That's where I thought we were, but no...she was actually hardly even 4 months anymore...b/c she was "almost 5 months." I can't believe it b/c I am still enjoying her turning 1 week, 2 weeks and 1 month. And those events have long passed. Ok, I know...get over it. She's 5 months. Let's move on to more important news...what she is like. She is fun and happy and can sit unassisted for a while. She loves the remote control (as this must be a prerequisite to being a baby). Her hair is starting to lighten and her eyes are pretty much brown. She can roll from tummy to back and back to tummy. She LOVES tv. In fact, I could not get her to look at me for a picture of her and Riley b/c she wouldn't stop watching TV. I think the only thing she loves more than TV is Riley. Daddy and I come in close behind. Oh and she goes through about as many outfits a day as Riley b/c she still spits up like a madwoman. I put her in her bathtub sitting up this week (on the counter surrounded by mirrors) and her face exploded with smiles as she saw herself. I'm not kidding this baby smiles so big that it just takes over the room.

Riley. My Riley. She is growing into a wonderful little girl by the minute. Sometimes I just stop and tell her how proud I am of her. Profound I know. But really I tell her I just love who she is and who she is becoming. She amazes me with her sweetness and her energy and her interest/ability to learn new things. She can spell her name. She can almost write it (all but the R). She can recognize letters and numbers. She also likes trying to write numbers. She knows what letters words start with (M-Mommy, Milk, D-Daddy, Dazzle, Dog) She knows her states. Better than I do. Since Riley was into where people live (see earlier blog), we bought her a puzzle of the United States. I wasn't sure about this, but thought it might be fun for her to see where her grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles live. A couple of days after I bought it for her we were looking at it and I ask her what is this state? She says "Alaska." Where does Alaska go? "Right here next to Hawaii." I was first in awe that she knew Hawaii. I know you are probably thinking she got this wrong b/c Alaska is not next to Hawaii. But on this puzzle it is. So now she thinks Alaska is next to Hawaii. This morning we were doing her states puzzle. She likes to turn all the pieces upside down (i.e. we cannot see the state name). Then you pick one, ask her what it is and where it goes. I pick up Texas...she tells me what it is and puts it in the right spot on the map. Then its Idaho, then Tennessee, then Montana, then Michigan, Wyoming. And then I pick up Mississippi. She tells me what it is and goes "It goes right here next to Alabama." We had NOT put Alabama on the map yet. I wasn't done being impressed (or embarassed that she is so much better at her geography than me). I said "let me get Alabama" and proceeded to turn over 8 or 9 pieces trying to find Alabama. She goes "Let me do it" (with somewhat the annoyance I expect from her at 10 years old...) and on her second try picks Alabama (remember the pieces are upside down). Thank you all for being equally as impressed as I am. Seriously. When I see her like this I think I get a little glimpse into what it might have been like to raise Chris.

Oh she knows her birthday too. Which didn't seem like a big deal, but people who ask her are impressed when she answers so I'm thinking..."wow, with all this rocket science, maybe she is a genius?" Really, I think what it is that I just didn't get that 3 year olds could know all this stuff until I had one. So here's me saying "Sorry to all of you who came before me. I could not fully appreciate just how smart your little ones were. I did not understand how amazing it was that they knew the color blue. And thank you for listening to me now go on and on about mine."

She loves Reegan and I know some day they will be teenage girls (do I really need to elaborate?). But for now, they are little and in love. Riley will entertain Reegan and sing for her and get her toys or a burb cloth. She likes to hold her and talks of days of teaching Reegan how to sleep in a big girl bed and go on the potty and eat real food.