Double Take

We were able to get away with a good number of outfits for Leo, that used to belong to Sadie. I still had an embarrassing amount of clothes to give away though. I was happy to find friends, relatives and co-workers with baby girls to clothe around the world.

The Pats onesie - given to us by Mrs. Callini when Sadie was born - was one of the saved items (but of course). I've been feeling all along that Sadie and Leo are so similar as babies and this photo proves it. Can you tell who's who?

Lil' Folk Farm

 

 
I think I've found my calling in life. It has something to do with children's parties and activities - cause foolish parents (like me) will spend oodles of money just to make their child happy, involved and entertained (read: ballet, ice skating, parties...). That is where the money is. My wheels have begun to turn.

Sadie's 4th birthday party was a blowout. We had 18 kids join us at the Lil Folk Farm in Holliston for an afternoon of animal fun. There's a handful of kids in Sadie's class that have birthdays in the December/January timeframe, and most parties are held in the same places - like a bounce house facility or the Little Gym. I was looking to switch it up.

Sadie let me plan the party, but had two demands: 1. she wanted a Barbie cake and 2. she needed a balloon to designate her seat at the party table. She's just like me, it's scary.

Our time on the farm included petting/grooming/feeding goats/chickens/bunnies/sheep and a round of pony rides...not to mention pizza, cake, and a pinata. The kids went nuts chasing said animals, getting muddy on the grounds and loading up on sugar. It all equals success in the eyes of a four year old.

The Nurse Maid

Maggie reminds me so much of the dog in the Peter Pan movie. She's just missing her bonnet. Since bringing Leo home, she doesn't know what to do with herself. It's almost as if she was comfortable taking care of the three of us, but now that we've added a fourth she can't wrap her head around it.

She's been very gentle, but a nervous nelly. She'll just stare at him for periods of time, sleep near his chair when he's snoozing, and comes to find me if there's crying. All of this has completely exhausted her. She looks ragged.

One Month Man

Here we go again! Tracking my baby's growth in picture form. Leo went to the doctor for his one month check up this week as well. He's already beating his sister in the height category - checking in at 21.75" (up from 19.5" at birth) - which equates to the 71st percentile. Sadie has yet to ever crack the 40 percentile mark on that. Weight is also up to 10 lbs (from 7.7 at birth). Needless to say, Leo doesn't have any issues with nursing.

He's a good baby, who slept almost the entire first month of his life. This week, it seems, he finally woke up.

SK8ER GIRL

I am my own worst nightmare. I promised I would not be one of those parents that over-schedules their kids. Oh well. Saturdays have now proved to be quite busy. Up and at 'em early to make it for ballet at 9am, come home for a quick change and snack, then off to ice skating at 11. Not to mention the parties and playdates...I have a four year old with the social calendar equivalent to Kate Middleton.

Alex has been drooling over the idea of ice skating forever, so I signed them up for an 8-week parent/tot skate class at Loring Arena in Framingham.

The first class was this week. The tots took to the ice, slipping and collapsing all over the place. Like watching a poor animal stuck on a pond. Most of the parents spent the 30 minute class trying to get their kid to stand up, let alone move. Sadie, on the otherhand, was a pro. Similar to her swimming classes of 2011, the instructor suggested she already move up to an advanced level.
 

We won't quite go there yet, but she'll be on her own in no time (as she has already declared that she doesn't need Daddy's help anymore. Similar to how she told me she doesn't need to go to ballet either because "I know how to dance now.")

All Fours

January 4, 2013 was an epic day (for me at least). Not only did my first born, the apple of my eye, turn 4 years old - but my new little man celebrated 4 weeks of being a part of our family.

Sadie woke up that morning excited it was her birthday, but was skeptical that I was telling the truth because her kid party didn't fall on that day. She tends to be very technical. However, since I was offering to allow her to take a box of ice creams on-a-stick to school, to share with her class, she was willing to turn a blind eye.

We promised to take her out to dinner that evening too. Her request: spaghetti and meatballs. And so it was. We went to a small place in Medway, as our part to support locally owned businesses. Too bad it was terrible. Mediocre food and very, very slow service. I would have thought they'd have picked up on the panicked looks on our faces as we have one kid who can't sit still and another who's on the brink of evening crabbiness, and me awkwardly nursing at a table that's clearly too small for the task. Let's get the show on the road.

Despite all that, I was with my family - which is most important. As I reflect on my four years with Miss Sadie, I'm overwhelmed. It went by so fast. In some light she seems like a baby still, but in most others she's practically ready for college. We try so hard to raise her right - polite, pleasant, curious and cautious. And after watching a few reruns of SuperNanny lately, I'd say we're doing great comparatively speaking. So Happy Birthday, my beautiful, bright, thoughtful, funny girl. You are ahead of  your time and steps away from taking over the world.

(Mostly) Smiles for '13

Just Like Last Year

In the spirit of tradition, my friend Melissa and I treated the girls (Sadie and her BFF Lilah) to Disney on Ice at the Boston Garden. I purchased the tickets way back in October, getting the "expensive" seats so that the girls would have a good view.

Moments before we were to walk out of the house for our afternoon of fun, I had a gut instinct to look at the tickets. They read: 3:00 PM FRIDAY, DEC 28. Too bad that day had come and gone, yesterday...cue panic attack as the girls were giddy about leaving.

Frantically, I hopped online to see if we could rebuy tickets - or at the very least talk to a live human being on the phone. It took a few tries, but I finally got ahold of a woman at guest services at the Garden. She said to bring the old tickets to the box office and they can maybe exchange for free. It was worth a shot...and it worked. Of course, they could only exchange them for the nose bleeds. We were in the very last row, at the top of the Garden. We could touch the ceiling. So much for my "expensive" tickets. I felt so bad, I bought Sadie a $12 snow cone. Yes, twelve bucks for colored ice that she didn't even eat. Oh well...