It's been ages.

Do you know how long ago I uploaded these and didn't post them? Oh, it's been ages.

I still haven't taken the Christmas pictures off my camera, but maybe I'll have time tonight? We're still in recovery from the holidays, and here it is the middle of January. I hope everyone had a merry Christmas! I won't even attempt to catch up on all that's occurred over the past few months. Let's just pick up like old friends, ok?

So, Lucy is just about 8 months old - how is that possible?? She isn't crawling yet, but it won't be long. I am quite ready for her to take on a little mobility. The mere ability to sit up has transformed our daily activities, because the world is much more fun when you can sit upright and see it, no? She is such a sweetheart. She loves playing anywhere near MCM or with any of MCM's toys. She loves singing. She hums and laughs a lot. She says Dada and Mama - crazy - I know, but it's as clear as a bell and especially common when fussing or crying. She is a social butterfly like her big sister, but she does not like being without Mama for long. The separation anxiety is intense, but perhaps she'll grow out of that soon? Oh, how I long for her to be able to tolerate the church nursery for any amount of time! She is eating 3 meals of solids a day. The girl loves everything I give her! It's so great! And she's still nursing 6-8 times a day. This time around nursing hasn't been the most fun. I'm grateful to be able to breastfeed, but it's just a different ballgame when there's a toddler bouncing around at your feed 24/7. Lucy is into the distracted phase, so it seems to take for-ev-er for her to eat if there's anything of remote interest in the room. Since there's almost always is...you get the idea. Ah, but here we are. 8 months in. She still doesn't sleep through the night, although things are much better than they were a few months ago. Oy, let's not even go there. Mostly, she's just growing up incredibly fast. She is a sweet, snuggly baby and such a joy to us! She has a quiet and loving spirit and is so curious about every little thing. I can't wait to hear what's going on in that little head!

MCM is 2 1/2 going on at least 5 or 6. What a bundle of energy and words! She talks non-stop and literally bounces around like a live wire from the minute she wakes up until the minute she goes to sleep! 2 is such an incredible age! It's like her mind and body are both constantly racing from all the new things she's learning and processing every day. Wow. It wears me out, but it's wonderful at the same time. I can really see the last of her babyness fading away. She's even looking less like a toddler and more like a little girl. She loves to help me with anything and everything. She likes to help load and unload the laundry, cook dinner (which is really just standing next to me on a stool, sticking her fingers in everything and tasting it!), pick up toys (and pull them back out again), dust the furniture, and take care of Lucy. She really is the sweetest big sister ever! She loves to hold, kiss and tickle Lucy, and it cracks me up, because she talks to her just like she sees all the grown-ups around her talk to her ("he-wo woocie baby! you such a sweet baybee! teekle teekle teekle!"). She is really into pretending and plays constantly with her "people" - the family that goes with her dollhouse. It's literally all she does. The people have a minivan and they go all over the house. She loves them so much. She is mostly potty trained. I still have her in diapers at naptime and bedtime, although I could probably transition out of that if I had the will. Eh. She's done awesome with it though. The hardest part was training myself to remember to take her to the bathroom!

I absolutely love having these little girls in my life. Although they've basically consumed my world these past 8 months, I do see things getting easier. I am hopeful that as they begin to play with each other, Lucy begins to get around on her own, etc., I might actually find time to do things that I like to do again, ahem, like blog. I think I just lost the will to do it over the past few months, but that's how this motherhood thing goes sometimes. The really intense times don't last forever, but there are times when we are laying down our lives for our children. Period. So, welcome 2010. New year, new things, new times to be had with this sweet family of mine.