Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Growing Into It

Now that Cedar is growing out of babyhood, it's fun to speculate on who she might become.  She was a fairly easy baby, and has always been quiet and shy around strangers.  She understands everything, and seems to be taking it all in, perfecting just what she wants to do in her mind before execution.

Partly because of this quietness, and maybe partly because Molly talks incessantly and in her place, and maybe just because, she isn't talking as much as a two year old really ought to.  A lot of the time, she doesn't need to talk.  But lately, she's been getting frustrated with me.  She is wanting to tell me things, and I have no clue what they are.  So the speech therapist is coming to our house next week.  And we will see if it changes my quiet little baby.

Yesterday, I took Molly, Cedar and a friend to the playground.  The older girls were busy running around, and Cedar took a fancy to this little bit of equipment where you balance on a rubber coated chain.  There are more chains to grab onto, and you walk across like on a balance beam.  There weren't many kids around, and she stayed there: walking across, then starting over, walking again, over and over.  She seemed to be taking it seriously, one foot in front of the other, not falling off.  She practiced this same skill for almost half an hour straight.  It was odd to see so much concentration on a child so young.  But she seemed very proud of herself, and who am I to judge?



Also, as an addition to this sweetness, she also recently bit me in the face.  Hard.  I screamed.  And as my sister put it, "hmmm, monkeys do that."  So who knows what she will turn out like in the end.  I like to imagine her as an artist, leaning over her easel for hours.  But I think she still has the whole world of possibilities in front of her.

In the world of cooking and eating, you have to try this: Crockpot Chicken Tikka Masala.  I think chicken thighs hold up better in the crockpot, but otherwise, wow.  So easy.  No precooking of ingredients.  Makes a lot.  Makes your house smell great for hours.  Yum.

 

Friday, April 12, 2013

Sweet Birthday Cedar

Today is Cedar's second birthday.  I didn't tell her (not that she really gets it yet) though.  Bryce is out of town, and we are going to celebrate this weekend.  And if the big kids knew we were delaying, I'd never hear the end of it.  They've been telling her for days that she gets presents and cake on her birthday, and it just sounds like a big mess to confuse everyone.  So it's been my little secret today, which is sweet in a way.  I let her pick out some new shoes and the girls got cake pops at Starbucks while we were shopping.  They thought they had just begged long enough I guess.

So the true birthday pictures will come later.  But here is my baby, my last baby, on the first day of her second year on this earth.  With many more to come.





Happy Birthday Cedar!  We love you more each day.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Week(s) in Review

I missed a lot on here!  We had visitors!  My mom, my sister, her family.  Lots of fun and lots of exhaustion.

 
 
We tried to take group photos.  It was hard.
 



Easter happened.  There were eggs.


I ran my first 10k.  It went pretty well.  And I got to have my sister cheer me on, even though the weather was fairly lacking.


Also this, just because.


And on this Easter-ish note, Porter officially does not believe in Santa or the Easter bunny or any other mythical gift giver.  He has recently been taking great pride in pointing out all the things we said were from Santa, but were really from yoooouuuuuuu.  He seems to be happy to be in on this secret though, and I think he has finally realized that he has to stop talking about it in front of his sisters.  I've been suspecting these thoughts from him for a while, and really, I enjoy not having to fake it for him anymore.  But it is one more way that he is growing up.  And there is no stopping it.

Friday, April 5, 2013

So Goes My Heart

Molly came home from preschool the other day with this creation:


Her teacher mentioned that she had worded hard on it and that she was very proud.  I asked her if it was me (given that my name was on the front), and she said, "NO!"  Then she thought for a minute and added, "it's me, with your heart on the inside."  And so it is.