It's Not What It Looks Like

A certain someone is already worried because Dominic points his toes. So I'm going to pretend these two are playing football.

Halloween Awesomeness

We bought this sorry looking fellow at the grocery store this morning.

I didn't think he was much to look at then. He's even less to look at now that Gabriella gave his hat to Geoffers.

Yes, it was only a matter of time before Domi got mixed up in the Halloween awesomeness too.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

GFR @ 2 years 3 months

Gabriella is talkative, dramatic and imaginative. We wake up to full-blown expressive conversations through the monitor. She marches madly to the Barney theme song and loves a good tea party. And when Dominic cries, she’s the first to cheer him up with a silly song only the two of them understand.

Gabriella is also completely unpredictable. She’ll gently pat Geoffers to sleep one minute and toss him out of the crib the next. She’ll ask for pancakes and then stare at them in confusion because she NO LIKE pancakes.

The other day, I accidentally bumped her hand. She got this goofy look on her face and said, "I'm sorry, Mom," as if she had hurt me. THEN SHE PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE WITH A LEFT HOOK, Y'ALL.

That right there is my mercurial little girl, celebrating her monthly birthday with a Pumpkin Cupcake from Whole Foods.

The Garden in the Fall

Gabriella.
September 18th, 2009
Charlestown, Massachusetts

The Achiever

A couple of weeks ago someone introduced me to a cool personality system, and since I love anything that remotely resembles a Cosmo quiz I took the online assessment pretty much immediately.

I am very conscious of the image I present to others. Very accurate. I have a strong desire to be accepted by others. Very accurate. If people are coming over I make sure my place is totally clean. Very accurate. According to the results, I am The Achiever. The Motivator. The Performer. The Image Builder. GAH!

I found myself thinking about Erma Bombeck who once said that if she had her life to live over she would invite friends over to dinner more, even if the carpet was stained. And about Gabriella who puts socks on her hands to wipe down the glass on our coffee table and French Doors. And about Oprah who went on television without makeup.

Sure, there’s a lot of good that comes from being an overachiever, experiences I would hate to give up such as marathons and graduate school and a real estate closing. But that thing Erma Bombeck said about inviting friends over even if your house isn’t spotless? I’ve never done it and I know that I should.

Because that little girl and eventually that little boy… they’re watching everything we do and imitating it, now in play and later in life. So I have to finally get it right. The balance between accomplishment and fun. The science of rest. The art of living in the moment.

So here is our house at the end of a long day, on Oprah, without makeup. Toys all over the floor. Dirty bibs and socks on the ground. Food stuck to the table. Laundry in the washing machine, in the dryer and spilling out of the upstairs hampers.

Want to come over?

Real Men Wear Pink

Dominic ate his first vegetable today. Pureed carrots.

He's pretty much the man around here, pink bib and all.

Notice anything different?

Nope, not the hair. Nope again, not the outfit. The mouth, people, the mouth. Here is Dominic days after CUTTING HIS FIRST TWO TEETH!

Of course, when I try to take a picture of them, he just looks at me, all, yeah, I wasn't born yesterday.

Or he sticks his tongue out.

Kid, as long as you don't bite me while nursing, we're good.

Milk and Cookies

Dominic's extra-long nap this afternoon gave me an excuse to stay home and bake chocolate chip cookies with Gabriella for the first time. I used this recipe from Bakerella and may never use another one. The cookies were that good.

Here's my adorable assistant.

Cheers! I love love LOVE eating raw cookie dough off the utensils.

Looks like Gabriella is saving some of the warm gooey chocolate for later. Who can blame her?

Amber Alert

This here is the best $89.99 we've spent on baby equipment. Ever. 

And this here is the face that stops supermarket traffic.

Seriously, the other day, I'm paying for groceries, which is no easy feat when you have a baby strapped to you and a toddler acting like a really greedy and determined Veruca Salt who just wants a chocolate chip NOW, even if it means eating one through the bag. So I look up from promising Gabriella her very own Oompa Loompa if she stops gnawing on the gold Ghiradelli package and four cashiers, mine and the three behind her, are all staring at me, well not at me but at the baby strapped to me, with the same intense devotion. It was as if I'd crashed a tween slumber party while wearing Joe Jonas in a backpack. Then I realize, Dominic is making the face and I may need to call a damn AMBER ALERT.

Last Days of Summer

It's Labor Day weekend, which means we're saying goodbye to summer.

The summer Gabriella turned two, rode her first bike and got a little brother who absolutely adores her.

The summer Dominic smiled, laughed, rolled over and ate cereal for the first time.

The summer we discovered the garden. Gabriella running from flower to flower, stopping only to pick up rocks or dropped fruit. Dominic napping among plants, butterflies and really chubby bumble bees.

.

Most of all, it's the summer our family became complete. One girl and one boy. A perfect party of four.

Geoffers' Tub

Gabriella: Geoffy? GEOFFY?! Mama, where's Geoffy?

Me: He's in the tub. 

Gabriella: NOOOOO! GEOFFY NO LIKE TUBS!

Me: Yes he does. Geoffers asked to take a tub.

Gabriella: Mama? Geoffers doesn't talk.