Clementine at 28 Months

Clementine on the day she turned 28 months*. 

She is a strict fruitarian who will also eat cottage cheese, pizza, pasta, and hummus. She arranges her crib just so (rattit and baby on either side of her pud-oh [pillow], two 'bankets', and two aguas). She just started calling water water instead of agua, but I hope agua wins out. My favorite thing she's saying this week is: Mommy/Daddy hold you! Hold you! [me] She's beginning to choose her clothes, with yellow and pink items most often chosen, along with 'pitty dress' [pretty dress]. She gives Josie a routinized goodnight: hug, kiss right on the mouth, pat on the chest with an unintelligible I love you. (Then dashes off).

She was not in a mood for photos here or earlier in the day when a pro was behind the camera (those photos to follow -- gorgeous!). We call her Sweet & Sour.

The instant we arrived at my in-laws she made a beeline for this tree swing. She loves swings, slides, and being chased. She goes absolutely berserk for gummies (verboten, I know!) Her book selection has been the same for a few months -- Llama Llama, Hello Highlights, and the recent addition of Dear Zoo.

Same door, one year before.

C learned how to give a thumbs-up courtesy of  Dragons Love Tacos **. Though we've been reading it for a while, she mastered the move this week. A favorite moment of our Michigan trip was C on the swing in the basement ('fwing! I want to go on the fwing!' was a constant refrain): at the highest point of the arc, she extended her arm at the elbow, gave a thumbs-up, and pronounced loudly: I LIKE IT. It was hilarious.

* regarding '28 months'

** for reference, the dragon's thumbs-up

 

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Pinkies

Over the last month Clementine has learned two colors: yellow (LELLOW) and blue (BOO). This week she added pink (somewhere between PINK and BINK).

Last night Luke was quizzing her about the whereabouts of her shoulders, thumbs, and pinkies. I don't think we've ever pointed out pinky fingers before, and here was her response:

Pointing out the little pink buttons on her new leggings...this is so heart-meltingly adorable I think we'll be talking about it for the rest of our lives, in the manner of:

Julie, age 3: My parents read a lot of books to me and I went through a phrase of speaking 'bookese' as my parents deemed it, adding 'she said' to the end of sentences. While having dinner with my grandparents, I glowered at my grandmother and said 'Pass the butter, she growled.' Thirty-plus years of hilarity ensue.

Luke, age 3: Ransacked all the guests' coats at a family party -> parents discovered his diaper jammed with dollar bills.

24/7

An update from 2 years and 7 months.

Josie's cutting her first tooth.

And finally falling asleep earlier (than midnight).

She's cheerful, easy-going, and smiles easily. Actually, I know both of my girls will go far in life because they smile easily and have good eyebrows.

This week my mom has gotten Josie to eat more solids though she isn't very enthusiastic about it.

We're finally getting her eczema under control. This is what it looked like at its worst. Her temples are the toughest spot and she'll have a couple of clear days and then the redness and scaliness return. It's a battle.

This sunglasses headband is another example of how Target is bankrupting me $5 at a time.  See also and oh wait multicolor? And these.

C's language is really exploding. Her first sentence is: I WANT IT. The other is:

I WANT MAH SEAT! Seat = the front seat. She's started putting up a fight being strapped into her car seat because she wants sit in MAH SEAT!!!  When we arrive home, she is allowed to sit in the front seat. She insists on the closing the door - BYE-BYE! - and pretends to drive.

Other words:
 
Mah EL-low (my hello = the phone)
Book with emphasis on the K, boo-KUH
Mike -- my-KUH -- she says this when she sees little black hatchbacks like the one Luke's friend and bandmate drives.

All of a sudden, after barely having the attention span for a board book, she sits through ALL of Dragons Love Tacos. (I read about this book on one of my favorite blogs, The Mom Edit, or maybe Becky's blog?). She goes right to the page where we act out the dragon tummy ache - groaning, moaning, ooooo my tummy hurts!

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Amazingly, she knows all of her books, including the ones we don't read very often. I'll ask: go get Opposites/Baby Loves to Rock/Animals/San Francisco ABCs and she retrieves it right away.

Asking her to whistle. I have to ask Luke to demonstrate because I can't whistle. So this is what my whistle sounds like too.

Greeting the neighbors with a lovely sound.

She's finally developing an attachment to a toy - a baby doll she insists stay in the crib with her at night, MAH BAY-BEE! This week is a breakthrough: we sit for a few minutes, rocking, then lay her in the crib, cover with a blanket, and say 'goodnight'. She answers BYE BYE!, sucks her left thumb while holding her right ear, and closes her eyes.

Eff It, Cut Some Bangs

Just some things and stuff.

Lately Clementine has transitioned from saying UH-OH! to OH NO! for mishaps, spills, falls, etc. Her pronunciation is more like EW-NEW. Anyway, we find it hysterical.

I completed the 12 Days of Fitness as part of my 180 Fitness Challenge (concluding this week). This was the holiday edition workout. 50 minutes or As Many Rounds As Possible: 12 kettlebell swings, 11 barbell thrusters, 10 double unders (or 50 jump rope single unders), 9 box ascents, 8 dumbbell chest press, 7 clean and jerks, 600 meter run (=once around the block), 5 ring dips (get it? rings!), 4 goblet squats, 3 4 count mountain climbers, 2 handstand push ups (=two regular push ups for yours truly), 1 pull up with a burpee.

I made it though 4.6 rounds and then picked up Torchy's Tacos on the way home. Torchy's is an Austin favorite with its first SA store newly opened just a quarter mile from our casa. It was DELICIOUS and mama knows her way around some tacos.

I got BANGS! After years of dithering and being halted by two strong contraindications - a widow's peak and a cowlick - and a disinclination and general ineptitude toward hairstyling, on Saturday I said - F%*^ it, cut some bangs! How silly, right? Hair grows back. And who cares if you have bad bangs for two months?

And now I look freaking adorable and have an actual hairstyle and I wonder what other things fear is needlessly holding me back from. F%*^ it, cut some bangs is my 2015 mission statement.

 

Here I introduce Clem to one of the tenets of Southern beauty, volume at the crown.

Luke opened the door and said to the person on the other end of the phone, 'I gotta go - my wife got bangs' and later said 'you look like a child' which I interpret as 'gamine', 'youthful', and 'nubile'. The next day after styling them myself I liked them even more (the hallmark of a great haircut) and got dressed and even put on mascara for our Sunday brunch run (Central Market's granola pancake yummmmm) and he said, 'if these bangs inspire you to get dressed and wear makeup, I really like them.' There you have it.

Cage match. The video ends abruptly, you'll see why.

Unhappy camper on her way to Coachella.

Josie's not thrilled about the sweet pea mash.

On Sunday night we went to a Christmas party at a fellow musician's home and there was music and cheer and all-around holiday warm fuzzies. It was wonderful.


That's the news from around here. Two and half busy days at work until a relaxing four day weekend. Cheers, y'all!

22/5

Look at this face. 100% pure mischief.

C doesn't have a lovey - she wants a sippy cup or water bottle all the time, including bedtime. A-WA! is the bedtime refrain.

Clem is mastering opening zippers (hide your purse) and opening the fridge. When keeping her at bay with my right hand, opening the oven with my left, saying sternly HOT HOT HOT!, she pursed her lips and blew to cool it off. She's finally adding several words to her spoken vocabulary (the ones I can think of now are down, boot, cold, and bubble). However she understands everything (point to the ceiling! touch the floor! stretch! help me blow a kiss [puts her hand to my mouth, removes with flourish]).

My mom deciphered this: She holds up her index finger and says AH BE RA BA! before darting off. Translation: I'll be right back. (I say this all.the.time.)

Light-switch moment: when you point to a photo of her, or see a reflection, and ask, who's that?! She jabs her chest.

This week she is recovering from her first ear infection, the first sign of which was a gush and I mean gush of thick green pus from her ear. She's a tough cookie.

Josie has two problems in life. One is terrible eczema on her face (she rubs her temples and the abrasions are just awful.) The other is smiling so frequently that her pacifier tumbles out of her mouth.

She rolls over from back to belly, loves the bouncer, and coos a lot. We'll start her on rice cereal any day now.

Laughs with J at 5 months: (luckily forced fake laughs will do)

Luckily Josie is very sturdy.

21/4

Maybe the cutest thing that ever happened: Clem's been clapping at the end of songs for a while (live performances and recorded songs alike) but now her applause extends to the endings of many things - the blender and hair dryer turning off, the beep of the microwave.

When there's music: she's dancing, always.

Lots of: words, no phrases. Her newest are 'backpack' (bah-pah) and 'boots' (boo) and 'key'. She identifies things that belong to Luke and me -- patting our respective backpacks and picking up our shoes, MAMA! and DADA! The van is DADA, my phone is MAMA.

Sleeps: through the night without fail but hasn't been napping at school. She arrives home exhausted and ornery.

Josie: sleeps, smiles, eats, sleeps from 11 pm-9 am. Wearing 9 month clothes that C was wearing when she was close to 12 months. Today at her 4 month well baby appointment she weighed 14 lb 4 oz ... as Amy put it, she's in 'hot pursuit' of Clem's 23 pound self. C calls her Juh-jee.

Here she is last night when Luke was making her laugh:

Seven Mile Cider

So there we were at the farmers' market, C looking like an evil elf

And J looking quizzical

When I said let's go for a walk on the Riverwalk and after we'd walked south for a bit, Let's walk to the Friendly Spot! I really want another cherry cider. It will be our exercise for the day. It will be fun.

We strolled through downtown to Southtown - it really is fun to live in a big city. We arrived at the Friendly Spot to snag the very last Original Sin, two tacos, and a grilled cheese.

'Would you like to give Josie a hug?' Part One.

'Would you like to give Josie a hug?' Part Two.

Luke cannot explain his hair here.

Back to Pearl we walked, about seven miles roundtrip. We came across a scene we've anticipated but never seen before: a man in the river! He was retrieving a bicycle - apparently there was a collision and 1-2 people and a B-cycle ended up in the river. Luke helped pull him out.

On Sunday we went to the art market at Blue Star, stopping at Halcyon for an iced coffee. The barista gave Clementine a cup of animal crackers, the eventual emptiness of which she is dubious about here:

Early dinner at Barbaro, my favorite SA pizza.

WELCOME DINERS!

Landa gardens.

This sweet moment lasted about a millisecond before she dashed off.

10,000 Steps

Time for another weekend rundown! Friday evening I returned from an overnight trip to Oklahoma. On the Dallas-San Antonio leg I was seated next to the most charming Australian gentleman and we chatted a bit before takeoff. As he stood to deplane someone behind us said, "Mr [can't understand]??? We'd love to have a picture with you! Why are you in San Antonio?" He replied something about a tournament in New Braunfels... of course I was burning with curiosity and wanted to turn to him so badly and say SO YOU'RE FAMOUS! WHAT ARE YOU FAMOUS FOR?

As not even I could do that, I noticed that he was carrying a Wimbledon bag and had that weathered, ruddy sportsman look about him. At home, I googled 'famous Australian tennis players' and 'tournament New Braunfels' and confirmed that delightful gentleman was Rod Laver, not just a tennis player but four time Wimbledon champion and still the winningest tennis player of all time, in town for a tennis fantasy camp.


It was a highly anticipated weekend for me because Luke was home the entire time. We decided to get 10,000 steps each day and go to several of our favorite places.

First stop, the Salado Greenway. This paved trail is very close to home but we had not been in months. This is the time of year when the weather becomes fabulous and San Antonians emerge from their reverse hibernation.

A note: C took a tumble on Thursday and suffered quite an abrasion around her left eye.

A mile out, a mile back, then to the Cove (that wonderful sustainable locally-sourced eatery/beer garden/dog park/laundromat/music venue/playground/veggie garden) for lunch: squash, green beans, a fish taco, chicken sandwich, sweet potato hash, and panna cotta.

Gosie with the Flowsie Josie had a great weekend too.

Home for naps and and instead of being productive while the girls rested we watched WALL-E -- though I talk about this movie a lot Luke had never seen it. Have you? I think it's extraordinary and so moving.

Tour de Bars with Playgrounds continues with next stop Big'z Burger Joint with its fenced-in astroturf play yard.

And we were not done! To Pearl for a twilight Riverwalk stroll (finally reaching 10,000 steps) and Cured for dessert on the patio.

Collage of Noms:
Clockwise from top left: Grilled fish sammy with remoulade and cole slaw; bacon, egg, and cheese burger (it sounded so different when the bartender called it 'a bacon cheeseburger with an egg'); Original Sin cherry cider -- has actual cherry flavor (all from The Friendly Spot); sweet potato hash with egg (look at that orange yolk - no factory farms here!), grilled squash and spicy lemon green beans; chicken sandwich (all from the Cove); and hanging on on the bottom left, a Stella cider at Big'z Burger Joint.

On Sunday we tackled a different part of the Riverwalk, a stretch between downtown and Blue Star.

Explorers, exploring.

Along the way we met Ben, who talked to us for a while about a group of ducks that he feeds and follows along the river.

Heading south again, we made our way to the Friendly Spot, another bar with a playground.

Moments later:

YOU TALKIN' TO ME?

HOLD UP GIRL, HOW IS THAT CHEESEBURGER?

The signage and sights of Southtown.

Thai iced coffee at Halcyon.

Naps, grocery shopping, laundry, one last hurrah at Brackenridge Park. 10,000 steps!

I don't have to tell you that DADA! had just come into view when I snapped this photo.

Cotton candy sunset.

Home for meal prep for the week (roasted veggies, baked pumpkin oatmeal, broiled pork tenderloin - this blog is not brought to you by the Pork Council of America but wouldn't it be great if it were?! Pork Council of America, can you hear me? Pork Council of America, can you see me?), laundry, packing the girls' bags for school.

The kind of weekend that buoys you through the week. Have a great one, everybody!