Darby 18/52 v2

Dear Darby -

Are you tired? We are tired! You are demanding, but fun, cranky, but cute, and hangry, but sweet. As a 16 month old you seem to have a witching hour, something you never had as an infant - from 6:00 to 7:00pm you are exhausted from all the fun you had at school, hungry in a way that makes it seem like you haven't seen food in days, and in need of some distraction free cuddles. When we explain your evening attitude to your teachers it almost seems as though they do not believe us, "oh no, not at all she is a doll for us" - for us you are more like Chucky.

Do I sound grumpy? I promise I am not, I am just so TIRED! You sleep like a dream most nights, are more and more communicative, which is helping with the grumpy periods, and are always easy to laugh when your brother is nearby. You two are definitely exploring the world of rougher play, which makes Mama and Daddy cringe, but you have so much fun and thus far are pretty unfazed from your few close call falls. We warn Ewan that if he is not nice to you one day you will kick his butt and you most certainly seem to be up to the challenge. The good thing is that you are his soft spot and the reverse seems to be true as well... we dream that when you are old you will still be best friends because the two of you have a beautiful yin and yang thing going on.

You are very smart and seem to be connecting things in your environment unlike other babies your age, while adding words and quick phrases to your vocabulary, like "i-do-it" all run together, which I think was also your brother's favorite phrase around this age. Your teacher and I agree that your babbles are still the best, but hearing your words is so fun. You like to dive in for kisses with your mouth wide open and your tongue way out... and the other afternoon you saw me and Daddy kissing across the room and started making smooching noises, already mocking us we determined. Your sign language is all food focused, not surprising as snacking is your favorite pastime - you sign more, milk, all done, and please (used frequently to beg for more berries). I would say your current favorite snack is cheese, which you can say and find in the fridge drawer. The quickest way to know if you like someone is to see if you share snacks with them, if you do, they are golden.

Not that I need to tell you this lady, but keep on keeping it real!

XO,
Mama

Darby Moira - 16 months

52 : 25 (part 4)

We recently found out that Ewan was accepted in to a new preschool and accepting the position was a no-brainer, but the change still caused Mama some anxiety so we decided to go for a tour.

We started the morning at Daddy's office where we played with the touch screen entry unit and sampled the bikes. After that we made our way to the new school where everything was mesmerizing, especially the chef... he does demonstrations and makes it so Daddy has no more lunches to pack!

Darby 17/52 v2

This weekend we went to a small aquatic park in San Mateo with friends. The park has a beach with access to the bay. Darby enjoyed playing in the sand with the big kids and venturing out in to the water to cool off, it was nearly 90!

52 : 24 (part 4)

Ewan has become a bit of a date crasher, always insisting on joining Mama on her monthly movie dates with Auntie Marianne. This month we saw "Shaun the Sheep" and had quesadillas. The movie was okay, the company was good, and the treat of a new book at the end was great.

52 : 23 (part 4)

It is all about letters these days. Ewan has been spelling his name aloud for awhile, but writing is the new focus. Each morning he traces his name when he arrives at school and is getting better all the time. When he free writes the W is definitely the most difficult and commonly looks like an M.

Darby 16/52 v2

Darby's list of words is increasing daily - dada, mama, ball, dog, shoe, more, bubber (brother), no (nose), poop, duck (any bird), uh-oh, oh-no, hi, bye. It is fun to watch her connect her words to her environment, like bringing everyone their shoes while saying "shoe" over and over.

52 : 22 (part 4)

This week Ewan illustrated his current aggressive rough and tumble status perfectly by learning how to cannonball at the pool... And then doing it over and over!

Darby 15/52 v2

This girl is getting smarter and braver every day! This week she found her shadow, stared taking steps without holding on to anything, and she started knuckling. Time is going quickly!