School days

Maggie had her first day of school this past week.  She's going to a three morning a week program and could not be more delighted. 
As I expected,  she was shy around the other kids but she never cried so I'll call it a win.  I can't wait for her to make friends and have play dates (even though I'll have to clean the house more often). I'm also excited to make friends with the other parents in the class, especially since we don't have a lot of friends with kids.
Monday is the first day where we drop her off. 
I hope this class brings her out of her shell a bit and helps her to blossom. 

Mermaids

The girls are taking baths together, which I love for several reasons. They have fun in the bath so we don't have to fight about it. Plus, they are both done at the same time. I found these bath fizzies at Target a while ago (they used to have Elmo on box, he disappeared for some reason). They are basically like colored alka seltzer. You drop them in the bath water and they fizz away while coloring the water. The color is pretty vibrant but it doesn't stay on skin or wash cloths, which I love. Maggie calls it mermaid water and loves picking out what color their bath will be every night. Tonight it was two pink fizzies. There are few things that I love more than watching them splash and laugh and play in their mermaid water.

Coming out of her shell

Maggie is a funny, smart little girl who loves to run and dance and sing. She loves to watch other kids at the playground or when we're out, but she has always been hesitant to go over and play. I'm stuck straddeling the line between making her go over to play with kids and sitting back and letting her do things her own way.
Three weeks ago, we signed up for a playgroup at our local park with lots of kids her age. The first day she pretty much sat on my lap and watched the whole time. Today, though, she went over and tried to hold another little girl's hand. She was also interested in following the other kids around so she could play next to them.
I love being able to stay home with them and have my husband stay home with them while I'm working, but sometimes I worry that she is going to have a harder time socializing with other kids.
I love how this playgroup is helping her come out of her shell.

Christmas/ birthday

Maggie's birthday is two days before Christmas. Even though this is her third Christmas, it is still a little shocking to me that I have to plan (and make special) her birthday in the midst of all the Christmas craziness.
Of course, the first Christmas, we were just lucky to survive with a three day old- fresh from the hospital infant.
Last year, we went a little crazy with the toys and presents. I figured it was her one time a year to have everything special and we might as well celebrate. That turned out to be a good plan as five days before Christmas last year I found out I was pregnant with Lucy.
This year was a bit more work. I wanted to keep things even between the girls (they both got 4 presents and a book from Santa) but I still wanted her birthday to be special.
I think that this Christmas birthday will be something I will have to adjust to, but I hope that it turns out to be a lot of fun.

Raising Girls

I grew up with two younger brothers and spent the first ten years of my life wishing for a little sister. Then, I realized that I hated girl drama and I was glad that I didn't have any sisters so that I could avoid all of that at home.
When my first daughter was born almost two years ago, I was elated. We didn't know until she was born whether she would be a boy or a girl. I would have been happy either way, but I secretly wanted a girl.
When I got pregnant with my second daughter, the idea of having two girls so close in age terrified me. When I realized that they would be only a year apart in school, I cried. My friend who have sisters tried to tell me that having sisters was awesome and they wouldn't really fight, but I remember those same friends having terrible fights with their sisters growing up. Fights far worse than any I ever had with my brothers.
So now I have two little girls, nineteen months apart in age. For right now, things are good. Maggie can't get enough of her little sister. When Lucy cries, Maggie is the first one there to comfort her. I always find little toys or treasures in Lucy's swing or bouncer that Maggie leaves there for her.
I'm also worried that I'm not girly enough to have girls. I'm not a tomboy, but I am not into a lot of girly things. I hate getting my hair cut, I've only gotten one pedicure in my life and that was more than enough for the next ten years. I can't even put eyeliner on correctly. I know that I will be able to teach them to be strong, independent powerful women. It's the other things that worry me.
Tonight while I was sitting on the floor reading bedtime stories to Maggie while breastfeeding Lucy, Maggie stopped me and asked me to unzip the top of her pj's so that she could breastfeed her doll. Moments like that make me think that I am going to do just fine raising my little girls.

Big Girl Bed

Right now, Lucy is sleeping in our room in a bassinet but as soon as she is sleeping through the night, the girls will be sharing a room. My parents graciously offered my bedroom set from when I was little to us when Maggie was born. The plan is that once Lucy is ready for the crib, she will move in there and Maggie will sleep in my old twin bed. (It's a canopy bed, who wouldn't want to sleep there!)
To start getting Maggie ready, we took the front rail off of her crib on Sunday afternoon. This makes her crib into more of a day bed. (We have a standard, not a convertible crib. I didn't really think my kids would end up sleeping in that same bed for the rest of their lives anyway!)
At night she is usually tired enough to go to bed and stay there, but naps are a bit different. Today it has taken her about 45 minutes to go to sleep. She spent a lot of time knocking on the door, calling me and announcing "shoes" every few minutes. I went in once and read her a few stories and tucked her back in, but then I just left her alone. She wasn't crying, she just wasn't tired yet.
Hopefully, this gets easier. I can't believe my baby is almost ready to be out of her crib!!