Because I Said So…

I’m 30!!

When I was younger, even early 20s, I know being “30″ sounded old.  Not old in an aged way, just old as in “Oh crap, now I’m really an adult….no turning back!”

But I don’t feel any older, any different.  Not in any noticeable way.  It’s getting harder to keep up with pulling out my gray hairs (which I argue that I earned the hard way last year, with 2 hospital stays & 4 ER visits, among other bad news).  My body recovers slightly more slowly than before.  Time flies exponentially more quickly.  But, at least for now, 30 doesn’t scare me.  (Now 40 is a different story).

I accomplished a lot in my 20s.  I graduated from college, I got married, I became part owner of a house, I had a couple of jobs, and I had 2 beautiful babies.  I experienced lots of love, some loss, stress, joy, sickness, health.  I got to be there when both of my brothers & my brother in law graduated from college, 2 of them get married to lovely women, Chris play football.  There were lots of family gatherings, trips, growth.  I learned a lot about myself.  And I’m ready to see what my 30s have in store for me!

I have some hopes for the next decade, and some things I’m a bit scared of – like both of my babies starting school (by this time in 10 years, Ella will be a TEENAGER.  No. way.)  I hope that at some point before the next 10 years are over, we will have moved.  I hope to find a career path that will work for me & my family.  I want to find a good routine that allows me time for exercise, cleaning & hobbies in the same day!  I mostly want to spend as much time as I can with my family.

So bring it on, 30!  Show me what you’ve got.

I just want to take a quick moment to appreciate how well my kids are sleeping right now.

It happens rarely that we get into a cycle where they are both going to sleep well & easily & staying asleep well, and we have been in an awesome cycle for a few months.

Both girls go to bed, in the same room, around 7pm each night.  Wake up time varies, and though we’ve had a couple of days of pre-6am recently, mostly we are all up around 6:30 (totally acceptable in my book).

Ella rarely takes naps any more, but she has quiet rest time.  We’ve had more failures than successes recently, because she rests in our room.  I don’t mind if she doesn’t sleep (actually, I prefer it because then she goes to bed easily at 7!) but she’s struggled to stay in the room & frequently comes out to ask for *insert random request here*.

Audrey, however, has been taking amazing naps!  She goes down right after lunch & sleeps for 3-ish hours, give or take.  Some days she sleeps closer to 4 hours!  And she’s still ready for bed at 7.

I love this sleep cycle!!

Audrey is learning new skills, words and ways to get into things every day!  I love this age.  She is so much fun, and even though she gets into trouble some times, she doesn’t talk back or have an attitude yet.  She’s the perfect combination of baby and little kid.  And she is so. stinking. cute!

Recently, Audrey has been doing the following:

• The “ditch-and-run”.  She gets into the snack cabinet often (girl likes to eat!) even though she isn’t supposed to.  She grabs a bag of goldfish (or oatmeal, fruit snacks, chips…whatever).  When she hears us coming & telling her “no”, she throws the snack & proceeds to run away with her hands in the air, as if to say “I’m so innocent!”
• Rapping.  There are songs being sung basically all day here, whether it’s one of us or other music being played.  Audrey has picked up some beat boxing skills from listening to us.  She is also starting to sing other things, too…mostly stuff from the Laurie Berkner Band because we listen to a lot of that.
• Climbing.  On EVERYTHING.  She is so fearless…so much different than Ella.  Ella was not necessarily a fearful child, but she was cautious before trying new things.  Audrey just jumps right in.  She is very fast on the stairs (terrifying), she’s learned to climb up on to our bed, chairs, everything at the playground.
• Learning sibling rivalry.  She is such a sweet snuggler, and she LOVES her sister so much, but Audrey is definitely learning to stand her ground when it comes to sharing mommy’s lap.  If she doesn’t want to do it, she will try to shove Ella off my lap and say “NO!”  She’s also learning things like pulling hair and smacking, for which time-out has begun.
• Vocabulary explosion!  Audrey, though not completely understandable yet, is very close to speaking in sentences.  She repeats lots of words now, and she learns new ones every day.  Some of her favorite words are “brush” to brush her teeth, “beebee” for her binky (which we are trying to phase out), “sissy”, “dada”, “mommy”, “choochoo” for any vehicle, “cheese” for the camera, “please” for food, “tank you”, & “shhh” when we’re reading Goodnight Moon.

Audrey’s laugh is contagious, too.  She smiles and laughs to much.  She is so social, she loves people.  She is a sweet little mischief maker, and she keeps all of us on our toes!  I love seeing Audrey & Ella interact as Audrey has gotten bigger & more able to play.

So far, 2012 has been infinitely better than 2011.  Can’t wait to see what this year holds for my chunky little chicken and her smarty pants sister!