Jennifer Woodbury

Quintessential Claire

 

In a ballet outfit (her Tuesday uniform), sitting in front of the bookshelf in her room quietly reading book after book. I am always finding piles of books around the house, and this is why.

Rubber duckie accessorized by Claire using a variety of jewelry items: handmade beaded bracelets, cheap birthday party favors, and Silly Bandz. I also found a mini Jessie doll the other day styled in a similar fashion. A friend of mine made the comment that Claire is our very own Rachel Zoe.

All You Need is Love

I have had parenting on the brain lately. A lot. I've heard it said before that the odd numbered ages in general are tough, and when Ella was three I had a glimpse of why. Now we are in the thick of five and I feel like we are back in the trenches.

As I sit here on the couch after midnight, with a five-month-old sitting next to me who won't fall back asleep (and is fully engrossed in the remote control I offered to her), I can't help but think how simple it is to mother babies. All they need is for you to feed them, change them, bathe them, hold them, and love them. Sleep deprivation? That's easy. But a power struggle with a five-year-old who has somehow acquired the attitude of a fifteen-year-old? Well, I fear it will be the end of me.

Let me tell you a few things about Ella. First and foremost, she is a joyful child. Truly. I can't even tell you how many different people over the years have commented to me about the sunshine that Ella radiates on a daily basis. Her former preschool teachers. The tennis coach who only spent a few hours with her this summer, but still felt the need to specifically search me out after the last class to comment on this particular personality trait. The mom who told me Ella had the "best laugh" when I picked her up from a playdate. The parents on the sidelines of her soccer games who were charmed by the fact that a smile never leaves her face during games (never mind that she has no real interest in following the ball). This joy is evident in her hearty giggle, and when expressed in tandem with her seemingly endless reserve of energy it is quite a powerful combination.

But while she is passionate in her joy, she is equally passionate in the range of all her emotions. That means when she is happy, it is intoxicating. And when she is not, things get ugly. And I am realizing more and more that I don't necessarily have the tools to reign in that negative energy. It doesn't help that in so many ways, Ella and I are exactly alike. She seems to know exactly what buttons to push, which means that many nights I am left defeated, wondering how I can do better tomorrow. I ask myself if I'm being too hard on her? Not hard enough? I agonize over whether I'm making her feel like the "bad" child (something I don't ever want to do, because she's not).

And then as I sit alone in the dark next to a babbling baby, a thought occurs to me. Perhaps I am making this harder than it needs to be? Maybe the needs of my five-year-old really aren't so different from the needs of my five-month-old after all. I know there is a place for discipline, for rules and respect, and I don't even begin to think I have all (or even some) of the answers.

But maybe when it comes down to it, all Ella really needs is love. Even when it's hard. And thankfully, there are still plenty of moments when it's oh so easy:

 

Ella and I ("J" for Jennifer and "E" for Ella, in case you are wondering who is who) with the school bus in the background "because I like when you put me on the bus in the morning."

Sending out an S.O.S.

Don't let yourself be fooled.

Yes, I know it's easy to get lost in those big round eyes and those larger than life cheeks. But before you do, let me warn you that this baby won't take a pacifier or a bottle (we've tried about 847 different varieties of each to no avail). If the stars are aligned just right my babysitter can sometimes get a bottle in her mouth, but it involves her hopping on one foot with an arm tied behind her back, or something to that effect. I know given my past issues with breastfeeding I should be thrilled that it's going so well this time around (as evidenced by Lucy consistently achieving somewhere around the 97th percentile on the weight charts), but being a human pacifier is really not all it's cracked up to be.

I also know you might be tempted to kiss that little button nose, but wait just a second while I tell you that she is still not sleeping through the night. In fact, I think she was sleeping better at 2 months old than she is at 5 months old. And did I mention she is still sleeping in our room? This is probably part of the problem; we keep waking each other up. And she is still in her bassinet no less...her legs are almost hanging over the sides at this point. But when you live in 1200 square feet of living space there isn't a lot of extra room to put people...or cribs. But I will discuss that further in a future post entitled "1,001 Ways in Which We Have Outgrown our Home."

I may not have babies figured out the third time around like I thought I would, but at least I do have the perspective to know that this stage won't last forever. In fact, this moment in time will surely go all too fast. And Lucy makes up for her idiosyncracies by truly being the most social and adorable baby around, even when she is up at 4am happily blowing raspberries. It makes the sleep deprivation a little less painful. And I won't deny it is nice to have my very own Mama's girl. Ella pledges allegiance to nobody and Claire is a true blue Daddy's girl, but for now at least, Lucy is all mine.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go take a nap.

And Then It Was November

I was doing so well at blogging over the past several months, and then October happened.

We've been apple picking and to the pumpkin patch:

My dad came to visit from Oregon, and we took a weekend trip to Boston:

Of course there was also Halloween last weekend. Ella dressed up as Supergirl, Claire was Olivia the Pig, and Lucy was a puppy dog.

Once again this year, Halloween proved to be one of my favorite holidays. As I pushed Lucy in her stroller around the neighborhood on Halloween night, I watched Ella run at full speed from house to house while Claire, terrified of being left behind, yelled at her to "Wait up!" I saw my girls shout "Happy Halloween!" as each neighbor opened their door, absolutely bursting with excitement. After trick-or-treating I listened to Ella & Claire waiting with great anticipation for their "friends" to come ring our doorbell, strategizing about who would hold the candy basket ("I know...you hold one handle and I'll hold the other handle."). I laughed as Claire sternly reprimanded a group of older trick-or-treaters ("Don't take all of it!"). And I was taken back to the Halloweens of my own youth as I watched the girls carefully laying out all the candy they managed to collect. As I observed all of this I decided that when I look back on my children's young years, memories of Halloween will definitely be some of my fondest.

I think this Halloween photo so nicely illustrates the balancing act that is three children. While trying to get a picture of everyone in their costumes, one of Claire's ears kept falling down. As soon as Matt was able to fix it, Lucy would inevitably fall down (notice Ella holding her up by one of her dog ears). Then one of Claire's ears would fall down again (oh how I wanted to hurt somebody over those blasted ears!)...you get the idea.

Eventually we were able to get this (don't mind the baby poised to eat a leaf):

And now we move on to turkeys and Christmas trees. Hopefully I'll be back before December.