It's been a while

Just chugging along here.  The girls are fantastic, especially when their nap schedule is respected.  When it isn't, look out!  Maggie is always mellow, but an overtired Charlotte is not a pleasant sight.  She argues, debates, attempts to negotiate, or completely ignores me.  After lengthy protestations, she finally passes out in her bed (she always makes it to her bed before falling asleep- I've never seen her sleep on the floor or in a chair), then wakes up her usual cheery and amazing self.  That would be fine if she didn't have a little sister, but her shenanigans usually wake up Maggie, who both needs her sleep and hates when it is interrupted.

Maggie finally dropped her twice-a-week midnight snacks and consistently sleeps from 7 until around 6:15.  She naps easily twice each day, usually 90 minutes at 9am and then another hour or two at 1:30.  She has preferences- favorite books, favorite toys, preferred foods (bananas!)- and is very good at voicing them.  Maggie signs sleep, frog, clean, shoes, banana, book, baby, hat, cold, bird, and perhaps a few other words that I either forgot or failed to recognize.  She has taken as many as 12 steps independently, and walks confidently holding just one finger on an accomplice's hand.  We're still nursing- new territory as I'd stopped nursing Charlotte by this age.  Maggie eats, and enjoys, pretty much any food we're willing to give her.  I think she eats more than Charlotte does.  She'll have her 12-month ped appointment at the end of March, when Charlotte goes in for her 3-year visit  Both will visit the dentist that day too, now that Maggie has a tooth (broke through on 1/21).  She wears 12-month clothing, size 3 diapers, size 3.5 shoes, and she has a lot to say.  Maggie loves to give hugs and kisses (she presses her face against whatever or whomever she's "kissing"), especially to her big sister and to the sleeping babies in her favorite book.

Charlotte... Oh, my, what a girl!  She has an imagination ("Imagination is when I read a book with no pictures, but I see pictures in my mind"- her definition) and enjoys telling me all about it.  She loves to talk- tells stories and makes up songs all the time.  She's about 3-feet tall, wears size 3T and size 7 1/2 shoes, and dancing is her favorite thing in the world.  She has dance class every Saturday and a recital scheduled for June.  Everywhere we go, she looks for her "friends," anyone she can talk to or play with no matter how old they happen to be.  I've seen her charm uninterested tweens into sliding down playground slides with her.  We love books, and now that her collection fills all the shelves in her room, we're not buying any more so weekly trips to the library are a must.  Charlotte always finds friends there who join her in lining up all the cube chairs into a train or stacking the blocks until their tower is taller than any of us.  In some situations, Charlotte acts far older than her not-quite-3-years.  She's compassionate and smart and confident and curious.  At home, though, when she's a little overtired, she's all toddler.  She can scream and rattle a door with the best of them.  At night, though, she goes down without a fight at 7:45, with just a bit of creative stalling, and falls right to sleep.  She's very good about staying in her room, quietly, until her clock turns yellow (it's blue when she should be sleeping) at 6:30.  Charlotte is my hiking buddy, my baking partner, my craft pal.  She's never been a terribly picky eater, but has been kind of reluctant to try anything new.  Lately, though, she's begun trying new things willingly, sometimes pursuing something new without anyone asking her to.  And most of the time, she likes what she tries.  I've been a horrible slacker when it comes to potty training.  Charlotte almost never poops in a diaper, and she uses the potty 3-4 times every day, but that's as far as we've gone.  I still hope to have her out of diapers before her birthday in March.

I've been working a p/t retail job twice a week since June.  Luckily, my parents are very willing babysitters since my paycheck would never cover any kind of childcare.  I recently applied for a "supervisor" position, which may involve a small pay raise but will certainly add a shift or two each week.  I held the same position with the same company 9 years ago, but I don't think I'm a shoe-in.  Three other folks applied too.  I think I've decided to stop pumping and just let nature take its course as far as breastfeeding goes.  I have a sizable stash of b-milk in the freezer.  Maggie nurses 4 times each day, but only her first morning feed lasts longer than 10 minutes.  I'm more than ready to wear a normal bra and to get dressed without worrying about boob access.  Maggie eats everything, so breastmilk is kind of an afterthought at this point.  AF returned for the first time on 1/1/13... Hello, New Year.