Life Wright Now | December 2021

December was a lively month filled with several playdates, a few parties, and the arrival of grandparents! We rounded out our year with the following highlights: 

- Watched the children play in a mini ball pit. CCW was at an all-time happy :) 

- NLW's first time at The Little Gym 

- EDW took her first steps!

- Built a bunch of nugget couch forts

- Attended a "Favorite Things" party with friends

- Had drinks with our neighbors

- Opened presents with my parents on Christmas

- Watched The Wizard of Oz with NLW (his first movie!)

- Enjoyed multiple days playing in a snowy wonderland

- Ate homemade snow ice cream

- Organized my recipes before the New Year, a project I've been trying to tackle for a while

Watching | I relaunched my Netflix account in order to watch Arcane with Mr. Fleece. It's a recent hit made by Riot Games that follows characters from League of Legends, one of the computers games Mr. Fleece plays. Coming in blind with no context, I still really enjoyed it -- to the point of watching the final four episodes in a single night!

Eating | We recently discovered the children's book, What's Cooking at 10 Garden Street and decided to try some of the recipes illustrated in the book. It was a fun and engaging way to cook together in the kitchen, especially after NLW had familiarized himself with the characters and dishes. We made the Meatballs, Little Trees, Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Cookies, Green Rice, and the one we would add to our (now organized!) recipe collection -- Coconut Dahl. 

Reading | After all the biography/memoirs this fall, I took a quick detour to self-help lane with The Lazy Genius Way. It was a perfectly fine read with lots of common sense, take-a-step-back practical advice. I liked how she framed things and my favorite takeaway was this perspective about self-care: Self-care is a practice of remembering what you care about and should be a regular practice of doing what makes you feel like yourself. 

Listening | Per my sister's recommendation and birthday gift, I finished Code Name Verity which tells a fictional story of a female friendship in WWII.  It was my first fiction audio book (maybe ever?) in a while and a good one to start out on -- the voice actors were great! I probably enjoyed the story more because of the listening experience, but undoubtedly missed some details along the way. 

Holidays and Happy Times,

- SJW

A Yummy Month

My daily life often feels like a daycare. Lots of children. Lots of toys. Lots of reoccurring and cumulative messes. Coming off the heels of an eventful and celebratory October, I rebranded November as "Slow-vember" for our family and tried not to initiate plans, meet ups, or play dates. The thought was to embrace a slow-cooker approach to my calendar and let my socializing simmer. I wanted a quiet schedule (if not a quiet house :)) and was mildly successful. Even when weeks turned out busier than I anticipated, I'm glad margin and downtime were on the original menu. It helped that I garnished my days with the best spice out there -- Gratitude. Because no matter how fast, full, slow, or monotonous life seems, thankfulness is the perfect dish. Here's what our family is grateful for this season: 

- the library

- garbage trucks

- dishwasher

- pockets of sunshine

- stroller walks

- Hiawatha Park

- swings

- Mrs. Meghan

- pajamas

- peanut butter

- fire trucks

- toys

- pacifiers

- time to read

- Ebony

- hugs and giggles

- muffins

- work from home flexibility

- Google home :) 

Pondering a far-less-catchy "Decelerate-ember,"

- SJW

When Life is Just Playtime | NLW Turns 3

Our oldest child has felt more three-year-old than two-year-old for a while, but today makes it official! Imagination aplenty, he's reciting books from memory and parroting song lyrics and parent phrases alike -- there's nothing funnier than hearing him yell one of our first names up the stairs. He's chatty, observant, silly, playful, inquisitive, active, clever, smiley, focused, pleasant, single-minded, more snuggly than he used to be, and insistant :) There's lots of talk around our house about making requests rather than demands, using gentle and kind hands, checking in with a sibling after an altercation, taking turns, offering trades, sharing, declining in a kind "just say no thank you" manner, and inquiring about pee dances. 

Backyard play, playground play, sandbox play, dump truck play, crane truck play, excavator play, garbage truck play, box truck play, trains play...there's a whole lot of play in our life. In addition to anything with wheels, he loves animals and we regularly ask Google about "The Animal of the Day." NLW can now make direct "Ok, Google" commands and songs from The Kaboomers, Raffi, Casper Babypants, Wee Sing, Nursery Rhymes, and Bedtime Stories and Fairytales fill our speakers. He has a fairly expansive toddler diet, a love for milk, and a passion for peanut butter :) He likes to walk, visit Hiawatha, go down slides, kick balls, throw balls for other people's dogs (unfortunately ours doesn't fetch), check the mailbox, run errands, and best of all, spot garbage trucks. He's a little boy at heart as captured in these photos from the last year: 

We celebrated today with donuts, bowling, and new toys!

More playtime ahead, 

- SJW 

(Find our favorite books from the past year here.)

Story Time | Year 3

I read with my children for the shared enjoyment, togetherness, learning opportunities, language acquisition, expanded vocabulary, and to pass the time!

 

We have a lot of favorites, 

- SJW 

Twice as Much Cake | Twins Turn 1

I'm sitting in our big chair eating birthday cake and basking in the happiness that was today. We celebrated our twins' first birthday, a huge milestone! I'm still getting used to the onset of emotions that tends to set in when my child's birthday rolls around. The nostalgia, the warmth, the bittersweet of they'll-never-be-this-little-again, the immense joy of simply getting to know them and watch them grow. And this time, I'm feeling it all twice as much!

I've been tempted to think, "Wow! All of a sudden I have one-year-olds. How'd that happen?" but I won't be so easily fooled. This turning one business was no all of a sudden thing. The last 364 days were filled with unique moments in every single day. I don't want to think of this first year as just a survival year or refer to it as one big blur. It wasn't that way for me. I distinctly remember certain phases, with highlights of each one. Here's a simple commemoration of the past year with my two littlest pookies:

The Early Days (October-December, 0-2 months): 
I tend to think of these as the three-stage feeding days. Lots of breastfeeding, bottles lined up on the headboard, frequent pumping with around-the-clock, every-three-hours feedings. Plus doctor's appointments, constant swaddling, diaper changing, and tummy time. I didn't spend a whole lot of time with NLW and I tried to nap as much as I could. My parents were in town making our house run smoothly :) Little blips of celebration: NLW's 2nd birthday, my birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas!

The So Many Naps Days (January-February, 3-4 months): 
I just remember there were several weeks where I was managing nine separate naps a day. Four for each twin and one for NLW. I didn't mind it, as it brought a certain rhythm to the day. But man, when I say it out loud, it sounds intense! This was when we started working with our amazing nanny Nicole and had a lull of visitors. The biggest highlight was the huge snowfall on Valentine's Day!

The We're Hitting a Groove Days (March-April, 5-6 months): 
Moved into a three-nap-schedule routine. More active and engaged with one another. Lots of sweet faces, smiles, giggles and expressions. Transition period in sitting up, starting solids, and introduced loveies. Daily bathtime at 6:15pm :) My parents visit again!

The Rotating Door of Visitors Days (April-August, 6-10 months): 
We had family stay with us almost every month in this time period. It was super fun to host, incorporate special trips and outings into our day and enjoy lots of time outside -- in the swing, in the water, and in the backyard. First wading pool, swimming pool, and new stroller! Sitting up, crawling, on knees, and starting to pull up. 

East Coast Days (August-September, 10-11 months):

First flight and a red-eye at that! Spent three weeks in Connecticut with Mr. Fleece's family. Lots of pool time, water table, wagon rides, first boat ride, and new toys. Kept up an amazing schedule sleeping 12+ hours overnight and two two-hour naps. Lots more solids and finger foods. Highlight was meeting their cousin. 

Sick and Re-Set Days (September-October, 11-12 months):
Upon returning home from the East Coast all five of us got sick with colds and runny noses. It was a pretty brutal turn of events and a milestone of its own. Passing germs is nothing new, but I'm not looking forward to this playing out again in the future. We have been trying to find a new rhythm, especially an eating schedule ever since. We love pulling to stand, climbing the stairs, and our morning walk in the stroller. Highlight was my two college friends coming to play and help!

Birthday (October 12, 1 year!): 
We celebrated by going to a pumpkin patch, opening gifts, taking photos all day, and eating cakes that a friend made. I loved playing with you in the garage, watching you splash in the bath, and having simple one-on-one time with each of you in the backyard. Happy birthday, you two! 

No photo will ever be able to capture how special you are or how much you mean to me.

- SJW