Grace and Hazel

Sister Times 2

brad — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:08:23 +0000

Here is another very cute clip!

Sister time!

brad — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:00:35 +0000

It has been a long time coming but we have been waiting for the right moment to let Grace hold Hazel for the first time. She needed to be relatively healthy, happy and willing which haven’t all happened at the same time, until this morning. Mostly we just wanted her to be receptive to suggestions like “Don’t put your finger in Hazel’s eye” or “Hazel isn’t ready to play Bonk” without throwing a world-class tantrum. It turns out that we didn’t need any suggestions at all, she took to big sistering like a champ.

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Welcome Benjamin Colin Pitts!!

brad — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:49:30 +0000

We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Benjamin into the world! Born March 7th at 1:08 AM, he is 8lbs 3oz, 22 inches, and going to have to get A LOT bigger to defend his last name in the schoolyard. His mom, Lolo (Lauren) is, was and forever will be our doula, our boob juice voodoo witch, our naughty nurse, our comic relief and our go-to encyclopedia on all things baby. She was there from minute one when Grace’s pregnancy went squirrelly and stood around looking bored when Hazel’s didn’t.

Like correcting an English teacher’s grammar, or watching a construction worker build their own house, we look forward to Ben’s progress through new baby-hood. After his 4 days-after-his-due-date entrance this morning, he is 0 for 1 on following the rules.

Congratulations to Lolo, Daddy Jay and sisters Mollie and Maggie who are all anxiously awaiting their newest family member’s lessons in how boys are “different”.

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Picking your victories

brad — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:35:11 +0000

One of the things parents of a two-year-old relish is the development of language skills. Words are an important, ongoing milestone. We were ecstatic when Grace said “More” and “no” and just as happy when she changed to “mas” and “nope”.

Word combinations are even more exciting because we can begin to recognize ideas and understand context. “Gracie ball” shows she knows who she is, what a ball is and who’s ball it is…all in two simple and clear words.

First sentences are the very exciting last stop before the tedious, lifelong journey of correcting grammar begins. “I reading it” feels incredibly advanced and ellicits peals of delight from us. It also ushers in a new era in which Grace gives us information that we might not have already known or—as today’s offering proved—we might not really want to know. From here on out we are not protected from the need to parent by what we do not see. Henceforth, we must avoid awkward parental choices by actively ignoring (while stifling our laughter) the little voice from the back seat that announces matter-of-factly, “I picking nose!”

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Rosy is the new Bla Bla

brad — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:52:45 +0000

We can’t control everything about our children, or probably anything, really. Among those things that we REALLY REALLY can’t control is our children’s friends. We can only influence, guide, cajole, coerce, recommend, suggest those that they spend their time with. With Grace, we strongly suggested that she and Bla Bla consider a long-term relationship…and it worked. It is a little early for Hazel to be picking her friends and there are surely going to be other contenders, but Grammie sent us Rosy, a few weeks ago so we thought we would get started. Grace’s Bla Bla was originally named Prudence but Bla Bla (the name of the manufacturer) is more pronounceable so we changed it. Unfortunately, to do the same thing would probably cause catastrophic confusion so we just shortened this little piggies name from “Rosalie” to “Rosy” to make things a little easier on Hazel. Only time will tell if our influence is even a little successful, but if it is, we will be able to point back to these pictures as the day they met.

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Hearty, Healthy Hazel

brad — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 05:28:33 +0000

Hazel had her 1 month check up today and we can honestly say that she has never been healthier. Just after she was born, her pediatrician (who happened to be on call at the hospital) noticed a slight murmur in her heartbeat. There was an initial shock, followed by a lot of assurances that this was pretty normal and most of the time, these things close up in the baby’s first few weeks and that, even if it doesn’t, many people have small murmurs with no impact on their lives. Of course we don’t want any asterisks on the Healthy Baby label but the various doctors that looked at her said that if you are going to have one problem, this is the one to have. We would rather not have any problems but we would just have to wait and see. Luckily, our pediatrician had a cardiologist look at it while we were in the hospital sparing us a trip to a specialist and a lot more worry

Today, we heard the great news that the murmur was gone and that Hazel had reached the 75th percentile in weight and the 50th in length and head circumference up from an all around 25th percentile. At 9 lbs 14 oz, she is gaining in weight, personality and adorable-osity every day with not an asterisk in sight.

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Too Cool for School

brad — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:43:54 +0000

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Happy 23 Months: The Final Monthiversary

brad — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:17:45 +0000

Up until now, it has actually made sense to tell people Grace’s age in months, because saying “One” doesnt get us the same amount of sympathy as everything from 18 Months has seemed to. That said, something tells me that after she reaches 2, we are going to want to stop counting in monthly increments and focus on the big milestones like “Only 3 tantrums in a day” and “Sharing her first toy”.

At 1 month shy of the big 2, iSelf is learning so much and surprising us everyday with something new from school. Where we were once so proud when she learned the word for “More” and asked for “Wahber”, now she requests “Mas aqua”and sends us scrambling for the the Spanish-English Dictionary. She is developing her own opinions everyday and letting us know exactly how she feels at least a few times an hour. She has pride in her accomplishments and they are many, including climbing into her highchair, putting on her ladybug boots and now, rocking Hazel.

Grace’s interactions with Hazel have, up until now, been limited to kissing toes as we tried to protect the youngest Topliff from tough-or just clumsy-love. Today she showed that she thinks Hazel rocks and that she is nearly as interesting as a fish…

Grace’s Stats:
Days old: 702
Weight: 31 lbs

Her Current Favorite Things:
Books: Sister Book, Potty Book, Where the Wild Things Are (“Max”) and Goodnight Moon (“Moon”)
TV Shows: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Elmo and More Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Exercise: Tantrum Yoga

Happy Monthiversary, Peanut!

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Self Portrait

brad — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:42:31 +0000

A month or two ago, Grace suddenly “got” the concept of me…of her…of Grace, or as she often calls herself “Gacie Gace”. I think both Grammie and Day Care people call her that and she finally understood it to be her. The other her, or at least one of them is “I, Self”. When something needs doing and no one can—or should—do it but Grace, she announces “Self do it” or “Do it I Self” either way, it means hands off (“No Touch!”). Since Self doing things is non-negotiable and Self does not tend to do things in the fastest possible way or even a way that is at all possible, like taking off your pants while sitting down, life can move a little slow around here. It is nice to see that Self can climb into a high chair or into a car seat with a great degree of Self-satisfaction. Sometimes, if Self can’t get it done or feels satisfied that she has been allowed to try, Self will ask for a little Self-help and things can move along a little faster. Other times, Self does not want a helping hand but the clock is ticking on something else and help comes anyway. And hilarity ensues.

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Happy Monthiversary, Hazel (Grunt, Groan, Suck)

brad — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:01:20 +0000

Now that I am back at work, I am asked by other parents of more than one child how it is being the parent of more than one child. My answer now is “Oh, I think you know the answer to that.” To which they tend to get a faraway look in their eyes and laugh quietly at some unseen life that they used to have while slowly shaking their head. “Yes,” I say, “it’s WONDERFUL!” And it is…at least some of the time. Hazel actually articulates the experience very well in the video below.

If there was a transcript of her play by play, it might read like this:

Sleep.
Grunt.
Groan.
Suck.
Cute.
Suck.
Adorable.
Sleep.
Groan.
Repeat.

It seems like a lifetime ago that we got to meet Hazel and everything changed. I don’t mean her lifetime either. When we can stop and consider Hazel, we know that she is wonderful and adorable and cuddly and tiny and everything a baby is supposed to be. And someday, she and Grace will play with each other, tell each other secrets, make up languages, let off peals of laughter, get dirty, bake stuff, tell jokes and just be made of sugar and spice and everything nice. For now, there is an exhausted Mommy, a Daddy who runs in circles, a confused older sister and a nearly forgotten dog-like creature here to ring in a new month with the promise, Hazel, that we will get it together soon, very soon. We love you! Happy first month!

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