Our Girls

Back in the day when we only had boys, John would always say that he wanted to have a little girl. I repeatedly warned him that he didn't really realize what he was getting into. I tried to let him know how much attitude just comes naturally when you're a girl and that being a teenager is....WHOA. I was a (comparatively) good teenager, and I wouldn't have wanted to be my parent! I had more attitude than I knew what to do with and shared it freely and liberally--especially with my dad! I tried to warn him. I tried to tell him how good we had it with the boys. However, God has plans for our family and those plans include two adorable little girls. Don't get me wrong, I am THRILLED to have two girls. I LOVE our two girls. But, I know it's not all going to be twirling and painting nails and singing silly songs.

And ALREADY we're starting to see the sass that girls can have. ALREADY.

Oh, the attitude our little 2 year old has. Like John said tonight, she's 2 going on 14.

Yikes.

This is our bedtime routine:
Emilia and I put the boys in bed, give them hugs and kisses and Emilia draws their "goodnight signal" (to which she always wants me to add a "shunshine"). Then we go to her room, rock to one song of her nightime songs, I put her in bed, give her covers and kiss her goodnight. Each step of this process is important and if we skip any of them, she gets a bit out of sorts.

But, she is 2, and "No" is one of her favorite words. I hear it A LOT. Everyday. Today was no different. By bedtime I was over it. I told her it was time to go to bed. She said no. I told her if she was going to draw the signal she had to come now. She said no. (I put the boys to bed alone...it felt strange!) I stood in the hallway and told her if she wanted to rock she had to come now, that if I had to come to the living room to get her she was going straight to bed with no rocking. She didn't come. She went straight to bed.

She SCREAMED.

For 30 minutes.

I went back into her room, picked her up off the floor and held her for a moment.

She said, "Rock?"

I said, "No. You chose not to rock tonight. You have to go to bed. It's bedtime now."

I put her in bed. I asked if she wanted covers.

She, rather disgustingly, said, "Sure."

I gave her a kiss and told her I love her.

She huffed and said, "Ever." (as in "whatever")


If she's doing this at 2, how am I going to survive those teenage years??!?? Remember in my last post when I said I wanted time to slow down just a little bit? Today was one of those days when I was glad that never happens. I didn't want today to last one millisecond longer than it did. But it's all good. After all, tomorrow is another day. :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Our other "little" girl is growing like a weed! She had her one month appointment today and the doctor said she's perfect, but we already knew that. At her one week check she was down to 8 lbs 13 oz, but today she was 11 lbs 13 oz--she gained 3 lbs in FOUR WEEKS! She's almost 23 inches long now, which puts her at the 97% for weight and height.

She's such a great little baby. I guess she doesn't have much choice with being the fourth and all, but she really is a good baby! She sleeps up to 5 hour stretches at night and hardly ever cries (though Micah has been spreading the rumor that she cries alot). She loves to snuggle in and sleep on someone's chest and she also likes to watch the madness and chaos that is our home. She's the perfect final member of our family and I couldn't love her more!