It's a new week, and we started off with a bunch of new words and phrases. On Monday morning you said "Ahhh blet you! Ahhh blet you!" when I sneezed twice.  It took me a second, but I quickly realized that you said "Bless you! Bless you!" Harper, it's definitely the first time that you've said that. You usually just say "Achoo! Achoo!".  You came out of your bedroom and immediately went to your wooden name puzzle on the coffee table.  The pieces were all over the table, and you quickly grabbed the first one "p", told me it was a "p", and put it in the right spot.  You continued on telling me all the letters, and fumbling them into their correct places until "Harper" was spelled out.  SO PROUD! You have been playing with this puzzle for about 8 months, and always need help fitting the pieces into the holes until that moment. You have known the names of the letters for quite a long time though, but I am still very excited for you anyway, puzzles are quite the accomplishment.

I decided this week that we were going to try some "scheduled" events a few days to try something new. We went to the indoor playground at North Kirkland Community Center on Tuesday.  It was really just a large room with a bunch of push cars, balls, and plastic kitchens to play with. One little tiny backyard plastic slide, but you both enjoyed it anyway. Harper you took a while to get comfortable in the room with the other kids, but you warmed up and played with pretty much everything. Zoie was in the wrap on my chest and watched all the other kids with wide eyes. All the moms/nannies were lined up in chairs against the far wall either talking or playing on their smart phones.  There was one other mom in the middle of the room playing with her kid, and then there were about 4 other grandmas there, and they were all out playing with their grand kids. There was one dad there who sat down periodically, but interacted with the two little girls he was with.   It was interesting to see the other moms/nannies just relaxing/chatting/texting and letting their kids cry for them. I didn't realize that this phenomenon that I'd been hearing about (the "Eastside" mommy/nanny mentality), actually happened. Oh well. All the children were fine in the end, and people can play with, or not play with their children as they please, as long as their kids aren't hurt, and they aren't hurting my kid.

Today was also new. We went to the Kirkland library for "Ones Story Time", which was really fun and full of other kids.  While we were waiting outside in the cold sunshine we met another little girl named Eden and her mommy Veronica. Eden was 18 months and sparked your smile and sense of camaraderie.  After a few minutes of the moms chatting, you two were romping across the lawn and chasing each other around the statue.  Story time included a lot of singing and a few stories, and it was a nice little change from our usual morning madness. I had planned for Zoie to sleep in the pack during this time, but it didn't work out, and my hands were full with her most of the time.  I hope that next week we can try and attend again, and I'll have to strategize a little better about what to do with Zoie so that I can spend that 30 minutes more devoted to Harper.  It's SO difficult trying to figure out how to enjoy quality time with each of you one-on-one without the other one needing my attention too! I still haven't figured this out, four months into it, but I know that eventually I will, and it will just get easier at the same time.

Alright, both of you are napping really well today. So I'm going to sign off and find something productive to do before my "me" time is over. It's daddy's birthday this weekend, so I have some crafty prep work to do.......

Your mama loves you girls!
 

                                           (Zoie - 4 months)