Greenvale Adventures

I’m surprisingly sentimental saying goodbye to my little POS car this week. Saying goodbye brought back memories of feeling so proud of myself for buying my first car all by myself. It was the first car I bought new without a co-signer and the first big debt I paid off by myself (a few months early too!).

I remember when I was SO excited to have blue tooth speakers to be able to call without dialing on my phone and add the music I loaded up on a thumb drive. I’m sad my new car won’t have a CD player, so I have been listening to my old mix CDs from high school and college, it brought back all those memories of hanging out with friends. Reminders of a different chapter of life.

Then of course there was the time my car got stolen. It was when Daniel and I were dating and he was over at my apartment and left to get something from his place. We were planning to meet up later that day, so I had taken a shower, changed and went to drive in my car to meet up with him. Well, I walked out of my apartment, and my car wasn’t in the normal parking spot. Sometimes I parked around the corner, so I looked there too–nothing! It was the ONLY time I have thought “I hope my car got towed!” I called the towing company, but they didn’t tow any cars that night, so I called and made a police report. I was crushed! All that was left behind from my parking spots was tons of Starburst candy wrappers. A few days later a police officer called; they found my car abandoned with a flat tire. The insurance adjuster was so kind and said “usually it’s either dumb kids or criminals needing a car to do something.” Ironically the repairs and detailing left the car almost in better shape before getting stolen!

Another memory I’ll never forget was the time Daniel was working on something in my car and had the hood up. He describes the story as “All the sudden one of the wires started moving and I realized there was a big black snake in the car.” Turns out a mouse made a nest in the hood and a snake came by to get a quick snack. What a disgusting ecosystem in my car. That’s when we discovered you can pay a pretty nominal fee to have your engine detailed, although I did feel a bit sorry for the cleaners. But with a cleaned engine and a new cabin filter I reluctantly had no choice but to keep driving my mouse mobile.

Then there was the time a young teen driver rear ended me while driving to work. It didn’t do tons of damage, but enough I had to get towed home. I’ll never forget Nadia and Daniel watching from the window seeing me get out of the big tow truck. For a long time Nadia talked about the tow truck! The other driver’s insurance company was an absolute nightmare to deal with and it took forever to get an insurance adjustment and find a body shop to do the work. When I finally returned the rental car the guy at enterprise said “Wow, I didn’t know we rented cars for this long.” We had assumed the car would be totaled and had even began shopping for new cars. By the time we got the car back I was in my third trimester and Trixie was born a few weeks later. I’m not usually one to pull the “I’m pregnant card,” but, I remember several firm calls with the insurance adjuster and body shop saying “I can’t be dealing with this when I go into labor!” When I got the car back I was both relieved and so disappointed since I had gotten my hopes up for a new vehicle but it didn’t seem responsible to spend the money with a new baby on the way.

While mostly the last few years have been filled with all the annoyances of driving an older car, it will always hold a special place. The first car I bought all by myself. The first car I drove Nadia to doctor’s appointments and daycare. The very same car I drove when there were two car seats in the back. So many memories of driving the kids. So many memories of little road trips.

Goodbye little grey car, thanks for getting me through my twenties. Looks like I’ll be closing out my thirties driving a minivan!

Happy birthday Trixie, you are two!  “Two” has been one of your favorite words to say for many months and I’m so glad you will now have the joy of telling people “I’m two!”  We celebrated you a little early by sharing cupcakes with friends and taking a walk to see Christmas lights, since you’re an absolutely love Christmas trees “Mismas trees” and Christmas lights “Mismas lights.”  We also got a chance to share cupcakes a little early with Grammy and Papa.   For your actual birthday we celebrated by walking to get pizza, eating birthday cake and puppy themed decorations since you love dogs (and currently call every dog Ginger).  Your favorite toy was a Little People dollhouse.

It has been an exciting year of watching you grow from being a baby to being able to do so many things “by myself.”  You give me so many important reminders to slow down and let you do things for yourself! You are so proud to be able to take care of yourself! While you haven’t learned how to use the potty, for months you have been practicing the routine of picking out a new diaper, pulling down your pants, taking off an old diaper, getting onto a potty, wiping and flushing.  I have a feeling you will be able to put it all together soon!   You also started putting on your shoes by yourself and often like to pick out your clothes.

You certainly take pride in the way you look— people who know you best know how much you love hair bows! You spend a lot of time talking about your hair and asking for help to fix it if something gets messed up!  I’m starting to wonder if it’s time to cut off your baby mullet, but it sure makes it easy to put your hair in pigtails.

You continue to be a very snuggly girl and strongly prefer to fall asleep laying down next to me.  Twice now you managed to sleep all night in your bed although most nights by 1am you walk over to my room and spend the rest of the night next to me.  We recently stopped nursing back to sleep in the middle of the night and you still occasionally yell at me about that at 1am.  I’m so used to the broken sleep I have a feeling I’ll still be waking up around 2 or 3am looking for you for quite some time.

Some of your favorite things from this year have been playing in the water, playing at playgrounds (you are a very good climber), and you recently started enjoying reading books together (specifically Duck and Goose, the Sesame Street character books and the “bee book.”  I have a feeling you will be learning to ride a scooter and balance bike this year!

This week we had two batches of snowy weather which is so unusual here! You really loved sledding and getting bundled up to walk in the snow.  You looked like little penguin the next morning when you tried to walk on the ice.  

You are starting to make small sentences and while I can’t always understand you, I am amazed by how much you can say.  It’s just amazing hearing your little voice. It’s fun to start to have little conversations with you!

We are so proud of you and feel so honored to be your parents!

XOXO,

Mom

Happy 5th birthday Nadia.  You have really grown up this year!  We celebrated your birthday with a trip to Smith Mountain Lake over the weekend. We rented a cabin next door to Grammy and Papa and you and Trixie had a blast walking back and forth between the cabins.  You went kayaking with dad, made crafts with Grammy, and played outside.   Today you requested to stay home from school with just mom– we had a relaxing day together! We baked a vanilla cake with strawberry frosting, and you asked for macaroni and cheese for dinner. Next weekend we will celebrate your birthday with some friends from preschool at the playground. 

When I think about this past year, your interests in a lot of ways are similar to the last few years. You continue to love to read books, some of your favorites this year were the Mercy Watson books and some of the Roald Dahl chapter books.  You learned to write your name and my guess is you will start to read before kindergarten. 

Swimming was a surprise this year- up until this summer you really only enjoyed splashing near water not being in the water.  With a lot of encouragement, you made great progress with swim lessons this year.  It was fun seeing you swim with a kickboard on your own when we went to the beach in August.  We are proud of your hard work at swim lessons! We know you will enjoy being able to swim at the break when we go to Puerto Rico in November!  

One of your favorite places to go is Busch Gardens. You and dad went to Busch Gardens together several times this summer and you finally were brave enough to ride the Sesame Street roller coaster. We also got to go to Sesame Place in Pennsylvania with your cousins Eleanor and Laurel.  It sure is fun watching you have fun!

You are definitely an introvert and still enjoy having time to play on your own at home. You love making intricate set ups for your dolls, the little critter dollhouse, and your collection of little people.  You have a great imagination and sometimes recruit Trixie to help with your dolls. You also love building with the magnetic tiles- although it’s so frustrating when your sister comes along and smashes them. 

You also love making art. You love going into the art box and pulling out markers, paper, glue, and scissors to make your creations.  Dad is pretty good at drawing your favorite characters and you guys have a lot of fun sitting down together to draw.  We always encouraged you to make your own creations on blank paper, but it’s been interesting to watch you start to color inside the lines on your school work.  When we went to a family day at the local art museum you got to help color a mosaic tile as part of a group art project. I could tell the artist leading the exercise was nervous to give you a job, but then was impressed by your focus and careful coloring. I can’t wait to see all the things you make this year!

While we are late to the party, you finally expressed interest to watch a whole movie! So far we have watched Lady and the Tramp, Frozen, 101 Dalmatians, Cinderella, Encanto, Robin Hood and Mulan. We tried Moana but you thought it was too scary! Lady and the Tramp and Mulan seem to be your favorites.

Today when we were spending time together you looked at me and said, “I’m glad you’re my mom.” Nadia- we are so glad you are our daughter! We love you so much! 

Last night I was thinking about the last 18 months and realize you have been a part of our family for a long time! Of course you were a hope and a prayer for a long time and then a prayer answered when we saw that first ultrasound picture and then again when Daniel and the midwife placed you on my chest the night you were born.

Trixie, you bring so much joy to our lives. Nadia has really blossomed this year as she grew into the role of being your big sister. It’s so fun seeing the two of you walk into pre-school together. Last month our routine shifted and now most mornings you ask to bring Nadia to her classroom first. You always walk right up to the sinks to wash hands– surprisingly turning the water on and off by yourself. You have a pretty big fan club among Nadia’s peers– many of the girls make a point to ask for a high five or give a hug. Unlike Nadia who is still so shy, you walk into the room saying “hi” and then later “bye bye” when it is time to go to your classroom.

So many of the other parents in your class comment “She’s so advanced” and I never know quite what to say. You have just breezed through most milestones. You started walking a little before turning one and now you can run, dance, and almost jump! You were a much more selective eater as a baby, preferring pureed foods, cheerios, and a few other staples for a long time. Somehow in the last few months, you have become open to trying a much bigger variety of foods– cucumbers, carrots, strawberries, clementines, cheese are all current favorites. One morning recently you woke up and your first word of the day was “cheese”– I can appreciate a girl who wakes up knowing what she wants!

Listening to your voice develop has been the biggest thrill of the last few months. You are starting to have a pretty big vocabulary! You can say: Mama, Dada, Nana (Nadia), Hi, bye bye, “nigh nigh” (goodnight), cheese, please, a new favorite– green beans, me/ mine (a new development), yes, no, up, doggie, ginger (my parent’s dog), up, outside and probably more words that I’m forgetting. Then there’s the words you still prefer to sign: more, all done, please, nursing/ mama milk, brush teeth, change (you will usually sign “change” after you pee in your diaper). It’s amazing starting to be able to have little conversations together. Sometimes you have so much to say and I can’t understand any of it. This especially seems true in the middle of the night– what could you possibly have to say at 3am?

Just last week we decided to put away the crib and move you into a twin mattress floor bed. It seems like you are sleeping better in your new bed– often you would roll over and get annoyed to bump the sides of the crib. You still always wake up in the middle of the night– looking for Mom and wanting to nurse back to sleep. Two nights ago you woke up and walked over to my bed and simply woke me up saying “Mama.” Moments like that make it hard to deny you aren’t exactly a baby anymore. You are becoming a little kid!

One thing that really surprises me is how much you love dogs. You love to go up to the window to see if any dogs might be out for a walk in the neighborhood. You also frequently ask about “Gin-gur,” my parent’s dog. In fact my dad came to church with us this weekend and you sat on his lap for awhile and I heard you ask him about Ginger in the middle of church! While we’re definitely not wanting to get a dog, you have convinced me we could probably adopt a cat!

You are starting to get into taking care of baby dolls and love using the little stroller. This is both a lot of fun for Nadia and annoying since you now want to use many of the same toys. Learning to take turns is a real challenge these days, although Nadia is surprisingly patient most of the time.

As much as I love our family just as it is now, part of me wonders if we will ever have another baby. I recently packed away more baby clothes and Nadia said “Maybe we could save them in case we have another baby.” Knowing you might be our last baby has certainly helped me really enjoy these moments because I know how quickly they will pass!

Happy first birthday Beatrix!  Trixie, BeeBee, Tricky, Sunflower, Trix– you accumulated a lot of nicknames this year! Gosh, these last twelve months have flown by so quickly!  You are such a special part of our family and so beloved by your teachers at daycare.  People often comment on your “chill” personality and of course your big brown eyes!   

We had a little birthday breakfast at home, then you went to daycare together, and this evening Grammy and Papa came over for dinner, presents, and birthday cake! You were so funny with your cake– you had no interest touching it, but enjoyed being fed spoonfuls of cake! Like a queen!

In the time we have gotten to know each other, I think you will be more outgoing than Nadia and perhaps our whole family!  We recently went to Busch Gardens and you made so many friends by making silly faces at strangers in line!  Another difference is that you rarely get spooked by loud sounds like the blender or coffee grinder.  In fact, a few days ago you feel asleep while I held you at the Christmas parade despite the cold weather and drumming of the marching bands.  

The biggest highlight this month is watching you learn to walk!  You can take a string of about 5-6 steps now! Nadia has been so encouraging when she sees you walking and your teachers are so proud of you!!  You still crawl and gesture to be picked up often, but I love watching you walk.

It makes me so happy to hear you say “mama,” since for months you could only say “dada.”  Although, I hear “mama” so often because you get so offended when I leave the room or walk by without taking you with me. Nadia will say, “I want to hug Trixie but she only wants to hug YOU!”  I guess you’re a big mama’s girl. 

As I reflect on your first year, so many things felt so much easier compared to Nadia’s first year. While I suspect your temperaments are different, I also realize parenting was much harder when we had to learn everything as it came!  Realistic expectations about babies and a basic framework for the decisions around feeding, sleeping, and childcare basics really reduced the stress of parenting.   

Most nights you go to bed around 8pm, but wake up around 10pm looking to nurse and cuddle. While you usually wake a couple times overnight, it’s been so much easier for me to get enough rest by having you sleep with me.  Embracing the path of least resistance has been such a blessing.  I’m sure one day I’ll be sick of breastfeeding and co-sleeping but for now it works for both of us.  I’m very thankful to be able to offering a feeding while I’m half asleep vs. trying to sing lullabies and rock you back to sleep at 2am.

I also recognize how little unsolicited advice I received this year.  I don’t know if it just looks like we know what we’re doing, but it’s been lovely not to second-guess every parenting decision! 

It’s getting easier to navigate finding ways to lean into the joys of parenting without totally losing myself in the process.  Fresh air and exercise really recharge my batteries and I have loved getting out for walks or pushing you on the swings at the playground!  Likewise, we have found outdoorsy family time to be our happy place- we love trips to Lewis Ginter, camping, and taking nature walks.

Hindsight has also taught me that it was really stressful becoming a parent in 2020 during the pandemic.  The stress of taking Nadia to the pediatrician every time she had congestion, a cough or fever to rule out COVID so that she could go to daycare. The added stress of worrying during social outings if it would be “worth it” if we all got COVID and had to piece together childcare and time off work for the next 10 days. 

I didn’t feel comfortable risking the exposure from the gym until Nadia was about two years old, which meant I half-exercised between naps or while she was semi-occupied on the floor with me.  Now I realize how good it has been for my mental health to be able to exercise at the gym on Saturday mornings and to bring you to the childcare room. I see how helpful it was to have the encouragement, “It’ll get better!” from my gym friends on the mornings when you didn’t like the nursery and one of us left the gym class a little early. 

So perhaps I want to say thank you for showing me how much I have grown as a parent.  I realize how hard some of that stuff was with Nadia and it’s been nice to have the chance to do it again but with more rest and support.  

Happy birthday sweet girl.  You are such a blessing to our family.  I can’t wait to continue to see the smart, silly girl you are becoming!

Wow, next month is the big ONE!  I’m gearing up for your big first birthday and Christmas!!  I’m hoping you will love Christmas because I’m envisioning future birthday parties spent decorating Christmas cookies and gingerbread houses! 

I thought you might be walking at 11 months, but we haven’t seen it yet.  You can stand on your own for brief periods and go where you want to go by holding onto to something, crawling or climbing!  I was surprised to see you standing at the bathroom sink last week— you climbed right up Nadia’s step stool!  You’re pretty fast going up the stairs too.  

You’re in the silly phase of doing little antics like pulling the roll of toilet paper off the holder and then ripping it up into tiny pieces.  It mostly just makes me laugh but it drives your dad crazy.  

One of my favorites this month was seeing how happy you are sitting inside the Cozy Coupe car!  Nadia has a lot of fun pushing you around the deck. 

We got to celebrate your first Halloween!  Nadia wanted to match so you guys wore pumpkin costumes and doctor costumes.  We went trick or treating for a few houses and you seemed happy to be along for the ride! Nadia was so excited to get candy she wanted to go home pretty quickly to sort her candy with Grammy and Papa who were visiting. 

We also took you on your first big hike in Shenandoah National Park!  You did great in the backpack, although you were annoyed at times when Nadia wanted to walk slowly.  It’s fun thinking of all the adventures we will have when you’re walking around too!

It is hard to believe that tomorrow morning Nadia will be four years old! I was thinking about the end of my pregnancy and that long wait to go into labor as Nadia was born 10 days after my due date. I spent that last week of the pregnancy/ first week of maternity leave cleaning the house, making freezer meals, I baked a birthday cake, watched TV, did so many neighborhood walks, etc. As I was cleaning up for Nadia’s birthday party tomorrow, I did think to myself “I doubt the house has EVER been as clean as it was the day she was born!”

Yes, our house is messier, but also so much more colorful with you in our lives! Our walls are decorated with your artwork– lately you have been on a kick where you draw me a picture every morning when you arrive at preschool. You love to draw and paint– I have a feeling that will be a life-long interest.

You also DEVOUR books! This past week we started our first couple of chapter book series because you asked to read a book that you can’t “finish in one night.” The first “Mercy Watson” story was very cute and I’m looking forward to reading more of “Harriet’s Hare.” Most weeks one of your favorite outings is going to the library to get new books.

We finally conceded that we don’t need to be a completely screen-free family, and you have graduated from wanting to watch Sesame Street to watching your new favorite– Peppa Pig. You love to say some of Peppa’s British expressions, and it is very cute. You also love to watch Bluey and we often listen to the soundtrack in the car!

In many ways you seem like an old soul– lately if we are driving together, you will ask me to play one of your favorite songs: “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie or “Down to the River to Pray” by Alison Krauss. It sure is have having someone around who not only looks like me but likes the same music!

You still would rather observe for a long time in new situations, although thankfully now a lot of the world isn’t so new to you anymore! You used to spend the first 45 minutes of a birthday party clinging to my leg, yet today you saw your friend at the playground and ran up and gave her a big hug and ran off together. It’s been fun to see your friendships develop with your friends from preschool and of course your cousin Eleanor (just a year younger). It seems like playing kitchen or “birthday cake” is a favorite activity.

Of course, I can’t talk about this past year without mentioning that you became a big sister to Beatrix! You have moments where you are annoyed at her for knocking down your trains, blocks, etc. But, more often you are excited to spend time together whether its being pushed together in the stroller for a walk after dinner or asking if you can give Trixie something to eat at dinner. I think you guys are definitely going to have all kinds of fun!

So many of your baby traits are gone– your hair finally grew in this past year, you mostly say words correctly although you still say “yummy bears” instead of gummy bears, and you’re even mostly independent in the bathroom. I’ve gotten used to thinking of you as a “big kid” but it’s comforting to see when you play alongside elementary school-aged kids that I realize you will still be our little girl for many more years!

Thank you for being such a wonderful part of our family!! Our happy camper!!

I may be a week late to type this up, but I still think of you the 11th of each month and can’t believe another month passed by us. You are almost one year old! You are also a baby on the move. You are crawling, standing (while holding onto something mostly, but sometimes you will stand still for a minute), and crawling up the stairs! You like to explore the bathroom, you find the toilet and shower very interesting and sometimes you reach into the trash can. Yuck! You also like going into the lower kitchen cabinets and seeing what you can pull out by yourself.

You’re beginning to babble and sign more words–Dada, Yaya (Nadia), Yes, more, all done, and every once in a while you will say “mama.” You also really enjoy clapping hands or passing a ball back and forth.

It’s just wild to think that a few months ago you couldn’t move anywhere or speak, and now you’re practically ready to take on the world. It’s so fun seeing your excitment as you learn to interact with your world.

I don’t know if you will be our last baby, but just in case you are I’m really trying to savor this phase. Yes, there are some hard moments (you still wake up several times every night), but because you’re my second baby I know this phase with its joys and trials will eventually end. I also know how to be a pretty functional human being with months of broken sleep– thank goodness!

I think there’s a chance that I will be saying you’re walking next month! It’s starting to get cold outside and you still HATE having your feet covered. I sure hope you decide to embrace a foot ware option soon!

Trixie you are nine months old!!  Next week I’m determined to get a picture of us together so I can compare what you looked like when I was 40 weeks pregnant.  What a beautiful, smart, inquisitive girl you are becoming!  

With prompting from dad, you now are beginning to use sign language.  When we eat family meals you sort of clap your hands to sign “more” and really wave those arms to signal “all done” at the end of meals.  Another favorite thing to sign is “up” when you would like to be carried.  I have also watched you wave “hello” a few times!  In terms of vocalized speech, you’re favorite thing to babble is “dadada” and I’m starting to hear some “yaya” which I wonder if that’s your attempt to say Nadia’s name. 

You really can crawl quickly and are able to pull yourself to standing, often to get to one of your favorite places–the toilet!  Hence, we have also been practicing washing hands often.  Of course time will tell, but I think you will be walking by your first birthday.  

You are mostly open to trying new foods, but it seems like you really prefer sweet flavors as fruits are almost always your favorites. We’re ending the season of corn on the cobb– it was really adorable seeing how much you enjoyed that this summer!

We really enjoyed visiting with family this past month. Grandma came up to visit from Florida and stayed with us for about a week to play with Nadia and meet you! Together we went to the playground, Lewis Ginter garden, and walked around Busch Gardens. Then the next weekend we drove to Upstate New York to celebrate Great Aunt Mary & Uncle Bruce’s 50th Anniversary. It was so fun introducing you to cousins (well you met them before), second cousins, great-aunts and uncles.

The big highlight this month was watching you learn to crawl! Seems like you are in a hurry to explore the house all by yourself you like crawling into the kitchen pantry and of course finding toys scattered throughout the house!

It’s fun to see more of your personality develop and I love listening to you and Nadia giggling at each other! I can only imagine the fun you guys will have growing up together. Although she sometimes feels jealous, I think Nadia really loves having a sister.

Some of your favorites lately have been riding in the swings (either in the backyard or at a playground), crawling, stealing food like French fries at the baseball game, and snuggling for naps. Because you’re our second child we don’t worry if you will ever sleep by yourself in the crib, we are simply enjoying the snuggles for as long as they last!

Now that you’re starting to move around on your own, I realize it won’t be much longer for the other big milestones: first steps, first words, waving. There’s a part of me that wishes you could forever be our baby, but since you can’t I’m determined to savor these last few months before you turn 1.