A typical day in the life of Her Royal Excitedness turned "Mommy"

One of the benefits of having hardwood floors downstairs is getting to watch my baby girl sit on them and scoot herself around in circles using her little tiny feet. Every time she sees me again, she gives me a big grin and an occasional squeal. Surely this sort of thing was the catalyst for the ever-popular sit-n-spin.

Last night was one of the first nights since her birth that I didn't have to get out of bed once. I still woke up around 2-ish and 5-ish, but I was able to go right back to sleep--until 6:30. For about two weeks, Mira slept through the night but Judah would wake up for one reason or another. This time, everyone slept soundly all night. Ah, Sleep, glorious Sleep.

More Mira milestones for my memory:

Miriam is one week from being a full 11 months old. Judah is 3 1/2, seeming particularly close to 4 today.

Mira likes to imitate making raspberries (zerbert sounds) and clicking sounds with her tongue. She also likes to shake her head back and forth in her very babyish--not fully in control of the movement--sort of way. It's especially cute when she tries to make a sound at the same time.

She loves to make a noise while I move my hand back and forth in front of her mouth. If I stop doing it, she'll do it herself. Her lack of coordination always makes me smile.

She has started playing peek-a-boo by looking down and when we say, "Where's Miriam?" she looks up and giggles. Today she started raising her hands when we say, "Peek-a-boo!" or "There she is!"

She much prefers to feed herself than to be spoon-fed. She has also begun to prefer textured foods (like oatmeal) to pureed foods (like jarred veggies). Right now, she seems to prefer red over green.

She can now climb up our entire flight of stairs. She climbs all over the place on the playgrounds we frequent.

She always surprises me with how much she knows--and then I remember how old she is. She's just so tiny!

She hit a little growth spurt in the past couple weeks (must be all the sleep) and is now wearing most 6-9 months clothes and a couple 12 months (if they've already been shrunk in the wash). When she was 10 months, she fit well in her 3-6 months clothes and several 0-3 months dresses and pants still fit. The last time I weighed her, she was 16.5 lbs. (many babies triple their birth weight by their first birthday--she has about another 8 lbs. to go).

I love how tiny she is. It makes it easy to hold her, which I've thoroughly enjoyed.

Current Judah antics:

Right now, Judah is putting his "babies" (7 stuffed animals) to sleep. One of them is wearing his pajamas. He made a bed for them out of pillows, covered them with my jacket, and said he was going to sleep next to them.

Earlier, he made a baby carrier for Piglet out of some cardboard and a jump rope (he acquired my help after much frustration). He had me put Piglet's arms through the holes, his legs stuck out of the bottom, and he faced out while strapped to Judah. Then, he placed his sword in the carrier (like Westley from The Princess Bride).

OK, he JUST NOW walked in and asked me to help him get his sheild on. He has on a Zoro hat, a Batman mask, purple mittens (with hearts on them), a sword, a shield, and some plastic armor that James taped in the back so it would fit (he got the latter three from Kim's house on Sunday night while we were helping her clean, pack, and move).

He says, "Who do I look like? I think I look like a pirate. OK, bye bye, I'm going to fight the bad guys. I fight-ed the bad guys! Do I have a mask on to cover my identity?"

He told me earlier that if I colored a picture for him like he colored one for me that it would make me one of the good guys. How could I resist?

And now he's trying to fit his stuffed animals into his armor to carry them around. He came to me and said, "Mommy, I have some babies for you. Would you like to take them out of my baby carrier?" His baby carrier has a dragon on the front.

I took out Piglet and Champ (who is dressed in Judah's pajamas).

Then he says, "Have a sword so you can fight the mean animals that wants to eat your babies."

It's a grand life--even though my house is a wreck and my body aches. These children are delightful.