Autumn and Three Months for Nora

Fall is in the air!  I think everybody and their brother chooses fall as their favorite season, and I guess I am one of the masses.  We get to enjoy the New England autumn in a town that is full of numerous different deciduous trees... it is just so beautiful.  

She is obsessed with this coat because it has pockets...  her day is MADE when I put anything in it (from candy corn to chapstick)

Things around the Poole household are going pretty well... and it always comes back to sleep!  If you ever want an accurate reading on how a family is doing, ask how the kids are sleeping and you will get your answer.  

We sleep trained Riley (again) starting about two weeks ago, and she is doing incredibly well with it.  I was terrified that we were going to be looking at weeks of emotionally charged tantrums and crocodile tears, but it actually only took two days.  TWO DAYS.  She cried for 20 minutes the first night - that was it!  Those 20 minutes were brutal for me - she kept saying mama over and over in the saddest tone ever.  And then she slept through the night!  The next night took about two minutes, and luckily for me she was repeating dada that time.  And she slept through the night.  

Now bedtime is actually enjoyable!  I would never in my wildest dreams have attached the word enjoyable to bedtime, but, at this moment in time, it is.  She loves to pick out her own pajamas (usually emptying her drawer of her Sofia the First and Tinkerbell jammies saying wow with each piece), and for some reason she has been laughing when I brush her teeth (probably because her brush spins around and has princesses on it). Then we snuggle in her chair and read book after book... well, we read the first few pages of many books.  Then after saying goodnight to her lamp, we set her in the crib and she falls asleep when she's ready.  

I think my favorite thing about it is that I finally get to blow her a kiss and say I love you before closing the door.  I used to be unable to even kiss her or whisper those words to her in fear of waking her up.  

7:15pm - 6:00am.  It is amazing.  I guess I should clarify...  it is amazing until I have to peel my eyes open to greet my energetic toddler before dawn.

Nora is pretty up and down.  She was sleeping until 3 or 4 in the morning, but this past week she's been up two or three times a night.  My gut feeling is that she is going through a growth spurt and is getting hungry more often.  So just when we get Riley straightened out with sleep, Nora flips a switch.

Oh sleep... I will meet you again one day.

Nora is getting so big it is killing me.  She is entering that squishy, giggly, gurgly, cheeky, gooey phase and I just love it. I could eat her up. She is just so sweet... She is pretty lean, especially in comparison to Riley at this age.  It is interesting putting Nora in Riley's old clothes because it really give me perspective on their physical differences.  Pants that were skin tight on Riley are baggy and too short on Nora.  

One of the perks of raising a second child is I am much less worried about the little things than I was with Riley.  For example, Nora is a tummy sleeper.  She always has been, and we've always allowed it.  We weren't able to swaddle her when she had her brace, so back sleeping was very, very difficult.  So at this point, she panics in the swaddle and flails when on her back, so tummy it is!  

Right now Nora is smiling like crazy, cooing and chatting, and is a very efficient eater. She is starting to grab and hold onto things, and can hold her head and chest up when she's on her belly.  She's definitely in-between sizes though... too thin for 3 month clothes, but also too long for them!  

She had her backpack on, her stroller filled, her baby-carrier in place, and suitcase ready to go... she clearly paid attention when Charley and I were hauling them through the airport (it was quite the scene)

For some reason, the rolling suitcase is by far her favorite "toy" at this point in time

The past few weeks we've been looking into preschools for Riley (they start at age 2.9), and it feels incredibly surreal to me. First of all, it hardly seems possible that this baby I gave birth to 23 months ago is already nearing the age for backpacks, homework and parent-teacher conferences. I'm not ready to hand my child over to another person five days a week... I'm certain I'll feel a bit differently in a year from now, especially when Riley will be older and more developmentally ready for school...  but right now it is tough to imagine.  And once school starts it never stops!  

Secondly, it is odd being on this side of the fence.  The classroom seems so much different from a parent's perspective than a teacher's.  When I toured the schools I scoured the rooms looking for clues of quality teachers while trying to imagine how my child would do in it.  I also couldn't help being a little bit judgmental and uneasy.  I guess I just know how different teachers are - some can view teaching as a job, and others a passion.

I know Riley will love school, and I am profoundly jealous of the fact that her teachers will get to experience it with her and not me.  They will get to see her face light up when she learns something new, they will see the pride on her face when she figures something out, they will hear her laugh as she plays with her first friends (and who will they be?!), they will be hugging her when she gets hurt or frustrated... And don't get me wrong, I know it is the best thing for her to detach from me and I her (I won't homeschool her or anything!), but it is very bittersweet... especially since I know how magical the classroom can be.  

Well, after writing this out I have drawn two conclusions:  I will be crying a LOT more than Riley on her first day of school, and I (kind of) miss teaching.

We are so lucky to have neighbors with kids the girls' ages.   It is pretty incredible.  We had a few families over to celebrate the season and here are some of the kiddos.  We are missing 4 others all around Riley or Nora's age.

On another note, I've realized recently that I really love parenting.  It has taken me a while to get here because it has been such a roller coaster of infants and pregnancy for the last few years...  it has been very easy to focus on (and impossible to ignore) the challenges, which is largely because the amount that Charley and I (and all new parents) have to adapt to an entirely new life/lifestyle is almost incomprehensible.  We love our children the second we meet them (and even before), yet we struggle to love the strain it puts on relationships, routines, cleanliness, physical appearance, time, sleep, health, work, and all other facets of life!

Perhaps I am now getting into a groove, or maybe I've just accepted a few truths about life as a new parent... but it is such a blessing to have the opportunity to raise these incredible little souls.   One of the biggest gifts of being a parent is getting the chance at a second childhood.  We don't form memories of life at Nora or Riley's age - we will never remember all of those firsts or the crazy emotions only toddlers can have.  And as a parent, I get to experience it and cherish it especially knowing that it is fleeting.  

It is hard to believe that my next post will be of Riley's second birthday (and Nora's 4th month, although the monthly milestones stand out a little less the second time around - sorry Nora!).

Somebody told me yesterday that when it comes to life with kids, the days are long and the years are short.  And, for me at least, this is the truth.  While it feels like it takes forEVER to get through the day and make it to bedtime, it feels like the years are just melting away...