headline news

All day I've been thinking about the headlines tomorrow, and what they should read. Something like "WONDER BABY SOOTHES SELF TO SLEEP!" or "MIRACLE BABY NEEDS NO 2-HOUR SLEEP ROUTINE." It's like the Weekly World News over here, you just wouldn't believe it!

Lilly (best. baby. ever.) is doing really well. Maybe it's just us, or maybe just her, but most likely a combination of her being great and us being more low-key this time around. Don't get me wrong, when Ben lets her "talk" (i.e. "she's just talking, AJ") for 1/2 hour when I'm getting ready instead of picking her up like I would, I still have a bit of a fit, but it's really more laid back this time. (And, he's probably right...when we had Helena my Great Aunt spent untold hours saying "let her cry! You never let her cry! I never hear that baby cry!"...and at the time I thought, 'wellll, that's good, right?' But now I think, okay, we were a little over the top, since she was 2 months old at the time and a wail never escaped her lips.)

The babies are so different and it's amazing, since 1) they came out like little clones, and 2) they're both from the same parents and all. But Helena who was VERY active from day 1 (so, so active) was just never one to be unstimulated. It was a demanding job. Lilly, however, just hangs out on her little pad under the jungle gym hangy-down thingy, laughing to herself, cooing, rolling over. It's so cute. It really makes me appreciate this baby, since who knows how many children we will have (or even can have--so many friends having hard times getting pregnant). Helena was born June 1 and slept through the night for the first time March 9 of the next year. I'll never forget that date. Lilly slept about 5 hours the day we brought her home from the hospital and I don't think she's ever (oh, where's the wood to knock on??) slept less than that at night, ever. Except for a month-long bout with severe acid-reflux (thank you, Prevacid), she has always slept "through the night" and by that I mean until 4-6am. What a baby!

(It still is amazing to me how different they are. And, haha, suckers, I think a lot of my friends had the "easy" baby first and the "challenging" baby second. Ahh, dumb luck!)

I love them both sooo much it's a little scary. You make these little beings and then there's just so much more risk to life, if you want to see it that way. There's so much of your heart out there ready to be trampled on any time if they get hurt in any way. But it's really good, in a strange way, too.

Now, on to Helena being intelligent and amazing in her 3-year-old self, because 1) she is, and 2) she started SCHOOl this week. AMAZING, right??! It's preschool, and because of that we have to (gulp) pay for it, but I really think it's going to be worth it, since she's going to absolutely love it. When I was explaining to her "Tuesday we will go to school and I will stay with you, and Thursday you will go all by yourself!" she said, "I'm so sad." Well, naturally this touched my heart so much. She's never really been clingy at all and sometimes it's pretty cute when she shows just a touch of sentimentality. So I said, "oh honey, it's okay! Mommy's going to be here today and we can see what a great class you have and--" (and this is where she interrupted me) she replied,
"I'M SO SAD YOU ARE GOING TO STAY WITH ME." Hah!

"THREE-YEAR-OLD TO CARE LESS IF MOM LEAVES HER AT SCHOOL FOR THE FIRST TIME"--extra, extra, read all about it!