That Baby

I know, three posts in as many days.  What is up? you ask.  Well, I'm ready to be back in the blog world.  After a much too long hiatus, I have found that I have things to talk about again. Some of you have very sweetly sent me messages over the months telling me you miss my blog and wish I'd start it up again.  Thank you, I truly appreciated the words of encouragement. So, forgive me as I try to catch you all back up on the goings on in our family life.  

Let's start with Vivian.  Ah, Vivian.

Vivian turned 18 months in August.  There are lots of words to describe Vivian--fun, crazy, stubborn, wreck-less, smart, sweet, cranky, cute. She's definitely keeping us on our toes, and some days I am holding on to my sanity by the skin of my teeth.

 Vivian refuses to be left behind.  If Elisabeth and Julia have something, there better be one for Vivian.  If Elisabeth and Julia are going somewhere, wait up, cause Vivian's going too.  She pushes her way into what they are doing whether she's been invited or not. This kid will not be a wallflower.

 She is at that stage where she is parroting everything we say, so we've all had to step it up in the attitude department.  Stub your toe and tempted to say that four letter swear word?  Better rethink it unless you want to hear that baby mimic you perfectly.  Vivian is incredible at being able to express herself.  Currently, when she wants your attention she'll say, "(insert name), come here!" in her tiny voice accompanied with a little hand gesture to emphasize her point. It's hard to not comply.

 Vivian's favorites:
Reading books.  She has four books that are must reads at bedtime and she spends a good amount of time during the day looking at books in the play area. Definitely winning her mommy over with the love of reading.

Her pig.  She has a stuffed pig that has recently become her favorite thing ever.  It goes with us places, sits by her when she is on the couch, and sometimes accompanies her to bed.

Running outside when Evan gets home from work.  She likes Evan.

The outside.  She often needs to run, jump on the trampoline, mow the grass with her mower, or get pushed in her car.  It's been so freaking hot lately that we can't just let her out, which infuriates her and makes her a bit of a beast. Thankfully, she and Julia enjoy running laps inside.

Not sleeping. Vivian is by far the worst sleeper I have ever birthed. She just loves sleeping with people  and wakes up throughout the night seeking us.  I'm pretty sure she'll want to bunk up with Julia, who is also a cuddler.  Maybe we'll get them a double bed and they can feel safe and secure all night long. But, for now, Vivian hangs out in her crib for half the night and by around 1-2am, winds up snuggling up with me in our bed.  Good thing she's cute.

 Vivian does not yet have a nickname.  When we write about her on texts, emails, or facebook, we refer to her as V, but we don't actually call her that.  To be honest, what we do call her is That Baby, as in, "That Baby climbed on the table again." or "That Baby just dumped my full cup of coffee again."  She's the daredevil of our three--pushing the laws of gravity daily, defying death at least once a week, living on the wild side.

 I will say this, Vivian is fun.  She is sweet and has a pretty mature sense of humor for a toddler. She loves giving out hugs and kisses.

 Vivian is Julia's shadow.  She does everything Julia does, says everything Julia says. I recently told someone, Vivian wants to be Julia when she grows up.

 They bicker, of course.  They often both "need" to have the same toy or sit in the same spot and there is no room for compromise.  But, for the most part, they are very sweet together. When I take the girls to our Y kid area, I am constantly told what a great big sister Julia is; she makes sure Vivian is ok and comforts her if Vivian gets upset.  They say that Julia includes her even when Julia's playing with other kids.  It is all things I have witnessed myself, but it's nice to hear that others see them being kind to each other too.

 Elisabeth is like a little mother to Vivian.  She is constantly telling me she'll hold Vivian when we are places or volunteers to clothe, bathe, feed Vivian.  Seeing them together is cute, because there is 9 years between them, but they have a special connection. I have no doubt that Vivian will rely on Elisabeth as a source of counsel as they get older.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, we kind of like Vivian.

 That Baby is going to be a lot of fun. :)