my family twelve times | september

september | at a glance

-- Somehow, this photo pretty accurately describes my kids right now. Caleb is starting to really assert himself, and Maggie loves it. I can already see them becoming buddies.

-- I feel like September came and went before I had a chance to stop and take it all in. I'm seriously amazed that it's already October!

-- Maggie is mildly obsessed with Dora the Explorer. If you've ever seen the show, you know that Dora usually visits three locations on her way to one specific destination, and she continually repeats the order of her trip throughout the show. Maggie likes to make every day like a Dora episode and she frequently lists out her goals when she wakes up. "Mom? First, we're going to get up and have breakfast. Then, we're going to play outside. Then, we'll go to the store! Breakfast, Outside, Store! Breakfast, Outside, Store!" The first time she did this, I'm pretty sure I just stared at her.

-- Caleb is crazy. He easily pulls up on all of our furniture, and he really likes to make drum out of every surface. He has also started jumping in his crib when he wakes up. And when we come in to get him, he gets so excited that he does a face plant right into his mattress. Seriously. Every morning. It's hilarious!

-- Being married to me is challenging (seriously, ask Tim) because despite all of my best efforts, I continually do inconvenient things like locking myself out of the house in the middle of the day and misplacing important things in our house. (Apparently, keeping my business organized maxes out my organization quota.) But Tim never makes me feel bad about it. And while this is true all year long, it was especially true in September. I can think of several times when I needed him to bail me out, and he did it without complaining. I love him.

-- When Caleb's hair first started growing in, it stuck straight up in the air. This was the first thing that strangers would comment on whenever we went out in public, and I really loved how it seemed to fit his personality. This month, his hair grew enough that it doesn't stick up in quite the same way. It looks more normal now... and honestly, I'm a little sad to see it change.

-- Maggie has started saying, "I love you, mom" and "I love you, Dad" out of nowhere when we're spending time together. It's so sweet, and it always earns her a big hug and plenty of kisses. But I've noticed that sometimes, when she wants our attention, she'll say, "I love you, Caleb" and she won't even be looking at him. In fact, sometimes he's not even in the room. She'll say it while staring at Tim or me and then smile as if she's waiting for something.

-- Maggie has started to really freak out when I leave the house. It definitely makes working more difficult.

-- Caleb still doesn't have any teeth. I suppose this isn't a special September milestone, but the fact that he doesn't have teeth yet has made me realize something about me as a mom because people always comment on it. "He doesn't have teeth yet? Wow! When did Maggie cut her first tooth?" And I realize that I have no idea. Seriously. I really don't know. I'm always amazed when moms can rattle off the ages of all their children when they hit different milestones. And I probably won't ever be able to do that. But... I do have a photo of Maggie when she first stood up, and I have a picture of Caleb enjoying food for the first time. I can remember both moments perfectly.

-- The other day, Maggie said, "My blankie's speaking Spanish! You want to see?" Then she put her blanket in front of her face and said, "Uno, dos, case!"

Thanks for reading! This month, my girl turns three. Three! I will definitely reflect more on her birthday later on...

This post was inspired by Tara Whitney.