New Camera

Thank GOD we got a new camera! This picture shows the new blue of our stairs and hallway, it's nice, right? Let's see, we made it through two weeks of Veronica and Maria sharing a room. They are both doing very well, although we still get a little messed up about naps. Today they slept until 6:15, which is a miracle. Poor Maria only napped for one hour, which is not enough for a crazy person like her. She was a little rough before bed, but now the two girls are up there and I don't even hear their normal chatting. I can't believe tomorrow is July and then Maria will start preschool at the end of August, I think. I am having kind of a hard time meeting the moms from her school. (I just heard her yell, see what I get for talking about her and how well she and V are doing?). Anyway, they have had these playdates allegdly so we can meet and our kids can meet, but I went to one and no one was very friendly. This is how I find some groups of women to be, I'm sad to say. Once they have another friend, it's like that's it! They're done! I feel that way too, I mean, I am not really looking for any best friends, but man - I think it seems polite to say hello!

Anyways. I'm sure it will all work out when she starts in school. She is as funny and cute as ever. She loves the pool and she loves taking her diaper off to get in the pool, and really, just taking her diaper off. Kook.

Great Nap

 
Maria took a great, long nap today. It's good news, to be sure, but even if she takes a good nap, she's still kind of a pissant by the end of the day. We just put the girls to bed and they are BOTH in there babbling away. Sharing a room is going so well, and if we could just get their wake up time pushed til 6:00, it would be so much better. Maria and Veronica are not napping at the same time anymore, which can really mean a day full of putting down someone or other for a nap and nothing else. We did go to a playgroup yesterday and I think Maria had a lot of fun. I can't believe it's the end of June already, and then we'll have July and August and then she'll be in preschool! It blows my mind. I can't wait, I think she'll do really well there. It went badly when I tried to leave them in the Y nursery, but I bet if I could go back she'd be okay. We just haven't had a chance to go back because of naps. I want to get Maria started in swimming lessons this winter - I want to do the winter because I want to be guaranteed that we'll be indoors. So Fall should be big for us! IF we make it, ha!

Sleeping Giant

 
Doesn't she look huge here? She's not, she's the same old size. She fell asleep on the beanbag chair that we brought up for Anthony to rest on, ha! He is sick but she is fine, so far. She has never really been sick since she's been like a year old, and I am not looking forward to it!

Cheese!

In her newly painted room. I said, say cheese!, and she did. She wakes up too early these days, and she still wants to go in the damned car every two seconds, but except for that, being with Maria these days is a real treat. She makes me laugh all the time. She LOVES Ryan, our friend who is painting the house. Today he was leaving and she was standing at the door, watching him go. She had said "Bye, Ryan!" like 100 times as he was leaving and after he left she stood at the door, sort of sighing and she said "I see Ryan". It's cute, and so is she.

Lunch

Here's Maria with Veronica, and also my friend Amy's dog. We moved the girls in together last night and it's been ... rough, to say the least. I am praying it starts to go better. In the meantime, isn't Maria gorgeous? Look at her, I think her hair looks perfect and I love her shirt here. It is a good thing, about her gorgeousness and her clothes because really. She can be beyond unpleasant, especially when she is tired, which she always is.

Sweet

Mike got her to sit down and smile. So it's cheesy, but it's there. We are going to buy a new camera, I just hate to do it before I get the money from the insurance company.

She looks so happy here. I mean, she is really happy all of the time. I guess I'd be happy if I got everything I wanted! My mom and I were talking about happiness, or the lack thereof, yesterday and I was thinking. I am not really in this job to be happy. I want my kids to be happy and healthy and good, solid citizens. Who is happy when they are pouring out everything they have every day into three little kids, one of whom doesn't talk or acknowledge almost anything? WHO? And are they high, all the time? Because that is the only way I can see it. And who cares, anyway? If you are home with little kids, and you are HAPPY all the time about it, feel free to leave a comment. But know that I will accused you of being a) high or b) a big, fat liar.

Impossible

It's so hard to take a picture of her. I haven't charged the phone my brother gave me, so I used my phone to take these. She NEVER stands still, so they are going to be blurry. She looks a LOT like me in this picture. I have a picture of (well, maybe my mom has it) me in the tub? And it looks exactly like this, down to the nakedness! Ha!

Maria is doing well here lately. She is sleeping well and is generally pretty pleasant. We are going to start toilet training in earnest next month. She starts preschool in September. Things are a lot easier in the summer.

Ha, as I say this, she is ALL UP IN MY FACE about GOING OUT IN THE CAR. It's 8:30 in the morning. Veronica is back for a nap already. I am trying to tell Maria about mornings and social rules and how NOBODY ELSE WANTS TO GO OUT AT THIS HOUR but she cares not.

Maria loves to be outside and she loves to have her clothes off. "Shirt off!", she'll say. "Pants off!". "Diaper OFF!". She is a bossy thing, of course, but boy oh boy has she been fun lately. She talks so much and she's so funny. She sings a lot, she loves the pool, she loves when people come over. Our friend Ryan is painting our house and she must say hi to him 1,000 times a day. "Hi, Ryan! How you?" She says it all the time and he is, thank God, a father of two, so he's super patient and says hi and fine every time.