Is it possible to be tired of traveling but happy to visit? Wayne and I are tired. We’d like to stay in our own beds for a extended period time. Wayne wants to mow the lawn, wash the cars, and declutter the house from our crumbs of packing and unpacking. Fairly pedestrian desires, but I can understand. We’re very practiced at travel with two as the Laura Road Show continues. Comet isn’t sure he still how owners. Summer will bring visitors but less plane travel which will be a relief.
As we travel, our two traveling girls continue to grow. I feel like life is moving fast right now, sometimes too fast.
Laura is now rolling. I was arguing with Laura’s caretaker whether she was rolling back ->front or front->back for the first time last week. I guess I should start with the basics. Laura has been sitting for a month now. She’s profoundly happy with this event. She is much more entertained and content when she’s able to sit up. It’s also more perilous. Especially when she’s tired, she arches backwards and hits her head. Actually, she can pretty much fall 360 degrees. Currently, she’s much better at tripoding and stability. While not a fan of tummy time, she’s been lifting her head up with more efficiency versus just grinding her nose into the floor in frustration. She’s also trying to sit up from a lying position. Her grandmother, always a motivator for mobility (Sara started walking when Grandma was visiting), has jumpstarted her rolling campaign and got her making some initial moves toward crawling.
Now what she does is pitch forward onto her belly, lift up her head for a few minutes and then roll onto her back while crying bloody murder in frustration. She can get some distance with this maneuver which makes her very dangerous on beds. She has also broken the pillow zone. I normally make pillow buildings around her when she’s on the bed, giving myself a false sense of security. While in Nashville, I tried to put her to pallet of blankets surrounded by pillows on the floor for her to go to bed. She proceeded to roll through the pillows and ended up frustrated and crying beneath the bed. So we tried to put her to sleep in her carseat on the floor. She wasn’t strapped in. She was able to pitch forward and again ended up outside the carseat under the bed crying. It was a rough night for her. From now on, it’s playyards for us.
Laura’s been talking for awhile, but she melted Wayne’s heart by saying ‘dada’ about 4 wks ago. She loves to have conversations with me. She’s a flirt. She’ll give these little half smiles that break your heart. While she’s happy to see me, Sara is the one with the key to her laughter. Sara just has to be around to get peals of laughter. If Sara’s playing near by, even if she’s ignoring Laura, Laura is more content to not be held. Sara loves to egg on her sister. I noticed Sara looking at her sister more when they’re both in the back seat. I think she’s realizing Laura has development potential as a playmate.
Laura definitely reflects her Italian coloring. Her eyes are a dark brown. Her hair looks like a mohawk with most of it brandishing her head’s zenith. The U-shaped bald spot from laying down is grown over. There are some reddish/auburn highlights in the sunlight, but it’s definitely brown. Most seem to think she’s my mini-me. She has a roundish face (not ovoid like mine) and her ears belong to the Wootens.
Sara is such a changeling at this age. She keeps asking “when am I going to be old enough to…drive a car, put on socks, have a big hairbrush, own a pony, etc.” She loves to play independently. She’ll often go in her room and close the door. Stuffed animals are still beloved, but plastic animals rule. She loves to line them up on the table or the breakfast nook.
). Wayne has been sick all week and actually came home early to nap. Laura seemed to be exceptionally fussy. In this context, I was unsure if we should go. But go we did. We took the double stroller and walked with hordes of other families toward the old Ballard library. Thought late, we caught the parade assembling. The Ballard HS marching band led the way. By this time, I was much more relaxed. I had gotten to talk to Wayne along the walk (a rare treat these days). So I was in almost a slap happy mood, almost marching myself to the music of the Ballard HS band. Another highlight was the Norwegian Fjord horses. As a horse lover, I was surprised to meet this breed whose existence I wasn’t aware of. Sara’s favorite part of the night was eating purple taffy thrown to her from the parade. She got a balloon that said “Jesus loves me” in Norwegian. Gotta love the neighborhood. The night was cool and windy. We were unable to meet up with Johana’s family so we ended up leaving to go eat pizza at Snoose Junction, the new pizza joint in Ballard. There was plenty of Norseness there also.