Bed Hog

Steve was off on an out-of-town three day work trip earlier this week, and Brigid managed to find the silver lining behind missing him by telling me several times during her bedtime routine that the big bed was just my bed, since daddy wasn't home, then sidling into my room while I was trying to work at 9:30PM to weasel her way into sleeping with me.

For my own good, of course. I'm sure she just didn't want me to get lonely.

Of course, Tuesday night, she slept RIGHT NEXT TO ME, with her legs draped across my body, following me around the bed in her sleep when I tried to put some distance between us, before waking me up at 3AM to tell me she didn't want to cuddle with me anymore, like it had been my idea to have her sleep on top of me all night.
She looks like she feels bad about the whole thing, doesn't she?

Christmas in May

On Friday night, Brigid wanted to wear Christmas pjs and read a Christmas book before bed. I mean, who am I to tell the poor child no, when she wants to celebrate the awesomeness that is Christmas, year round?

(I swear to you, if I can get Caitlin on board with this, too, I am THIS CLOSE to convincing Steve that we should leave a Christmas tree up for the full year. It's coming. I CAN FEEL IT!!!)
(That story, while completely true and awesome, may or may not have just been my lazy attempt at justifying my reasons for throwing out more adorable pictures of my girls just hanging out together. Maybe.)

(Possibly.)

(Definitely.)

Pffffft

Steve claims the baby has been giving him all kinds of grief today.

Then he sends me pictures like this...


(In his defense, I think this is the only five minutes she's slept all day, but you know...likely story and all of that.)

Tea With Mom

Yesterday, Brigid's preschool held a 'Tea With Mom' party for Mother's Day. The classes had all learned songs to sing for the mothers that were there,* and there were snacks and cards and presents involved.

I am a fan of any event that gets Brigid as excited as she gets when a family member goes to school with her, and if you offer me cheesecake and presents, on top of that? Then I might just start asking for one of these parties every week.

Except. Well. Brigid's teacher had made these cute little cardboard teapots and filled them with candy. And when Brigid got her little hands on it?

'Mommy, I don't know if Miss Peggy made this for you or for me. But...she probably made it for me. So I could have some candy.'

Whatever, kid. It's just a good thing you made me the greatest present EVER to make up for stealing all of my candy, ok?

(HANDMADE TODDLER GIFTS! WITH HER PICTURE ON IT! I don't even care that she obviously had very little to do with the painting of the box. I'm guessing she picked out the color, and she helped glue her picture inside of it. And you know what? THAT IS OK WITH ME. I am SO EXCITED about the age of the handmade gifts. She's just the best, I swear.)

*Brigid's class did 'I'm a Little Teapot' and the I Love You song from Barney...and they were WAY more entertaining than the older class that sang a five minute song that sounded like nothing more than one long mumble after they all started singing at different tempos 2.5 seconds into it. And I'm not complaining about the kids, here, because they were cute. And they were giving it their all. It's just...I feel like maybe the teachers should have known better than to try it. Who expects 10 four-year olds to keep it together during a song that has 15 verses? And who expects the even younger kids to behave during all of that, too? I thought the two and three-year old classes were going to make a break for it...

I want to remember these days when they share a bathroom as teenagers...

When Steve and I finally decided that we were ready to try for a second child, one of our main concerns was how our darling first child was going to react to the news that she wouldn't be the only baby of the family anymore. I mean, after all, Brigid is...

Well, Brigid is spoiled, if I'm being completely honest. She was not only our first kid, but she was also the first niece AND the first grandkid on BOTH SIDES OF THE FAMILY. And we all tell her that she is beautiful and funny and smart, and she is just generally adored wherever she goes. She was the center of attention for the first three years of her life, because that's just how things go when you're the only one in the room who isn't old enough to understand what the word 'no' means, yet. Almost anything she wanted, she got.
So, yeah. I don't think I was wrong in wondering how well she was going to respond to sharing everyone's attention with someone else.

Except...

Well, I was wrong, I guess. Because Brigid has been absolutely the most wonderful big sister we could have hoped for. She is completely in love with her baby sister, and I am completely in love with the two of them together.

The other morning, Caitlin was in her exersaucer when Brigid went downstairs. I stood on the landing above them, watching as Brigid went to her sister, said 'good morning baby baby', kissed her on top of the head, then kept shaking toys in front of her face to try to make her smile. She's never more excited than when Caitlin smiles at her.


She is constantly hugging the baby, or patting the baby's head, or kissing the baby's foot, or grabbing the baby's hand while telling me how much she loves the baby and how much the baby loves her, too.

She helps us bathe Caitlin at night, and she's just so gentle when she takes the washcloth to rinse Caitlin's hair, I would buy her all of the ponies in the world, if I could. Because...yes. She deserves them all.

I don't doubt that we have some rough times ahead of us. There have been several gifts of toys and books that Brigid has taken to her own room to hold onto 'until Baby Caitlin is older...cause she's too tiny to play with these right now'. What happens when Baby Caitlin isn't too tiny to play with the presents she's given remains to be seen. What happens when Brigid becomes a teenager, and hanging out with her little sister isn't a top priority anymore also remains to be seen. And, yeah, it could start getting ugly.

But, when that happens, I will show them these pictures. I will tell them the stories about just how sweet they were to each other when they were younger. I will remind them that at one point in time, nothing made them happier than hanging out together.

And if all of that fails?

I will make them stand in the front yard and hug each other, for all of the neighbors to see, like my dad made my sister and I do when he got tired of our fighting.

So...you know. At least I'll be entertained either way...

Brigid's Best Friend

Brigid has taken quite a shine to our female cat over the past few months. Because Gracie is less excitable than our dogs, but friendlier than our male cat, Brigid can lock the poor cat in her room for naptime or bedtime, and Gracie is ok with this plan. But...then Brigid got tired of just sitting next to the cat. Instead, she wanted to pet her. And pick her up. And carry her from room to room.

And that doesn't even include the time she slammed Gracie in the door. I don't think that cat came out from under my bed for something like two days. Not that I blamed her, as Brigid was standing there in my bedroom waiting for her, yelling about how she needed Gracie to come out because 'I need to tell Gracie I'm sorry, mommy! I didn't mean to hurt her!'

I don't think Gracie quite understood what Brigid wanted to say.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I've noticed a little more reluctance on the part of Gracie to spend quality time with Brigid these days. And then? This morning?

I found this in my bathroom while Brigid was running around my bedroom:
I'm not going to lie...I've tried something similar myself. But it never seems to work for me, you know? They always find me in the end...

Brigid Says...

This morning, on the way to school: I really wanted to see Stephen before he left for work this morning. I really miss him. (Why she insists on calling him Stephen instead of dad is beyond me.)

The other night, while Steve was putting her to bed (and after he hadn't shaved for several days): I like shaved mustaches. I don't like fuzzy mustaches.

Eating ice cream at Skyline Chili, where we'd stopped while driving home from Indiana: I am a BIG fan of chocolate. (You and me, both, kiddo...)

Saying goodbye to my grandmother last weekend: See ya! Wouldn't want to be ya! (Thanks a lot for that one, Auntie Kate.)

Last week, when Steve asked her if we should have another baby: I love baby Caitlin. We should keep her. But two babies would be not enough. (She meant two babies, in addition to herself, would be too many. I think her and I might be on the same page, here.)

While watching the scene in Brave where Merida tells her mother she won't know she doesn't like fish if she won't even try it: You've got to try new food cause it might taste good! (Thank you, Daniel Tiger. I'm pretty sure he's single handedly convinced her to eat vegetables again, even if it IS only carrots that she's added back to her diet.)