Random stuff

Rowan is trying some new things this week. For one thing, she has now attempted to take a step a couple of times. One step on Tuesday, one step on Wednesday. At this rate, the kid will be able to walk across the room by the time she's five. :) Just kidding, she's not even one, a step is good. She's not in a hurry about it, though, which surprises me. She's been standing independently for so long, I was sure she would have walked by now. She's also figured out talking on the phone. For a long time now, both girls have been fascinated by phones. But they mostly try to put them in their mouths. This week Rowan holds them up to her ear and babbles. Occasionally she'll try to put one in her mouth, and I say no...and she shakes her head back at me. That's new too. Neither one actually says words yet, but Rowan has learned how to signal "no." Another sign the toddler years are here.

I took the girls to the mall with me this week. I went looking for something for them, which we did not find. But while we were there, hiding out from a rainstorm, I decided to shop for myself. Over the last few years, clothes have been a trial for me. First I was trying to get pregnant, which didn't seem like a good time to buy a bunch of clothes. Then I was pregnant. Since then my weight has changed pretty much constantly, and I'm really limited in what I can wear. The girls used to throw up all the time, now they smear food on me with those sticky little hands. Plus, I spend a lot of time crawling around on the floor. So my wardrobe for the last year has pretty much consisted of jeans, workout pants, and either long or short sleeved t-shirts. It's depressing. So I bought myself some grown-up clothes. I guess it's a signal to myself that this first year of intense mothering that leaves nothing unchanged is ending, and I have to start redefining myself. Who I am, now that I'm a mom. Not a brand new mom, this isn't temporary. So it's time to start dressing like a grown-up, at least occasionally. It was also the first time I took the girls with me and tried on clothes without someone else to watch them. The stroller is too big for the stalls, so I took them out and let them crawl around on the dressing room floors. They loved it. Saoirse loved it so much, she crawled out under the walls of the stall in Ann Taylor to visit some other ladies trying on clothes. By the time I got clothes on and got to her, she was three stalls over. Luckily, it was a women's store, so people took it well and just commented on how cute she is. Shopping with two almost-toddlers is tiring, and it is a lot slower than shopping alone or with girlfriends. But we had a pretty successful afternoon, and that's one more thing down that we've done just the three of us and lived to tell about it.