my buddy and me

I've been very bad about posting lately. Part of it is a technical problem (we got a new computer and it's messed up my photo sorting system and instead of dealing with it I've been pouting about it) but part of it is that I'm having a hard time putting into words what life has been like lately. It's just been good and I'm trying to soak it all in but I guess I should write it down so I can remember the good when the bad comes along.

Rhoda is a delight. Last night I went out to dinner with my girlfriends and our kids because all the husbands were out late for school. The second we all sat down—four adults, five kids, no husbands—we realized what a huge mistake it was. I mean, it really wasn't THAT bad—we only had two kids scream for a tiny bit because they were starving, and Rhoda knocked a glass of water all over me and the table, and aside from the waiter basically ignoring us for 15 minutes before he came and took our orders we left with smiling kids full of pancakes and grilled cheese sandwiches. At the end my friend Katie (actually, all my friends that were there are named Katie, which makes things confusing but whatever) commented that Rhoda was being so chill despite the chaos of the restaurant. I say a million sincere prayers of thanks every day that Rhoda is such a happy and easy-going baby, and it's the hugest blessing to have her while Robbie is in school. If Robbie were gone all the time and I had a grumpy baby I think I would have a complete meltdown.

I do miss tiny baby Rhoda from time to time, but Rhoda at this age is wonderful. She's just learned to crawl and she's stopped her half-hearted scoots and is now racing around our house and the playground like a big kid. I also discovered her standing up in her crib at the end of her nap yesterday with a huge smile on her face and now she can't resist the urge to pull herself up on everything in sight. She's great at playing independently for long stretches (since all of her friends here are a little more mobile she doesn't really have a choice) but then sometimes she follows me around the house like a little dog waiting for me to pick her up. She's learned to give hugs and kisses, but I think she reserves those for me and her dolls. My favorite new thing of hers is peek-a-boo, which she always instigates by throwing her blanket over her head and pulling it off. It's fun to hang out with her now. I also feel like having a girl has worked in my favor too, because I speak that language. Rhoda loves dolls and stuffed animals and being read to and I'm like yes! I get that! I know how to play with those things and I loved them as a girl too! So I'm just going to run with that for the next little while and hope she keeps loving all those things.

I think a lot about the times I felt guilty as a new mom that I didn't have any tricks up my sleeve other than letting her hang out on a blanket or in her bouncy chair for most of the day (especially since it was basically snowing for the first six months of her life), and now she is the one prompting the playtime, and in a sense giving me pointers on what to do. I had a very happy childhood and I really want Rhoda to have that happiness in her life too—though I was also the fifth of six kids and it seemed like other people's kids were always at our house providing the entertainment. Someday, Rhoda, someday...