dear internet, i had a baby in may

it's been a busy fall

Cuddling with your new kitten just takes up a lot of time, guys!

rhoda at 2.5

I've been meaning to write a post about Rhoda's best quotes for quite some time now. She talks SO much and says the weirdest things—it's hard to keep track of them all. Here are the ones I've remembered to write down over the past few months—just picture her saying them in her super deep voice:

-In our bed one snowy morning: "Wow! That polka dot is snow!"

-Overhearing that Robbie is going on an airplane: "Dada, you should eat Goldfish on the plane" (Rhoda thinks that one cannot fly on a plane without Goldfish)

-After taking a bite of dinner: "It's good, babe!"

-Whenever she wants to get ready for the day she says "I want to get dressed time"

-This doesn't happen as much anymore (which is SO sad) but whenever Rhoda trips and falls she'll laugh nervously and say "Whoa, that was me!"

-Rhoda's obsessed with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and for a long time she thought the theme song went "Me and Pooh, me and Pooh" and she'd walk around singing it over and over

-One night at family prayer Rhoda was playing with my hair and said, "I want to take this to bed. I can wear Mom's hair, and she can wear my hair." Weirdo.

-In the book The Runaway Bunny there's a scene where the runaway bunny runs away to a circus and he's on a flying trapeze and the mother bunny is a tightrope walker, but every time Rhoda points out that the mother bunny is on a "rope tight walk." Not going to correct that one, ever.

-Rhoda inverts a lot of words and phrases—my personal favorites are when she says "got for" instead of "forgot" ("Mama! We got for to say the prayer!") and "used be to" instead of "used to be." Also she says "because" in the wrong context all the time. I call it her flavoring word because she just throws it into sentences whenever she feels like it.

2.5 is a pretty golden age. Though Rhoda's not currently throwing any tantrums so it's probably easy for me to say that right now...

the end of an era

I started putting Rhoda in cloth diapers when she was around three months old. I don't have strong opinions on cloth diapers—in DC, at least, there were a lot of "normal" moms that put their kids in cloth diapers so I didn't feel like I was standing out too much or trying to make a statement. It was just somewhat convenient at the time. I also put Rhoda in disposable diapers at night and while we were traveling so it's not like I was anti-disposable. I guess we decided to go with cloth because it's supposedly cheaper than using disposable diapers, but I never did the math to figure it out. Really though what I like about cloth diapers is that they are So Cute. Maybe that's a terrible reason to be on board but come on! How can you deny the cuteness of little baby thighs and a cloth-clad bum:

Anyway, I've been feeling nostalgic for Rhoda's diaper bum because we potty trained her last weekend! No accidents after day three or so, so I'm going to go ahead and call it a success. Doubly so because the amount of laundry I was doing during the diaper days has gone down by half. Every day I feel like I'm missing something and then I realize "oh... I'M NOT WASHING DIAPERS." It's a good feeling to see her so independent and proud of her new skill, but I do miss my chubby baby. Not the laundry though.

i know it's gonna be a lovely day

Sigh, DC:

Since we're leaving the east coast soon I'm hurrying to soak up all the perks that spring in the east has to offer. Everyone keeps reminding me that California is really beautiful all the time, but that's the beauty of spring out here! It's not beautiful here all the time, and feeling the renewal of spring here is really an amazing feeling. Especially when it's randomly 80 degrees in March, as has happened a few times this month.

I drove down to DC last Friday with my friend Ashlie and our kids in the hopes that we could get some good blossom-peeping in. I haven't been to the Tidal Basin as a tourist before and usually walked there from our house or work, so I wasn't prepared for the traffic on a beautiful day that also happened to be Good Friday, but I think it was worth the quick trip. We also got to meet up with my dear friend Linnea (who took these beautiful pictures) and her sweet daughter Annika.

So skeptical.

I wish I could bottle up days like this.

life with rhoda

Rhoda turned two yesterday and I guess that deserves a post. I'm still recovering from last year's party so I didn't plan anything special. Sorry, kid! Welcome to the rest of your life. When I asked her what she wanted to eat for her birthday (a question I'm not sure she fully understood) she said she wanted ice cream and candles, and soup for dinner. So, we did that and fortunately everyone seemed okay with that. The only present I gave her was a baby basket that I made, which took me so long to do that it felt like 100 presents, and she was also super into that. I'm loving this baby doll phase So Much.

Other than that, we went to her art class in the morning and then met up with our friends the Joneses at Philadelphia's Magic Gardens for a quick walk through. Park in the afternoon (the weather has been AWESOME this week—mid-70s!), tantrums and a meltdown before/during dinner, and then finally bed. A pretty good day for a two year-old, I think.

Some photos from the past few weeks:

Who needs a guard dog when you have Rhoda?

In her art class apron

In front of one of the many Isaiah Zagar mosaics in the city

Bundled up at the beach (it WAS the first day of fall, after all...)

Hanging out in a pumpkin patch that was just a square of hay in a parking lot

Holding a stuffed owl (or "howl," as Rhoda says) at the Harry Potter Festival in Chestnut Hill

Being reverent for the prayer (and still obsessed with that hat and wearing it everywhere)

Where's Waldo/Madeline at a Halloween party

On Halloween night, after falling asleep with her trick or treat glow stick

Rhoda doesn't sit still for many shows but she is captivated by the old Madeline cartoon I used to watch as a kid. And she always watches it in this pose.

What happens when you ask Rhoda to kneel down for the prayer

After successfully blowing out one of her birthday candles

And just like that, I have a two year old. 

in an old house in philly all covered with vines

Last year, after I'd already made our Halloween costumes, I came up with this year's costume idea. Fortunately, Rhoda's just as into Madeline this year as she was last year (if not more so) so I kept it relatively simple and didn't deviate from my plan so I could get started early on our costumes. I found two pretty simple tutorials online to make Rhoda's outfit (this tunic + this cape) and spent a couple of days in October watching Jane the Virgin and going on a sewing frenzy. After scouring the internet for a yellow toddler hat and plain black Mary Janes I felt like I had the perfect ensemble for the tinest Madeline.

I was Miss Clavel and Robbie was the tiger in the zoo ("to the tiger in the zoo, Madeline just said 'Pooh-pooh!'") My veil was just a rectangle of fabric sewn onto a headband, and Robbie borrowed the tiger costume from a classmate. Also, a lot of times none of us were instantly recognizable. I can understand the confusion about Robbie the tiger/Tigger/Tony the Tiger (a little obscure...) and me the nun, especially in a city where everyone is Catholic, but come on! What's with you people not reading Madeline to your kids??

We got a ton of mileage out of our costumes this year. We had a party for the school's kids club, a Halloween party at church, and before trick-or-treating in our neighborhood (which is the BEST on Halloween) we had donuts and cider at our friends' house. Basically by the time Sunday rolled around we were all in a sleep-deprived sugary haze.

Posin'

Talking about important toddler things (candy) with her equestrian friend Harper

The best kid

Making the mistake of waiting too long to take a picture resulted in this episode

PS—further evidence that Rhoda is a mini-Robbie: