swing

"Hazel's waking up!  Haaazeeeel!!!!!  HAZEL!  Hazel's my best friend."  

^Nobody was napping and it was laundry day.  So we tore open the shutters, threw up the sash and romped on the bed.^
Geez, I've sure been enjoying my girls.  Don't get me wrong, I love having my man home, but--aside from that one frustrating day--I love the confidence and closeness we found as a threesome while my man was away working for three weeks.  When he's home we tend to fall along the lines of: he parents the older and I parent the younger.  It's an easy routine to fall into what with a vigorously breastfeeding babe.  We're aware of the divide and are trying to mix things up a bit.  Tonight, Juniper accidentally bonked her head on the bed then curled up in his lap and said, "Daddy, I need to drink some of your milk," then pretended to nurse from his shirtsleeve.

:: From the second he walked in the door, I was dropped as parent #1 like a sack of potatoes.  Even Hazel's jumping on board the daddy train.
Me: "Juniper, let's read Harry The Dirty Dog."
Juniper: "No.  Daddy do it."
Me: "Juniper, let's get your pj's on."
Juniper: "No.  Daddy do it."
You get it.        

:: Due to my husband's *crazy* summer work schedule, our May fence project turned into an all-summer-and-maybe-into-fall fence project.  We balance.  A little work on the fence,   

followed by a five minute drive and a short hike to a little nook of a beach with decent fishing.  

:: Juniper will start preschool this year.  Not until she turns 3 in October, but still.  School. I feel like I should be mourning the loss of my toddler.  And while it's true that we watch her body and her memory and her sentences lengthen and grow and we oh-so-wish we could stop the clock every so often and wallow around in RIGHT NOW, it's also true that I'm simply excited for her to start school.  I think she's ready and I think she'll love it.  Two short mornings a week: perfect.  We went to orientation today and on the way home she said, "Mama, you'll always be my mama."     

:: Lately, Hazel hasn't been napping as long as J bugs in the afternoon, so we get up and do chores together.  I fold clothes, she yanks them out and holds them to her ears.  She's always had this ear/head fetish and it's adorable.  She thought she was being so cute, like playing peek-a-boo with her ears.     

The other day, I was harvesting the bulk of our green beans when I turned around to find this:

I had three thoughts: 1) it's a good thing we garden organically, 2) it's a good thing she found a clump with no rocks to speak of, and 3) her next poo diaper is going to be gritty.

:: Ever since our visit with Grandma and her little dog Bailey, J bug has been obsessed with her "pet" dog.  Every morning he gets a leash and is drug everywhere: to the hardware store, the library, grocery store, preschool screening, post office.....    

And sometimes she nurses him at the breakfast table.

:: Tonight Juniper told my man, "Daddy, when you get to be a big girl, you can swing too."