Gussied Up

I don't know why she keeps making that weird face for the camera. Now she will go and find my camera and bring it to me while making that weird face. That is NOT her normal smile.

Yesterday after lunch, Anja got dressed up. Now, I'll admit that I am the one who put the shoes on her. But the beads are a daily accessory (she got a strand of purple beads on Mardi Gras when we were out someplace and she's worn them almost every day since then--she's worn them so much that they aren't purple anymore! For Easter my sister-in-law brought over a whole bunch more and I think they ALL got left at our house... and Anja finds them all over the place and will wear as many as she can find.) and the hat she found herself. The dress just happened to be what she was wearing, and a perfect match with the rest of her get-up.

So far this week I've been lucky with naptime. Yesterday I took Greta to her one-month checkup (happy 1-month birthday to her today!) and when we got home it was naptime so my mom stayed and held Greta while I put Anja down. Sooooo nice. Today Anja woke up extra early so she was ready for a nap by 11:30, which is conveniently when Greta fell asleep as well. Both have been asleep ever since! And I have been wasting time on this dumb computer.

This morning Martin subscribed me to Mothering Magazine. What a treat!

Yesterday I made the most delicious carrot soup from a recipe I got from my sister-in-law. She brought it to our Easter gathering. Maybe I will post it on The Cooking Blog if I get time. With it we had beer bread, a recipe I got from my friend Mary, and the easiest thing to make in the whole wide world. However, more than one slice will make you feel like death. We've changed around our evening routine a bit since Greta was born. In the past I've always tried to have dinner on the table, or very nearly there, by the time Martin gets home from work. I found this task to be absolutely impossible once Greta arrived. Martin has always, up until now, worked out after dinner, usually while I was putting Anja down for bed. But now he comes home and works out right away while I make dinner, then we all eat, then Anja goes to bed. And it's perfect because then Martin is there when I need his help. Since we've made this change in routine, we've been having better dinners (which have turned out successfully, another important point) and I think Martin has missed fewer workouts. So everybody's happy!

Another reason to be happy is that Anja has gone down at home TWO nights in a row without having to be driven to sleep. And last night both babies only woke up ONCE! It's only slightly annoying that Greta's internal clock has scheduled her to go to sleep around 11:00pm. That's pretty late for someone who'd like to be getting up early enough to have a shower and a cup of coffee before the kidders wake.... which they do, shortly after I am up.

I think Greta is a pretty baby, but I'm having a hard time getting a picture of her prettiness. This is the closest I've come, and even in this, the color is weird. She has such a nice darkness about her. Oh my gosh! Did I ever mention on here that she has a Mongolian Spot? Just like her Antonio cousins! The pediatrician at the hospital told us to look for it to go away in a couple of weeks and if it didn't, it was a Mongolian Spot.... well, she still has it! So if I'm ever being accused of child abuse, I'll know not to have my sister as someone to speak for me... if they looked at her girls' bottoms, they'd find the same thing!

I am constantly amazed by the differences in Anja and Greta as newborns. For one thing, Greta is wearing clothes at one month of age that Anja wasn't able to wear until she was at least two or three months old, and even then they started out a little baggy. Greta looks completely different, except for the square forehead and maybe their eyes. It'll be interesting to see how she changes in these first few months and whether or not they end up looking more like each other.

I wish this picture could be bigger... finally, Anja looking like Anja for the camera! This is her playing hide-and-seek behind the chair. And this is Anja cracking up:

Nothing more to say from The Ghetto...