Oh, for the love of toddlers! Surely they must take the cake for being at once the cutest and most exasperating creatures on the Earth. Our lives have been steeped in Maeve's toddlerness for the past year and a half which has brought so much sweetness, and put our patience to the test (often multiple times a day). Although it feels like we've had a toddler for a long time (and honestly we've had a toddler almost continually for about nine years so no wonder) I know that suddenly this season will be behind us. Lately, I've felt myself looking... Read more →

Lately I feel acutely aware of time. Perhaps it's the pandemic and how we have a sense of hitting the pause button on life or at least "normal" life. It's also having a baby and perhaps especially having a baby along the same seasonal timeline as our first baby. As winter warms into spring I feel an aching nostalgia for the spring Dashiell was born while simultaneously experiencing the joy of having a baby all over again – and a baby that looks so similar to my first baby! The deja vu-nostalgia will catch me as we walk through the... Read more →

I'm overdue for a roundup of things I want to remember about the boys. Right now my boys are 4 years old and 2 years old and this is what I want to remember: The way Cedric always has a song in his heart. He'll be chattering along and then burst into song as if it was the natural next part of the conversation. In current rotation: "Finkle, finkle little tar," "Hello, how do you do?" "Baby shark, do doo, do doo doo," and "Five little ducks went out one day..." I've often told him that he has a song... Read more →

My boys are 3 years 4 months and 19 months old and this is what I want to remember: The near constant wrestling. They remind me of puppies. Dash's sweet, nurturing nature and spontaneously coming to cuddle or hug us and saying, "I love you." Cedric's big brown eyes and long dark lashes on his little face. Dash's love of books. Recently we had put him to bed and then he came out to get our bag of library books and went right back to his room. When we check on him before we go to bed we often find... Read more →

Dashiell is two years and eleven months old, Cedric is fifteen months old and this is what I want to remember: + Cedric's soft, plump, warm cheeks when he first wakes up and the smell of his morning breath. + The earnest look of Dash big brown eyes. + Cedric's pokey belly and the way he will lift his shirt when you ask, "Where's your belly?" + Dash throwing his arms around me in a big hug before he left the house and waving "bye!" like such a big boy, and then turning to blow me a kiss before running... Read more →

So many things are happening and the boys are changing so fast! Currently Dashiell is two and a half years old and Cedric is just about to turn ten months old and this is what I want to remember: + The baby-soft feel of Cedric's skin and the way it feels springy and new even as it slides around over his little body when I pick him up and rub his back. I don't know when babies lose this but I'm trying to appreciate it every time I hold him. + Dashiell's language: adding -eeyah to words like Daddeeyah, Deeyah... Read more →

I've had a draft post about all the different things each of my boys is doing right now. But before I can finish it and hit "publish" they've changed and it's out of date. So I'm going to eschew capturing everything for capturing something. I hope that each volume of "what I want to remember" will be an easy way to write about the particular age of each of my boys and what it's like to be their mama. Currently Dashiell is two years and 3 months old and Cedric is six months and a half months old and this... Read more →