If only I had packed my videocamera...

I could have recorded the scene in my mom's kitchen tonight--Tate laughing uncontrollably at Michelle's ghetto fabulous, completely inappropriate dance moves. Hysterical.

Fleeting Moments

So, I haven't really been inspired to write lately. Not because nothing has been going on--maybe the opposite, really. By the time I fall into bed at night, I just want to read myself to sleep. So, the laptop has been collecting dust under the bed. This past week, though, Tate reached a few big milestones and I can't imagine not recording them.

Tate is now a full six months old. I can't believe it. He is getting so big so quickly. Just this morning I was in his room trying to reorganize his drawers with clothes that still fit and I realized that the majority of the clothes were too small and are now being replaced with 6-9 or even 6-12 month clothes. It's a little sad putting away those tiny little outfits and realizing that my little baby isn't so little anymore. As Rowan says "He's getting bigger and bigger every day".

This past week Tate got his first teeth, of course choosing to do so while Lance is out of town. The empty space in the bottom front of his mouth is now filled with two little pearly stumps. They're still not really visible when he smiles, so I get to soak in the gummy grin a bit longer. Tate's favorite activities are watching his sister, playing with toys, rolling over and over and over, "standing" while being held and dancing in the mirror. He also still loves to be carried in the Baby Bjorn, but as he's nearing 20 pounds, I'm not sure my back can take it much longer. I have no idea what I'm going to do them. Tate is also becoming a bit of a mama's boy. I used to be able to hand him off to a stranger without any problems, but this Sunday, I was paged in church to come get him and today he cried every time Lindsay tried to hold him for me. So, I'm trying to enjoy the fleeting moments of cuddle time with my little guy. I can already tell he's going to be busy like his sister wiith time to cuddle only if he's very sick or very tired.

Rowan has lately decided that she can only sleep with her light on. As soon as she's all tucked in and I close the door to her room, she hops out of bed and turns on her light. Tonight I didn't even bother turning it off. She's also either skipping her nap and falling right asleep at night or napping and staying in her room at night, talking to herself, her stuffed animals or me, through the monitor, until around 11. I'm hoping it's just a phase and she'll go back to napping and falling asleep at a normal time. Fortunately the silver belt is still working like a charm.

Today at our playdate with Cooper, Rowan and Cooper drove the Power Wheel around. Rowan, having never been on a Power Wheel, got quite a kick out of using the gas pedal, but clearly had no idea what the steering wheel was for. She ran into pretty much everything in their backyard and Cooper refused to be the passenger while she was driving. He got her back later, though, by running over her foot. I was crying I was laughing so hard. It's so Rowan, though, to just hit the ground running with no idea what's in front of her.

Yesterday baby Maya was born, so today I went through all of Rowan's baby clothes and packed them up to take to Andrea and David. A sea of pink with lots of flowers and an occasional duck. Unlike Tate, Rowan, who was so tiny and grew so slowly, seemed like she wore those clothes forever before moving into the next size. But here she is, two years old, growing up before my eyes. And her little brother following closely behind.

Am I Raising a Racist?

I'm sure this will not be my most politically correct blog of all time, but I'm finding myself wondering what to do about my current dilemma. You see, Rowan has these little magnetic dolls that she loves to play with. She can dress them in little magnetic outfits, have them carry a purse or an umbrella, put fun shoes on them, etc. We've been using them as a reward when she goes potty. Anyway, there is a blond girl named Amanda and an African American girl named Kate. For quite a while, Rowan really didn't show a preference for one over the other. But lately, she's all about Amanda. She wants to play with Amanda and keep Kate in the case or let me or Lance play with Kate. And as I look around at our friends and the kids she plays with regularly and, sure enough, they all look like Amanda. Her best friend in Charlotte was half Vietnamese and her cousin Nathan is half Vietnamese, but here in the sprawling metropolis of Byron Center, it's pretty homogenous. In fact, I think Rowan might be the oddball by being the only brunette in the neighborhood. So, my question is, what do I do about this? I mean, I can't really scope out people with different ethnicities and try to make them become friends with us, can I? And, if so, where do I scope them out? Can you imagine that newspaper ad? "Mother of two seeking children of color to encourage inclusivity in her children. I will provide snacks, toys and anything else necessary for a fun playdate. You provide ethnicity. Dutch need not apply." Don't get me wrong, I love all of our friends and I love that we all have so much in common. I just have a feeling this will be something we'll be working on for a while. Hopefully our naughty black dogs aren't to blame...

Girls' Weekend 2008

Finally--time to write about our 7th annual Girls' Weekend. Though our weekends are generally very low stress, I come home absolutely exhausted. For some reason, we stay up very late and wake up very early. And upon coming home, my father-in-law stayed until this morning, so I found myself with no time to write.

So, this year, we opted to spoil ourselves completely. Dinner on the deck at Bostwick Friday, pedicures on the Kooistra's back porch lasted pretty much all afternoon Saturday and then we spent the evening with our chef making (watching her make) a ridiculously good meal including shrimp and saffron rice, asparagus straws, beef tenderloin with horseradish whipped cream, hummus and pita chips, goat cheese pesto torta and a delicious chocolate tart with lavender whipped cream. We had also been eating and drinking all day. A boat ride Sunday afternoon and lots and lots of talking about actual adult subjects. No one needed their food cut into tiny pieces. We all got to meet sweet little Anders, but enjoyed a break from the other children for a weekend.

Tate, evidentally, did well while I was gone. He took several bottles--initially with some resistance, but he didn't starve. Grandma Mary and Grandpa Carl came on Saturday so of course Rowan was more than content. I'm kind of thinking this whole weekend away thing needs to happen way more than once a year--maybe seasonally. So, if anyone is up for a weekend trip in the fall, just let me know.