Well, we enjoyed the honeymoon while it lasted, but it seems our brief affiar with summer-like weather is on a little hiatus.   Frankly, I never know what the weather is going to be like now.  The morning will start out so cold and foggy I would wear my winter coat out, and then by the afternoon (some days) the girls and I are out in the sun, splashing in the water.  It is very, very strange indeed.  Hard to plan for, impossible to predict, and completely frustrating to dress for.  But hey, it's May in Oregon.
   
    Gone are the days when I would take time to specifically dress them up and take them somewhere for a photo shoot for their updates.  O.k. let's be honest....that hardly ever happened with Charlotte.  With Jocelyn it did.  I remember dressing her up in her little outfits, gathering the accessories and props I wanted, and cramming it all into the stroller and going on a long walk through town, looking for locations.  Now?  HA. 

   The poor second one comes along, and she's lucky if mama remembers to get the camera out while she's in her swimsuit in the backyard and snaps a few pictures then and there and calls it good. 


   Charlotte is 11 months old.  I know, I know, I can hardly believe it either.  This little one seems determined to grow up even faster than her sister did, and so far she's doing a pretty good job at it.  She has 6 teeth, pulls herself up all the time and walks behind a push toy,  eats pretty much anything and still nurses, although I am getting dangerously close to quitting.  The dear is like a little puppy!  Always trying to see everything that's going on and crawling all over the place. 

  She still takes two naps a day, although sometimes they get moved around to weird times.  We are not rigidly-scheduled folk around here.  I love it if I am driving home around nap time or bed time, because the girls will both fall asleep and transfer to their beds and keep sleeping.  I am starting (slowly) to put them in the same room at night, but usually only after one is already sleeping.  I am hoping to conquer nap time next, and eventually, the same bed time! Ahhh, bliss. 

    She is her Daddy's. Little. Girl.  I mean, this baby LOVES her daddy.  Jocelyn loves him too, but Charlotte is going through just a little bit of a crush right now, always clamoring for his attention, reaching out for him, scooting across the floor to him, and wrapping her arms around his neck and burrowing her little face into his shoulder.  It is just far too precious.

   She says "Mama" "Dada" (has for quite a while) and I'm fairly certain she says "All Done".  She's starting to hold her own with Big Sis a little more, and will really turn up the volume if she's being picked on.  She would empty out dresser drawers, the fridge, and dishwasher all day if I let her.  She climbs up stairs with ease, and will be up a whole flight and waking up her napping big sis before I realize where she is.  I am not ready for her to turn one, mostly because she is my baby but partially because I don't have her party planned yet!!  And we all know how I feel about that.

   Jocelyn is my big helper.  Not all the time of course, but she is rarely happier than when you let her carry a piece of mail, wash dishes, or do some other sort of "chore".  But for some reason this doesn't translate to picking up toys which I can't seem to get her excited about. 

   She loves to 'read the Bible' and pray, which just completely melts me.  I found her today and got a short video clip of her holding a devotional book (which she thinks is a Bible right now) and just clammering and jabbering and preaching up a storm.  I was able to pick out "Mary" and "baby boy" so she was on the right track I think.  She also has her list of peopole that she prays for constantly.

   We have officially hit the "I care about what I wear" phase.  I used to think it was so silly when moms talked about letting their toddlers wear what they wanted to.  I would self-rightously sneer inside and scoff, thinking, "You're the mom, YOU decide!"  And then of course there was the mom I witnessed in Old Navy holding up items one by one to her small fy asking, "Do you like this?  How about this skirt?  What about this shirt?"  And letting her little one literally shop for her own clothes.  I just could harldy believe it.

    Now?  Well, I've had to eat some of my un-spoken words and help myself to a second slice of humble pie.  Sometimes the battle just isn't worth fighting, and when you feel like energy and will-power are on reserve, you pick and choose carefully.  And sometimes clothing choices just don't make the cut for the day.  So if you see my little girl in something strange-looking or wildly weather-inappropriate, you will just have to realize it is probably one of those days I am not up to fighting that particular battle, and just smile and wave. 

   Oh dear there is so much more to catch up on in their little lives...the way Jocelyn knows about "dates" and other things we go to, and will try and figure out where we're driving to when we head out somewhere....the way Charlotte is so much more ticklish than Jocelyn ever was, and how positively WONDERFULLY Jocelyn has been going down for naps and nighttime for quite some time now, without a peep.  I love them both so much, and could go on and on.  But this mama needs some sleep. 

Tomorrow morning may be another wardrobe battle,  ya never know.