Remember to remember

Josie, I want to remember every little thing about you. Except, I realized just the other day, how easy it is to forget. You change so much every day.

Here's something I forgot. When you were six months old, we discovered the "wrist dance". When you were excited, you danced with your wrists by twisting them into little circles. You did this all the time. So much, that I never thought I needed to remember it.

When you started crawling, you stopped doing the wrist dance. And when you stopped doing it, I stopped remembering. It wasn't until I picked up your baby book the other day, that I even remembered what the wrist dance was. I had completely forgotten. It's just really hard to remember you being anything other than who and what you are today.

Because of that, I need to make a point to remember. Remember all the cute, adorable, crazy and sometimes absurd things you do. At every stage in life. I just don't want to forget.

That's why we have this blog. So we can remember. Remember our life together. Because all of these little memories make us who we are today.

So my darling Josie, at almost two and a half years old, these are some of the things I want to remember about you...

I want to remember your first time on roller skates. And how you didn't need me to teach you how to use them. And in fact, when I tried to help you, you quickly let me (and the entire skating rink) know how horrible of an idea you thought that was.

And here's something else, I want to remember how at one point, you slept with 7 stuffed animals. A cat, a dog, two bunnies, a monkey, a bear and my personal favorite, a Strawberry Shortcake doll. Each animal has an assigned place in your bed. They must be lined up and then strategically covered by the blanket before you lay down to sleep. If this processed is rushed, well, let's just say we've added an extra twenty minutes to bedtime to avoid what happens when you are rushed. :-)

I also want to remember how we sometimes find you asleep looking like this...

Another thing, I want to remember that whenever the KU fight song is played, we would always find you, pom poms in hand, dancing your little heart out. Outside of your father, you may be the biggest Jayhawk fan I know.

And lastly, Josie, I want you to know how much I love when you say, "Mommy you're so funny. And daddy's funny too." I love you smile at me when we're playing and say things like, "this is so fun." and "mommy, we're together." I love when you "cheers" us at least fifty times during each meal and if I put my cup back down without drinking first, you sternly remind me to "take a drink." I love how you request to wear your tutu daily and how "Dancing With the Stars" could quite possibly be your favorite thing to watch (outside of Santa Clause is Coming to Town and Frosty the Snowman). 

As I said, this is my attempt to remember. I know you won't always be the way you are today. In some ways, I'm sad because my sweet little girl is growing up. But on the other hand, I'm thankful because maybe some day down the road, "me do it" is not a phrase I hear all....day....long. :-)

Bath Time Baby

Hank's first bath...

 

Josie's first bath...

...any resemblance?

One Month!!

And in this corner, weighing in at 12 pounds, 5 ounces and 23 inches long at just 1 month old, we have Hank "the tank" Heitshusen!!! As you can imagine, our scores placed us in the 97th percentile except we were actually "off the charts" when it came to Hank's head size. He's a smart guy, what can I say?

And to keep with tradition, we celebrated Hank's one month birthday with a party, which included a delicious peanut butter and chocolate cupcake from Cupcake a la Mode. And what a beautiful day to celebrate a birthday. It was gorgeous and sunny, just like the day we came home from the hospital. So bizarre for January and February.

With this last month came many firsts. Our first walk through the neighborhood, first stroller ride, first trip to Chik-fil-et (which occurred on day five, despite probably our better judgement) and our first bath. Which he loved. Outside of his changing table (why? I don't know), Hank's favorite place seems to be the bathtub. He sits in the bath, arms floating, legs relaxed and just looks at us. I imagine he's saying, "So what? I'm relaxed. What of it?"

 

I, on the other hand, was NOT relaxed during his first bath. I had one mission for bath time and it was not necessarily to end up with a clean baby. My goals were to keep Josie OUT of the baby bathtub and keep Hank IN the tub with minimal water loss (onto the floor and our clothes) as possible. Overall, the mission was successful, minus the increase in my blood pressure. Hopefully the phrase, "we don't pour water on his head" will really sink in before our next bath.

Looking back over the last month, Hank spent lots of time snuggling.

With both mom and dad.

We played in big sister's room. This is sort of a "Where's Waldo?" kind of a picture. Can you find him?

Sister showed us how to play in the baby gym.

We also had lots of hand holding with Josie. My favorite. And really, so much safer than the "smash the baby" hugs she normally gives.

 And big sister, Josie, spent lots of time in her tutu. I mean, literally. Every day. Even...while...sleeping. I mean, some battles are just not worth fighting. Plus, she's just so darn cute in it. She says, "I wanna be a princess", which means she wants to wear her tutu. Every day.

Dear sweet baby Hank, you have given us so many wonderful memories over the past month. You are a perfect addition to our family. And although we've only known you for a month now, it doesn't seem that way. I feel like you have always been a part of our family and I guess in some ways, you have. :-)