Oh, Dear. And: what's new here

It's 3pm. I put Kate to bed at 1:35. I know that it's outside of my window of nap heaven, but I was late picking her up from daycare, and late getting her back for precious nap time. Claire started rubbing her eyes at about 1:50, so I put her down, too. They are still awake. Still! Awake!

I just went in and told Kate to lie down and go to sleep. Claire looked up with expectant eyes. I picked her up (she had backed herself into the corner and was stuck) and she started smiling at her sister. I couldn't tell if it was a "Ha! Mom picked me up and not you!" smile, or a "You are so funny, big sister!" smile. I leaned Claire in real close to Kate for a kiss, and they both started giggling. Cute, oooglie, girlie, baby giggles. So Cute. Love.

As for what's new:

Kate is going through a growth spurt. Is this normal for 2-year-olds? She is eating like crazy. I don't know if it's because we switched her from whole milk to 1%, but she is eating like a big kid. We're talking a whole hot dog, 3/4 of a cup of peas, a whole sippy of milk, some cheese and some chicken. At one sitting! Whereas she used to just eat a quarter of a sandwich for lunch, she'll now eat a half a sandwich, a cup of fruit and some milk, and still seem to be hungry. Some of you might think I'm making up the part about the peas. I am not. How did I do this? It's a bit of a game: I pour peas from the spoon in the big bowl directly onto her little spoon and she shovels them into her mouth, all the while asking for more. Big spoon to little spoon to mouth. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. She ate half of Tim's portion (in addition to her own) the other night.

She is also talking up a storm. Hurricane force! Here is a mini translation guide:

• Ohhhh-tay, Mommy! = Okay, Mommy! (that was easy, huh?)
• Beee = big
• No sugs! = No slugs!
• Wheh yu goin Mommy? = Where are you going, Mother?
• How 'bout... = How about....(usually followed by "playdoh", "too-tee" [cookie], or "outtide" [outside])

As for Claire, she has gotten 4 teeth in 2 weeks (2 on top and 2 on bottom). She is still in swimming lessons, but will finish on Thursday because her instructor is going on vacation. She is almost able to flip herself over a good portion of the time when on her belly, but not quite.

She is also keeping some solid food down. Imagine my distress on Saturday when she bit into a grape and swallowed half of it without chewing it first! We were at a party and I had forgotten her mesh bag, and thought I would share some grape with her anyway. I thought she would suck the juice out of it, not bite into it! Of course this was silly thinking on my part. But. She kept it down, along with the baby food carrots I fed her the day before.

So today I gave her some teeny chunks of banana. No vomiting. Of course, this brings up (pun not intended) my current dilemma. I sort of don't want to feed her solid food yet. And it's totally for selfish reasons:

1. I weigh 7 pounds less than I did when I got pregnant with Kate. This is not because I've been good about eating right or exercising like an aerobics instructor. This is all Claire, baby. And I love eating my peppermint patties and chocolate cake. Not to mention Swistle's brownies.
2. Stinky poo. I used to sing 'Smelly Cat' to Kate ('Smelly Kate' in my version) after we started her on solids.
3. Umm, I guess those are my biggest reasons. But she seems to want real people food so bad that I am starting to give in and give it to her. Stinky poo and all.

Ahhh! 3:15 and it is silent! Yesssss.