New year, new kids

It's the end of January and I feel like we've squeezed a year into the past month. New job for me (bittersweet!) and all kinds of new antics from both Lily and Matteo.

For Lily, it is as much her classroom that amazes me as it is Lily herself. Moving into Discovery has transported her into a new world, where boys and girls are suddenly split into two camps aligned by gender stereotypes. It's sad for me as I've always loved all her little boyfriends and that my rough-and-tumble girl was able to find outlets for kinetic energy with her male counterparts. I thought she would have that until at least 2nd - or maybe even 3rd - grade....but no, the dividing line has been drawn with an exceptionally raucous set of boys on one side, and Lily and the girls on the other. There are a few shared moments bonding over paper light sabers, but they are increasingly rare as Lily has told me "the boys are not my friends."

For Matteo, his world has also evolved to truly include solid foods. While Lily took to solids like a fish to water, Matteo required a bit more time and patience. His progression went something like this....

- Mid-November he was a teething maniac so we thought we'd give it a shot. He spit out more than he kept in and did this sad little shudder/face squish up. Repeated attempts yielded similar results, meaning that a few tablespoons of food required 30 minutes or more of work, so we took a step back and decided to wait a week. Every weekend after that we tried again, with no real progress

- Mid-December he actually ate a whole meal - VICTORY - but then he lost interest

- January 4th something clicked and he got the hang of solid food - devouring all his bottles AND a full packet of sweet potatoes and apricots. Since then he has been an eating MACHINE...inhaling the foods I make him (carnitas, yam and apple is his favorite) to the point we now have to persuade him to take a bottle first as he only wants solids and has lost interest in milk, which is clearly not ideal. Overnight he's gone from famine to feast.

Lily, too, has broadened her food horizons and has become enamored of bacon. Yeah, yeah, we all like bacon....but she never has. At breakfast one morning she decided to give it a shot and OH MAN is she crazy about it now. If you even mention "restaurant" she immediately says "I'm going to have BACON!" regardless if it is breakfast, lunch or dinner. Mac-n-Cheese has officially been surpassed, something I never, ever thought could happen.

Concurrent to getting the food thing, Matteo has become quite the mobile baby. While not crawling, he has mastered the art of the roll. mixed in with a healthy dose of on-the-side-wounded-in-combat-army-crawl. It's truly amazing how much ground this kid covers in such an awkward manner, but he doesn't seem all that interested in crawling, it works for him, and as long as I vacuum he isn't TOO covered in Paco hair, so there you go. Oh, he's also become the king of kicks and lunges. The former is adorable, especially when he sees us, gets really excited, and kicks up a storm while sharing his gorgeous, bright-eyed smile. The latter is terrifying as he is fearless about diving for whatever he wants, having utter faith we won't drop him. Needless to say he is held VERY tightly. Oh, and he also hugs back, tossing an arm around your neck when you hold him. Yes, it is heartbreakingly sweet.

Lily continues to be quite the character. At least once....but more frequently 3 and 4 times...a day she pulls a "trick"on us. These can be anything from "look! Star Wars is outside the window!" followed by "tricked you!!" to telling me Paco is actually a kitty. I can safely say of all the books we have read in the past 5 years, Tilly the Trickster has by far made the biggest impact and has provided daily inspiration for our sprout. Her other delightful moments have run the gamut from eccentricities such as wearing a sleep mask with her nightgown (like Barbie, natch) and incredible sweetness like bringing her allowance to church so she can "give it to God." She now carefully draws hearts in four sections, is better and better with her letters, has become quite the ski bunny after only a month of Saturday lessons, and LOVES to dance to records in the living room (turntable was a brilliant addition of Chris'). One of my favorite displays of her indefatigable joie de vivre was when Matteo was baptized at the beginning of the month and she was asked to lead the procession to the alter, dipping a pine bough in water and sprinkling the parishioners along the way. I can only describe her water flinging as "highly enthusiastic." Thankfully our church is filled with kind people blessed with good senses of humor.

Matteo (aka Dils Newfuss) continues to grow and change every day, but despite that he still looks like a tiny baby to me, especially when I see Chris carrying him around. He's such a little love, always quick to share his huge, open, genuine smile and always so happy to see us...whether at the end of the day, or simply reentering the room. He's as in love with Lily as ever, still has frog legs on the changing table (his legs being his one area of pudge makes it extra endearing), and has now added in the milestone of sitting up on his own. He was never much of a bumbo user, always leaning way off to the side, but as of 1/17 he managed to for about 5 seconds before sloooooowly toppling to the side. By his 8th-month birthday, though, he mastered the art of the sit and let it be known that from this moment forward, he is WAY too mature for a bouncer seat. Oh, also on his 8th month birthday he discovered that he has all kinds of interesting anatomy, which he is keen to explore every diaper change. Thankfully my fellow moms-of-boys prepared me for that "milestone."

And of course there are the quotables of the month....

- "Ow! My loose tooth!" Lily's declaration after biting anything crunchy. The dentist has twice promised a tooth will fall out "by the next visit"....I think this is Lily's way of wishful thinking it to hurry up

- Me: "What would you like to drink?" Lily: "Nothing." Me: " Juice? Milk?" Lily: "I'm not dehydrated!"

- "It's not okay to call me a loser!" Lily schooling a kid who had been rude at the playground. I was proud of her for sticking up for herself and not calling him a name in return.

- "Oh my gosh that's classic" Lily, watching the opening of The Simpsons

- Me, watching Homeward Bound: "I wonder why the dogs understand each other but not the mountain lion." Lily: "They understand it wants to eat them!"

- The Dreidel song and the Banana Fana Fana Bo Bana song....two hits Lily has randomly busted out throughout January

- "ACK ACK ACK ACK ACK....Bshhheeeeeem!!" The sound effect from Mars Attacks that Chris reenacts for Matteo. When he gets to the gun part Matteo wiggles and busts into the biggest grin imaginable 99% of the time. The other 1% his lower lip trembled and he burst into tears, leaving poor Chris feeling like the Worst Dad Ever...especially since it happened in front of Lily's highly amused teacher.

- "Oh! His PAJINA was hurt!" Lily's concern over Sideshow Bob after a crotch gag.

- "She is an evil conductor! See, she has a skeleton on her clothes. That means she's evil" Lily explaining Hello Kitty's costume to me (I had thought it was a bat).

- "The flower record" and "the banana record" - how Lily refers to New Order's Power Faith and Corruption and the Velvet Underground, respectively. She can and will dance to them over and over and over again. Matteo even gets in on the act, kicking his legs in delight.

- Lily: "I'm sorry about your record." Chris: "What happened?" Lily: "Well, I'm watching something downstairs and the record is loud so I need you to turn it off because I'm worried I will miss something I need to hear." Three cheers for excellent manners and speaking your mind!

Yep, it's been a full month. Can't wait to see what February brings!