Baby food this week

 Mango puree!

Acorn squash puree!

Carrots with ginger

Pear oatmeal sweetened with dates

Apples with coconut milk

Food this week

 Saturday: Lentil soup and crusty bread, spinach salads

Sunday: BBQ chicken quarters, roasted acorn squash, broccoli, chocolate chip cookie bars

Monday: Grilled chicken salads and baked potatoes, brownies

Tuesday: Steak tacos

Wednesday: Grilled cheese and tomato soup with roasted brussels

Thursday: Spaghetti, meatballs, green beans, salad, garlic bread

Friday: Buffalo chicken wraps, fries, veggies and dip, brownies again

Adequate

 We had a pretty adequate no-school today.

I played 2 rounds of Clue before 8 am and another before Minnie's third nap.

Pictures!

 This is the kids' last day of school for the week, so I am going to ENJOY IT, DAMNIT.

I have a multi-step dinner I have never made before and also work to do for my class and plus also another worky thing. What's that you say? Stop complaining and show you some pictures? Here you go:

The morning Minnie

Jack is THE SWEETEST

She loves all of the foods.

Sbe also loves selfies

Finally, we can just sit her down with some stuff, and she can play

She loves Dorothy's math

I look awful here, but SHE IS HUGGING ME and it is the absolute best.

Dorothy, fully accessorized and wearing her house Uggs

Cutest hat ever.

Cheering section

 Minnie has THE BEST sibling crew. They are so sweet with her. Check out her audience for crawling practice:

Patriarchy

 Yesterday, I asked a child why they don't have an emotional breakdown when their dad says he has to work and cannot check their homework right that second. And that child? Did not have a good response. But! It's a good question. It is maybe THE QUESTION in my life right now. Why is my work a personal affront, and Ben's is just.. what he does for 8 hours a day? PATRIARCHY is the TL;DR of course, but here? In this house? IT'S INESCAPABLE.

Last night at dinner, Dorothy got a question wrong in Trivial Pursuit about who the first cheerleaders were. The answer was men, which surprised her. When I was tucking her in, she asked about that question, wondering if it was talking about a long time ago when girls could only do the the things she likes to do. I loved that her understanding of gender roles was so complete that she offered both a critique and an analysis in one and that she was self-aware enough to note that she only likes stereotypically girly stuff. So we started talking about abolition and suffrage. "Ok," she said finally. "That's too many details. Save this for your college students."

I told Ben about our exchange, and he said, "Oh man, next thing you know, she's going to ask me about WGN radio or baseball cards."

The tiny girl in this picture doesn't sleep anymore unless I am holding her. I HOPE SHE IS GETTING TEETH or something reasonable. Otherwise she either hates me and never wants me to have a break OR she loves me so completely that we can never be apart. Either way, kind of overwhelming.

Monday goals-- they're pretty lofty

 This is the age in baby development when I always start to slack on the baby book. And then because I am slacking, I slack some more and suddenly, I am using time at home during a global pandemic to finish it when the baby is 7. But not this time! This time! I am GETTING BACK ON TRACK THIS WEEK. What does that mean exactly? It means that Dorothy and I are going to fill in the actual book, and we are going to tape in month 5 pictures AND print pictures from month 6. For the first 4 months of Minnie's life, I printed monthly pictures THE DAY AFTER her birthday, but then in month 5, I waited a week and STILL haven't gotten them in the book. And now it's like a whole Hanukkah since she turned 6 months. GAH.

I am declaring this fail publicly because I want to fix it! I WILL FIX IT.  This week, even.

Also on tap for this week: 

At least 5 pomodoros (I know my February intention was 6, but that is just not happening)

Record POTY, FFS (we are changing software, and we just negotiated a hardware change and new routines are HARD especially when you are working on little sleep and even smaller snatches of time)

YOGA. I don't know when or where or how often, but I am sleeping in really tortured positions once Minnie comes to bed with hem, and it's KILLING my old lady hips and knees.

Prepare live Zoom sesh I have with a bunch of public speaking students tomorrow afternoon (super excited about this and have been working on it for awhile-- I just need to decide on the final order of things and if I am going to share my screen and show slides or if that's a snooze)

SO. MUCH. GRADING. This is the first semester I have taught a class too small for a TA in YEARS. I have a grader thank goodness, but for the first time in forever, I am also responding directly to student work. On the one hand, I love it because I miss students. On the other hand, it is such hard work. God bless graduate students.

I also want to tweak Minnie's schedule. It would be SO GREAT to put her to bed at 7:30, not 8, because she is waking up around 7:15-7:30 every morning. Unfortunately, 3 things stand in the way: Her last nap of the day is kind of late because it is based on her other 2 naps, so I have to go on my walk (her first nap) earlier. I am just not done cleaning the kitchen after dinner in time for an earlier bedtime because I like to shower before starting the bedtime routine (otherwise, I am showering last, and I don't want a cold shower, thanks). And finally, any time her head touches her crib mattress before 8:25 (we are sitting in her chair to rock and nurse by about 8:05 most nights), she treats bedtime like a 4th nap and wakes up around 9:15 to hang out for a bit before sleeping all night in my bed with me. This is not as great at the nights she goes down at 8:30 and sleeps in her bed until long after I have gone to sleep, you know? BUT! How great would a 7:30 bedtime and stretch of sleep into the wee hours be? SO GREAT. That's the dream, friends.

We almost lost Planty this weekend

 I got like 6 hours into a 15 hour audio book and had the feeling that I might have read it before. I looked up the book on Goodreads and I definitely gave it 3 stars, but there's no date. So maybe I started it but didn't finish? Or read it sort of but counted it anyway because it was one of those years that Ben goaded me into reading 200 books? Or maybe I am finally losing my mind for real. That seems like the most likely scenario, actually.

Another sign that I have lost my mind:

I left Minnie in her white onesie and then put a scoop of sweet potatoes on her tray for her to play with while I fed her oatmeal with peaches and pears. Rookie.

Always so serious:

I almost killed Planty. I can't remember not watering him, but then I can't remember watering him either, and then I looked over at him today and saw this!

Some water, some sunshine, some Indigo Girls, and he was back to normal

Her serious little face here!

She's still so happy in the Moby-- I love it!

Friday randoms

 Harry and Jack had video physicals today, and it was such an easy process-- we loved it. We weighed and measured them before hand, so we got t see their growth curves,  and their pediatrician asked great questions-- much more effective than I thought a video physical would be, especially since if I want Min Min to be seen for her 9-month appointment it will be on video.

I have been drinking a gallon of water a day for month, and I have to say, my skin looks great! Except for my neck. My neck looks like crepe paper and makes me sad.

The downstairs TV broke, and better parents than we are would have used the opportunity to help the kids have less screen time. We bought the biggest, cheapest TV we could get at Target as fast as possible. Because we are truly POTY.

Last baby/first baby

This room is pretty much my office.  Usually, I have 3 co-workers: Dorothy and Cooper torturing me with second and third grade math and Minnie playing with all of the toys. I was a good math student, but second grade extension math is really my sweet spot. Cooper's regular stuff is a stretch, and then there I am googling the third grade extension answers. Neat.

Minnie licks all of the things.

She really is loving food, and I am loving making it for her.

Twins.

 I just looked back at all of our other 6-month-olds, and Dorothy was CRAWLING. Even Cooper was scooting, and Jack could sit steadily enough that we let him destroy the tupperware cabinet. Minnie and Harry were slower than the rest of them-- maybe because they get carried the most?

6 month check up

 We left the house today for Minnie's 6-month appointment!

She is 16 pounds, 2 ounces (heavier than Harry and Dorthy, but slightly smaller than Jack and Cooper were at that age-- but we are talking ONE POUND from my smallest baby to my largest) and 26.5 inches long (tied with Harry and Dorothy and slightly smaller than Jack --27.25-- and Cooper-- 27.5). That's totally fascinating to me. 

She rolls both ways, eats purees, sits up on her own, laugh, squeals, makes vowel sounds, recognizes her name, moves objects from hand to hand-- she''s perfect.

Also! We have a new rule: If you make a mess of the baby feeding her lunch, YOU bathe her -- cough cough-- Harry -- cough cough.

Oatmeal! Like a big girl!

 I think I am starting to get ready to lose the baby weight. But then I am still buying chocolate chips by the thirty-six-ounce bag every week at the store, so who knows.

The Mom Edit has a daily style challenge prompt on Instagram, and I have been playing along with Minnie all moth, and it has been SO FUN to get dressed and wear my clothes in different ways. At first I was determined not to repeat clothes, but it has been even more fun to wear my favorites (SWEAT PANTS. MY FAVORITES ARE SWEAT PANTS and a $20 TARGET SWEATSHIRT) in new ways. Anyway, if you are on Instagram, I recommend playing along and following the hashtag #tmestylechallenge It has been a great February pick-me-up. Today is match your mask to your outfit, and it will make me feel like I have somewhere to go.

She loves oatmeal, and since I am not pumping this time around, I bought pre-made 2 oz bottles of Similac to mix with it, and this is a genius hack you guys.

She loves these stacking cups but also they are hard to stack, and this makes her cry.

Thanks for the shirts, grandma and grandpa!

Minnie and I are dressing like me in college. 

Dorothy is also writing books these days:

Happy V-day!

 You all know I love a good Vday, so I won't tell you how much, etc, etc etc. But I really miss the class parties. So much so, in fact, that Dorothy and Cooper made Valentines and we delivered them to friends, and they sent them to their grandparents and my aunt. Did I buy Ben a gift? No. Did he get me flowers anyway? YOU BET.

I also put on red lipstick and kissed the baby all over.

Flowers big enough to hide the laundry pile!

Minnie got some cute work out toys

Dorothy got this creepy creepy Barbie head.

Wearing a dress form her grandma and grandpa and a headband from her grandma.

PAYDAY! My favorite childhood game! Is as fun as I remembered!

Happy 6 Month Birthday, Minnie!

 A year ago, we told the kids that a BABY was on the way, and now, Minnie, that BABY, is 6 months old.

She's the most wonderful treat we can even imagine.

She rolls both ways, sits up all by herself, loves to try new foods, sleeps pretty not bad most days.

She laughs and shrieks like a pterodactyl. She gives kisses on demand and can wave.

She delights us.

What we are eating this week

 It sounds counterintuitive but I have started making baby food during my busiest times in the kitchen-- either during the breakfast rush or while I am cleaning up dinner, And you know what? I don't even notice making  baby food. So, there's a weird pro-tip.

Minnie took a THREE HOUR second nap yesterday, which was super helpful in terms of the workday, but came back to sort of bite her because she was never tired for her late after noon third nap, and she COULD NOT hang until bedtime.

Ben and I menu-planned last night, so here it is, links and all:

Saturday: V-day date night in (kids are having frozen pizza)

Sunday: Something we all love: PW baked french toast, eggs bacon, berries, etc

Monday: Pulled pork sliders, slaw, cauliflower, chips and dips

Tuesday: Spaghetti and meatballs, green beans, bread, salad

Wednesday: Shrimp and broccoli stir fry, rice, egg rolls in the air fryer

Thursday: Fish sticks, instant pot mac and cheese, brussels sprouts, salad

Friday: Burgers, fries, asparagus

So refreshed:

Displeased with her doll

Distracted by something bright

Plums!

...and she fell asleep mid-play:

Delightful

 Like, for real, I wanted to blog more this year. But also, I am spending every second of every day WORKING MY FACE OFF. So much working! YOU GUYS! The working!

I think it feel like more work because I am home with the kids 24/7. Also, I just walked into Harry and Jack;'s room with a stack of laundry, and Harry was on the dorkiest little Zoom with friends from his science class making fun of each other while they solved math problems, and I love it so much, It almost makes me miss when the kids had friends over IRL.

Aggressive twinning

AGRESSIVE

SO BUSY. She sometimes has a hard time figuring out what's toy and what's mat-- maybe she got my depth perception?

Maybe I forget to blog because I have nothing to whine about. Minnie is a delight.

Poison control! For like the 6th time

Minnie loves food! She has had carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, peaches, bananas, and green beans. On tap this week: zucchini and maybe plums!

Taking this instagram pic, I wasn't paying attention, and Minnie ate her poisonous plant a little, and we had to call poison control. NOBODY'S PERFECT, OK?

Except Minnie. SHE IS PERFECT.

I mean seriously.