This Week in Mommyhood

The past two weeks have been full of lots of excitement and changes. I started school last week and, while I was extremely nervous, it went well. Thankfully, my mother-in-law was able to be here with the new babysitter so it made leaving the girls, especially Elina, easier. This week might be a different story but at least the first week back didn't see me crying on the way to school. For as much as I missed being with the girls and giving them kisses goodnight, the time away did wonders for me; being able to miss the girls makes me appreciate my time with them more.

Here are Elina's fun developments from the past two weeks:

Food! This is, by far, the biggest development with Elina. I tried giving her oatmeal cereal the day after she turned six months and she didn't really get it. On the one hand, I didn't think she was ready to start solids and on the other hand, I didn't think she would take to eating solids easily because she has always been a fussy eater. I didn't push the cereal on her (plus, it made her spit up a lot) and I tried a different approach, which was giving her something small to chew on. Elina had no problem with chewing and actually seems to prefer eating things she can chew. I haven't tried giving Elina any purees because I'm focusing on giving her things like cooked rice grains, banana pieces, and avocado pieces to eat.

All Fours. Crawling is near. Elina is starting to do all the things Cati did before she started to crawl. Elina gets on all fours and rocks and thumps her legs when she's on her back. I'm still trying to wrap my head around having two mobile kids.

Name Recognition. Elina responds to her name! I love her name so much and feel it really fits her so it's great to see that she knows it's her name. She's becoming more and more of a little person every day.

Here are Cati's fun developments from the past two weeks:

Potty Update. Cati is doing so well with potty training that I find myself feeling good about waiting to potty train until now. She hasn't had a peeing accident since the first couple of days and she's even peed in public bathrooms. The only area we have issues with is pooping and Cati holding it in until it hurts. She's getting extra fiber in her diet but she still doesn't feel comfortable pooping in the potty. Regardless, I'm so proud of her and so impressed by how well she has handled this transition. Things like this make me realize how much of a little girl Cati is becoming.

Here's to another week of surviving and, most importantly enjoying having both girls at home.