August already??

I have a little more than 2 weeks of maternity leave left :(  Clara had better learn to take a bottle - quick!! 

It's weird to think how long I've been talking with Emily about starting preschool, and now it's actually going to happen!  I'm so excited for her, and kind of scared at the same time.  I don't know why it's seeming that much more intimidating than it was to leave her at different daycares over the years, but when I saw on the list of school supplies that she needed a backpack, something about that just totally made me get all nervous for her!  I think I've got nearly everything she needs, all ready to go, and all the dates on my calendar marked, for the home visit and the trip to see her preschool room ahead of time.  I just can't believe it's really almost here!

The girls seem to be getting along with Amanda just great.  I've got no qualms about leaving the kids with her, although it'll be interesting for her because the job is going to get a lot tougher once she's got sole responsibility for Clara (who's been staying pretty close to me this summer :) ), and the task of taking Emily to preschool.  Still not sure how we're going to manage that one, with carseats and such.

Clara is the most awesome little baby.  She snuggles and snuffs just like I adore in a newborn, and wiggles and snorts and all that good stuff.  She is a FANTASTIC sleeper - I can pretty much count on at least 6 hours, and usually a good 8 to 10 without waking in the night.  I haven't nursed her between 10PM and 4AM in weeks!!  And if I can stay rested, it makes everything manageable.  She is super conversational, and I just adore sitting with her and making faces, watching her smile, listening to her most amazing little sounds.  I love this little girl SO much.

And I love my Emily and Audrey, too, of course.  Last night, we all went for a walk together, with Emily pushing Audrey in the umbrella stroller, and Travis carrying Clara in the baby carrier.  Emily took off running, and pushed Audrey right into a bump into the sidewalk, which stopped the stroller but not the girls!!  The stroller flipped, and Audrey ended up with a HUGE goose egg on her forehead and a bloody lip.  Emily felt so bad about it, but it really wasn't her fault.  And Audrey was pretty tough.  She stopped crying right away and her bonks haven't seemed to bother her much since then.  I feel like she's going to end up like Muhammed Ali, after sustaining so many blows to her forehead she'll get all demented on me!  Maybe that's why she keeps having so many accidents.... :) 

I checked my blog this weekend to see when it was that we started potty training Audrey, and it was September 1.  In that infamous post, I believe I said that I would not spend a year on it, like I did with Audrey.  I wouldn't say that it has really taken less than that.  So I'm going to just look out into the future and pick a good 12-month span with nothing major goign on in our lives, and reserve that for Clara's potty training.  Anything less than that will be awesome.

I'm going to go enjoy the rest of this beautiful summer day!!