Samantha and Amelia were incredibly excited for their first New Year’s Eve and chatted all day about staying up until midnight to see the ball drop. Predictably, both girls nodded off at seven and were put to bed while the rest of us partied (read: went to bed). Amelia, however, woke up right at 11:45 p.m. and got to ring in the new year with us. She always gets what she wants!
On her first day of 2014, Samantha woke up disappointed that she had missed the festivities the night prior, but was ready to forge ahead and celebrate anyway. In the spirit of self-improvement, Samantha suggested that she and Amelia get together and make some New Year’s resolutions to implement this year. They may have consulted me for a few ideas, but everything they ultimately agreed upon was of their own creation. After a very intense brainstorming session, here’s what they came up with.
Resolution 1: Take higher-quality naps. Learn how to lie back down and go back to sleep after waking up in the middle of a nap and standing up in crib, wailing. Ditto for night-time sleep.
Resolution 2: When at all possible, resist the temptation to pull sister’s hair and steal her toys/Wub (pacifier). Refrain from laughing at sister when misfortune befalls her, such as a tumble or bump. (This one was mostly for Samantha).
Resolution 3: Work on perfecting table manners. Or at least learn to get the majority of the food into mouth instead of on the floor. Remember that there is an appropriate time in which to blow raspberries…NOT after a spoonful of sweet potato puree has been put in your mouth.
Resolution 4: Learn to delay gratification by sitting still for two seconds during diaper changes instead of writhing, twisting, and screeching, thus lengthening the time spent on the actual diaper change by 70%.
Resolution 5: Allow mommy to dress us up and take pictures of us without too much eye-rolling. Maybe even try and smile for the camera occasionally…it’s the least we can do after pulling out every single item of clothing in her drawers and spreading them across the house.
Resolution 6: Learn baby sign language. (We’ve been working on this, and the girls definitely watch us with interest anytime we sign and say a word, but have yet to sign anything themselves yet). Also, learn Spanish…and English, for that matter. (The girls can say mama, dada, and baba, but so far nothing in Spanish. We decided we wanted the girls to be bilingual back when I was still pregnant, but thus far, we haven’t been very consistent at speaking Spanish with them, so this one is our bad).
