Hazel and I went to her friend V’s birthday party today. Hazel didn’t know anyone else there, and glued herself to me for a good half of the time. That seemed out of character for her to me, but then, I usually see her around people she knows. I am feeling pretty seriously crappy and lacking in energy, so I found it hard to be present for her at the same time I was interacting with others socially and blowing my nose every few minutes. But she did warm up eventually, and when it was time to leave she didn’t want to. A good party.
Tonight, since I was unavailable to Hazel for the rest of the day due to tasks Ted and I had to do and also to my feeling increasingly awful as the day continued, I asked Hazel if she wanted to snuggle with me for ten minutes after the twins were asleep. She did, and I told her that from now on I am going to find ten minutes every day that we can spend together just the two of us. If I can’t make that happen during the day we’ll do it at night. It’s not a lot, but it’s something, and if I have good follow-through it’s also something she’ll really be able to count on. I think it will help both of us. I started feeling better when we were tucked up in bed together, so warm and cozy.
I read two books to the twins, as usual, before I nursed them tonight. They are both pointing and vocalizing about various things in the books all the time now. Emily says, “No” for nose; “Meow” for cat; “Oof” for dog; the most adorable, high-pitched “Hoo, hoo” you can imagine for owl, “Eeoh” for eel; “eess” for fish. She’s also started copying words we say pretty frequently. And every time either Joanna or Emily drops something, they say, “Uh oh!” It warms the cockles of my Mama heart.
CelloMama 
They are all growing up so fast!