Charlie has Stuff to Say!

My quiet little boy suddenly has words tumbling out of his mouth, though there's definitely some translation required. It's kind of like Pig Latin, only instead of moving the consonant to the back of the word, Charlie just drops it all together. Snow is no. Pillow is whoa-whoa. Umbrella is basically the sound you hear if you stick your tongue in and out of your mouth really fast. Thank you is the sweetest, slowest drawl of vowels that we made sure to get it on video so we could document his 23-month-old Nashville accent. But my favorite is, "Maple, where are you," which sounds like "Aa-poo, waaaa-r-ouuuu?"

As a first time parent with Madeline, I worried I should be doing more if she didn't hit milestones at the exact week or month mark that parenting books said. Then I learned that lovely, comforting thing that experienced moms always remind us of -- children do things in their own time. I didn't notice that my tiny Madeline was scaling fences and doing 50-meter sprints while some of her friends were still learning to walk and falling head first over curbs -- only that she didn't have the 20-word vocabulary kids her age are "supposed" to have. Her pediatrician at the time said "We won't worry. Yet." That three-letter word banged around in my mind from time to time afterward. So when her speech exploded like Charlie's is now, it was truly one of my first lessons in not only relaxing as a parent but also fully focusing on, enjoying and absorbing the present moment. This time around with Charlie, I never worried. I just kept a running list as his vocabulary grew, which is a joy for me to look at now as I write this post.

It's safe to say that my children seem to focus on physical development before the verbal, since Charlie was climbing trees before he could say "all done." During my last OB check up, my doctor had to chase our zygote with her Doppler to catch its heartbeat. She eventually asked it politely to slow down. Seems the Vlach kids are quite active before they're even born. And though Charlie has lots to say now, I'm guessing he'll still appreciate the peace and quiet that most men enjoy, but that every woman in his life will be happy to fill with lively and animated conversation.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2011! As we think about the coming year, our minds are singularly focused on the third baby
that's coming our way this summer. We're starting now to prepare, getting Madeline excited about a new big girl room, planning all travel for early spring, buying a bigger car, and shuffling around our entire house to make room for the tiny eight-pounder.

My girlfriend Paige surprised me by proposing a day trip to the Atlanta IKEA to pick up some things we need. Little did she know Rob has the catalog memorized and is reorganizing every closet in the house, as well as the garage. I would call it male nesting, but it's not -- he lives for organization, while I live to try to be organized. We're converting our eat-in-kitchen (which we've never once eaten in) into another fun living space that may even double as extra guest quarters. Sound crazy? Come on down -- it's gonna be pretty cool! We already created a stylish office out of our large laundry room and we're in the process of turning our upstairs linen closet into a place for me to store all my things that have been displaced over the years (and now reside in random boxes scattered around the house). It's all happening...

We had a quiet but very fun New Year's Eve at home with just the four of us. Rob's department had to cover year-end deals, so he was at work on Friday and has Monday off in its place. This year, instead of fancy dinners or hotel slumber parties with friends and their kids, we ordered in Papa John's, put on sparkly party hats and silly glasses, and had a dance party. I got crazy with my mock-tail in a martini glass.

Here are a few other things going on:

• Madeline has decided. If the baby's a girl, she will be named Sophie. If it's a boy, he'll be elephant squeak. My family jokes that it'll be named Buck, inspired by the company my dad recently helped Caterpillar acquire. They all have a special ring to them...
• The kids have been packing their backpacks with random things from the coat closet and pretending to take plane rides to Italy. Charlie even said Ciao.
• Charlie ate pavement last week. I actually saw his little face skid and bounce against the asphalt. He busted up the outside and inside of both his lips, and was so swollen, it looked like he had a white marble under the skin. To add insult to injury, he has tripped and reopened it again three more times since then. Poor little guy. 
• Madeline, Charlie and I went on a coffee date at Starbuck's! The kids sipped their hot cocoas and felt so grown up. 

A Magical Christmas

As long as I live, I'll always remember Madeline's words when she opened her new baby doll on Christmas morning -- "Santa knew just what I wanted!" It was like her first plane ride when she shrieked over the roaring engines, "I just knew I would love this!"

Christmas was a joy. In the days leading up to it, Nashville had its first snowfall (which melted by noon) -- we had so much fun bundling up, then drinking hot cocoa to warm up again and snuggling by the fire to read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. The kids were manic in their excitement when Rob's parents and sister arrived -- Madeline literally screamed, and Charlie does whatever she does. Together, we went to a special kids sing along at Whole Foods, decorated a gingerbread house, and went out for a fun Tex Mex lunch. Rob and his dad took Madeline and Charlie out for Krispy Kreme early one morning, just like they used to do when Rob was a little boy.

On Christmas Eve, we went to the early candle light service at church. The music was incredible -- I teared up and got goosebumps at least five times and Rob said even he couldn't help but sing along to every song. Sandie asked if we'd made a wrong turn and ended up in Opryland -- it was quite a show! But also a lovely message that really reminded us of why we celebrate Christmas. We came home to a wonderful ham feast; every dish on the table was one of Gram's tried-and-true recipes. It felt like a special way to make her a part of the festivities. 

And then it was game on! It was like Christmas roller derby -- Madeline was winging presents to people and tearing them open faster than we could check the tags, pausing only to give hugs and say thank you. One of my favorite moments was when she opened her pink ballet slippers from Rob and me -- her excitement was palpable as she danced on her toes and spun around the room to Christmas carols. Charlie took his time, putting on every article of clothing he opened, and playing with each toy. He opened his bike helmet first, and never took it off again.

On Christmas morning, we awoke to our second snowfall of the season -- it was a true Tennessee white Christmas! Charlie woke up first, then popped his head right into Madeline's room to make sure she didn't miss a thing. The kids padded down the stairs in their footed pajamas to find their stockings and a special note from Santa and his reindeer, who appreciated their midnight snack and chocolate milk. We had a wonderful brunch with Sandie's strata (I've actually had vivid dreams about it) and a special Beef Wellington Christmas dinner, which is what my mom often made for our family growing up.

It was truly a magical Christmas. We're wishing you a very happy new year!!

The Best Gift of All!

We're adding more monkeys to the Vlach zoo! We are beside ourselves with joy to announce that we're expecting our third child mid-June. So now, we're officially the Vlach-Tastic Four-and-a-Third.

Madeline is enchanted. She asks me all sorts of questions about when the new baby is going to "hatch" -- the best way I can explain it to her is that she'll have a new brother or sister when we get to go swimming again in our neighborhood pool. And she is hatching all sorts of babies herself -- she has set up a hospital in Rob's office and carries her newborn baby dolls around in their carriage (a bag we carry library books in). She burps them, nurses them and puts them to bed -- there are parts of the day when we all have to whisper because the new baby is sleeping. Watching all that....well, I'm enchanted too. The other day, Madeline drew a mommy with a baby in her tummy. While she's sure it's a girl, we're trying to set the stage early that it could be a little brother too. She loves to tickle my belly, then listen to see if she can hear the baby inside me giggling.

Charlie has no idea what's about to hit him, but he gets really excited whenever anyone else gets excited, so he happily kisses my belly when he sees Madeline roll up my shirt. Today, he got into the wrapped gifts under the Christmas tree (it was the sound of paper tearing that drew me from the kitchen); he had opened his copy of I'm a Big Brother and ripped two pages out. We'll take it as a two-year-old boy's sign of his growing anticipation.

We feel so blessed that our family is growing, and that our children will have another best friend to throw into the ring. Thankfully, I'm never sick during my pregnancies. But the first trimester exhaustion with two young children was staggering -- I felt like I'd taken an imaginary dose of Tylenol PM and I was doing everything wearing a snow suit. Underwater. With weights on my arms and legs. I would lie Madeline and Charlie down for their naps, and collapse on my bed across the hall face first. We ate more frozen pizzas in the last three months than Dr. Oz would recommend. But I'm feeling my energy surge back just in time for the holidays. We plan to not find out the gender, just like we did with Charlie. That moment in the delivery room was so incredible that we can't wait to repeat it.

We have so much to celebrate this year, and we are simply overcome and infinitely humbled by how grateful we feel.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I am so in the Christmas spirit that I can hardly contain it. I'm wishing everyone aside from telemarketers a Merry Christmas (and that's only because we put ourselves on the Do Not Call list). So when we went grocery shopping day before yesterday and I saw Advent calendars, I had a flashback to my childhood and grabbed one. Then I imagined both kids wrestling to open the same tiny perforated window and sharing the tiny chocolate inside that I paid for a second one in the checkout line and grabbed it on the way out to our car.

This morning, before Madeline and Charlie had even finished their breakfast, I handed each of them their calendars and explained that we get to open a window every day leading up to Christmas. Madeline attacked hers and managed to open several windows in the short time that I helped Charlie with his. When they realized there was chocolate inside, their eyes got big and they forgot all about the made-to-order eggs on their plates.

Then this evening, we got caught in rush hour traffic while running an errand and a 30 minute drive took three times as long. But inside our car, we were singing carols and excitedly pointing out any Christmas lights we passed. In my wildest dreams, I never would have imagined the kids would want to stay in the car even a second longer than they had already patiently endured. But they were so excited to look at more Christmas decorations in our neighborhood that we drove around for another half hour, slowing down at every third house to admire all the lights and colored bulbs! I actually had to pump more gas to continue on. Madeline would exclaim, "Ohhhh Mommy, you aren't going to believe what's coming next. Keep going....keep going.....okay! Ta-Da!!"

I've said it before, but having Madeline and Charlie allows me to experience the wonder of things through a child's eyes. And it really is wonderful.

Nashville Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving was a blast -- we loved having my dad and Nancy visit us in Nashville for the holiday. And the best surprise ever was the call we got from Kyle, Andi's new husband, saying they were driving down from St. Louis for an overnight stay to sit at the Thanksgiving table with us, despite their busy work schedules. Family is truly the best gift life has to offer, though we missed Mollie and Kenny, who were celebrating in Denver, and Rob's family, who we'll see at Christmas.

Rob and I made two turkeys -- one was cornbread stuffed with maple orange glaze, and Rob smoked the other in his Yankee Smoker. There were so many sides that we staggered into the living room, where we all decorated the Christmas tree, listened to carols and waited until our stomachs made some room for pie. My dad and Nancy ordered every other meal throughout their entire stay from Super Suppers -- so they most definitely hosted us in our own home. They are so thoughtful and generous, reminding us of what Thanksgiving is really about -- being grateful for all the blessings in our lives.

We had a great time decorating a gingerbread house, of course eating the candy as we went (Charlie by the fistful). It was both heartwarming and heartbreaking to hear his forlorn calls for "PaaaaPaaaa," even if he was just napping on the couch a few feet away. Madeline found a never ending stash of Skittles in Ning's purse, a little game they share. The day after Thanksgiving, my dad and Nancy treated Rob and me to an incredible dinner at the Red Pony, a fine restaurant in downtown Franklin. It was fun to get dressed up and go on a double date.

One of the highlights of the trip was when Ning took Madeline to her first movie. She was so excited that she dressed up like a princess to see Tangled! Madeline looked tiny in the oversize theater chairs, happily nibbling on fruit snacks and popcorn and never once taking her wide eyes away from the big screen. I think I watched her watch the movie more than I actually watched it myself. Even though she was enchanted by it all, after about 25 minutes, she quietly whispered to me that she was ready to go home, so we cheerfully packed it up and already can't wait for the next show. 

If you stop by our house, the carols are playing, the stockings are hung, and you'll find me addressing Christmas cards. 'Tis the season!

A Haircut to Remember

Well, I've been waiting and the day finally arrived. Madeline gave herself a haircut.

While I was Christmas shopping with my aunt, Madeline pulled a pair of scissors out of a basket (set up high to keep kids out) and sheared her bangs to about half an inch from her forehead. Then she added some significant layering to the sides and gave herself a bald spot in the back for good measure. Rob said he found her standing with a mound of spiral curls around her feet.

I always wondered what would come first -- this, or the big wad of blue gum that peanut butter won't remove (that hasn't happened yet, but I'll look forward to it when the slumber parties begin). I guess this is just another example of Madeline's budding self-expression. For some reason, the back of her head has always grown like a weed, while the front won't grow at all. So for three and a half years, we've been carefully growing the front out, and whacking an inch off the back every few months to avoid the inevitable mullet. But the hair was gone with the flick of her little fingers in those giant red scissors. She absolutely glowed with pride at her work. It was impossible not to laugh at how ridiculous it looked. But I found myself yesterday noticing the sheer volume of her baby fine hair that's gone and missing those soft curls with an ache.