motherhood // why i love this stage

stella vivienne (at two months shy of four): because of her strong heart and driven spirit.  because of the things she says out of the blue that always make us pause and smile.  because her memory is a steal trap.  she will bring up things from when she was barely two years old, proving to us that travel is important even when they are itty bitty.  because she calls our dining room the "diamond room".  because she'll eat anything and everything we put in front of her, whether it be escargot or mussels from our saturday lunch at the neighborhood bistro.  because she giggles when she is getting cozy and how she loves her pink blankie more than anything in the world.  because she's the sweetest combination of fearless and shy.  how she carries herself through life at such young age inspires me.  because she never forgets a thank you and because she is always eager to help.  because she'd rather watch a cooking show than dora.  because of the way she marches to the tune of her own gorgeous drum in ballet.  because when she laughs it comes from deep within.  it is contagious her laugh. because she thinks dandelions are sunflowers.  and because she wakes up with sunshine in her smile, always.

theodore louie (at 18 months):  because he climbs on everything, dining room chairs, the coffee table, just everything.  he manages to seat himself at our dining room table like a big boy, loving life sitting tall and proud.  his determination is unshakable and he grunts his way to whatever he wishes to climb.  because he dunks toilet paper rolls in the toilet.  daily.  i do not love the act of him doing this, rather his determination.  such a clever little boy that always makes us laugh.  because he has three crooked front teeth from falling on our hard wood floors last month.  the way they turn melts my heart entirely.  because of that look he gives us just before doing something silly.  or the face he makes when we hears a dog bark.  because he pats our back when we hold him and cuddles in so deeply when we give him a bottle.  he is our cuddle bug and i could not love it more.  because to him, all animals are dogs which he calls, "doh!" out the window.  whether it be a squirrel jumping or bird flying, we hear "doh!" from our little green eyed bub.  because you can take one look at him and just know he's a busy boy.  always on the go, presumably thinking, "what can i get into?"