Vivi: Forty-Four Weeks

There's really only two things you need to know about Vivienne. One: She is very, very cute. I mean cheeks for days. Cuddles for hours. Gurgling noises that make your ovaries quiver.

But the second thing is this: She is a demanding child who will bring a grown woman (and I mean me) to her knees faster than you can say, "Quick! Get me a pumpkin latte!" I mean really. Holy. Cow.

People used to tell me that Madeline was an easy baby. I didn't believe them. I was a first time parent running on little sleep. Easy? It sure didn't feel easy.

But they were right. How blind I was. Madeline was a cake walk. It took the arrival of Vivienne to teach me that.

Don't get me wrong. I love this little ball of trouble. I can't imagine life without her.

It's just that she seems to think that I am her personal man servant who lives for the sole purpose of catering to her every whim and whimper. And let's face it, that's exactly what I am.

I'm a little grumpy now, so forgive me my rantings. She hasn't slept well this week, which means I haven't slept well this week. We even tried bringing her in bed with us last night to try to get some sleep. She calmed...but also pulled our hair, poked our eyes, and kicked her feet. This week she is fussy. She is clingy. She has spilled her sister's juice three times and my coffee once. She is determined to play with all the things she's not allowed to play with, and she somehow manages to find the only chocking hazards in the house to pop in her mouth. Changing her diaper is torture. She cries the entire time I leave the room. She cries the entire time I put her in the playpen or a chair or her crib. She yells at Madeline and her Dada when they try to hug her. And even though she was up for a better part of the night, I just spent the entire time Madeline was at school trying to get this overtired, cranky pants to take a nap. Guess who won that battle?

Let me get back to the cute part. If I don't focus on that, I might bring her to the children's consignment store to be consigned.

Vivi's eyes are currently green. They are very pretty. I still think they're on their way to turning brown. Madeline's eyes didn't settle until she was about a year old. We'll see.

She's determined to walk. She spends every minute she can searching for things to pull herself up on. It won't be long.

She is very shy. All the moms gather in the hallway outside Madeline's classroom at pick-up time. Vivi spends the whole time burying her head in my chest and stealing quick peeks at the people around us. If someone catches her eye, she smiles quickly before hiding her face again. Sometimes she does the same thing to us. She catches us watching her, smiles shyly, and hides her face. It's her thing.

She has learned how to wave and clap. It's the cutest thing ever.

She's showing her first signs of interest in Elmo. Whenever Madeline watches Sesame Street, Vivi looks at the screen, grins, and waves. Then she goes back to trying to pull over the coffee table, stealing Madeline's Cheerios, or ripping up the mail.

We gave her black beans with dinner one night this week and she LOVED them. She also tried papaya for the first time this week. She's not as enthusiastic about that.

It's almost the weekend! Here's hoping Vivi will sleep in for us. :)