He tucked our sleeping girl snugly in her crib, then my Valentine and I ventured out for a birthday dinner. Plus one.

We met during the years of awkward adolescence. At thirteen, I wore dungarees. With a matching scrunchie.  Nearly two decades later, our bodies and styles are changing again. This time to accommodate wriggly, growing boys. Anna’s baby shower was this weekend, and I drove up to Ashland to celebrate Zach’s impending arrival. As well as squeeze in a little maternity session.

The two a day nap is coming to an end. As with all infant transitions, I have yet to find an absolute, but we are certainly heading in that direction. This means morning AND afternoon freedom, and we are more than ready. Until that happy June day when we meet baby brother, Winnie and I plan to spend a little less time in the nursery.

One of the perks of a cold resistant child is that we can cheerily wander around the zoo on a February morning with no one but the animals. Winnie greeted everything that moved, and shrieked with delight when she could hear the birds chirp and the meerkats squeak.

Corduroy, Madeline, Harry the Dirty Dog, The Little Engine That Could, and The Tale of Peter Rabbit dot the table, the crib, the backseat, and the floor. This girl who flips pages while she eats, “naps,” rides in the car, and plays by the fireplace needed a nook of her own. She was there to assist her daddy every step of the way as we made a space for her greatest obsession.

We took a brisk ride to Java Surf with Winnie in tow. Her favorite part: why, the noisiest bit of course. The bell. 

We are a bit late to introduce back carrying. Winnie resists until she is jogged around. Then her happy songs and sounds resume.

A little before Christmas, Winnie took her first steps. As she turns 13 months, she has learned how to string them together. We took a trip to False Cape to work on crawling basics in the heat of July. Today we returned to walk beside the waves.