Unblogworthy

 This is about the point after Walter's birth that I should be charming you with photographs of two impossibly stylish children in an impossibly clean home. Maybe there would be a few of Millie pushing him in a $500 stroller, or some of me in a high bun, red lipstick, and spotless white pants in a size 0. I'm supposed to tell you that we spend our mornings going for walks in a posh neighborhood, our afternoons making cupcakes, and after I tuck them both into bed, Sky and I sit back drinking a good wine and hosting dinner parties for our fancy friends.

At least, I think that's how it works in blog land.

The problem is, I don't have that life, and most of you are already well aware of it. Instead, life has been good but messy. Walter is that rare breed of easy baby that I didn't know actually existed, but Millie's behavior lately has counteracted any easy in this house. She's still gentle and loving with her baby brother, but taking her almost-3-year-old-ness to a whole other level with Sky and me. I've gotten a fair amount of unsolicited advice with this, and was complaining about it when Fran gave me the best advice yet (and probably the only advice that will actually work, for that matter):

I think I'll require any future visitors to bring me Starbucks and hard cider. That's fair, right?

The days have been a mixture of being absolutely in love with my family, and taking deep, gulping breaths of patience. I suppose that will be life for the next eighteen years, but it's especially true in this transition. I want things to be smooth and easy, of course, yet life just doesn't go that way sometimes. This afternoon, though, after a typical, struggle-filled morning, Millie sat next to Walter on the floor, and handed him her monkey and blanket. And if you know Millie, you know that Monkey is just about the most important possession she owns (remember this?). Then we snuggled up together right there on the ground, Millie, Walter, Monkey, and I, and we sang songs we thought Walter would like. It was a good reminder that these days can be long, but there are some oh-so-sweet moments in them.

It might not be blog worthy in that perfect blog world, but it was still pretty perfect in mine. These days, I think I may have to change my measure of success into simple things- things like we made it through the day, and Millie and Walter loved each other, and Sky and I were a team. The $500 stroller and fancy dinner parties and picture-perfect lives just aren't a part of our reality. That's okay.

I'll take these two over those things any day.