Renee: Vexing and Delightful

This is basically a bad and good list. The bad is annoying to say the least, hence "vexing." And the good is "such a joy" (using the words of a fellow mommy), hence "delightful."

First the vexing:

1. Complain crying. Renee does this annoying cry where is not really crying. It's just a loud "aaahhh" over and over and over again. No tears, just "ahh ahhh ahhhh" really loud. She does this when she wants to be picked up.

2. Bathtime = Wrestlingtime. I haven't given Renee a bath by myself since she was 4 months old. Ever since then we've had to do 2 against 1 with her. She enjoys her bath, but she can be really rough and wiggly, and will literally crawl away wet and naked if you let her. Every bath is an exhausting undertaking.

3. Drooling...still! Renee drools so much she goes through about 10 bibs per day. And, the drool gets everywhere. All over me, all over the furniture, all over the floor. Don't worry, I'll be sanitizing everything before the birthday party.

4. Suicidal escapes. As Renee gets older, she gets more and more fearless. Sometimes I hold her and she sees Kira doing something interesting, she will do her best to claw herself out of my arms. It's scary and tiring! After about a minute and almost dropping her a couple times, I give up and just put her down on the floor.

And now the delightful:

1. She puts herself to sleep. After dealing with Kira, who needs a song and dance every time she lays down, and even still, putting Renee down is such a relief! The thing is, if Renee is not tired, she will not sleep. But if she is tired, there is no fuss. I put her down, she closes her eyes, and no sound from her room for at least an hour! It's blissful!

2. Clean and neat mealtimes. Renee is not perfectly clean and neat when eating her solid food, but she's pretty close. Kira was a wreck when she first started eating solids. And, we had to entertain Kira with singing and toys. Renee needs a bit of distraction too, but not to the extent that Kira demanded. And after we're done, all she needs is a quick wipe with a wet paper towel.

3. Happy baby. I think we've mentioned this before, but Renee is always very happy. She's always in a good mood. And, she will sit on pretty much anyone's lap, be it any of my aunts or uncles, any of my cousins, friends visiting...anyone!

I'm sure I'm forgetting something...