dear tennyson

 dear tennyson,

i love you,

but you are kind of a madman.

kid,

you are driving us absolutely wild.

because you think

(and it isn't true)

that everything that goes wrong

is the absolute end of your existence.

it's okay.

we understand.

we were two once.

but when maggie steals your puzzle piece

(for the tenth time),

you don't need to unleash your banshee scream

(for the tenth time).

you really can just move your puzzle.

or, heaven forbid,

play with one of your umpteen hundred other toys.

and kid,

you need to ask around.

i think your friends would tell you

that pizza is the bomb diggity.

i bet a few of them even like apples.

or grapes.

or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

we aren't trying to feed you anything exotic,

like snail or grasshopper.

it's about time you figure this out.

because, tennyson,

man can not live on french fries alone. 

 here's something that may surprise you.

we get tired of watching the same youtube video

over, and over, and over.

even if it is of "tennyson and maggie".

it's still only thirty seconds long.

and it just isn't quite as cute

or funny

on the two hundredth view.

though i know you beg to differ.

and on a semi-related note,

i'm not sure your sister appreciates being called

"gaggy".

she might not care now,

but once she figures it out,

well, it's just not a nice nickname to have.

let's work on that speech some more, okay?

one last request,

stop being so stinkin' funny.

because you really are making us wild,

but your laugh,

and the millions of silly things you do

keep making us forget.

you're quite the performer, kid.

and we sure do love that about you.

love,

mom and dad

dear maggie

dear maggie,

we love you but

you are kind of a stinker.

girl,

you are driving us absolutely nuts.

because you never (and i really mean never)

stop eating.

seriously, child. you are almost ten months old.

you can probably go all night without needing milk.

ask around, i'm sure a few of your friends do.

(and while you are asking around,

i am sure you could find someone who will tell you

that it really is okay to be without your mom for two seconds.

some of your friends probably even prefer their dad.

just saying.)

and maggie, that tongue.

do you realize how often it sticks out of your mouth?

on a semi-related note,

please stop licking things.

it's gross.

(and please stop making us dig around in your mouth

just to figure out what exactly you found to eat this time.)

one last request.

stop being so stinkin' cute.

because you really are driving us crazy.

but those cheeks

and that smile

keep making us forget.

love,

mom and dad

p.s.

i think you might be driving your brother a little nuts, too.

stop stealing his food

and climbing on top of his head.

doppleganger

mike and i have recently been watching a lot of how i met your mother on netflix.

in the show, they've had a lot of fuss over finding their dopplegangers throughout new york city.

it's pretty silly. and really, finding someone who looks so identical to you isn't realistic.

but here in the fiske house, we just came pretty close.

in the form of an ensign article.

i'll link the full article at the end, but for those of you who (like me) are too lazy to ever click on links, i'll copy and paste the first little bit, since that'll be enough to let you know what we are talking about...

"I cried silently as I rocked my baby in our hand-me-down rocking chair. Although Tennyson was almost a month old, I was anything but accustomed to my new role as a mother. My nearest family members lived over 300 miles (480 km) away, and though my husband was supportive, he was enrolled in a rigorous law school program that kept him busy much of the time."

as the article goes on, well, it becomes less like me and not quite as freaky, but if you'd like to read more, click here.

so for those of you who will be reading the march ensign, and for those of you who will sit there and wonder if it is me, it isn't. but it is pretty freaky, and it's given our heads a good spin.

baths

it's no secret that tennyson is not a fan of baths.

in fact, they may be the worst form of torture we put him through.

but a funny thing happens when we put maggie in the tub with him.

suddenly, baths are the most fun we ever let him have.

so we let them bathe together. tennyson loves it, and maggie puts up with how many cups of water get dumped on her head by big brother.

it works out for all of us.

sleep

it's a beautiful thing

when these two sleep at the same time.

love

i love this little beast.

and i love this quirky little thing.

most of all, i love watching them together.

they make my insides all warm and fuzzy.

and isn't that what today is about?

the warm fuzzies that you get when you are around people you love?

i think so.

and boy, do they sure give me the warm fuzzies a lot.

happy valentine's day. from us to you.

three quarters

today, maggie is three quarters of a year old.

she's a tiny (and by tiny, i mean not so tiny) little beast. which is why i've come to lovingly call her "maggie beast" whenever i see fit. 

she weighs 22 pounds, and is 27 inches long. short and fat, just like her brother was. only she's not slowing down. she's at the ninety ninth percentile for weight for height, and in danger of jumping right off the chart. 

and we aren't surprised because girl eats all day long. she wakes up and has some bottle, then a yogurt, and then another bottle before her nap, and then wakes up and has lunch, and finishes off with another bottle before her nap, and then wakes up and has a snack, and then dinner, and then finishes off the day with another bottle, with another bottle or two thrown in during the night. add on top of that the food she sneaks from tennyson's plate, and you can see why we aren't surprised we've got a chunk on our hands.

she's an active girl. she gets into just about everything. her favorite thing to do is to try to steal whatever toy tennyson is playing with. when that doesn't work out in her favor, she usually pitches a fit, and then runs off to play with the nearest vent. girl loves playing with vents. she's just started pulling up to stand on our furniture, and she's been trying to figure out how to cruise along, but it isn't working so well. usually she just tips over.

she's got six teeth now, in the oddest locations. three on bottom, three on top. the two middle for each, and then on the top, she's got the one to the right of middle, and on the bottom she has the one to the left of middle. they've come in the strangest order as well. she had three on bottom before any on top broke through, and then she broke through one of the middle and the one on the side on top before she got the other middle tooth. she just marches to the beat of her own drum.

and boy, does she ever light up my life. i call her my sidekick a lot, because that's exactly what she is. she likes to follow me around, and she likes me to hold her, but most the time she'll come around, ask me to hold her, and then about thirty seconds later, she'll want down and she'll disappear to play. and then she'll repeat the whole process. it's like she comes in to check in, make sure i know she still loves me, makes sure i don't need anything, and then when she's sure i'm doing okay, she's off again. 

we like her. i think we'll keep her around.

things

just things.
little things that occupy our days.

like the things tennyson loves most: mater and lightning mcqueen.

and the silly things these two do together. 

the everythings this girl eats.

and the occasional times they sleep at the same time so i can do my own things.

things can get a little messy around here.

and things don't always go our way.

all i know is i sure am glad i have these two little things around.

they make the gloomy winter days 

just a lot a bit brighter.