I almost forgot Shira

Celebrating a free afternoon at Chapters.

Sundresses are the perfect way to show off squishy arms.

(The editor would like to point out her creamsicle painted toenails. Though she is still in need of a pedicure.)

Three is a lot louder than one. An obvious statement, I guess, but it doesn't make it any less true. Alyce has boundless energy and never holds back from expressing her opinions. Also, she can talk, so she gets heard a lot more often than Shira does. Shira sometimes overcompensates by screaming and grunting loudly for food when she's hungry (which is a lot of the time), but otherwise she sits happily in the background while Alyce weaves herself in and out of every lap and conversation in the room. I wonder how this will change as they get older. Will Shira continue to give high-fives from the sidelines, or will she wrestle Alyce for the spotlight sometimes? Probably a bit of both.

With Alyce in preschool three days a week (have I mentioned this yet?) I have been able to squeeze in a few hours with Shira where she doesn't need to compete with Alyce (not that she ever seems to mind). It made me long for those early days when Shira and I would spend hours laying in bed nursing and sleeping, reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels (me) and chewing on toes (Shira). Excuse me while my mind wanders into thinking about a third baby...

Anyway, back to forgetting Shira. I have been told that my grandmother once forgot my uncle, her youngest, in the old house on moving day. She had four other kids running around and her baby was still an infant, and in the chaos of the day, having herded everyone else out of the house, she left with her baby still sitting inside his seat in an otherwise empty house. Don't worry, they went back for him.

I kept this story in mind as we moved a few weeks ago. One can never be too careful.