And thus it begins...

...Sibling competition. As we near our big moving date, it dawned on Lady Bug that June Bug had a celebrity BFF  and she was not to be shown up.  But let's be realistic, the midwestern suburbs aren't exactly packed with celebrity goodness like Southern California. So the clock was ticking...

Plotting babies!

Being a little young to scout on her own she recruited her BFF and future husband baby E (I'm not at all opposed to arranged marriages) and baby E's mom, la Tía favorita. Off they went to lunch at a local restaurant in an area not exactly foreign to celebrity traffic and sure enough they hit the jackpot.  Lady Bug, being the daring girl she is (and in an attempt to one-up her brother) hits up an older guy and his mama: 10 month old adorable Arthur and his mama Selma Blair. Baby E, Arthur and Lady Bug enjoyed, well a predominantly mute lunch on their part, while their moms did the usual baby chit-chat and dined.

Arthur's mom was most definitely charming and witty and hopefully has a good sense of humor. Since this sleep-deprived Mama Bug asked her if she was a working mom...um yes, clearly she is.  In my defense, I'm a little slow on the uptake when it comes to recognizing the "easily recognizable," it's part of my charm. But as a result my naiveté, she was happy to chat with Tía and I over lunch.  And Arthur is one good looking baby boy.  So Lady Bug can move happily, knowing she's found her celebrity BFF. But don't worry Baby E, he's no competition for you ;-)

Toddler Trouble Times Two!

Two toddlers + 8 hours = 4 very tired parents and 2 riled up two-year-olds.

We spent the day down south with June Bug's favorite gal pal.  It's hard to believe they're as big as they are.  If I could bottle that energy, I'd be a billionaire. And of course running around like crazy actually inhibits a nap. I'm pretty confident June Bug was snoring before he even laid down.

June Bug will surely miss his favorite gal pal, how could he not? She's too adorable for words and so much fun! It's crazy to see how much they've grown and hysterical to see them interact.  I know Lady Bug's sad she won't get to meet gal pal's soon-to-arrive little brother. They would have been besties for sure.  Though she is thankful for the celebrity-sized wardrobe that was passed on to her. I can almost guarantee if Lady Bug's wearing something cute, it started with June Bug's gal pal.

Of course June Bug found the "prized" possession in one of the many bins of girl clothes: a pink fleece Elmo hoodie that he insists on wearing even though:
A. it's clearly for a girl  B. it's waaaaay to small and C. it's 80 degrees out.

I will never, ever, understand the crazy devoted love my toddler has for Elmo. He drives me batty (Elmo, not my toddler...ok sometimes my toddler too). But that's another post.  Instead I'll leave you with pictures on how much these tiny tots have grown over the last year!

in our pre-hair days

 a head of hair, a whole lot taller and clearly flirting

can't stop running

pre-walking

Pack your passport...

Because we're moving! Ok, so a passport isn't really necessary, unless your the cashier at CVS with whom I had this conversation as I put four L.A. Times on the belt and prepared to pay:

Cashier:  What's with all the papers? Are you in this or something?

Me:  No, just moving. We need paper for breakables.

Cashier:  Are you moving locally?

Me: No, across the country.

Cashier: What country?

Ummmm, the one we currently live in?! I probably stared at her, dumbfounded, for a good 30 seconds before I realized that I actually needed to utter the words "The United States".

My excited face

In hindsight I realized leaving SoCal is a lot like moving out of the country. It's a bubble of sorts and let's be honest, CA does have a  GDP bigger than most countries. California, however, will hold a special place for us. I've spent nearly half of my life here as a Los Angeles native; my kids and I were even born at the same hospital. It is a bittersweet move as we say goodbye to some wonderful friends whom I love dearly, my awesome job and our picture perfect weather...ok, that's a lie. I'll only miss CA weather when it's sub zero in the midwest. Call me crazy, but I'm looking forward to seasons. 

Are you up to the challenge mom?

But we have a lot to gain by heading east with family, much more living space and my dream job to be a stay-at-home-mom. It's not a "career" that many would chose and I'd be lying if  I said I wasn't nervous.  I know Lady Bug's excited for sure! June Bug, well I think he's uncertain about my stay-at-home-mom abilities. He's spent the last few weeks putting me to the test and sizing me up...

I'm fairly confident June Bug is looking forward to giving me a run for my money and possibly driving me back to work! Here's proof that he's literally a kid on the run!

Science vs. The Old Wives Tale

All my awesome science-inclined friends and co-workers are probably spitting out their coffee at this one.  But come on, no one loves an old wives' tale (OWT) like a woman trying to get pregnant, who is pregnant, or who's trying to induce labor.  When it comes to OWT, if the trick worked for 1 woman, it's reason enough for another 3.4 million desperate women to try it too.

Since were were "team green" with Lady Bug,  people were dying to know how my pregnancies compared.  So let's see put science and OWTs on the court and let them duke it out.  Everyone swears that "different" pregnancies=different sex.  Ultimately this post is more for me and my terrible memory, so that if there's a third bug (Daddy Bug just choked on his tea), we can compare the data!  And for the record, this is the most "scientific" I can be. If we were going to truly be "scientific" then the ultra sound tech would probably get an opinion.  So really, it's not very scientific at all but here are the stats...

So "science" wins on this one!!!  Oh and as for any OWT that says it'll induce labor...yeah, I tried them all, several times.  I still don't know what it means to "go into labor" and I have two kids.

If you give a toddler a cookie...

...he'll end up with a sugar high and not want to go to bed.  Which means he'll sing at the top of his lungs from his crib, pause, say "more," continue, and then cheer himself on.  He'll finally fall asleep an hour later than he should.  Which means he'll probably be getting up extra early.

He'll decide 5:40am is a good time to rise but not so much to shine.  He'll remember that misery loves company and want Lady Bug awake to join him. Lady Bug will wail because she won't like the early morning kisses from her brother.  So you'll have to bounce and shush and hope the neighbors don't come knocking on your door. Then your toddler will wail so that you'll carry him around as well. When he realizes you only have so many hands, he'll momentarily wail, throw himself on the ground, and then go about his merry away as if none of it ever happened.

When you're not looking, he'll get as riled up as possible.  This will lead him to attempt far more ridiculous stunts than the norm, like playing superman on the couch. Superman stunts will end with a bloody nose.  They bleed a lot and this will scare him.  He'll cry, wipe his nose, see more blood, and cry harder.

This will require a change of clothes.  You'll ask him to pick out a new shirt because you know that will calm him down. Toddlers like to make their own decisions. He will come back with the one shirt in his drawer that doesn't fit.  He will ask you to make it fit.  You will have to pull and stretch to get on, which will result in ripping not one, but two large holes in that shirt. This will produce a massive flood of tears as you have now destroyed his prize possession. You promise you'll fix the shirt tomorrow, but really you'll probably hide it.

You'll start counting the hours to bedtime and realize it's only 10:30am.  So instead you count until nap time. Which won't go well anyway, so you might as well have counted until bedtime.

Not nearly as fun a story as Ms. Numeroff's mouse and his cookie, and tragically all fact and no fiction. none. zip. zilch ::sigh:: 

So we'll look at happy photos (clearly not taken today) and hope for a better day tomorrow.

What's yours is mine and...

...What's mine is mine.  June Bug's not really into sharing. Doesn't seem to matter if he's about 10lbs too heavy and a foot two long, all the baby stuff he DIDN'T like as an infant is suddenly fantastic and awesome as a toddler.  It's a charming stage to say the least when I find him lounging in the bouncy chair like it's some sort of beach lounger and he's violently bouncing up and down until he's literally slamming it to the ground.

Another prime example is the tummy time mat.  Little Lady Bug was attempting to get some tummy time in, when June Bug decided to show her how it's done. He was happy to demonstrate on a blanket but she was none to pleased to be face down on a towel. The actual  tummy time mat is now a diaper changing station per June Bug's demanding request. Whatever keeps him from trying to wrap his legs around my arms in some sort of wrestling vice grip to prevent said change means I won't argue.

But that means Lady Bug doesn't get to use the actual  tummy time mat.  I'm avoiding putting my newborn face down where...well I'm sure you can imagine why.

Tummy time on the couch however, 

was a big hit!

How to Reason with a Toddler

If you thought I was actually going to have words of wisdom, then you've never had a toddler before.  June  Bug will politely hear you out, before going on his merry way as he wishes.

Does this look like a face that cares what I'm saying? He was picking flowers that specifically had bees in them!  Why???!!!!!!!!