Rachel was going around the house singing the Sons of Korah version of Psalm 24. At the end of the song, the question, “Who is the King?” is repeated over and over.

Kyrie’s eyes lit up as she answered the question: “Mufasa is!”

The other night, Kyrie was very cranky and crying during Compline, and towards the middle of Compline, she fell asleep. Then, I said this prayer:

“Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who
sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen.”

My sleeping daughter let out a laugh when I said, “weep this night.”

One thing I’ve really enjoyed since Kyrie was born is putting her to sleep. I’ve probably done this more than any other child responsibility. Something about papa and just wanting to go to sleep. Since Kyrie’s birth, I’ve used two main lullabies to get her to sleep. The one I use most often is “Eat this Bread” (followed by “American Pie,” which is what I use when she’s not very tired).

Anyway, after compline tonight, both Rachel and I were singing her to sleep. It doesn’t happen very often that we both sing her to sleep together, but Kyrie stopped us in the middle of our singing to say this:

Kyrie (tapping her doll’s head): I put water on her head.
Rick: To baptize her, so she can be in Jesus?
Kyrie: Yes.
Rachel: Do you know anything about this?
Rick: Noooo.

8 months - started clapping his hands
8.5 months - started playing peek-a-boo with a blanket
nearly 9 months - started cruising everywhere

Why do they have to grow up so fast?

Ever since Kyrie was an infant, on the way to receive the eucharist, I’ve whispered into her ear, “The bread is Jesus’ body, and the wine is Jesus’ blood. Whoever eats Jesus’ body and drinks his blood, lives forever.” In the past year, we’ve also talked a lot about how Jesus died for her sins so that when she dies, she’ll get to come back to life in Jesus. She’s understood the concept of death for probably a year now, and she often randomly talks about how she doesn’t want to die. Being who I am, I always say something like, “I’m sorry. You’re going to have to die one day, but since Jesus died for you, it’ll only be for a little bit because, after that, you’ll live with Jesus forever.” (Rachel smartly just says, “I don’t want you to die either.”)

Anyway, we were looking at the stations of the cross today, and I was talking to her about the station where Jesus died on the cross, and how in the next station, his mommy was sad because he died, and how in the next station, we see that he comes back to life.

After explaining all this, she said, “But I don’t want to die.”
I replied, “Well, hopefully, it won’t be for a very long time.”
She replied to me, “But I don’t want to die.”
Finally, I said, “Well, you probably won’t die until after you get old and your hair turns white.”

She seemed to think this was both preposterous and hilarious and that I wasn’t being serious anymore, and our conversation ended promptly.

Kyrie has gotten so many head injuries this summer, it’s ridiculous. Fortunately, there’s been only one trip to Urgent Care (the time she fell at the park and cut her head open). Last night, she hit her head on the corner of a bathroom wall, producing a huge goose egg (though not the biggest of the summer). A little arnica and ice, and by morning, it was looking much better. Just a bit after I got up, Kyrie decided to jump on the bed with Noelle. Well, like the monkeys jumping on the bed, she received a head injury on the SAME SPOT. So that wasn’t pretty. Then, a bit after lunch, I received the news, “Kyrie was hit in the head with a metal pipe.”

*sigh* I think I might have to take up Rachel’s advice and put the kid in a helmet full-time.

Kyrie was whining about…whatever…

Rachel: “Kyrie, I’m tired of you whining all the time.”
Kyrie: “Vote Ron Paul!”

She’ll change outfits an average of 5 times a day (she’s REALLY slowed down). So far today, she’s worn a plaid skirt (inside-out) with a floral top, pink pants with a (backwards) purple sweater, pink pants (a different pair) with a red shirt, and her “princess” dress. She’s currently nude and sitting on my lap.

Today, she spilled milk on the computer desk (thankfully nowhere near the computer) and swished it around with her hands. She had drawn on her hands with a yellow highlighter, so the milk had a neon yellow tint to it. I told her to get a towel to clean up the mess, and she promptly obeyed.

She loves vegetables, macaroni & cheese, apple juice, milk, crackers, anything sweet, and chewable vitamins. She doesn’t understand why she’s limited to only one vitamin a day.

She can make me crazy and then make me melt all in less than a minute.

She will never turn down a bubble bath or playing outside.

She insists on doing things herself, like getting dressed, fetching a burp cloth or diaper for Antonio, getting on the potty, etc.

She’s my comic relief.

So I thought I’d give a little update on our life while I have a minute.

Antonio is 1 month and 1 week old today. I have no idea how that happened! Time has really flown by. Antonio has been a good baby, but not nearly as easy as Kyrie. Part of it, I’m sure, has to do with the fact that he can’t get my undivided attention like Kyrie could. So the poor guy cries more. But he is also a very smiley baby, and has been smiling regularly since he was 2 weeks old. He gave me his first smile at only 6 days old. He even giggles sometimes and he coos all the time. He loves staring at the pictures on the wall. He also has quite a strong sucking instinct, so although I’d planned to go pacifier-free with him, I caved in and got him one. He’s a lot happier now. I decided that it was better to give him a pacifier sometimes than to let him cry when I couldn’t get to him right away. I realize that I’ve now broken the rules of ecological breastfeeding and likely won’t be able to, well, keep my cycles away for long…but maybe I’ll still luck out. He still nurses frequently, so we’ll see.

Teaching Kyrie to be a gentle big sister has been a bit of a work in progress. She really loves him and gives him lots of kisses and hugs, but she also tries to pick him up and sometimes just gets too rough when she’s not thinking. She’s adjusting pretty well, though, and getting used to sharing Mommy with another little one. I’m also learning how to divide my time so that both kiddos get enough love & affection. Kyrie is a really big helper. Whenever I ask her to get a burp cloth, blanket, diaper, or whatever, she’ll dash off to find what I need and bring it to me.

Cloth diapering is going well and is pretty easy. I like the fact that we don’t have to buy diapers or wipes at the store. I have to keep on top of the laundry, but it’s not too big of an inconvenience. I feel like I’ve gotten into a pretty good rhythm to make sure I’m never running out of clean diapers. They look really cute on Antonio, too. I need to take more pictures of him in them.

I love both of my babies so much and right now, I feel like our family is complete. Eventually I want to add more children to the mix, but for now, I’m quite content with my little princess & prince. I’m such a proud Mommy and I can’t believe how beautiful my little blessings are. Seriously, gorgeous kids. Okay, now I’m shamelessly bragging…but I’m betting you all agree!

Here’s what I’ve been doing lately:

Laundry
Cleaning spit-up
Nursing
Disciplining Kyrie
Changing diapers
More laundry

And I’ve got a crying baby and another one who says she needs to go potty, so…bye for now.