Since becoming the mother of two little girls, a lot has changed around here. First on my list is the noticeable lack of time that I have to accomplish anything completely.  Ava is in preschool during the day, which leaves Bobby, Lucie and me to work through the day together.  With both of us working from home, you might think that it would be easy to manage one 17-month-old.  Not so.  We are both extremely busy and often find ourselves struggling to figure out who will deal with meals, diaper changes and playtime.  Because we often have meetings to attend or students to work with at the same time, our little Lucie has been allowed to develop a very bad habit: TV.

 
When I was at home with Ava, several things were different.  First, she was not mobile at a "normal" age, so she would pretty much sit and play with a bunch of toys and I could do just about anything.  Ava would entertain herself through a whole Wee Sing CD, which any time-starved mom knows is at least 60 minutes long.  There was no TV with Ava, for obvious reasons.  Second, Ava had therapists who came to the house nearly every day, so I basically had to keep the house clean on a daily basis and this kept us very much on schedule.  It also helped me to build in specific times when I would focus only on Ava and not on work.  And third, my job was just simply a lot less, in every way, than it is now.
I hate the TV thing with Lucie.  It started as just a cute episode of Wonder Pets or Backyardigans while she had her morning sippy cup of milk, but slowly, she began to demand more.  And, at times, we were willing to let her watch just one more episode because Mommy and Daddy are trying to have CAREERS here, for God's sake!  Add Lucie's "I seriously know what I want and if you don't give it to me, I will cry until I pass out," personality to this and you've got a TV-addicted toddler and two stressed-out and guilty parents.  Things have gotten so nuts with the TV that Lucie will actually hunt for the remote control, find it, and bring it to me wherever I am.  I cannot believe that my tiny 17-month-old does this.  I must look at her with this stunned glare every time she toddles in with the remote, because she immediately looks at me like, "What?  You know the drill." 
Mother's Day is Sunday and because of this, I have set some Mommy goals for myself.  #1: I will structure my days more successfully so that I can spend more time getting Lucie out of the house; #2 I will break Lucie's TV habit, even if I have to take every TV out of the house.  Hoping that #1 will help to accomplish #2, because I really, really love Medium and The Office. 

Lucie is definitely different than Ava - she is a reactor, hands down.  I actually feel bad that Ava has to listen to Lucie's total meltdowns, which happen at least 10 times a day.  Thank goodness Ava has school, or she would be done with her sister by now.  I'm hoping that once Lucie learns to talk more, she won't be as dramatic.  Probably not, but I can hope. 
My favorite times are when the girls are together - Saturday mornings are the best.  They are both rested, refreshed and so darn cute playing together in their PJ's.  I love sitting on the couch, sipping my coffee, just watching my girls navigate their toys.  I've been encouraging Ava to reach out to Lucie a little more lately.  Yesterday, Lucie kept coming up behind Ava and touching her hair and I told Ava to reach out and tickle her.  Lucie caught on and was laughing and dancing around her sister.  Ava was thrilled with this and kept saying, "Lucie is really happy!!"   

Ava is making great strides in preschool with mobility, language and Braille.  And...the biggest accomplishment in recent weeks...Ava is now 100% potty trained - horray!  Boy, does she love to say the word "underpants" - it's too cute.  Miss Jenn suggested a few weeks ago that we go for it and forget the pull-ups, since Ava was mostly staying dry at school anyway.  I try to stick to a schedule with her at home in the evenings, but she is really good at this potty thing.  If I forget to send her to the bathroom for a few hours, she will still stay dry.  It's like one day, it just clicked with her. 
Lucie is walking, running, and dancing around our house, constantly opening drawers and cabinets to disover what's inside.  She's not talking much yet; everything is "a da," but I'm not worried.  She is a thinker, taking everything in and processing it.  She signs "more" and "all done" and basically just points for whatever else she wants.  She has awesome fine motor skills and can figure out any gadget in the world, including her sister's mp3 player.  She can sort blocks by color and shape and loves to stack things and then crash them down.  Her favorite books right now are the Pat the Bunny series - she just loves to lift the flaps and feel the textures (with her thumbs, of course).  She still loves her paci at night and, according to Aunt Katie, is the only toddler in the world who actually gets giddy when it's time for bed.  She smiles, giggles and snuggles down into her crib and that's the last we hear from her for the night.

Things that I'm so, so thankful for on this Mother's Day, in no particular order:
1.  My two beautiful, healthy, smart daughters
2. The ability to work from home, even though it can be stressful
3. My wonderful husband and his amazing parenting skills
4. Coffee
5. Living in a city where there are lots of choices, both for us and the girls
6. Ava's school, the Western PA School for Blind Children and her teacher, Miss Jen and all of her terriffic therapists/aides/friends
7. The very powerful feeling of motherhood
8. As Bobby would say, familia - it's ups and downs and everything in between
9. All of the other wonderful moms that I know, wherever you are, especially moms who are on a special journey, like me.
10. Quiet moments with my husband and girls, when all is right in our little world.