2012: A Year in Review

I have a bunch of Christmas related posts to get up, but I figure that is going to take me until April anyway, so I might as well do our annual wrap-up.  Like usual, it was a crazy year.  New jobs, new schools, new house, new challenges....new lots of things.  I am very much looking forward to 2013 being a little calmer.  Maybe a lot calmer.

At any rate:

January: Louis is sick for pretty much the entire month.  He forgets how to sleep.  It does not seem to phase him and he keeps on going from baby to toddler in what seems like a nano-second.  We find as many parks around us as possible because it is 75 degrees in Texas.  Norah gets frustrated by the fact that Lou now actually moves and takes her stuff, but starts to come up with all of the ways that she can make him do her bidding.  Norah is increasingly interested in all things reading and writing but won't let anyone help her figure it out.  We start house hunting in earnest.

February: Lou starts to walk and takes about 10 headers a day.  He continues to suffer from back to back ear infections.  GG and Aunt Vanessa come to visit and I am completely incapacitated from kid cooties.  BVZ works a lot and I start going into the office several days a week.  Louis turns ONE and has a great Hungry Caterpillar birthday.  Most weekends are spent looking at houses.  We get frustrated because we aren't finding what we want for what we want to spend.

March:  Lou goes to the ENT and his hearing is just fine.  The doctor recommends a steroid and then ear tubes if the medication does not work.  The steroid is a wonder drug and for the first time in over six months, Lou goes for a week without being sick.  We start to think there is a light at the end of the cootie tunnel.  He gets his first haircut and his baby curls are gone forever.  Norah continues to be awesome, despite the fact that she refers to a character from a book as a 'butt hole' while on a play date.

April: We make an offer on a house and it gets outright rejected.  I do some internet sleuthing and find out the sellers are moving to Australia.  We wait two weeks and offer again, this time it's accepted.  Louis becomes a toddler nightmare and starts to throw tantrums the size of Australia.  BVZ and I consider getting divorced just so that we each only have to spend half our time with him.  Norah continues to be cute and funny, but suffers for weeks from bad stomach aches.  She is diagnosed with celiac disease and eating as we know it changes forever.

May:  Norah has a dance recital and I kill a giant Texas centipede in the bath tub.  BVZ works a lot.  I pack a lot.  Ruby, her mom, and baby Ella come and visit for five days--pretty much the best five days of Norah's life.

June:  We move into our new house.  We host Norah's birthday party approximately 48 hours after the movers leave.  I stop blogging because of all the moving.  BVZ gets a movie screen and projector installed in the media room--pretty much the best day of his life.  Norah turns FOUR and starts a new school.

July: It gets very, very hot in Texas.  I give up on unpacking.  GG and Aunt Vanessa come for Fourth of July.  We spend a lot of time in the pool.  Norah gets over her fear and starts to love the pool.  We swim after Lou goes to bed because swim diapers are the worst thing ever invented.  Lou gets a stomach virus and barfs all over his new room.

August:  I start working a lot more and things get a little crazy.  Okay, a lot crazy.  We almost burn down the new house.  I start a new cooking club here in Austin.  Louis becomes more and more physically agile every day and gets into trouble every five minutes or so.  Norah has pneumonia (unbeknownst to us).  She recovers and starts a new dance class.  Norah officially starts pre-K and Louis starts school two days a week.  Shockingly he bites no one and becomes the darling of all the teachers and staff.

September:  Both kids start soccer.  Lou is a natural.  Norah tries really hard and is a great listener.  Norah becomes obsessed with chapter books and will have nothing to do with anything else.  I work like a crazy person.  So does BVZ. I travel alone to Santa Barbara for the weekend.  I get to see favorite friends and celebrate a big birthday.  And pee by myself.

October: Norah develops some severe separation anxiety that coincides with me working a lot.  We give up and let her sleep with us (an on-going battle).  Even though Lou won't eat, his brain continues to grow and he has a vocabulary explosion.  We celebrate Halloween with lots of gluten free candy and scary decorations.  BVZ and I work a lot.

November: I file my first habeas application in Texas.  It's a big deal.  At the exact same time, BVZ has a hearing in Dallas.  Bubby basically saves our asses.  We celebrate by taking an awesome trip to Disneyland.  We win best parents of the year by surprising Norah with a visit at Disneyland from Ruby.  She may never recover.  GG and Aunt Vanessa fly out for Thanksgiving and VZ Christmas.

December: Things slow down.  Lou learns to communicate like an actual human being.  Overnight he stops being an asshole and becomes the best toddler there ever was.  We spend an inordinate amount of time enjoying holiday lights.  Grandpa Gene comes to Texas and celebrates Christmas with us.

We are settling in.  2013 promises to bring big things--professional milestones for both BVZ and myself, the end of baby jail, and... kindergarten.  I hope there is a vacation thrown in there somewhere and some spectacular birthday celebrations (hint, hint).

Cheers to the end of one chapter and the beginning of something new!