My Baby's 1st School Dance

As I write this my biggest baby is attending her 1st school dance.  The school hosted a Halloween Dance earlier this year but she was unable to attend because she was too busy riding on a float in the San Francisco Giants World Series Champion parade (good girl!).  But unfortunately for me there was no parade today to keep her from her away from this dance...So, here I sit conflicted - with my mama-bear instincts engaged in a heated battle with my brain.

I got an email last week that the school was looking for parent volunteers to chaperon and I got super excited about the possibility of being able to to witness the behavior of my tweener in her natural habitat, but as I was getting ready to reply to that email, the little angel popped on my shoulder and got all up in my ear about how being at the dance would be detrimental to Justice's ability to develop a strong sense of self and identity.  I ultimately decided against chaperoning because my desire to have her become more independent and confident outweighs my desire to be all up in her business.  Most parents of 12 year olds are scared of their babies growing up and experiencing all of the sex, drugs and rock n' roll that are associated with becoming an adolescent.  While, I'll admit that I shudder at the thought of my little girl twerking it on the dance floor, I think what scares me the most is that she will never get to experience the things that keep parents up at night.  Let's face it, our mistakes and stupid decisions are what make us interesting, and a person whose never gotten into a little trouble is just plain boring.  The ultimate outcome is to raise my children to be healthy, responsible, independent, happy adults and that means having to  give them the space to express their little pre-pubescent urges away from the watchful eyes of their parents. Because, keep it real, if I was at that dance tonight and saw my child or any child in a 10ft radius of my child acting foolish, I would break every rule in the "cool-mama" handbook.
Sometimes being the best mama means Backing-The-F-up.
I sure as heck know that some of my fondest memories of my child/teen-hood took place at my middle school dances and while I probably wouldn't approve of my daughter behaving the way I did  I can also accept that denying her the opportunity to behave the way I did would be the real danger.  Isn't that so evolved of me?  I better enjoy this moment of self-riotousness because I can't guarantee I can maintain it for anything more intense than a middle school dance...

Baby Rio Turns 2

At first mention I can't even wrap my mind around the fact that is has been exactly 2 years since my Baby Rio was born at 4:15pm (a true SF baby!) on November 21, 2010.  But then when I start to think about all the memories and milestones she already has under her belt, it is really hard to remember our lives without her.
Her second year has been joyful and inspiring.  She began the year with the most traumatizing experience of her life, having to go to daycare (read all about it here), and was able to overcome the horror and create strong and loving relationships with her caregivers and fellow "students" (not to mention that I now get kisses instead of shrieking, hyperventilating sobs during morning drop off).
The worries and fears I had last year about our family's ability to provide our third baby girl with all the attention and love she deserved while also trying to keep up with the demand of her two older sisters, have faded away as I have watched her develop into a strong, independent being who is overflowing with confidence and will never allow herself to be ignored.  She goes toe-to-toe with her big-bad sisters and they have quickly learned who the real boss of the playroom is.  She has independently discovered things about the world that bring her immense joy and there is nothing better than watching her "read" her favorite books, hug a favorite stuffy and dance with every inch of her body and soul when her favorite jam comes on.  As I look back and reflect on how much she has grown in the last year, it makes me realize that all of the fears and worries I am holding on to today about her will be utterly ridiculous when it comes time to celebrate her 3rd birthday.  By then she will be talking up a storm and have a vocabulary too large for us to handle, she will be able to do every single activity in her gymnastics class and there will be little ones following her around, she will learn patience and forgiveness when things don't go her way and she will be a generous, sharing friend.  One thing's for sure, she will keep all of us laughing as she continues on her way through the world!
She has brought a completion to our family that we didn't realize we even needed, and each and everyday she reminds all of us that this world is good and that we always have many reasons to smile. 
We started calling her our "World Champion Baby" because her birth in 2010 was within weeks of our SF Giants winning their first world series and her 2nd birthday is within weeks of our team securing their 2nd championship in 2 years (we have as many trophies and rings and she has years), but it has now become clear that her "World Championess" goes far beyond baseball.  This girl is destined to spread love and happiness to our world and there won't be a blog big enough to contain all the accomplishments and experiences we know she has ahead of her.

We love you Rio Bella and can't wait for year number 3!

it has become a tradition in our family to make a photo/video for the girls on each of their birthdays, here is Rio's 2nd Birthday video: