Lux: a big-sister dictator for sure, but a benevolent one most of the time.

Joan: crawling as of this week! She’s so much happier to be mobile. What a relief.

Two photos taken at Joe’s office, which we hadn’t visited in forever.

Lux: Three months short of three, such a complex age. By turns defiant, endearing, and infuriating, she keeps this mama on the tips of her toes.  

Joan: so, so eager to be a walker, or a crawler, anything! It feels as if she can’t wait to grow up.

“A portrait of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Joan: Yawning post-snack. She loves to settle in and pivot in her chair so she can keep eye on everyone in the kitchen. 

Lux: in a friend’s dreamy kid space. Sorting colorful buttons with glee. 

Thanks to Anna for telling me to stick with this. She’s right, you know. 

“A portrait of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Joan: the moment when she realized we were playing with cheerios.

Lux: Sunday’s beach trip was a tad cooler than we anticipated. 

               “A portrait of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Lux: she requested we make lemon pancakes and then skipped away when it was time to eat.Joan: suspicious of all hats and such a pro at tugging them off. 

“A portrait of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Lux: Joe says she looks like Lil Wayne here.

Joan: Sink, tub, pool. She perks up at the sound of water. 

“A portrait of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Lux: telling me what kitty wants to do today.

Joan: those ears, no hair, toothless grin. Babies combine the creepiest and cutest characteristics.

“A portrait of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Joan: where she loves to be, not missing a thing (even football off the internet).

Lux: this week I watched her play, really play and laugh and get giddy, with her friends.

“A portrait of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Lux: she wakes up and talks to her animals for ten minutes every morning before calling for us. (Lux is now 2.5 years old)

Joan: she’s only content if she’s in the same room as her sister. Otherwise she grumbles. (Joan is now six months old)

One of my favorite blogs on the internet, Che & Fidel (newly named Practising Simplicity) has done a project for the last two years wherein she posts a photo of each of her children every week. I’ve watched as her photography has become better, and eagerly tracked her two children’s growth and change. I’ve admired how she’s coordinated color and captured light. I’ve been inspired by how a week’s worth of development was mulled over and enjoyed.

At the encouragement of my friend Anna, I’m going to take an ambitious leap and attempt the same project this year. I hope to use my real camera most of the time, but I imagine many of them will be iPhone photos, like todays.

Joan: A week short of six month’s old and striving for so much. Batting my water glass out of my hand, crying when I won’t give her my magazine to chew on, lunging for Lux’s toys, is it possible all her teeth are coming in at once? She’s a baby who believes she’s a child.

Lux: Repeating “what you say, Mama?” is how she learns a new word. In the morning we tell stories about what happened yesterday, in the afternoon we tell stories about the morning. This is how the world falls into place for her.