9 things you didn’t know about Archie and Lilibet’s life in California

Meghan Markle spilled some very relatable (and some not-as-relatable) mom moments in a new interview with The Cut.

Montecito life sounds pretty idyllic for Prince Harry and Meghan’s two toddlers, Archie Harrison and Lilibet Diana. In a feature interview with The Cut, Meghan talks about the new life she and Harry have been building for themselves in their coastal California home since leaving the U.K. and stepping down as senior members of the royal family, and this includes some adorable insights about their brood. From quirky after-school chats to very relatable car snacks and refusals to crack a smile, these two are toddlers through and through—and in many ways, their folks are just like us. (Except when they aren’t.)

Here’s what we learned about Archie and Lilibet’s life in Montecito. (And we can hope for some more regular updates on these cuties in the future, as Meghan says she’s most likely coming back to Instagram.)

Archie looks just like dad, and his sister is following suit

Writer Allison P. Davis, who spent time with the family at their Montecito mansion, refers to Archie as a “lively 3-year-old with a shock of ginger curls identical to his father’s.” She later says that one-year-old Lilibet is also ginger.

The kids aren’t afraid to interrupt mom while she’s at work

We’ve all had our kids burst onto Zoom in the middle of a meeting, and Archie is no exception, though he happened to interrupt a cover story interview. Demanding that his “momma” play doctor with him, Archie put a pause on the interview so she could listen to his heartbeat with a toy stethoscope. “He stands, tummy protruding, while his mother, Meghan, convincingly performs her glee at hearing the thump-thump, thump-thump in his chest. Archie giggles and, satisfied, toddles right back out again.”

Archie is a typical preschooler at pickup

Archie is every kid waiting behind the school gates yelling “momma, momma, momma” as soon as he catches sight of Meghan, dropping everything and forgetting his lunch box as he sprints toward her for a huge after-school hug. Meghan said she would never be able to do school pickup in the UK, where it would be “a royal photo call with a press pen of 40 people snapping pictures.”

Yup, we lean on this easy-to-make snack, too

Archie munched on a quesadilla on the way home from school.

Archie is as busy as you’d imagine on the drive home

“Why are you afraid of heights like an airplane?” is one of many questions Archie asks on the way home from school (that toddler “why” phase, amiright?). And he’s got his typical car-ride traditions, like rolling down his window—”but not until we get to a specific huge hedge he mysteriously favors.” Still learning his manners, he also needs a few reminders to say please and thank you.

He’s about to transition from half-day preschool to full day

Meghan gets the usual daily updates from Archie’s school, saying he’s ready to transition to full days and he didn’t eat his sandwich at lunch (typical). And in the most relatable moment, Meghan tries to figure out why he’s wearing his backup shirt (spill? accident? whims of a toddler?) and finds out that he got wet while playing at the water table.

Lilibet has the family (and visiting interviewers) wrapped around her pudgy little finger

We also get a glimpse at Lilibet in this interview when she’s brought out (unsmiling) by her nanny. Davis describes her as being “small and also ginger.” Unsatisfied with her sour expression, Harry and Meghan (and Davis!) do what any parent would do: start dancing and beatboxing in an attempt to get her to smile. Yep, even former royals (and journalists!) will act foolish in an attempt to get a chuckle out of a toddler.

Meghan’s custom jam labels pay tribute to Lili

Yup, mom ordered the labels on Etsy, and they’re a cute tribute to her daughter: “Lili Bunny Garden + Larder.” Yes, the family has their own orchard, in addition to that famous chicken coup, but at least Archie brings “a week’s worth of freshly picked fruit for his fellow classmates” each week?

Archie talks to the trees

Meghan helps give us a visual of the serene grounds of their property in Montecito. So serene, in fact, that they told their realtor they had to get the house before they’d even seen the inside. “One of the first things my husband saw when we walked around the house was those two palm trees,” she coos. Describing how the trees are connected at the bottom, she tells us how Harry had said “My love, it’s us.”  Picking up on this, Archie now says, ‘Hi, Momma. Hi, Papa’ every day when he passes the trees.