Well, my goal has been to do a whole bunch of update posts to get caught up from last September (ha!), but that has not happened! Surprise, surprise! So, I'm just going to start fresh and if I get a chance, I will try to go back and at least post pictures of the major events between September 2009 and now...
I have to post two recent Maddy stories so I don't forget them altogether!
- Last week, we were leaving MOPS and walking to the car. With my ever-increasing belly, I try to have Maddy walk as much as possible. She was happily holding my finger with one hand and clutching Lambie (a little stuffed lamb) with the other. We came across a rock bed that is next to a flower bed. She is extremely fascinated with these rocks for some reason. As much as I wanted to hurry to the car and get on with the rest of our day, I stopped myself and gave her a few minutes to explore the rocks. Before long, it became clear that she was fully expecting to take a rock home and just working on finding the right one. So, I told her to pick one out and that we could take one home. She made her selection, picked Lambie up and looked like she was ready to walk to the car. Then, one single solitary rock caught her attention and she put Lambie and the first rock down to pick up the new rock. Not wanting to take TWO rocks home, I start thinking about how I can explain to her that she can only take one. I decide on my line of reasoning and tell her that she can only take one rock home because she also needs to carry Lambie. She looks at me thoughtfully, considers what I've said, reaches down and picks up the first rock in one hand, then the second rock with the other hand. Before I could object, she stands up, wraps her sweet little rock-filled hands around Lambie's neck, swoops him up and promptly starts walking towards the car. Problem solved. I couldn't help but chuckle as I realized that I now had to let her take both rocks home. And wouldn't you know it, she carried both rocks AND Lambie all the way to the car. Love this girl!!!
- Yesterday after a playdate Maddy was having a bit of a hard time unwinding from all the excitement. To try to calm the tone and soothe her, I opted for a long storytime. She snuggled up in my lap and we read several stories together. I even tried one longer story that we haven't done yet because I wasn't sure if her attention span could handle it - she loved it! Given that success, I picked a truly long picture book that would take us at least 15 minutes to read. I figured I'd give it a shot. Now, I have to stop here and fill in some information that will be pertinent to understanding this story. Maddy is a great sleeper, but she is fairly rigid. Once she is tired, she does not like to be cuddled much and she is virtually 100% guaranteed to never fall asleep in your lap. She even sometimes has trouble falling asleep in her carseat at night if we're on our way home. She just prefers her bed. Give her her blanket, sing her a song, and lay her down - that's how she likes it. Now, back to our long picture book. As we start the first two pages, I'm amazed at how much she is enjoying the story - looking at each simple picture and hearing my voice weave a story. I'm soaking up every sweet minute. Pretty soon, we're about half-way through the book and I notice her kind of slumping towards my chest and then catching herself. After the second or third time, I leaned down to peek at her and couldn't believe my eyes - she was sound asleep! The sight of my sweet girl, lulled to sleep by her mama's story, was so precious to me.
- A short, but adorable, glimpse into daily life with Maddy right now... one of Maddy's favorite signs (and words) is 'more' and it has become the expression for everything and anything she could possibly want more of. With the warm weather increasing, we've been spending a lot of time outside and seeing lots of exciting outdoor things - cars, motorcycles, school buses, trucks, birds flying, airplanes overhead, kids on bicycles... Maddy thinks all of this is just FABULOUS! She can't get enough of it! As evidence, whenever any of the above goes by, she watches with rapt attention, and then turns to me and - with the most beautifully expectant eyes - signs and says 'more?' I cannot get over the fact that she clearly thinks I can make these things materialize! In her eyes, I have some mighty impressive powers!
- Maddy is fascinated with my growing belly and the fact that I have a baby inside me. To give her a chance to 'interact' I've taken to lifting my shirt and letting her identify 'baby', say hi and give kisses. For a while, she couldn't get enough of it and would want to do the whole routine no less than six times a day! Lately, though, she's responded a bit differently... When I lift my shirt and show her my belly she'll come over, say a quick 'baby', give a quick kiss, and promptly pull my shirt back down, saying 'bye-bye-baby!' I can't help but laugh because she has no idea that her days are numbered on that response!
Now for a quick update on how everyone else in our house is doing...
Anthony: Currently he's on an eight week trauma rotation that entails 6-a-week 12-hour shifts. To say that his schedule is exhausting is a huge understatement. Poor guy is giving every bit of mental and physical energy and comes home hungry and exhausted with just enough time to kiss Maddy goodnight, eat dinner, relax for 30 minutes, and head to bed. Talk about a rat race! We are just now half-way through the eight weeks. Not yet feeling the light at the end of the tunnel, but definitely knowing it's there. Anthony is such a strong person for the way he handles these challenges. He's resilient to be able to do it continuously and he's (mostly) happy and optimistic when he's home - I don't know how he does it!
Me: I'm about five months along now and it's fair to say that I've settled into a pregnancy routine. Although I'm disappointed about how little energy I have, I am feeling quite healthy and I'm still able to physically do almost everything I want to do. I find that I have to nap when Maddy naps about half the days of the week or else I get ridiculously overtired and when I get tired I get cranky! No time for that right now! As a result, my productivity level has drastically decreased. It's frustrating to not be able to keep up with the daily cleaning of the house and to not have enough time for projects that I would love to work on. But, it is the reality for the next several months. I'm (mostly) adjusting to that. :)
Little Nino: He's doing great! Growing strong and healthy and right on track for the July 20th due date. We got to see him at the ultrasound and it was so special! It's just amazing how clearly you can see so many details - he's an amazing little person and we can't wait to meet him! He's starting to punch and kick more and more and Anthony just felt his first kick the other day. In other news, this little boy has identified my bladder and decided it is a super cool play thing. He punches it like it's a punching bag! I definitely DID NOT have this experience with Maddy!
Now, for a few recent pictures...
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