I (Joel) have the privilege of being home alone with Mikayla for four afternoons/evenings each week. It is incredible. Here are some thoughts that have been tumbling around my head during our times together.
-When giving your baby a bottle, make sure the top cap is on tightly, and that the cap isn't mis-threaded. You'll learn the hard way. Not that I know anything about it.
-I'm slightly nervous for when Mikayla enters the stage when we have to step up the discipline and instruction. We do basic "no" and other training now, but I know it will only get harder. As if it wasn't hard enough, I'm finding that it's next to impossible to say "no" or withhold from her. If it's this hard now, how am I supposed to say no even once in the next 18 years?
-What child doesn't like grapes or cheese? Mikayla devours avacados, plain yogurt (ew), and other seemingly strange foods, but refuses to touch these kid staples. Skins on, skins off; colby jack, mozzarella, or cheddar: it doesn't matter. I really hope she didn't inherit my picky childhood eating habits (I'm really sorry, Mom, I'm sure your stroganoff was delicious). At least Mikayla seems to like one type of Cheese.
-I now have even greater respect and admiration for stay at home moms. Their job is tough! And I'm only doing it four half-days a week, with one delightful little girl. Whenever Elizabeth gets to stay home full time, she has her work cut out for her. She isn't leaving a job to sit at home and eat bon-bons, she's leaving a tough job for a tougher calling. And with worse hours.
-Mikayla just might grow up to believe in ghosts. Her dinner time coincides with the neighbors' dinner preparation, and she loves hearing the cupboard doors slamming shut through the partition.She always looks around so expectantly, hoping to see the source of the sounds, but they remain disembodied.
-Before Mikayla came along, crying or babbling kids never bothered me one bit in church. But now that Mikayla is at the screeching/babbling stage, I am paranoid that even a tiny peep from her is as disruptive as a streaker at a baseball game. I have to keep reminding myself that Out of the mouths of infants...
-A child's laugh is the greatest, most beautiful sound in world. It can render the darkest of days and the foulest of moods inconsequential and utterly self-centered.
-People frequently talk about how having children gives you a new perspective on a lot of things, not the least of which is our adoption as sons and daughters of God. It's true. Related to my second observation above, this has affected our prayer: "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Matt. 7:11)
2P Popped!
Anyone wondering when in the world we were going to get around to our first belly pic of the pregnancy? Yeah, me too.
Confession: I was pregnant with Mikayla at the same time that my SIL was expecting #2, and I was completely engrossed in every developmental milestone of every week. At the drop of a hat, I could have told you how far along I was (probably in hours) and the precise size of my growing baby and which organ systems began to function that week. I wondered why in the world my SIL was neglecting fun pregnancy details like the belly progression pics.
I bet it had nothing to do with running around after her firstborn. It's not like that takes time and energy away from constantly focusing on your growing belly. (Yeah...Enter Mikayla, the most eye-opening little person in my entire life.)
So my first belly photo at almost 18 weeks will hopefully represent my eating of a little crow and a newfound understanding of second time (and third, and fourth...) mommas-to-be. Blink and you miss weeks and fruit-stages (is 2P the size of a grapefruit? kumquat? cantaloupe? Who knows!). All I know is that 2P is a lovely size to serve as a seat for Mikayla when I carry her around. (Not the last time she'll sit on her little sibling, I'm sure.)
Ignoring my dire need of a haircut for a moment, I think we can agree that hello, 2P!
For the record, since I use this blog as a journal of sorts (I'm turning many of my previous entries into a Pregnancy Scrapbook for Mikayla), I have only gained about six pounds so far. I lost about five pounds right off the bat due to morning sickness, gained it back around the end of the first trimester, and now have gained another six. This is a serious improvement over my rapid and ongoing weight gain with Mikayla; I am hoping to gain about half of what I did with her, which was about 50 pounds. (Yes, seriously. What in the world.)
In other news, from the sounds I'm hearing right this second, Mikayla can apparently reach the doorknob of her room from the comfort of her crib. I'm pretty sure she can't actually, you know, get out.
Guess I'd better go check. Still no time for navel-gazing for this momma...
SDG!
Confession: I was pregnant with Mikayla at the same time that my SIL was expecting #2, and I was completely engrossed in every developmental milestone of every week. At the drop of a hat, I could have told you how far along I was (probably in hours) and the precise size of my growing baby and which organ systems began to function that week. I wondered why in the world my SIL was neglecting fun pregnancy details like the belly progression pics.
I bet it had nothing to do with running around after her firstborn. It's not like that takes time and energy away from constantly focusing on your growing belly. (Yeah...Enter Mikayla, the most eye-opening little person in my entire life.)
So my first belly photo at almost 18 weeks will hopefully represent my eating of a little crow and a newfound understanding of second time (and third, and fourth...) mommas-to-be. Blink and you miss weeks and fruit-stages (is 2P the size of a grapefruit? kumquat? cantaloupe? Who knows!). All I know is that 2P is a lovely size to serve as a seat for Mikayla when I carry her around. (Not the last time she'll sit on her little sibling, I'm sure.)
Sunday, October 16 (17.5 weeks):
Ignoring my dire need of a haircut for a moment, I think we can agree that hello, 2P!
For the record, since I use this blog as a journal of sorts (I'm turning many of my previous entries into a Pregnancy Scrapbook for Mikayla), I have only gained about six pounds so far. I lost about five pounds right off the bat due to morning sickness, gained it back around the end of the first trimester, and now have gained another six. This is a serious improvement over my rapid and ongoing weight gain with Mikayla; I am hoping to gain about half of what I did with her, which was about 50 pounds. (Yes, seriously. What in the world.)
In other news, from the sounds I'm hearing right this second, Mikayla can apparently reach the doorknob of her room from the comfort of her crib. I'm pretty sure she can't actually, you know, get out.
Guess I'd better go check. Still no time for navel-gazing for this momma...
SDG!
Mikayla at Nine Months
Can you believe that we just had Mikayla's nine month check-up at the pediatrician yesterday, and scheduled her ONE YEAR appointment for January? Oh my, where has the time gone?
I'm happy to report an overall very clean bill of health from the doctor (who, by the way, gives me tips on cloth diapering and is impressed that I still use prefolds, since she switched to pocket diapers). Mikayla weighs in at 17 lb 5.5 oz, placing her at the 70th percentile for weight, and is 27 inches long, placing her at the 50th percentil for height. I'm skeptical of the latter measurement, however, since she barely held still long enough to see where her foot reached on the baby-length-measurer-thing. But the general consensus is, she continues to grow and thrive in every way!
Other than the rash covering her entire body, but that has mostly cleared up today so we'll not speak of it.
Let's see, what milestones are we hitting these days? Mikayla has partially weaned herself from nursing, sticking with the morning and bedtime feedings but otherwise having no interest at all. I blame 2P. We give her a bottle of formula at lunch and dinner, which the doctor said is good since she should be getting half her nutrition from milk/formula and half from food at this point. The doctor asked whether she has developed her "pincer grasp" (thumb and forefinger), and I wracked my brain trying to think...I think she CAN pincer grasp, but about 90% of the time she still "rakes" (full hand grasp) because seriously, the girl's #1 priority is getting ALL of the food into her mouth at once! I observed her more today and noticed that yes, she definitely can pincer grasp, particularly when she wants the bananas and not the cheese. She's a champ with her sippy cup, and holds her own bottle as well. So independent! Her favorite foods include cheerios, bananas, sweet potatoes, kiwi, and YOGURT oh my goodness yogurt. She delights in almost every food we introduce, but she lights up when she sees the yogurt coming. Plain yogurt. I don't understand it, but hey, it's good for her.
Outside of the kitchen, she is standing and cruising like nobody's business. We just borrowed a slightly more sturdy walker from friends of ours, and we have watched her take several steps with it before plunking down on her bottom. Grandpa Pearce claims that today she walked the length of the room with it! Without firsthand parental confirmation, I can't completely vouch for the truth of the claim (you know how grandparents can exaggerate), but I wouldn't be at all surprised. She is ready to move! Mikayla does "so big!" and this adorable head tilt, and has recently been giving her dadda high fives. Not always on command, of course, but the doctor assured me that it's normal for her not to perform like a monkey at nine months of age. She does say dadda and mama sometimes, as well as "ha-ta", whatever that means.
To give you an idea of how active munchkin is, yesterday I was sitting on our bed with her crawling all about. I had her by the leg of her pants, as she was squirming toward my nightstand to check out the monitor and whatever else is over there. She wiggles so much that while I tried to hold onto her ankle, most of the time I had a firm grasp of nothing but denim. I looked away for a moment to do whatever it was I was doing, still keeping her by the leg, and suddenly heard a big THUD and realized I was holding empty pants! Mikayla had wiggled right out of her pants and toppled off the bed! She cried for about three seconds, and not very hard at that, since it was a short fall from our low bed onto the soft carpet. Thankfully. My little wiggle worm has not stopped moving since the first kick in my belly!
At the same time, though, she is incredibly laid back. We took her our to a restaurant for the first time yesterday evening and sat her in a high chair while we ate with Joel's dad. Even though we kept her out past her bedtime, she fussed only minimally and kept a big smile on her face right up to the end, charming other diners with those big eyes of hers. So we have this great combination of mellow and active/inquisitive. It's so fun to watch her develop!
I stopped by a big Mennonite-run general store today to pick up some diaper doublers for Mikayla for overnight. They have a pretty nice baby section, and I found myself looking at tiny onesies, receiving blankets, baby books...wondering whether I will soon be shopping for a little sister or little brother. I was so tempted to buy something for him or her - it's a good thing I don't know whether to buy blue or pink! I was like a child in a candy store...I had forgotten how much fun it is to shop for baby things. We should find out soon whether 2P has a little stem on the apple, and then, my friends, then I shall go back and BUY things. Don't tell Joel.
I certainly hope this is coherent. I'm not going to bother to edit...I have a bit of a fever today, amongst other issues, but I wanted to update you on Mikayla. Inspired by the prompting of a friend - apparently, inquiring minds want to know how big my daughter has gotten :).
SDG!
I'm happy to report an overall very clean bill of health from the doctor (who, by the way, gives me tips on cloth diapering and is impressed that I still use prefolds, since she switched to pocket diapers). Mikayla weighs in at 17 lb 5.5 oz, placing her at the 70th percentile for weight, and is 27 inches long, placing her at the 50th percentil for height. I'm skeptical of the latter measurement, however, since she barely held still long enough to see where her foot reached on the baby-length-measurer-thing. But the general consensus is, she continues to grow and thrive in every way!
Other than the rash covering her entire body, but that has mostly cleared up today so we'll not speak of it.
Let's see, what milestones are we hitting these days? Mikayla has partially weaned herself from nursing, sticking with the morning and bedtime feedings but otherwise having no interest at all. I blame 2P. We give her a bottle of formula at lunch and dinner, which the doctor said is good since she should be getting half her nutrition from milk/formula and half from food at this point. The doctor asked whether she has developed her "pincer grasp" (thumb and forefinger), and I wracked my brain trying to think...I think she CAN pincer grasp, but about 90% of the time she still "rakes" (full hand grasp) because seriously, the girl's #1 priority is getting ALL of the food into her mouth at once! I observed her more today and noticed that yes, she definitely can pincer grasp, particularly when she wants the bananas and not the cheese. She's a champ with her sippy cup, and holds her own bottle as well. So independent! Her favorite foods include cheerios, bananas, sweet potatoes, kiwi, and YOGURT oh my goodness yogurt. She delights in almost every food we introduce, but she lights up when she sees the yogurt coming. Plain yogurt. I don't understand it, but hey, it's good for her.
Outside of the kitchen, she is standing and cruising like nobody's business. We just borrowed a slightly more sturdy walker from friends of ours, and we have watched her take several steps with it before plunking down on her bottom. Grandpa Pearce claims that today she walked the length of the room with it! Without firsthand parental confirmation, I can't completely vouch for the truth of the claim (you know how grandparents can exaggerate), but I wouldn't be at all surprised. She is ready to move! Mikayla does "so big!" and this adorable head tilt, and has recently been giving her dadda high fives. Not always on command, of course, but the doctor assured me that it's normal for her not to perform like a monkey at nine months of age. She does say dadda and mama sometimes, as well as "ha-ta", whatever that means.
To give you an idea of how active munchkin is, yesterday I was sitting on our bed with her crawling all about. I had her by the leg of her pants, as she was squirming toward my nightstand to check out the monitor and whatever else is over there. She wiggles so much that while I tried to hold onto her ankle, most of the time I had a firm grasp of nothing but denim. I looked away for a moment to do whatever it was I was doing, still keeping her by the leg, and suddenly heard a big THUD and realized I was holding empty pants! Mikayla had wiggled right out of her pants and toppled off the bed! She cried for about three seconds, and not very hard at that, since it was a short fall from our low bed onto the soft carpet. Thankfully. My little wiggle worm has not stopped moving since the first kick in my belly!
At the same time, though, she is incredibly laid back. We took her our to a restaurant for the first time yesterday evening and sat her in a high chair while we ate with Joel's dad. Even though we kept her out past her bedtime, she fussed only minimally and kept a big smile on her face right up to the end, charming other diners with those big eyes of hers. So we have this great combination of mellow and active/inquisitive. It's so fun to watch her develop!
I stopped by a big Mennonite-run general store today to pick up some diaper doublers for Mikayla for overnight. They have a pretty nice baby section, and I found myself looking at tiny onesies, receiving blankets, baby books...wondering whether I will soon be shopping for a little sister or little brother. I was so tempted to buy something for him or her - it's a good thing I don't know whether to buy blue or pink! I was like a child in a candy store...I had forgotten how much fun it is to shop for baby things. We should find out soon whether 2P has a little stem on the apple, and then, my friends, then I shall go back and BUY things. Don't tell Joel.
I certainly hope this is coherent. I'm not going to bother to edit...I have a bit of a fever today, amongst other issues, but I wanted to update you on Mikayla. Inspired by the prompting of a friend - apparently, inquiring minds want to know how big my daughter has gotten :).
SDG!
Heartbeats and Flutter Kicks
Little 2P, you must be growing up! I listened to your heartbeat last night, and sweetie you were putting on a show. Usually when I use our borrowed doppler to listen to you, I get the swish, swish that lets me know you are nearby, and I am hearing the pulse of your blood flow. But last night, you must have been front and center, pushing out toward the front of my belly to say hello! From within a few seconds of placing the doppler against my skin, I heard a strong, loud pounding that told me I had found your very heartbeat. It was so loud that your dadda could hear it from a foot or two away, while the earphones were snug in my ears! I just kept listening to that bam, bam, bam and felt so grateful that you must be a healthy, strong baby already. I couldn't take my ears off you!
I've felt a few flutters over the past few weeks that I think are you, too. Particularly in the last several days, you have popped and kicked. Often it happens so fast that I wonder whether I really felt anything, and I press my hand to my belly to see if I can feel you again. What a tease you are, because I never feel you twice in a row :). But I know you're in there, making your little presence known.
Everyone at work knows about you now. I told them last week at our staff meeting. They are so excited! I was a little worried about what they would think of me taking another maternity leave so close to the first, but all they could say was how fun it will be to have you and Mikayla so close in age :). And my clients have been excited to learn about you too. What evidence that regardless of our differences or our struggles, we all view a new life as a precious gift from the Lord. Excitement over a new baby is something that seems to draw us all together, from clients in my office to strangers at the grocery store. It is such a blessing to have so many rejoicing with us over your life, sweet 2P.
In a few weeks, Lord willing, we should be able to have an ultrasound that tells us whether you are a little brother or sister. I can't wait to begin calling you by name!
SDG
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