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!
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
As Promised: Mikayla's Very Interrupted Nap
I shall strive for brevity in this post, but since it is my way of journaling, please bear with me as I also strive to capture each detail of this precious unfolding of events.
On Tuesday, July 5, 2011, I awoke at the early hour of 5:30 a.m. feeling suddenly and terribly ill. It was a nauseating combination of that woozy low-blood-sugar sensation and the feeling of being too hot all over, with the distinct possibility of throwing up everywhere to keep things interesting. It was not altogether unlike "the spins" which, you know, I have heard from a friend of a friend might sometimes happen after an evening of too much libation. Around 6 or 6:30, I sent Joel from the room for a cold washcloth and ultimately from the house for ginger ale and pepto bismol. Both of which I swigged generously upon his return. I canceled everything, believing myself to have come down with a nasty stomach bug.
In the next few days I continued to feel rather continuously nauseated, even as I muscled through supervision and appointments at work. By Friday, when I was still feeling ill, Joel and I were starting to wonder what was up. Over the weekend, the sickness seemed to come and go (but it mostly came), making it still difficult to eat much. We began to murmur between ourselves that it seemed an awful lot like the days of morning sickness but...Mikayla is only six months old, I am nursing her throughout the day, I haven't had any signs of returned fertility, and besides, do you remember how long it took us to conceive munchkin? It couldn't be...
I even took a pregnancy test to be sure. And it was negative. So were the next two... (I tend to be compulsive about pregnancy tests; that one wasn't positive, but what if I take one in five minutes and it IS??)
Now, I wasn't opposed to talking about baby #2. As I tell people, we were starting to talk about thinking about when trying for #2 might be on the radar. My goal was to have my postdoc comfortably finished and my license in hand before another child would arrive, but I also didn't want to wait TOO long.
With our discussion of morning sickness coming and going along with the nausea, I decided to order some cheapie pregnancy tests online on Sunday of that weekend, and promised Joel that I would hold off until they arrived later that week to test again. Besides, the sickness might clear up by then anyway, and it made no sense to keep wasting money on expensive tests at the store.
So Sunday night I dreamed that a baby suddenly and enthusiastically appeared in my belly and was trying to kick his way out. We're talking Alien-style attempts at hatching himself free of my body. Freaky, and when I woke up on Monday I thought you know...that is the kind of crazy vivid dream I used to have all the time when I was pregnant. Pretty much as soon as Joel left for work, I hustled Mikayla into the car and headed for the Dollar Store, my promises to hold off on testing completely forgotten (by me, anyway). I grabbed a couple of the cheap blue-dye tests and we headed back home.
I put munchkin down for her nap shortly upon arriving at home, and set about the process of, you know, creating the necessary conditions for taking a pregnancy test (read: lots of water). In the fullness of time (see what I did there?), I took a test and....the faintest of blue lines that only an experienced POAS-er would be able to detect. What?!?!
The emotions that swept through me were too many to recount. Tears sprang to my eyes. A positive pregnancy test was simultaneously the greatest shock and surprise to my eyes, but also the greatest confirmation of what I had known in my heart for almost a week. Oh, the song of praise and thanksgiving that went up from my spirit as I sat just taking in the sight of that little plus sign! Proof of a tiny, living person inside me! If Mikayla is our miracle baby because of all it took to conceive her, how much more is this unexpected child a miraculous gift from God? I almost laughed at this bounty from His hand.
This is the part where Mikayla becomes a victim of her momma's crazy.
After staring for two minutes or two hours, I jumped up and flew into Mikayla's room to share the thrilling news with the only person near enough to tell. Poor girl! I snatched her up from her crib and swung her around, bleary eyed, holding her close to me as I sang out that she would be a big sister. I showed her the pregnancy test, which she promptly attempted to eat. I just know that was her way of expressing her delight.
And because you just can't trust a faint line on a blue-dye test (and because I realized I shouldn't be washing my food down with pepto bismol anymore if I am pregnant), I immediately hustled Mikayla BACK into the car and over to the grocery store where I went through the checkout line with a baby on my hip, and a pregnancy test and bottle of Maalox in the other hand. Yes, ma'am, this is exactly what it looks like, why do you ask?
When Joel arrived home from work, he found (a sleepy) Mikayla in a bright yellow bib on which I had written (quickly and non-decoratively), "I'm the big sister!" The look on his face was priceless, and I know he was excited even though his first action was to take the Sharpie-fuming bib off of our infant daughter. Hey, I didn't have much time to plan the daddy-announcement, I did what I could. Besides, I'm pregnant, I do silly things! We spent several minutes in disbelief and excitement together, snuggling with Mikayla on our bed as we kept laughing, starry-eyed, and asking each other, can you believe we're going to have another one??
So, little 2P, you were not exactly on our radar ahead of time. But your absence from our plan is all the more proof that you were most certainly in the Lord's plan for us, long before I felt the first effects of your presence. Sweet, tiny one, you have started more with a bang than a whisper. You are precious to us already, and have brought great joy and laughter to our lives as we tell others about how bountiful and gracious our great God is to us. We can't wait to meet you, and see what our Father has in store for your life!
As always, soli deo gloria!
On Tuesday, July 5, 2011, I awoke at the early hour of 5:30 a.m. feeling suddenly and terribly ill. It was a nauseating combination of that woozy low-blood-sugar sensation and the feeling of being too hot all over, with the distinct possibility of throwing up everywhere to keep things interesting. It was not altogether unlike "the spins" which, you know, I have heard from a friend of a friend might sometimes happen after an evening of too much libation. Around 6 or 6:30, I sent Joel from the room for a cold washcloth and ultimately from the house for ginger ale and pepto bismol. Both of which I swigged generously upon his return. I canceled everything, believing myself to have come down with a nasty stomach bug.
In the next few days I continued to feel rather continuously nauseated, even as I muscled through supervision and appointments at work. By Friday, when I was still feeling ill, Joel and I were starting to wonder what was up. Over the weekend, the sickness seemed to come and go (but it mostly came), making it still difficult to eat much. We began to murmur between ourselves that it seemed an awful lot like the days of morning sickness but...Mikayla is only six months old, I am nursing her throughout the day, I haven't had any signs of returned fertility, and besides, do you remember how long it took us to conceive munchkin? It couldn't be...
I even took a pregnancy test to be sure. And it was negative. So were the next two... (I tend to be compulsive about pregnancy tests; that one wasn't positive, but what if I take one in five minutes and it IS??)
Now, I wasn't opposed to talking about baby #2. As I tell people, we were starting to talk about thinking about when trying for #2 might be on the radar. My goal was to have my postdoc comfortably finished and my license in hand before another child would arrive, but I also didn't want to wait TOO long.
With our discussion of morning sickness coming and going along with the nausea, I decided to order some cheapie pregnancy tests online on Sunday of that weekend, and promised Joel that I would hold off until they arrived later that week to test again. Besides, the sickness might clear up by then anyway, and it made no sense to keep wasting money on expensive tests at the store.
So Sunday night I dreamed that a baby suddenly and enthusiastically appeared in my belly and was trying to kick his way out. We're talking Alien-style attempts at hatching himself free of my body. Freaky, and when I woke up on Monday I thought you know...that is the kind of crazy vivid dream I used to have all the time when I was pregnant. Pretty much as soon as Joel left for work, I hustled Mikayla into the car and headed for the Dollar Store, my promises to hold off on testing completely forgotten (by me, anyway). I grabbed a couple of the cheap blue-dye tests and we headed back home.
I put munchkin down for her nap shortly upon arriving at home, and set about the process of, you know, creating the necessary conditions for taking a pregnancy test (read: lots of water). In the fullness of time (see what I did there?), I took a test and....the faintest of blue lines that only an experienced POAS-er would be able to detect. What?!?!
The emotions that swept through me were too many to recount. Tears sprang to my eyes. A positive pregnancy test was simultaneously the greatest shock and surprise to my eyes, but also the greatest confirmation of what I had known in my heart for almost a week. Oh, the song of praise and thanksgiving that went up from my spirit as I sat just taking in the sight of that little plus sign! Proof of a tiny, living person inside me! If Mikayla is our miracle baby because of all it took to conceive her, how much more is this unexpected child a miraculous gift from God? I almost laughed at this bounty from His hand.
This is the part where Mikayla becomes a victim of her momma's crazy.
After staring for two minutes or two hours, I jumped up and flew into Mikayla's room to share the thrilling news with the only person near enough to tell. Poor girl! I snatched her up from her crib and swung her around, bleary eyed, holding her close to me as I sang out that she would be a big sister. I showed her the pregnancy test, which she promptly attempted to eat. I just know that was her way of expressing her delight.
And because you just can't trust a faint line on a blue-dye test (and because I realized I shouldn't be washing my food down with pepto bismol anymore if I am pregnant), I immediately hustled Mikayla BACK into the car and over to the grocery store where I went through the checkout line with a baby on my hip, and a pregnancy test and bottle of Maalox in the other hand. Yes, ma'am, this is exactly what it looks like, why do you ask?
When Joel arrived home from work, he found (a sleepy) Mikayla in a bright yellow bib on which I had written (quickly and non-decoratively), "I'm the big sister!" The look on his face was priceless, and I know he was excited even though his first action was to take the Sharpie-fuming bib off of our infant daughter. Hey, I didn't have much time to plan the daddy-announcement, I did what I could. Besides, I'm pregnant, I do silly things! We spent several minutes in disbelief and excitement together, snuggling with Mikayla on our bed as we kept laughing, starry-eyed, and asking each other, can you believe we're going to have another one??
So, little 2P, you were not exactly on our radar ahead of time. But your absence from our plan is all the more proof that you were most certainly in the Lord's plan for us, long before I felt the first effects of your presence. Sweet, tiny one, you have started more with a bang than a whisper. You are precious to us already, and have brought great joy and laughter to our lives as we tell others about how bountiful and gracious our great God is to us. We can't wait to meet you, and see what our Father has in store for your life!
As always, soli deo gloria!
Breakfast!
Poor little 2P is starting life at a disadvantage. With Mikayla, I worked full-time at the hospital through my first trimester, and while I thought it was the worst thing EVER to drag myself in there at 8:00 a.m. every day (I still don't disagree with that opinion), I did get free breakfast at least two mornings a week in the hospital cafeteria. My standard order was two scrambled with green pepper and cheese. Nowadays, my breakfast often consists of a small handful of cheerios and the stray oatmeal and yogurt I lick off my fingers while I feed Mikayla. Perhaps a few slices of banana if I'm feeling selfish. But this morning? This:
(Yes, I took the photo on the couch.
I may have cooked breakfast, but that doesn't mean I'm completely civilized.)
I recreated my old favorite. Why don't I make breakfast every day?? Oh wait...because I have an eight month old who waits for no man (or pregnant lady) when it comes to nursing, diaper change, and breakfast in rapid succession. Phew. By the time she goes down for her nap at 9, I am often ready to do the same. But occasionally, hunger wins out and I actually make breakfast for myself. Yesterday I was all motivated to eat, and discovered that my box of cereal was gone. It had been long enough that Joel managed to finish my frosted shredded wheat. Sigh. We have also gone through a gallon or two of milk since the cereal came home, so I guess I shouldn't have been terribly surprised.
Anyway, off to eat my two scrambled with green pepper and cheese (emphasis on the cheese, obv) before my daughter wakes up. Five minutes ago. The life of a blessed momma :).
Best Monkey Ever
We recently discovered that Mikayla knows a few words. Not to say them, but to clearly respond. Yesterday when I asked her for a hug, she promptly leaned her little head down onto my shoulder and snuggled me! For Joel, she snuggles into his chest. She knows how to hug!! (Sort of. No arms yet.) She will give us a hug every time we ask for one now. My favorite was today, asking for a hug as I was putting her down for her nap. What a blessing to a momma's heart!
She's also catching onto the idea of giving kisses. She doesn't do it every time yet, but when I ask her for a kiss she will often lean in for one. Baby-style, with mouth open and drool everywhere. A kiss only a mother could appreciate, probably, but it fills my heart up so much to think she wants to give us hugs and kisses. She does both with a gigantic smile on her face. I pray that these are her first little responses to us because she experiences so much love herself. That is my prayer for my daughter through her whole life, and for all our children: that their lives are characterized by love because that is what we have filled them with, in Christ, by the grace of God.
We're also trying to teach her "so big" because we watched a video of cousin Jillian doing this, and we can't let her get too far ahead. Hopefully Mikayla doesn't inherit too much of her dadda's competitive spirit, geez! (For those who are curious: we have had several successes in a row with her throwing her hands in the air when we ask how big she is. Soooo big!! Although sometimes she just looks at us and laughs, so we are not 100% yet.) It is just so cool watching her clearly understand our words and even having her start to associate them with actions.
Oh, and very important tidbit: unless something significantly changes, she is going to be a lefty like her momma! Her left hand is her exclusive cheerio shovel these days.
She's my favorite. I can't wait til 2P arrives and I get to have TWO favorites!
SDG
.
She's also catching onto the idea of giving kisses. She doesn't do it every time yet, but when I ask her for a kiss she will often lean in for one. Baby-style, with mouth open and drool everywhere. A kiss only a mother could appreciate, probably, but it fills my heart up so much to think she wants to give us hugs and kisses. She does both with a gigantic smile on her face. I pray that these are her first little responses to us because she experiences so much love herself. That is my prayer for my daughter through her whole life, and for all our children: that their lives are characterized by love because that is what we have filled them with, in Christ, by the grace of God.
We're also trying to teach her "so big" because we watched a video of cousin Jillian doing this, and we can't let her get too far ahead. Hopefully Mikayla doesn't inherit too much of her dadda's competitive spirit, geez! (For those who are curious: we have had several successes in a row with her throwing her hands in the air when we ask how big she is. Soooo big!! Although sometimes she just looks at us and laughs, so we are not 100% yet.) It is just so cool watching her clearly understand our words and even having her start to associate them with actions.
Oh, and very important tidbit: unless something significantly changes, she is going to be a lefty like her momma! Her left hand is her exclusive cheerio shovel these days.
She's my favorite. I can't wait til 2P arrives and I get to have TWO favorites!
SDG
.
The Flip Switched
This is the story of a transformation that defies all logic and understanding. An answer to prayer, if ever there were one.
The back story is that this pregnancy has been a little rough for me. I have felt sicker more often (I actually lost rather than gained weight in the first trimester, though I am now back to pre-pregnancy weight), and the fatigue has just been killer. Some of this is due to the fact that I'm now starting my days at 7:00 a.m. whether I feel ready to or not...although thinking back, I was working full time through my first trimester with Mikayla so I was certainly getting up early then as well. So maybe this pregnancy really is worse.
ANYWAY.
All this to say I have been slacking horribly on things like laundry, dishes, menu planning, paperwork at work. Anything that has not been mandatory for paycheck or basic survival has gone out the window for at least the past month. Our frequent travels have not helped me stay up to speed on any of this, either.
Fast forward (or rewind or whatever) to this past Tuesday when for some reason, I looked around and realized...HOLY BANANAS, there is so much to do and so little time to do it! I was anticipating flying to New Hampshire for a wedding weekend, not to mention working the equivalent of several full days this week, and wondering how in the world the clothes are going to get clean and the notes are going to get written and the groceries are going to get boughten. The icing on the cake was Mikayla choosing to just, you know, be NEEDY all day. Not cranky, per se, but she certainly didn't want momma doing anything that didn't involve kisses and giggles and food (ok, mainly food).
No wait, the ACTUAL icing on the cake was that I'm freaking pregnant and, as I told Joel recently, I am tired IN MY LIFE. It all came together in a perfect storm of hormones and overwhelmedness and holy bananas I might need to cancel work today and just find a cave to cry in. (Mikayla is into bananas right now.)
My solution? Make a list! And create a calendar! I spent my last half hour before work (I couldn't come up with a satisfactory way to say to clients, "I can't see you today because I am freaking out".) on Google calendars actually scheduling all my household chores (daily, weekly, and bi-weekly with repeating occurrences, but no alarms because seriously. That's just ridiculous.)(Unlike putting your chores on the calendar, that is normal.) I then calendared the projects that I need to finish in the near future. These included catching up outpatient notes, catching up inpatient notes, organizing baby clothes, moving the guest bed into the attic, and cleaning out our hallway to make room for a bassinet.
And by "near future" I mean "the next six months" but it all FELT urgent, I promise. And I now have plans to have all this accomplished in the next ten days. Mostly in the next four days, but I decided to relax the guest bed thing because I'll probably need Joel's help and I don't want him to think I'm crazy. Like the time when I was pregnant and made him help me rearrange the nursery AGAIN because I thought it would work better. This is very, very similar to that, actually.
So, here I sit on Thursday with my outpatient notes all caught up, inpatient notes in a very good place, laundry almost finished, litter tidied (yes that's a bi-weekly chore now; Joel is the scooper but I am the tidier), office filing from the last month finished, and all phone calls returned. And tomorrow I am scheduled to dust, vacuumm, sweep, mop, and grocery shop. And I am excited about it.
I told Joel that I don't even recognize myself today. And then I realized...you know what today is?
SECOND. BLESSED. TRIMESTER.
Yesterday I officially hit 13 weeks. It's like a switch flipped and I AM BACK, BABY. Or at least I have really good intentions; I will let you know how tomorrow goes!
So first trimester went out with a bang (much as it entered, which I will detail for you in that post I promised about Mikayla's Very Interrupted Nap), but second trimester has arrived in all its glory. Thank you, dear heavenly Father, for this great mercy. Please could I stay in the second trimester all the way until delivery?
SDG!
The back story is that this pregnancy has been a little rough for me. I have felt sicker more often (I actually lost rather than gained weight in the first trimester, though I am now back to pre-pregnancy weight), and the fatigue has just been killer. Some of this is due to the fact that I'm now starting my days at 7:00 a.m. whether I feel ready to or not...although thinking back, I was working full time through my first trimester with Mikayla so I was certainly getting up early then as well. So maybe this pregnancy really is worse.
ANYWAY.
All this to say I have been slacking horribly on things like laundry, dishes, menu planning, paperwork at work. Anything that has not been mandatory for paycheck or basic survival has gone out the window for at least the past month. Our frequent travels have not helped me stay up to speed on any of this, either.
Fast forward (or rewind or whatever) to this past Tuesday when for some reason, I looked around and realized...HOLY BANANAS, there is so much to do and so little time to do it! I was anticipating flying to New Hampshire for a wedding weekend, not to mention working the equivalent of several full days this week, and wondering how in the world the clothes are going to get clean and the notes are going to get written and the groceries are going to get boughten. The icing on the cake was Mikayla choosing to just, you know, be NEEDY all day. Not cranky, per se, but she certainly didn't want momma doing anything that didn't involve kisses and giggles and food (ok, mainly food).
No wait, the ACTUAL icing on the cake was that I'm freaking pregnant and, as I told Joel recently, I am tired IN MY LIFE. It all came together in a perfect storm of hormones and overwhelmedness and holy bananas I might need to cancel work today and just find a cave to cry in. (Mikayla is into bananas right now.)
My solution? Make a list! And create a calendar! I spent my last half hour before work (I couldn't come up with a satisfactory way to say to clients, "I can't see you today because I am freaking out".) on Google calendars actually scheduling all my household chores (daily, weekly, and bi-weekly with repeating occurrences, but no alarms because seriously. That's just ridiculous.)(Unlike putting your chores on the calendar, that is normal.) I then calendared the projects that I need to finish in the near future. These included catching up outpatient notes, catching up inpatient notes, organizing baby clothes, moving the guest bed into the attic, and cleaning out our hallway to make room for a bassinet.
And by "near future" I mean "the next six months" but it all FELT urgent, I promise. And I now have plans to have all this accomplished in the next ten days. Mostly in the next four days, but I decided to relax the guest bed thing because I'll probably need Joel's help and I don't want him to think I'm crazy. Like the time when I was pregnant and made him help me rearrange the nursery AGAIN because I thought it would work better. This is very, very similar to that, actually.
So, here I sit on Thursday with my outpatient notes all caught up, inpatient notes in a very good place, laundry almost finished, litter tidied (yes that's a bi-weekly chore now; Joel is the scooper but I am the tidier), office filing from the last month finished, and all phone calls returned. And tomorrow I am scheduled to dust, vacuumm, sweep, mop, and grocery shop. And I am excited about it.
I told Joel that I don't even recognize myself today. And then I realized...you know what today is?
SECOND. BLESSED. TRIMESTER.
Yesterday I officially hit 13 weeks. It's like a switch flipped and I AM BACK, BABY. Or at least I have really good intentions; I will let you know how tomorrow goes!
So first trimester went out with a bang (much as it entered, which I will detail for you in that post I promised about Mikayla's Very Interrupted Nap), but second trimester has arrived in all its glory. Thank you, dear heavenly Father, for this great mercy. Please could I stay in the second trimester all the way until delivery?
SDG!
Mikayla's Many Favorites (8 Month Update)
Wow kids, I haven't blogged in forever. Want to know why? The current reason for not blogging began on July 11 when we found out that I'm knocked up again. Hello, baby #2! Since we decided to sit on the news for awhile before announcing, I basically forsook the blog because what else was there to write about?
Well, yeah, I mean Mikayla is still cool. But. Another pregnancy? Was definitely going to slip out somehow. But now that it's Facebook official, I am back baby! (babies?)
And this post is not actually about 2P, as we are calling him, until we find out via ultrasound whether it is maybe what we have been calling her. My gut is saying boy but I think it is because my sister just had a boy, and I have been following in her footsteps for oh about two years now in all things baby.
Nothing like waiting until the fourth paragraph to introduce the actual thesis statement of the post, eh? Since it is not about 2P, it is quite safe to assume that this is an update on Mikayla. I found myself composing a Facebook status update a few minutes ago that made me think, hmm, this is one of those stati that a) about three people will be excited to read, and b) is going to annoy the remaining 273 friends who will see it because it is so long. So. To the blog!
Mikayla is just in a fantastically cool stage right now. I know, we have said that about every stage so far, but seriously I really mean it this time guys. She is eight months old and SO active and inquisitive! For the past week or two she has been pulling herself up to stand - you read that right, she is cruising around her crib and standing to play with her toys. I had to Craigslist a few things because all of her toys so far have been small, handheld jobs and this girl is needing something to hold her interest (and her weight as she learns to balance!). She is the proud new owner of an activity cube and mail car walker as of about a week ago. My favorite is the delight she finds in turning the wooden gears on the side of the cube - with her foot. She started to use her hand once, but decided it was WAY neater to use her little toes.
In addition to standing and taking steps with help, Mikayla acts like a big girl by eating more than her dadda does. A typical breakfast is an entire pear or banana, a generous 1/2 cup (plus) of yogurt, and as much oatmeal as she wants til she's full. Usually at least a 1/2 cup. Dinner tonight was half a sweet potato, a cup of oatmeal, and probably 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt. A strange combination, perhaps, but we really need to get groceries again, apparently...We work on baby signs, in the spirit of cousin Khloe, but so far Mikayla asks for her sippy cup by yelling and banging her hands, and indicates that she would like "more, please" by panting and opening her mouth wide enough for a bus. She has made momma's life a freer place by eating three meals a day plus nursing at bedtime. Sometimes she is up for a snack in between meals, but most days she eats enough at her big-girl meals to get through. So nice!
Diaper changes have become less fun because they are BORING, even when Mikayla gets to hold onto a chosen toy while she lies there. But folks, bath time has moved on up to a favorite activity! Since she has become more stable in sitting, I've scrapped the baby tub and just been bathing her in a few inches of water in the regular bathtub. Not to mention RUBBER DUCKIES. Oh my goodness. We have this nifty mama duck that was a gift from my friend Michele (and the frontrunner to be Mikayla's husband, Jacob). She has three baby ducks that sit on her back as she floats around in the water. Mikayla has enjoyed them SO much that she adopted one of the baby duckies as her very own, to be toted everywhere she goes. It becomes more and more realistic throughout the day as it gathers feathers (well, cat hair...creativity is key when you have kids).
My favorite bath moment occurred yesterday, as Mikayla was playing with said duckies. She was just so taken with the idea that there are THREE baby duckies that she can play with all at once!!! She picked up the first ducky with one hand, picked up the second with her other hand, and looked at the third ducky intently. I could practically see the light bulb above her head as she popped ducky #2 into her mouth (head first, rest assured) so that she could reach for the third ducky. Unfortunately, holding duckies in her hand and mouth simultaneously seems to take a fair amount of concentration, so the third ducky kept bobbing just beyond Mikayla's clumsy grasp as she tried not to lose the first two. She adjusted the ducky in her mouth several times, holding it by its wing, then by its tail, but never quite found the perfect tooth hold that would allow her to hold all THREE duckies. It broke my heart, but I was so proud of her perseverance. Maybe next time, little girl. Maybe next time.
And yes, most nouns in our home end with "y" or "ies" at this juncture. Why do you ask?
Another current favorite occurrence is going to pick Mikayla up after her naps, and anticipating what position she will be in. My favorite so far had her lying on her back, sucking her thumb, sprawled out in a devil-may-care sort of way. Her legs were flung through the crib rails, basically using the bumper as a footrest for one foot and dangling her other leg casually toward the floor. The look on her face said, "Hey momma, what's up?" LOVE this girl! Sometimes I will find her draped over the bumper head first, as though she's been using it as a pillow or peering over it at the floor (like today, when she realized she had lost her ducky at some point during her nap and gazed longingly down til momma rescued it).
Mikayla is a huge fan of our black cat, Niko. When she sees Niko lying on the floor, or nearby on the bed, or crossing the room in the distance, Mikayla lets out a gigantic shriek of happiness. Niko is generally pretty patient with her, and even walks up to Mikayla fairly often to allow a few quick strokes (read: fistfuls of fur). I think this is why Mikayla thinks they are such great friends. However, Mikayla's shriek of happiness tends to be emitted at the same volume regardless of how near or far Niko happens to be. And is repeated frequently as long as Niko is in sight. A fact which, unfortunately, does not cause Niko to stick around for very long. But Niko is hungry enough for adult attention that she comes around even when Mikayla is present, and like I said, she has surprised me several times by nuzzling up to Mikayla for a few moments. Niko, thank you for making a baby's dreams come true.
I am realizing that there are so many "favorites" with Mikayla: moments, activities, sounds, faces. It would take a sweet forever to chronicle them all, and I seriously doubt that you had slated enough of your day to read through a much longer post than this (in fact, are you still here?). So I will stop here and let you know that you should simply hang out with my daughter sometime soon. K?
Up next: In Which Momma Learns of 2P's Existence (Or: Mikayla's Very Interrupted Nap).
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