A new baby?

Last night, E asked "can we get a new baby sister when this one is grown?"

I'm going to remind her of this question when she is 13 and her "baby" is 10!

Fall fun

We've been busy packing in the fall fun lately. On Friday (10/4) E left daycare early to march in the Homecoming parade. Sadly, it was rainy so the parade was cancelled. She got to go the pep rally, which she was really forward to however, it was loud and she got a little scared.

M and I got to spend the afternoon together which was lots of fun. She is getting really close to crawling, which is both exciting and terrifying, she can get up on all fours, and sometimes even gets up on her hands and feet, which is pretty funny looking. Right now, she mostly goes backwards, but once in a while she gets some forward momentum.

On Saturday, E and I went to swimming lessons, she was very brave and put on her float belt with no problem (last week she had a tantrum about the belt) and hopped. After swimming she came to my office to play for a bit, although wasn't as interested as she usually is. After working, we went to the Memorial Union for lunch. With E, when you do something one time, you'd better be prepared to do it EVERY time. So, last time she visited, we had lunch on the terrace, and this time, she assumed the same thing would happen (with the same food). So we did, although it was too cold to eat outside.

Sunday we headed to Heck's and Peck's markets. Its our fall tradition. E picked out a huge pumpkin, and we looked as all the animals.

 

After the farms, it was parent watch day at E's dance class. We all went, and E did a great job. She usually gets nervous on watch day, and won't participate, but today, she danced. She did occasionally take a detour for a hug or kiss, but mostly she did what the teacher asked.

Finally, one cute phrase, when I tried to tell her good night, she didn't respond. Her dad asked "what do you say to your momma?" and E said "thank you, sorry, goodnight" I guess we ask her to say sorry and thank you quite a bit!

A big weekend

We had a big weekend, for some big things, and some little things. On Saturday (9/21) E had swimming lessons. I signed her up for lessons where she swims without a parent for the first time. Last week, she refused to wear a float belt, and had to swim with the teacher. This week however, she wore the float belt and was even brave enough to jump in when the teacher asked her to.

E also got new shoes, no small accomplishment when she has been wearing Crocs all summer, and shoes and socks feel funny. She went with Momma and, to Daddy's horror, was able to get Aerial light up shoes. Momma had forgotten that he is totally opposed to light up shoes, but it was too late, E was in love, and had worn them out of the store!

In less great news, both E and M decided not to sleep on Saturday night, E woke up at 5 while M was up till 12, woke at 3, and again at 7. That makes for tired parents. I don't know what woke E, but M is busy teething and figuring out how to roll to get what she wants, so I think between the two, her brain is busy.

Today (9/22) was M's first trip to the apple orchard. We went to the Eplegarden again this year, and had a great time picking raspberries and apples. E's friend R and her parents came too, it was nice having another family along with us. E had a great time picking apples and pretending to be Apple Jack from My Little Pony's. She helped fill a quite impressive bag of apples. Although picking raspberries was her favorite, she eats quite a few as she goes.

Miss M wasn't too impressed with her trip to the orchard, she stayed awake for most of the trip, and was totally content in her stroller and later in the Bjorn. But, some of the magic is lost when you can't pick or eat any apples!

Because it had already been such a great weekend, we continued the fun with a trip to the Grumpy restaurant (as E calls it) for lunch. Both girls did great.

Our last big event for the weekend was M's first helping of "smushy" food. E has been longing for this day for a long time. So we each took a turn giving M some rice cereal. She wasn't too impressed, but I'm sure it will grow on her.

Next weekend it E's first running race, she spent the evening getting sips of water for her "training" I hope she is still excited as the race gets closer.

First day of school

We've come a long way since her first day back to school. Today she couldn't wait to get there!

Our trooper

Miss M has another ear infection, this time a double, and they are concerned that she is resistant to amoxicillin. Not the news that you want to hear about your four month old. However, despite her fairly constant ear infections, she remains the most smiley, happy baby. Even her sister says "hi smiley" when she sees her.

Miss M is growing up so fast, although she's the little sister, she is significantly bigger then her sister was at this age. She wore a sleeper the other day that E wore at 9 months old. M has discovered her hands and feet, and has a favorite giraffe toy. She sequels and makes the happiest noises, and has the tiniest pin-prick dimples when she smiles.

Its a Ca-zaster

E has coined the best new word Ca-zaster! Its a combination of Catastrophe and disaster. Its really the perfect word for a three year old. Most everything that happens to her could accurately be defined as a ca-zaster, particularly from her perspective.

Blame it on the Nazis

One of the disadvantages of having parents who are history buffs, and a dad who is a huge Captain America fan, is that your three year old knows about some random things. Things many three year olds probably aren't familiar with. This, along with a three year old who remembers EVERYTHING can lead to some funny situations.

We were driving to Minnesota a few weeks ago, and we noticed that the McDonalds in Baraboo had been torn down. We pointed it out to E, who said, "it must have been the Nazis." Both her dad and I tried to steer this conversation away from the topic, with a "no, Nazis are in comic books and history,they didn't destroy the McDonalds." But, she wasn't deterred, she spent the entire weekend telling everyone that the Nazis had destroyed the McDonalds.

Ingredients

For some reason, we decided to make Smores the other night. We didn't have an open fire, so we just used the microwave. Both Andy and I were excited to introduce E to Smores, since they are such a fun childhood thing. We showed her the process and held her up so that she could see the marshmallow grow in the microwave. It made me miss a year ago, when she would talk about "smarshmellows." When it was done, I handed it to her we had the following exchange:

E: Mommy, you know when we make cookies, we have ingredients.
A: Yes
E: Ingredients
A: We had ingredients for Smores, they were graham cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate
E: When we make cookies, I get to eat the ingredients
A: You are, they are right here
E: No, ingredients!
A: Do you not want a Smore, just the ingredients separately?
E: Yes!
A: Oh, ok, here you go
E: No marshmellow, and more chocolate?

Since that night, she's asked for "Ors" several times, it always takes me a minute to figure it out, since it also sounds a bit like more. Each time, she tries to negotiate for two pieces of chocolate. She hasn't succeeded yet, but I like that she keeps trying.

One huge change!

Well, its been awhile! We've had a huge change, the Queen Bean is no longer the only little girl in her house. Baby Sister M arrived on March 31, one week before we had planned on her arrival. In fact, aside from her room and clothes, nothing was very ready for her arrival. Since she was scheduled for April 8, 2013, we just assumed she'd come as planned. We were totally floored when my water broke around 10:30 on March 30. We rushed out of the house (no hospital bag, no camera) and dropped E off at my parents (no bag packed for her either). Since we were getting ready for Easter, E rushed out past the hidden eggs, and we grabbed her basket on the way out the door. In fact, when we talked to my dad later, he asked if he could go to our house in the morning and pick up her shoes!

We got to the hospital, and as expected, M was still breech. So we waited. We had a lovely family evening on March 30 with an early Easter celebration at Great Gramma's house. Unfortunately, this meant that I had eaten too recently for surgery, so we waited, then we waited for the anesthesiologist, then we waited for an operating room. Once we were in, M's birth seemed to go faster then E's. I do wonder if just being fit into the other deliveries of the night, rather then scheduled makes them hurry! E was born just after 3 am. I got a glimpse of our beautiful girl (she didn't slime me like her sister) and then she was off to be examined.

The operating rooms have changed since E's birth, now the mom can see the examination room while on the operating table. The examined her for quite some time. I found out later from Andy that they wouldn't let him in the exam room, he stood outside the door and had to listen to her cry. He finally insisted that he be allowed in, and they let him. Turns out Miss M. suffered from her breech position more then her sister. M's entire left side was pretty squished, and most alarming to the medical staff, her left leg was swollen to about three times the size of her right leg, and she didn't seem able to move it. Her left foot was bent all the way back and was parallel to her leg. Her left arm also moved a bit funny, and her left ear and eye were visibly squished.

Grandma Ama met us in the recovery room, and got to see baby M. I wasn't in the mood to let anyone else hold her, so I don't think Ama got a turn until the next day. We started debating names, since we were planning on having another week to pick one out. Ama probably went home around 4:30 in the morning, and we moved up to our room around 6. The nurse was very sweet and took our baby girl (no name yet) for a few hours so we could sleep.

Between visitors on the 31st, we debated her name, front runners were Violet and Sophia but neither really seemed right. I don't remember how we handled introducing her to E without a name, but we obviously did, since she didn't have a name until April 1! E was amazing and so excited to meet her sister, she had a huge grin on her face the whole time she was at the hospital. While I stayed for four days, she spent two nights with Ama and Ada, one with Grandma and Grandpa and one with her dad. We even had a movie party at the hospital for her, with E and M in matching PJs.

Mommy's baby

When I picked E up from daycare yesterday one of her teachers came over and said, "hi, I just had to see how you were doing." turns out that in the morning, E had informed her "mommy had her baby this morning, she didn't go to the hospital. It was pretty bad."

I was actually a little surprised that I didn't hear anything from daycare sooner!

Funny things she says

E has been talking up a storm lately, she's got things to say to everyone, all the time.

The other day, she informed us that "none of my songs have ends" which is true, once she gets singing there isn't neccessarily a good place to stop her.

We've been debating a name for her baby sister for a while now. E is convinced she should be named Adeline, just like her friend A's baby sister. But, we made progress.

The other night I was laying with E, chatting, hoping she'd go to sleep when she said, "I thought of a new name for my baby [her sister]"  I asked what, she said "Hallway." So, its not perfect, but at least she is open to the idea of other names. She has also since suggested "baby Merida" after the princess in Brave.

Tonight, while cuddling and rocking
E: "we shouldn't tie our friends to train tracks"
A: "you are right"
E: "Why?"
A: "Where did you see someone being tied to a train track"
E: "Video games"

I have no idea what she saw or where she saw it!

Happenings

We were just talking tonight about the fact that E is growing out of some of her mispronunciations. For example, she no longer asks to put on her "PUJs" she just asks for her "PJs." But, she did get a new one, "Bob the Bobble Cat." E has started soccer lessons and Bob the Bobcat is the mascot. Somehow it translated into bobble cat.

E really loves her soccer classes, Wednesday evenings she talks about soccer and the games they played. Her favorite is "mud monster."

The other big news on the E front is the fact that she no longer has a door on her room. Bedtime has reverted into a disaster, and she started repeatedly slamming her door until dada or I went upstairs to tell her to stop. So, no door. She is still confused about what happened to it, and where it went, but it has helped with part of bedtime at least.

Triplets?

Ever since her daycare teacher announced her pregnancy last winter, E has been fascinated by the fact that people can grow babies in their tummies, and that the babies just "pop out." Since last winter, E has been growing babies in her tummy. Once we told her that I was pregnant, she has been growing a little girl in her tummy named Adaline. She is convinced that Adaline is real, and often tells me things that we need to buy for the baby in her tummy and the baby in my tummy. This has been pretty easy to deal with, we simply talk about making a list of things we need.

However, right around Christmas she added a new wrinkle. A baby in her daddy's tummy. Not just any baby, according to E, baby Jesus is in her daddy's tummy. E's daycare is somewhat religious, and rather then learning about Santa around Christmas, they learned the Bible story. And, ever since, baby Jesus has been at the forefront of E's mind.

So, tonight, I was putting E to bed (for the 5th time) and she announced that we needed to buy a bed for her baby. I suggested that her baby could sleep in her crib, since she didn't need it anymore. At that point, E said "its not big enough" I asked her what she needed, and she explained that we needed three cribs, one Adaline, one for baby Jesus, and one for the "baby in your tummy."

I'm not sure exactly what we are going to do about all three of these babies. I'm also starting to get a little worried about what will happen in April once I have a baby, and E does not. Although, E has decided that her baby should be born on March 1, so that she and Adaline can share a "born day."

2012 in review

In January, E had her first hair cut and played in the snow for the first time.

In February, E started loving snacks and made her first batch of cookies

In March, E turned 2 and spent lots of time splashing in puddles

In April, we got a new kitchen and E rode her trike for the first time

In May, E tried her first cup of coffee (now a weekend favorite), visited Circus World for the first time, and attended her first Badger football game

In June, E kicked off the summer at home with Dada and wore a dress for the first time in months

In July, E stopped sleeping, she went to her first wedding, we visited the Minnesota Zoo, and E became completely fascinated by people growing babies in their tummies

In August, we went to Comic Con and Chicago, E loved the Olympics, and we told E about the baby in mommy's tummy

In September, we kicked off our tradition of Thursday breakfasts at Mickie's Dairy Bar, daddy started school again, and E learned about princesses

In October, we had a budding ballerina on our hands, E trick or treated as Cinderella and Captain America, and Princess Hurley arrived

In November, we found out E was having a baby sister (although she knew it all along), we visited the Mississippi River Museum in Iowa and E connected with her second cousin

In December, E and dada survived a week without mommy, E attended her first wedding reception (the dancing was a hit), E learned to look for the "E ones" under the Christmas tree, and E felt her baby sister move for the first time

Here's to the adventures that 2013 will bring