S: Okay, R, it's time to get ready for bed. Let's read some stories. Go pick out a few stories to read.
(R runs to bookshelf and pulls Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She was Extinct off of her shelf.)
R: You not read this story, Mommy.
S: You don't want me to read the story?
R: No. Only teachers read stories.
S: Oh, really?
R: Yeap.
(R climbs into her rocking chair and looks as if she's going to start reading the book.)
S: Are you a teacher, R?
R: Yeap. (flips a few pages, to a page where a bunch of children and Edwina are holding hands in a circle). Ring around the Rosy. Pocketbook full of posies. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.
(flips a few more pages)
S: Tell me the story. What's happening here?
R: It's a boy. (quickly flips a few more pages, to the end of the book). Cookies!! (pretends to pick up a cookie and eat it). Yum yum yum!
(R gets up and runs back to her bookshelf. Returns with Is Your Mama a Llama?)
S: Oh, this book is fun. Tell me this story!
R: Once upon a time . . . there was a cave!
S: Oh! What was in the cave?
R: Aminals.
S: What kind of animals?
(R proceeds to flip very quickly through the book's pages until she gets to the end)
R: The end!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
New Coat
We had a cold spell last week and realized pretty quickly that we didn't have appropriate cold-weather gear for R to wear outside on the playground at daycare. Grammie found this coat and R was thrilled with it-- so thrilled, in fact, that she insisted on wearing it on a day when it was supposed to be 70 degrees by mid-afternoon. It apparently took some wheeling and dealing on the part of her daycare teachers to get her to take the coat off even though it was really too hot for her to be wearing it!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Ridiculous
Ok, I have been commenting on how it's ridiculous that all the stores seem to have their Christmas displays out and it's not even Halloween yet-- I almost feel as if I can't fully enjoy Halloween because I'm being bombarded already with images of Christmas.
But that didn't stop me from googling "Frosty the Snowman" lyrics and then playing three or four Christmas videos and songs off of YouTube for R this morning. Oops.
But that didn't stop me from googling "Frosty the Snowman" lyrics and then playing three or four Christmas videos and songs off of YouTube for R this morning. Oops.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Going Shopping
A conversation between R and Grampie before heading out to the store:
Grampie: What should we get at the store?
R: Cantaloupe!
Grampie: OK, what else?
R: Cupcakes!
When they came back, they had a cantaloupe and an orange, the latter of which R devoured during dinner. As Grampie put it, R kind of forgot about the cupcakes and he didn't remind her.
Grampie: What should we get at the store?
R: Cantaloupe!
Grampie: OK, what else?
R: Cupcakes!
When they came back, they had a cantaloupe and an orange, the latter of which R devoured during dinner. As Grampie put it, R kind of forgot about the cupcakes and he didn't remind her.
RUS's Birth Story
For those who are interested, here's the timeline of RUS's birth:
On October 13, around 12:30 a.m., I wake up to pee and notice that I'm having contractions. This isn't anything unusual, as I've had on-and-off irregular contractions for a couple weeks now. But when I go back to bed, they keep coming. I try to sleep until about 2:30, when I finally decide to get up-- I wanted to time the contractions and see if they were regular or not. Turns out they are coming about 4 minutes apart and lasting about 45 seconds. I would have thought something was happening except for the fact that the contractions are totally painless. I am just sitting there like, "Oh, there goes another one."
Around 5 a.m. they start to get farther apart again and I decide it was just a false alarm and go back to bed and sleep until about 8:30 a.m. I was pretty determined not to just sit around waiting for contractions to happen, so J's mom and I head out and run some errands. We get home around lunch time.
At this point, J and I decide to take a walk. We walk for maybe 10 minutes, during which I have several contractions. These are about 2 minutes apart, but they are only lasting 30 seconds. They still don't hurt. We get home, and decide to call the birth center just to ask them what they think might be going on. While J is calling, I am sitting on our exercise ball, and all of a sudden I have a whopper of a contraction. I have to stand up, walk around, and I'm about in tears because the pain came out of nowhere.
J tells the midwife at the birth center that we can get packed up and to the birth center by around 1:30. We load up all the bags (bags that have been packed for an entire month, by the way) and get on our way. We arrive at the birth center around 1:20 p.m. and the whole way there I have contractions that are about 3 minutes apart that I could not talk through. We wait for a few minutes before going back to an exam room to get checked. The midwife listens to the baby's heartbeat through a contraction and says the baby is handling the contractions perfectly. She was going to check me there, but I am having contractions so close together that I don't have time to get up on the table, so she decides we should head upstairs to the birthing room to do the check instead.
We finally get upstairs after a few contractions, and at this point I have no idea how long anything took. But when she does the exam, I am 8 cm and the baby is at +2 station (so it is about 2 inches below my pelvic bone). Immediately after she checks me, I flip over to my hands and knees, a position from which I do not move until after the baby is born. I work through a bunch of contractions-- really painful ones-- by focusing on my abdominal breathing, working to relax everything I can, and keeping in mind that every contraction has a beginning and an end. I'm totally oblivious to everyone in the room except for a midwife near my head who is telling me what is going on, and J, who at some point got on the bed with me and started massaging my hands.
I never consciously decided to push, but during several contractions my body pushed a little here and there, and then shortly after that I started having serious pushing contractions. J said it was maybe 3 pushes and one really long big one and the baby was born at 2:04 p.m., just about 45 minutes after we parked the car in front of the birth center.
The midwife who caught the baby slid him under my legs so I could hold the baby and I got to be the first to find out the gender-- I held him to my chest for a moment or two and then pulled the baby away and saw immediately that it was a boy and shouted, "it's a boy!!"
We just held him and stared and all that for about an hour and a half before J helped weigh and measure him-- 7 lbs 1/2 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. We left the birth center around 7:30 p.m., about 6 hours after we arrived. I was so glad to be in my own bed, and with all the comforts of home around me. We called everybody and even talked to my parents on the webcam that same night. It was absolutely amazing.
This is the picture they took at the birth center right before we left to go home.
On October 13, around 12:30 a.m., I wake up to pee and notice that I'm having contractions. This isn't anything unusual, as I've had on-and-off irregular contractions for a couple weeks now. But when I go back to bed, they keep coming. I try to sleep until about 2:30, when I finally decide to get up-- I wanted to time the contractions and see if they were regular or not. Turns out they are coming about 4 minutes apart and lasting about 45 seconds. I would have thought something was happening except for the fact that the contractions are totally painless. I am just sitting there like, "Oh, there goes another one."
Around 5 a.m. they start to get farther apart again and I decide it was just a false alarm and go back to bed and sleep until about 8:30 a.m. I was pretty determined not to just sit around waiting for contractions to happen, so J's mom and I head out and run some errands. We get home around lunch time.
At this point, J and I decide to take a walk. We walk for maybe 10 minutes, during which I have several contractions. These are about 2 minutes apart, but they are only lasting 30 seconds. They still don't hurt. We get home, and decide to call the birth center just to ask them what they think might be going on. While J is calling, I am sitting on our exercise ball, and all of a sudden I have a whopper of a contraction. I have to stand up, walk around, and I'm about in tears because the pain came out of nowhere.
J tells the midwife at the birth center that we can get packed up and to the birth center by around 1:30. We load up all the bags (bags that have been packed for an entire month, by the way) and get on our way. We arrive at the birth center around 1:20 p.m. and the whole way there I have contractions that are about 3 minutes apart that I could not talk through. We wait for a few minutes before going back to an exam room to get checked. The midwife listens to the baby's heartbeat through a contraction and says the baby is handling the contractions perfectly. She was going to check me there, but I am having contractions so close together that I don't have time to get up on the table, so she decides we should head upstairs to the birthing room to do the check instead.
We finally get upstairs after a few contractions, and at this point I have no idea how long anything took. But when she does the exam, I am 8 cm and the baby is at +2 station (so it is about 2 inches below my pelvic bone). Immediately after she checks me, I flip over to my hands and knees, a position from which I do not move until after the baby is born. I work through a bunch of contractions-- really painful ones-- by focusing on my abdominal breathing, working to relax everything I can, and keeping in mind that every contraction has a beginning and an end. I'm totally oblivious to everyone in the room except for a midwife near my head who is telling me what is going on, and J, who at some point got on the bed with me and started massaging my hands.
I never consciously decided to push, but during several contractions my body pushed a little here and there, and then shortly after that I started having serious pushing contractions. J said it was maybe 3 pushes and one really long big one and the baby was born at 2:04 p.m., just about 45 minutes after we parked the car in front of the birth center.
The midwife who caught the baby slid him under my legs so I could hold the baby and I got to be the first to find out the gender-- I held him to my chest for a moment or two and then pulled the baby away and saw immediately that it was a boy and shouted, "it's a boy!!"
We just held him and stared and all that for about an hour and a half before J helped weigh and measure him-- 7 lbs 1/2 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. We left the birth center around 7:30 p.m., about 6 hours after we arrived. I was so glad to be in my own bed, and with all the comforts of home around me. We called everybody and even talked to my parents on the webcam that same night. It was absolutely amazing.
This is the picture they took at the birth center right before we left to go home.
Monday, October 19, 2009
"There is no reason any child's toy needs to have a loud setting"
Said this weekend by J, during a visit from Surf and Cali and Little T.
We had the most lovely weekend with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. It was amazing to see how much Little T had grown since we last saw him at Christmas. He's toddling around -- he can take a few steps unaided, but for the most part prefers to be holding someone's hand as he walks -- and he loved our little music table. This is the same LeapFrog musical table that R held on to as she first learned to walk.
Of course, J's comment was in reference to the table, which has an "off" setting as well as two volume settings. R and Little T went wild for the buttons on the table, and it was endearingly cute to see them fighting over who got to push which button.
We had the most lovely weekend with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. It was amazing to see how much Little T had grown since we last saw him at Christmas. He's toddling around -- he can take a few steps unaided, but for the most part prefers to be holding someone's hand as he walks -- and he loved our little music table. This is the same LeapFrog musical table that R held on to as she first learned to walk.Of course, J's comment was in reference to the table, which has an "off" setting as well as two volume settings. R and Little T went wild for the buttons on the table, and it was endearingly cute to see them fighting over who got to push which button.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
P-I-Z-Z-A
You generally have to be careful when talking about food around R. She will often hear the name of a food and then start demanding it.
A few days ago Grammie was heating up some leftover pizza for lunch and came into the living room to ask me if I wanted some. Only, she had to say it like this: "Do you want any P-I-Z-Z-A? I'm putting some in the toaster oven now."
Of course, R heard her.
And immediately started wanting Z-I-R-A-B-C-M-Z-Z-R-L-P.
Or was it G-L-R-T-R-I-A-S-J?
She asked for several different letter combinations. I'm not sure how long this spelling of foods is going to prevent her from immediately wanting whatever it is we're spelling.
A few days ago Grammie was heating up some leftover pizza for lunch and came into the living room to ask me if I wanted some. Only, she had to say it like this: "Do you want any P-I-Z-Z-A? I'm putting some in the toaster oven now."
Of course, R heard her.
And immediately started wanting Z-I-R-A-B-C-M-Z-Z-R-L-P.
Or was it G-L-R-T-R-I-A-S-J?
She asked for several different letter combinations. I'm not sure how long this spelling of foods is going to prevent her from immediately wanting whatever it is we're spelling.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Big sister, little brother
R met RUS shortly after he was born. She was very excited to see a new baby. She wanted to hold him, touch his nose, give him her baby's toy bottle, and give him her water. We think she'll be a great big sister, and RUS is lucky to have her. Today she wore her "Big sisters are the coolest" T-shirt and tonight she'll get to open her present from her new brother - a play doctor's kit to check out her own babies with.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Assigning Chores
Every day after dinner R has a bath or a shower. We transition to this activity by asking her, once the meal is over, "What time is it??" and she answers, "Shower time!!!" (or, sometimes, "Bath time!!")
Since we've had Grammie and Grampie around a lot the last few weeks, she's been requesting that certain individuals-- sometimes Mommy, sometimes Daddy, but most often Grammie or Grampie or both, do her shower/bath.
Last night we asked her, "Who do you want to do your shower tonight?"
"Grammie!"
"Who do you want to do the dishes?"
"Ummmm, Daddy!"
"Then what should Mommy do?"
(R looks around the room, thinking)
"Ummmm, hold my baby!" (said while pointing at a doll sitting propped up against the wall).
Since we've had Grammie and Grampie around a lot the last few weeks, she's been requesting that certain individuals-- sometimes Mommy, sometimes Daddy, but most often Grammie or Grampie or both, do her shower/bath.
Last night we asked her, "Who do you want to do your shower tonight?"
"Grammie!"
"Who do you want to do the dishes?"
"Ummmm, Daddy!"
"Then what should Mommy do?"
(R looks around the room, thinking)
"Ummmm, hold my baby!" (said while pointing at a doll sitting propped up against the wall).
Friday, October 9, 2009
Yep, Still Pregnant
I've gotten a few queries in the last few days so I thought I'd give everyone a quick update. I'm still pregnant. Here's a picture to prove it.
The picture was taken a few days ago but I still look pretty much the same. I'm three weeks more pregnant than I was when R was born, but I feel 1000 times BETTER than I felt when at the end of my last pregnancy. I pretty much feel normal, except for the big belly. Seems like baby is going to hang around awhile longer!
The picture was taken a few days ago but I still look pretty much the same. I'm three weeks more pregnant than I was when R was born, but I feel 1000 times BETTER than I felt when at the end of my last pregnancy. I pretty much feel normal, except for the big belly. Seems like baby is going to hang around awhile longer!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Politeness Police
R is very good about saying please and thank you when asking for and receiving food at mealtimes. J and I are also pretty good about it, too. Lately, however, R has taken immense pleasure in reminding us to "SAY THANK YOU, mommy!" or "SAY THANK YOU, daddy!" if we should happen to forget. She then proceeds to go around the table and insist that everyone at the table say thank you or please to someone or other.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
U-Pick Apples
We went to a local orchard and picked about 10 lbs of apples with Grammie, Grampie, and R yesterday. R loved being able to pick the apples herself and carry her own bag with apples in it.
R also loved running around the pumpkins. We bought her a mini-gourd that she proceeded to call the "baby pumpkin" and she and I shared an apple cider donut out of sight of Grammie (who was trying to resist temptation!)
So You Think You Can Dance?
That show has nothing on R's cutting-edge moves, which she loves to do in the mornings while we get ready for day care and work. I took this video one rainy morning as we were getting ready to go out the door.
An Afternoon at the Park
We went to the park the other day after getting R from day care, and I remembered the camera, for once!
This is the park that is just around the corner from our house, and it's really nice because the play structure is the right size for R. It'll get too small before too long, I know, but for now it's perfect. She's gotten really into the swings the last few park trips. She could swing for-EVER.
And of course a gratuitous belly shot (37 weeks-ish).
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Dinosaur Week
I'm a little late posting this but one week back in the summer it was very exciting to find out that R's day care made dinosaurs their theme of the week. They read dinosaur books and had dinosaur toys to play with and did various dinosaur related arts and crafts. That same week, R came home with this painting.
What do you think it looks like?
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