Deep questions

A few months ago Eliza asked why we had to go to school/work that day. I told her it was the first day of school for my students, and I needed to help them find jobs. That was the first time I was specific about what I do at work. She responded, "Why don't you just tell them 'you get what you get and you don't throw a sh*t!'"? This is a little adage they use at her school a lot (obviously they say "fit" instead of "sh#t"; it is a church school after all and she didn't seem to realize she'd said a bad word.) I told her that was an interesting philosophy for career counseling, although it does make sense in our current economy. :) Fast-forward a few months. Yesterday we are at an intersection and there's a panhandler. Eliza wants to know what his sign says. I told him it said he needed a job and he didn't have any money. She said, "can you help him, Mom?" I assumed she meant monetarily and said I didn't have any cash with me. Then she said, "but you help people find jobs, right?" I sat there kind of dumbfounded. It had never occurred to me to help panhandlers find jobs, but she has a point.

Nice moments

Last night Eliza started swim lessons. She was terribly excited and stopping on the way to buy her some goggles made her even more so. The instructor seemed sort of lame to us, but E didn't notice at all. Every time it was her turn to try a new skill she looked up at us and gave us a big smile or a thumbs up. It was so cute. She was all giggles. After the lesson I got in the pool with her so she could practice a bit with me. I forgot how great it feels to be in the water when you're super pregnant! This morning I went in to wake Eliza up and snuggle. She happened to have her hand on my belly when her brother started moving around a lot. She wasn't expecting it and the look on her face was priceless. He really does get more active when he hears her voice. He's usually pretty mellow when I'm at work (unless I'm eating), but as soon as I pick her up he gets very wiggly. I really think he's going to recognize her voice when he's born. I've got about 8 weeks left, and he's already in the correct position for labor. My midwife says he'll probably stay in that position, as he doesn't have much space to fully rotate at this point. My favorite part is feeling his little hands at the bottom of my belly. The other day I could even feel his hand waving around at the same time E had her hand on the other side of my belly. It was an eery feeling, but very cool. It's very easy to see him move around now, even with my shirt on, but he moves his hands so lightly that only I can feel them and there's something pretty cool about that. Soon enough I'll have to share him with everyone else. :)

40 months?!

I haven't thought about Eliza's age in months in a while, and it just occurred to me she's 40 months old now. Crazy! Her preferences change frequently, but here's what she's into now...

• Pork. The girl is obsessed with salami, hot dogs, sausage and bacon. We try to at least do healthy versions of these foods...
• Waffles. She can and has eaten waffles for breakfast almost every day for the past month.
• Shoes. I finally hid her "wedding shoes" from Marna's wedding a year ago. They are definitely too small now, but she keeps trying to stuff her feet into them. She's already told me she wants these (in my opinion) hideous shiny magenta sandles that somehow also look like boots for her 4th birthday. I told her they weren't my style but that it's her choice. :) (Oh, she also wants a Barbie (ugh) and a pinata (awesome) for her birthday... you know, the one 8 months from now.)
• Pretend play. She continues to spend most of her free time playing babies, school or dressing up like a princess.
• Family. She thinks about everything in terms of relationships. If she has 3 ducks, one is the mom, one is the dad and one is the baby. Even is she has 2 blocks, one is the mom and one is the baby.
• Her brother. She hugs him everyday when I take her to school and when I pick her up. Then she gives a separate hug for me. She wants to see her brother as soon as wakes up, and often, "Good morning, Beanie" is the first thing out of her mouth.
• Routines. Our bedtime routine is getting a bit ridiculous, but before I can leave her room (after counting down from 2 minutes), we need to "talk about our days" and she always has questions. Her questions are usually hilarious. Then we both have to give each other kisses on the cheek and she has to say, "Leobi (a word she made up) means birthday cake, cookies, icecream..." and a long list of other deserts, then "good night, sweet dreams and I love you." And that's just for ME to leave the room. She and S have a similar routine when he leaves her room a few minutes later.

Spring

We've been having all sorts of adventures- trying to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and the last couple of months as our family of 3. We've been on picnics, to the farmer's market, the zoo, plenty of playgrounds, Sesame Street Live, the botanical garden, kite festival, on a canoe, the nature center and more! And here is E with her friend C on Fat Tuesday. They were singing karaoke. Wildest mardi gras ever! :)

Plans for the future

Eliza told us recently that when she grows up, she plans to have a yellow art car (she's already saving in her piggy bank). She also wants to live in a pink house. She plans to have 2 kids named Fern and Maggie. And she plans to have a dark purple cat. She had hoped to have a dog as well, but it turns out one of her future kids is allergic to dogs. :)

Maney

Eliza has an imaginary friend. An imaginary husband, actually. His name is Maney. Maney has long, "yellow" hair (which I find amusing since she doesn't know mane means hair) and likes to wear dresses. Eliza and Maney got engaged around the same time that Ms. Jessica at school got engaged. She wore a ring for a couple of weeks and everything. At some point in the past couple of weeks there must have been an imaginary wedding because now she is calling him her husband instead of her fiance. And they already have a baby (JackieBaby). The other night she was sitting at her little white table feeding Jackie in her high chair and telling Maney about her day.

The Beginning of Beanie

It's been a while since this happened, but I'll forget it if I don't write it down...

Keep in mind that we found out I was pregnant with Eliza while staying in a very romantic hotel in Istanbul.... Our second kid is already getting the short end of the stick. It's not the most romantic story, but it's ours!

September 23, 2010

S was working late and I was tired and didn't feel like cooking, so E and I stopped at Mandola's for dinner on the way home. Halfway through our meal, someone opened the door to the bathroom, across the restaurant. All of a sudden I could smell cleaner from across the room... and I knew. I had the same bionic nose when I was pregnant with Eliza.

We went home and soon S came home too. I kept debating within myself whether or not I should take a pregnancy test. I knew I could only be 3 weeks pregnant, and surely a pregnancy test couldn't be reliable this early. I decided not to get S excited over probably nothing and slipped off to the bathroom to take a test. About 5 seconds after I peed on the stick, Eliza busted into the bathroom. "I need to poop, Mom!" "Sweetie, use the other bathroom. I'm, um, busy in here." "No Mom, I need to go NOW and I need help with my pants!" So, I hopped up, got distracted by getting her situated on the toilet and then remembered the test a minute later and glanced at it. Two lines! "Uh, honey?! Come in here, please!" S came into the bathroom, having no idea what was waiting for him (probably expecting a potty training emergency of some sort). I pointed to the test and grinned. Eliza couldn't figure out why we were so happy all of a sudden. And that was the beginning of Beanie. Later that night we went to watch Kat Edmonson at Shady Grove and the four of us sat on a blanket and looked at the stars.