Dear Itty Bitty-15 weeks

Dear Itty Bitty,

(I've decided at this point to call you Itty Bitty until we know who you are. It's either Itty Bitty or Zebulon. And if you're a girl, Zebulon certainly won't work!)

So again, Dear Itty Bitty,

This week you are 14 weeks. Or maybe it's 15. I don't know. And I'm pretty sure that doesn't make me a bad mom. It's just that life is so crazy right now. I'm chasing (literally) after your big sister Lorelei, teaching preschool gardening classes three mornings a week and teaching afterschool Kindergarten 5 days a week.

Your existence is, well, a little surreal. I guess it's why this is the first time I've written to you. When your sister was conceived, we saw ultrasounds of her every week. I was taking hormones and pills and injecting my tummy with meds. And I was throwing up all the time. She didn't (and still doesn't) stay in the background.

You on the other hand, came quickly and unexpectedly. It was almost too easy. I expected the other shoe to drop. But it didn't. And I felt nausea, and I've thrown up (and am still feeling rather sick), but nothing like with your sister (thank god). And suddenly, I'm in the second trimester.

You don't like meat. What's up with that, kid? With the exception of fish, I can't eat beef, pork or chicken. I've gone virtually vegetarian. Which is fine, except I still need to cook meat for the rest of the house. I was thinking I wasn't having any cravings, really, except this morning I realized that I'm completely obsessed with grilled cheese sandwiches and could probably eat one a day. So, you don't like meat but love a good grilled cheese.

Your big sister is very excited about you. We've been watching a lot of Daniel Tiger episodes about having a new baby. She thinks you are going to be a baby sister. Until she thinks you will be a baby brother. It's very cute to see.

Your daddy and I are having a little more fun with your pregnancy than with your sister's. With Lorelei, we were so excited about everything that we couldn't wait to share it with the world. With you though, we're having fun keeping everything a little close to the vest. We waited the full 12 weeks before announcing I was pregnant. And then we did it by dropping clues with music videos. We'll probably find out if you are a boy or a girl, but we might not tell everyone else. Or we might. We're definitely keeping your name a secret. We're not planning on having more kids, so we're going to have as much fun as we can with you!

Time is flying fast. We'll see you in May!

Love,
Mama

October

Favorite Activity: Going to preschool, looking for the tortoises in the preschool garden, reading in the library before school

Favorite Food: crackers, berries, pears

Favorite word or phrase to say: "Lorelei go to preschool!"

Cutest Moment: After mommy had a meltdown at the kitchen table, Lorelei patted me on the shoulder and said "It's okay Mommy. It's okay to cry sometimes."

Naughtiest Moment: Throwing things at the dogs, then putting herself in time out.

How Mom's Feeling: Exhausted. So, so exhausted. We have officially announced that we are expecting our second little one, and I am so thankful. Now I have an excuse for why I am so tired All. The. Time. I already have a lot on my plate, along with being in my first trimester (which is fortunately just about over). Poor Lorelei has been feeling the effects of a tired mommy. Dinners tend to be a bit later, and on weekends, there has been less fun time and activities and more quiet time. Looking forward to having a bit more energy so we can get back into doing some of our regular fun outings and projects!

So far, Lorelei seems pretty excited about being a big sister. We've been watching a lot of Daniel Tiger episodes, especially the new ones about having a baby sister. Lorelei has been announcing that she is going to have a baby sister, and even likes carrying around a picture of the sonogram. She's also been playing with her baby dolls a bit more.

September 2014

Favorite Activity: Going to preschool, eating/making challah, playing with Teacher Mark in PE

Favorite Food: Apples and Pears

Favorite word or phrase to say: "Lorelei go to sleep, wake up, play more!"

Cutest Moment: After taking Lorelei to get a physical for work, she has been obsessed with checking my "heart beep!" Thinking this little girl needs a doctor's kit for Christmas (ahem, Auntie Toffy!)

Naughtiest Moment: Trying to ride the dogs like ponies.

How Mom's Feeling: First off, how is it already October 9? When did THAT happen? Anyway, it has been a crazy busy month! Lorelei LOVES preschool. She gets excited about going to preschool the night before. "Lorelei go sleep, wake up, go PRESCHOOL!" It seems like she just spends the entire day doing things she loves: painting, check; blocks, check; cooking, check; playground (with slide, of course), check; water table, check; sandbox, check; jumping around in PE, check. I definitely think she was ready for preschool. She comes home talking about her friends and her teachers. So many of her classmates have a hard time with separation, lots of tears when mommy says good bye, but not Lorelei! In fact, sometimes the other parents will tell their kids to "go find Lorelei. What's Lorelei doing?" Which is usually being at the challah making table or the paint table. She's at school for a long time, which I initially was worried about. But she's handling it like a champ. She starts at 9:15, then goes to nap at 1, then is at Stay and Play until 6. It's lucky that several of her classmates are in Stay and Play with her. And she seems to have made friends in her afternoon class, too. She is always waving at someone and saying "Hi Friend!"

August

Favorite Activity: Going to the Zoo!, Watching Winnie the Pooh, collecting leaves

Favorite Food: "Pooh Yogurt" Plain whole milk yogurt with honey mixed in.

Favorite word or phrase to say: "Lorelei good helper!"

Cutest Moment: After getting her hair cut, Lorelei has been practicing "cutting" mama's hair--complete with putting on the cape, and grabbing different tools for cutting.

Naughtiest Moment: Multiple meltdowns when we don't let her do what she wants, bedtime procrastination

How Mom's Feeling: Excited for what's coming next. This was a great month. I started back at work part time, and I've spent the month planning for the year, going on little trips and activities with Lorelei and getting her ready for preschool! I'm going to be wearing a lot of hats this year: Treehouse Teacher, Preschool Gardening Teacher and Room Parent! We've already had one preschool playdate before school started, a welcome breakfast and a classroom tour. For the two weeks before school starts, we have been reading books all about preschool, getting Lorelei excited about storytime, having her own cubby and making new friends.

July

Favorite Activity: Playing with her playdough, going swimming

Favorite Food: fruit and yogurt

Favorite word or phrase to say: "My do!"

Cutest Moment: Tucking her babies into bed, then giving them a kiss and telling them "sweet dreams!"

Naughtiest Moment: Trying to ride the dogs ("Apparently riding the dog like a horse is frowned upon in this establishment"), throwing things at daddy and the dogs (which got her a swift time out)

How Mom's Feeling: Happy...but tired. The end of July marked the end of my stay-at-home-momhood for the summer. It was a fun six weeks, but very exhausting. We did get into a sort of routine, which helped, and we did a lot of fun stuff! Tide pools, Children's Museum, San Francisco Zoo, Pier 39, Tilden Park and a few playdates at different playgrounds, plus swim lessons every Monday morning! I feel so proud to see her confidently (maybe too confidently) climbing into the swimming pool each Monday morning. Her teacher has already told us we can move her up to the next swim level next session.

Speaking of confidence, she has it in spades. Along with independence. Everything is "My do!" She wants no help in picking out her night time diaper, putting on her clothes, walking up and down the steps to the house, or climbing in the car, carseat and stroller. But she will tell me "Carry you" after taking 5 steps and I absolutely cannot do anything else while she is doing something. I have to sit and watch. I think I'm looking forward to preschool starting next month a little too much!

June

Favorite Activity: Playing on the iPad, helping mom cook

Favorite Food: fruit and yogurt

Favorite word or phrase to say: "Play Gummies!" or "1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10! Yay!" or "Hold you!"

Cutest Moment: So many! After being gone after a long day (in which I didn't see her for over 24 hours) "I miss you!" and randomly running up to me, hugging my knees, and saying "I love you!" then running away.

Naughtiest Moment: Pushing mommy into the kitchen and telling me to "Do Dinner!" so she can play on the iPad.

How Mom's Feeling: Exhausted. For the last two and a half weeks, I've been doing the stay at home mommy thing, and my hat goes off to all those ladies (and men) who do this year round. It is really hard! And it's a constant struggle to balance the free time/guided play/activities/playdates/screen time. I've found it's easier if we just get out of the house in the morning to do something--swimming, playground, playdate, "adventure", come home, eat lunch, naptime (for everyone. Seriously, I haven't done this many naps in the middle of the day since she was a newborn), then a planned afternoon activity at home (cooking project/playdough/painting/art activity), free time, then either some episodes of a show or a movie while mommy makes dinner, bath time (maybe) then bedtime routine. You can see why I'm so exhausted (and there are parents who do this ALL THE TIME). And sometimes I just think "screw it" and we watch shows in the morning, or she gets extra iPad time, and maybe we'll watch a movie in the afternoon. I'm okay with that.

Potty training is going ok. She backslid a bit when she came down with a cold, and now pooping in the potty is pretty hit or miss. She used to tell me when she had a "poo poo coming!" but not anymore. I try to let it go and remember that she won't be going to college with poop in her pants.

May

Favorite Activity: Watching her shows, playing with her playdough, painting

Favorite Food: Stawberries

Favorite word or phrase to say: Potty time!

Cutest Moment: When arriving at our friends Sandi, Chris, Grady and Collette's house for a playdate, she got out of the car and announced it was "Grady Time!"

Naughtiest Moment: Sitting on Finnegan to ride him "like a horsey"

How Mom's Feeling: Good. This month was super busy with playdates, family visits and POTTY TRAINING. After spending most of the month practicing sitting on the potty and going to the potty, we spent Memorial Day weekend doing the official potty training. Overall it was pretty successful!

Here is my potty training report:

*For the entire month before this, we sat on the potty, read books about the potty, set up the potty area, picked out new panties and introduced the potty incentive chart

Day 1: Pumped L with liquids, she demanded to wear the new panties (even though I had planned on going without for the first day). Took her to the potty or asked if she had to go every 15 minutes. We had about a 50-50 success rate and went through about 6 pairs of panties.
Day 2: Pumped L with liquids. She was not "into" it at all. Lots of accidents. Took her or asked about the potty every 10-15 minutes. Probably went through about 8-10 pairs of panties.
Day 3: Laid off the liquids. She drank her normal amount. Showed her the Daniel Tiger episode about using the potty twice, continuously sang the song. Took her to the potty or asked about it every 15-20 minutes.) Only one accident in the morning. Went through 2 pairs of panties all day (plus a pull up for nap)
Day 4: Watched Daniel Tiger Potty episode again (it's on YouTube. Glorious.) Normal liquid intake. Asked her about the potty every 30 minutes. Took her at least once an hour. Went on an hour long walk to the park (with travel potty in her diaper bag, just in case). Only one partial accident (poop started in her pants, but she told me right away and she finished on the potty). Dry throughout nap as well.

I'm calling it a win.Feeling ok about taking her to J care tomorrow without a diaper. (I did get a piddle pad for the car seat, just in case!)