Wham!

"Last night Reed and I were sleeping in our bed (with visions of sleeping in till 7:00am dancing in our head!)"

"When what to our surprise but a little mouse turned up out of his bed! "

Last night North woke up and without crying or making a sound, slipped out of his bed and went into our room, slamming the door open as he entered. Reed and I were so surprised (and still half-asleep) that we just let him sleep with us for the remainder of the night. The trek between the two rooms is not long, but it is very dark. I wonder if North was also half-asleep? If North repeats his midnight wanderings again, he will be taken back into his own sleeping space. Now that he has shown the maturity to sleep alone, I would rather not slide backwards.

But who could blame him? It is much nicer to sleep next to someone then to be all alone!

On a side note, Reed and I are still discussing/negotiating names. As I type, Reed is watching a James Bond movie. We both love the cheesy drama of Bond movies. I wonder if we should call our child "Bond"? I really like the middle name of "Gray" If we combine the two, we could nickname him "Ben-Gay"!

Saturday

5:30 North wakes up. Reed brings him into our bed. We all go back to sleep.

6:20 North wakes up and says, "Mama and Dada" and pats each of us on the face. We talk and doze for a few more minutes before getting out of bed.

6:30 Breakfast for North: the crunchy pieces of a fried egg and two mangoes. Breakfast for Reed and Trisha: coffee, fried egg on toast and whatever mango we can beg from North.

8:15 Wave goodbye to Reed

9:00 After showering and getting ready for the day, North and I tackle cleaning the chicken yard (formerly known as the laundry room). 13 chicks in one pen require a lot of newspaper changes and sweeping!

9:30 Head out for the day. Stop at one yard sale, nothing interesting for us. On to the Farmers Market!

Lots of veggies starts and other plants for sale. Not much produce, mostly leeks and kiwis.

The Bamboo Guy uses manure from the Bunny Lady's rabbits for his plants. No, really he does! They are married!

Want to buy a rose for your sweetie?

10:00 With a bagel in one hand and feet dancing on the Plaza grass, North boogies to the live band. He starts out shy, only staying by my feet as we sit. After awhile, he becomes brave and runs up to other kids.

One day he will be old enough to climb on this tree. It is a favorite of all the kids.

North was more interested in doing yoga.

There were so many babies! I amused myself by counting the different ways of babywearing.

Twins in Ergos.

Toddlers in slings.

Can't find what you like? Use an unicycle!

1:00 Finally worn out, we head home. We nap.

2:00 I wake up to the laser beams shooting from my dogs eye as he stands next to the bed. I get up to let him outside. As I am up, I might as well start dinner. I think I will use up the chicken and brown rice in the refrigerator. Roasted chicken soup with rice, ginger and carrots. The soup served with spinach salad with strawberries and balsamic vinegar and homemade bread on the side.

3:15 I check on North to make sure he is still alive.

3:20 North wakes up. After a snack, we head outside to plant bulbs and flowers that we bought while at the Farmer Market.

5:30 North and I come inside to nurse and read books until Reed arrives home from work.

6:00 Dada is home! The two play while I reheat dinner and assemble the salad. We eat.

7:30 Reed and North watch part of a "Big Fish" video while I clean up. North goes off to bed and I catch up on the computer while Reed watches a movie.

Tomorrow Reed will jump in the water for a quick dive, then we will gather driftwood for the garden. Another fun day ahead!

Settling in

The next time I say, " I am going on a 10-day trip to visit family....and I will take the dogs!", somebody please remind me that I am crazy. Both dogs were well cared for by both my Nana and aunt, but traveling for 7 hours with a toddler and 2 big dogs can be a bit much. I am glad we are back home.

Yesterday North and I were only inside the house to eat and sleep. We didn't drive anywhere or accomplish any chores beyond the basic daily cleaning. I planted and watered, weeded and pruned. North puttered around in his green shoes; exploring and imagining. Reed commented that since we have returned he has noticed that North has many more comments to share with us. We hear what he is seeing, eating, and thinking. Yesterday in the yard, North was watching our cats play. He looked at me, then said, "Meow, Meow?" (he doesn't say cat). Then a pause. Finally, "Fritz?" Fritz is my mom's cat. North had a great time playing with and brushing the cat during our visit.

Today the weather was not as nice or sunny. The heavy, wet fog took all morning to lift and only after hours of cloud cover, did the blue sky emerge. North and I were slow moving and grumpy. We both napped and then fled to a friend's house for some toddler playtime. When evening arrived, the yard was calling out to North. I had the door open to the deck to enjoy the fresh air. Even though the time was pushing 7:30, I just couldn't start the bath/bedtime routine. It felt as though our day was just getting started!

Tomorrow we will go to playgroup and then to buy some roses and summer bulbs to plant in the garden. Reed has promised that he will help me collect driftwood to build a low fence around the second-level garden terrace. Once that is in, I can collect herbs and various plants from the plethora of non-profit fundraiser plant sales that are soon to be starting in the coming weekends. Yea sunshine!

Your bed, the most important place in the world

I found this link to a Spanish commercial advertising a Flex mattress.

If only more commercials were inspiring like this one rather then written for a third-grade intelligence level.....

Haircut

Reed will normally trim North's hair when it gets a little too shaggy. But as North and I are visiting family right now, my mom and I decided that we wanted to take North in for a professional trim (for the pictures, of course). I was very clear with both my family and the hairstylist. NO big cuts! I think Reed does a fine haircutting job and we both like North with his long-ish hair.

The bribe to sit still was a cupful of crackers. It worked really well.

Earlier that day, North and I visited with Reed's sister and her two kids. The older of the girls is almost three and the younger is 5 months. Anna Marie shared her toys with North and showed him their chickens and eggs. They have baby chicks just like us! I think North really liked seeing the familiar-looking baby chickens. Anna Marie was even patient when North got sand in her eyes as they were playing in the wind. I hope North will take note and be just as patient with his younger sibling!

Parenting at its best....

Credit goes to PhD in Parenting

Midwife appointment, belly picture, and North

This morning I met with the midwife for a prenatal visit. We talked of the placenta, rhogam shot options, and of North's place within our changing family. A few weeks ago, a ultrasound determined that the placenta was laying low in my uterus. I will schedule a follow up ultrasound in a couple of months, but for now it is nothing to worry about. Kate described the situation as this: my placenta has been attached to the uterine wall for quite awhile now and although it may be low, as the uterus grows and stretches the placenta will naturally move upwards away from my cervix. Whew! I will not be taking the pre-delivery rhogram shot this time around. I wanted to hear Kate's opinion as to the necessity of the shot before finalizing the decision. As North is A positive, I got the post-delivery rhogam following his birth. I will do the same this time around depending on the baby's blood type.

Body shot: 26 weeks

Random shots from the week:

North has a little broom that he likes to use when he helps me sweep. Lately he has taken to sweeping the walls. Maybe it keeps the cobwebs away?

North was playing on the back deck in the sun a few days ago. I stuck my head out the door to see what he was up to and found him flat out on the wood looking down through the cracks. I asked him what he was seeing; he had found some old marbles shining in the dirt.

Spring is here!

More words

At some point last night, I moved into North's bed to sleep. He became very restless during the early morning hours, then woke for good around 5:30. I certainly wasn't getting up that early, so I did my best to ignore him by pretending to sleep. He turned and wiggled about, talked and fussed. Finally.....finally he poked me and asked, "See Dada?" I think I about catapulted him off the bed towards the other room as I answered "Yes!"

North toddled off to our bedroom, ran into our door, cried for a minute, crawled up with Reed, then all was quiet.....for about 15 seconds. Soon I could hear North talking with Reed as they cuddled. About 20 minutes later, Reed brought North back into his room to change his diaper. He was laughing as he recounted part of their conversation.

North sits up in bed after cuddling for a bit.
North: "Mama says no nurse." (pathetic little orphan-child voice rises with dismay)
"Me num-nums"

This statement also makes me laugh as North hasn't asked to nurse in bed for a long time now. I think he had woke up hungry and as Reed is the breakfast maker in the family, North decided that he needed to go to the new food source.

During the day, North has been using "I" statements. He will say "I show Mama" or "I see book". I can't remember from college what the stage of speech development he is at or what exactly he is processing cognitively. But as a parent, his language is hilarious to listen to.

His understanding of grammar is steadily developing and along with that development come the verbal mistakes. Right now, North is figuring out how to express pluralism. He calls nap time "naps" or as he is looking toward Bruin and Basil he will say "I see dog", yet he will also say "shoes" or "crackers" correctly. Sometimes as he is asking for apples, he will say "app-les". He will pause between the two syllables as if his brain is reminding his mouth to add that last sound.

It is all so fun to listen to!