To The Big Sister To Be

Sassy Mae,

Where have the last 2.5 years gone? I can't believe you are less than 2 months away from becoming a big sister. Sometimes I feel so guilty; you and I (and Daddy) have been a team for the past 2.5 years. You are used to always having an adult ready to play with you, read to you, or cuddle with you. Besides when Mommy and Daddy go to work, you are very rarely left with a baby-sitter. You are used to going on "adventures" with us and getting undivided attention. Soon, your whole little world is going to be different. There will be a baby who will most definitely change things. You may have to wait a bit longer for attention, you may need to play by yourself a little more, you may need to learn to share Mommy and Daddy's arms and lap, and your pleas to "get ready and go" may need to be turned down. But, I try to remind myself that we are also giving you a gift. We are giving you someone to grow up with, someone to play with (and boss around), and someone to team up against us with. We are also giving you someone else to love, and someone else who will love you.

At every age, I think "this is the best age". You are so funny right now. You have your Daddy and I laughing all day. You love to talk! You are such a narrator. For the past few weeks, we've been able to go for a walk almost every night. You know and narrate the entire routine. "No jacket? Baby no wear jacket? Yeah, it's warm. Mama no jacket? Daddy no jacket? C'mon Ruggie, C'mon. Let's go!" The entire walk you talk about what we're seeing "Go see the tree fell down? Where'd it go?" and about what we're going to see, "Go see double pond? Go see ducks? Get out and play Up and Down?". The best is when you sing. You used to love when we sang to you. You still do, but sometimes you prefer to "do it by yourself" (as you say), you have the sweetest singing voice. Sometimes you feel shy and sing quietly. Daddy and I always smile and lean in to hear you sing. Currently, you are really into singing "1-2 Buckle My Shoe", "I'm a Little Teapot", and an assortment of Sesame Street songs. Today we sang the duet "Be My Echo" that Grover and Elmo sing. You thought it was great.

You are still really into jumping, obviously. You are also very smart. You can count to 29 (then you go to 40), you know all your colors and shapes, all the upper case letters and most of the lower case letters, and are beginning to work on letter sounds. So far, you can tell us that B says "baaaa" and a few other random sounds that seem to come and go. You see letters everywhere we go. On a walk, you'll tell us you see an A (the frame of a swingset) or a C (the curve of the path). When we are out and about, you'll spell out store names and then ask "What's that say?" I think you will be an early reader. While you are doing pretty well with numbers, they are not your passion. Usually Daddy and I can only get you to count by bribing you (aka "You can have________ when you count to 30"). You are able to recognize all numbers 0-10 along with 14 and 18. You know all the animals and the sounds they make, and like to sing about them on "Old MacDonald's Farm". You love puzzles and are ready for 24 piece puzzles. I am amazed with how quickly you can put together some of your favorite puzzles. You have gotten much more comfortable with others. It took a while, but you actually seem to regularly enjoy the company of others now (besides Mommy, Daddy, and our nanny). You like when people come visit, gymnastics class, and going out to meet friends. You like when others give you attention. You recently invited our tax man to come home with us. You like to play with Tea, our neighbor. If you see her outside, you begin yelling "Hi, Tail!" and ask her to participate in whatever activity you are doing.

You are becoming more independent. I hear "do it by yourself" several times a day now. You stopped sleeping in the "big white bed" and now look forward to sleeping in the pink room. Unfortunately, you still regularly wake up 2 times a night. However, I've finally got you to call "Mama!" instead of just crying. You are a very well behaved child (I write this after I get a phone call from Daddy reporting that you had to leave gymnastics after 15 minutes for constantly running away, not listening to the teacher, and laughing manically). You hate to get into trouble. Yesterday you colored on a chair. I had you clean it up, and told you firmly that we do not color on anything besides paper. You listened, kept your little eyes on the floor, and waited for me to finish. Then you said, "it's okay, Mom, c'here. I give you a hug and a kiss. See, all better?" I can tell you are going to be a great little Mama to baby sister. Last week you were playing with Big Bird and asking him what he would like to do, telling him that it's okay, and giving him a hug after he fell down the stairs. Right now, you are able to play independently for periods, but also still enjoy cuddling (it's how we begin every morning and end every day). In general, you like to stay close to Mommy and Daddy.

Daddy and I love you more than anything, and always will. You will be an amazing big sister.

Love,

us

Frosting Hands

A few weekends ago we made another batch of Pinkalicious cupcakes. As usual, Sassy takes a keen interest in helping with (eating) the frosting and decorating (making a big mess). This time Daddy enacted revenge and got frosting in Sassy's hair. It was all fun and games until Sass realized that she would need a bath, and that would mean taking off her sock (which covers the boo boo, which when she sees makes her so upset that she descends into a hand flapping, anxious noise making frenzy). She may have a touch of the hyper-hypoid gene. Either way, she got through the bath, got her socks back on, and enjoyed pink cupcakes for the remainder of the week.

A First

Leah was so tired after playing with Cousin Hannah last week, she fell asleep in the car when we were driving her back home. For the first time ever, I was able to take her out of her carseat and lay her down AND have her continue to sleep. I was amazed. I tried to wake her up 1/2 hour later for gymnastics, but she refused to budge. She slept another hour... I was so proud I took a picture.

Pregnant Leah

Love

Sassy playing outside pre-toe stub.



Post-Toe Stub. Cuddling with Daddy and her new kitty.

This Morning

Sassy is dressed like Punky Brewster. She slept in a tank top and shorts last night. This morning, she decided that it was too cold to be dressed like that, so asked for a sweatshirt and pants. After I put on her pants, she asked to put the shorts back on. We think she looks great.

Yesterday Sassy scraped her toe playing with the neighbors. She cried so loud and so hard that Chris and I took her inside. She kept looking at her toe and sobbing. She was so upset that she didn't even want to watch Sesame Street. Whoa. I wrapped her toe in a wet-wipe, and put her shoes back on so she didn't have to see her scrape. We checked on it later (still a simple scrape), and Sassy got hysterical again. Daddy wrapped it in a band-aid and put a sock over it. Sass is insisting that the sock stays on her injured foot. Sassy usually hates socks, even as a baby she would kick them off. I'm wondering how long this will last. How long does a scrape take to heal?

We went to look for a double stroller this weekend at a Mom-To-Mom Sale. It was crazy. We didn't find a stroller, but Sass found a guitar. She has been playing it all morning (by jumping on it).

Outside Fun

And we thought the weather was beautiful last weekend... Sassy finally convinced us that the weather was nice enough to take out her bubbles. She spent over an hour blowing bubbles outside.

On this day, we even took her on a walk to Cold Stone. We warned her that it was going to be a long walk, and packed the wagon with crackers and water. Sass spent the majority of the walk asking for "pink ice cream with M's on top!" and to "get out". She enjoyed her ice cream, eating every last bite. Pre-Leah, Chris and I used to walk to Cold Stone and buy ice cream for ourselves and Rugen, too. Even though we haven't done the walk since Leah was born, Rugen remembered. I didn't buy him any (I had forgotten we used to do that), and he was obnoxious the entire time we were eating our ice cream. I love she never loses the "I'm having so much fun, I'm just going to open my mouth as wide as I can" expression. Sassy has been really into golf lately. She likes to take out the clubs and assign one to everyone. She also likes to hold them, and tell us they are different things "this an umbrella", "this a hammer".

Baby Anna

On Saturday we went to meet baby Juliet's future best friend, Anna Caroline. She seemed very tiny and had the longest, most delicate fingers I have ever seen on a baby.

Leah acted indifferent to the baby, and spent the majority of the visit hoarding the balloon we bought for the baby. She readily gave it up at the end, though, with the promise of a diaper change and a cupcake from Holiday Market (Sass lost some weight being sick for so long, so her and I have been indulging with food, so she can regain some of the weight. Plus, I'm pregnant).

On the Mend

Sassy and I both went to the doctor last week and found out we had both developed secondary infections. Sassy had an ear infection (her first ever) and I had a sinus infection (my first ever). We both got put on amoxicillian. Sassy loved her pink medicine, and asked for it every morning and every afternoon until the medicine was finished. The medicine took a few days to kick in, and Daddy was getting pretty overwhelmed with his sick, needy, whiny girls. Thankfully Leah and I are both now fully recovered.

PS-Thanks for making the bed skirt, Mom! It looks great in Lili's Pinkalicious room!

Though Leah was recovering last week, she was still all stuffed up. Leah was never a drooler as a baby. She has always been neat and tidy, and does not like to be "dirty". Last week, however, she drooled all week. By the end of the day the front of her shirt would be wet from the drool. I even thought about putting a bib on her, but thought she would be too humiliated. Sassy also got some extra leeway with her beloved Nuk. Typically, she only takes a Nuk at naptime/bedtime, but when she is sick, she uses it as her comfort object. Naturally, Daddy and I let her have it as often as she would like when sick. However, once it was obvious she was on the mend, it had to get banished back to the bedroom. It was tough for her to give it up last week. She would cry for her "Nnnuuuukkkkk".

Here is Sassy showing me what Baby Juliet looks like all curled up in the tummy. Leah is not so into her "Baby Sister" anymore. Before vacation, she would kiss my belly every night and press her foot onto my belly and say, "hi, baby sister". Now she just acts bothered that my large belly is in her way, preventing her from flopping on me as she sees fit.