Celebrating firsts

Sometimes it seems that there aren't very many "firsts" left to celebrate with Sophia. She has reached the lofty age of (almost) two, after all. And then we have a day that reminds me of just how new to life she is, and how many firsts there are left . . . and it is a good many!

Yesterday I was trying to think of something fun to do that did not involve going outside for longer than a millisecond, and remembered that "Winnie the Pooh" was playing at the movie theater, and bonus . . . Sophia would be free, as she is still under two.

I played the preview for Sophia, and she was hooked. So hooked I had to play it thru twice, and there were still tears when I turned it off. That decided it.

Sophia and I were going to her first movie in the theater . . . "Winnie the Pooh!"

The Snuggler spent the rest of the morning playing and intermittently calling out "Pooh!" or "Pooh Bear!" Her cousin came over to play and she had to tell her of our plans for the afternoon . . . "Pooh!" Then we had to eat a good lunch so we could go see "Pooh Bear!"

Soon enough it was 12:15, time to leave for the movie. Animal crackers and raisins hidden in diaper bag, check. Water bottles stashed for both of us, check. Teddy bear (not Pooh) to take into theater, check.

After being held up by a train for EIGHT minutes, we did make it to the theater at exactly 12:40, when the show was due to start. It was already dark when we made our way into theater #5, and that was when I started to worry that perhaps this was not such a good idea.

Because Sophia immediately started saying "all done . . . all done" and turning to leave, while whimpering a little bit.

Mean Mommy carried the Snuggler into the theater and found seats for us (there were all of five other people there to see the show) and then crossed fingers that she would settle into liking the experience.

Previews are usually my favorite part of the movie, but it's different when you have a little Peanut on your lap who keeps making unhappy noises and saying "Pooh . . . Pooh Bear . . . " Three or four previews later the animation short about Nessie the Loch Ness Monster came on, and Sophia started to get into it. No more sniffing, no more talk of going home.

And then the movie started.

Sophia was completely sprawled out on my lap, just taking it all in. Every time a new character came on the screen or something exciting happened, she would call "Yay!" and wave both arms vigorously, as though sure they could see her. She was enthralled, and spent the first 45 minutes in a Pooh-Bear-stupor.

At that point some of the novelty wore off, and the only scary point in the movie was happening, but we talked thru it and Sophia did decide to stay instead of "Home, home."

No more sitting still in Mama's lap, though . . . the Snuggler turned anti-snuggling and wanted to climb all over the two seats next to us. I don't know what weight holds the seat down, but our little Peanut does not meet it yet. So I helped hold the seat down as she clambered around, until she decided that she would like to stand up in the end seat instead of sitting. Turns out she fits perfectly (minus shoes) between the back and upright seat. And from there Sophia viewed the rest of the movie.

Of course all good things must come to an end, but Sophia did not want to leave when the movie was over. The waterworks turned on a little bit then, and she had to be comforted with the reminder that we were headed to pick up Aunt Mallory.

Fun times were had by all . . . the only thing that would have made it better was if Dada could have come too. What was the most fun for this mama? Seeing the Snuggler react so HUGELY to everything. The whole experience was new, and she went thru a whole range of emotions from fear to joy to CRAZY joy to sadness in an hour and a half flat.

Here's to the many more firsts that are yet to come!

Basement deja vu

I freely admit it, I am a Type A personality . . . and no one is surprised by this, I am sure. Which is why in addition to general getting baby things ready, I had lots of house-related items on my pre-baby checklist. It is hard for me to relax if the house is not organized . . . it doesn't have to be spotlessly clean, but I do like for things to be where they belong.

So yes, I had "organize the basement" on my checklist. In fact, I have yet to check it off as there are still a couple little spots to tweak, but it's good enough that if this is as far as it gets before the baby arrives I can live with it. Some of you may remember that I wrote an "organizing the basement" post in January 2010, but it's a job that has to be done at least once a year, especially after a kid enters the picture!

At any rate, my "before" looks remarkably like the "after" from my previous post. I had just gotten tired of having to un-stack every bin in order to get at what I need, so a new system was called for. Enter Lowe's . . . two shelving units later our basement was like new!

Before . . . death trap for pregnant people who can barely see their feet!

After . . . the closeup . . .

. . . and the bigger picture.

Now some things are still stacked, but they are all "like" items, and stacked with the most-often accessed and lightest on top. The best part is that there are no piles that are two and three bins deep, so I can quickly identify what I am looking for and get right at it. Actually, the best part might have been how amazingly quick and easy the units were to put together, but Lowe's isn't paying me to sing their praises, so enough about that!

And a tangent . . .

One item I crossed off my list as "unnecessary" . . . painting the cradle. Forget painting all those spindles by hand, I think the quilt looks better in a natural stained wooden cradle that it would in a white cradle. So now that the quilt is finished and my super deal-finding aunt found us some new-to-us cradle sized sheets at yard sales (can't beat sheets for a quarter!), we actually have a place all ready for the bambino when he/she arrives!

"Honey!"

I can finally see why some couples start calling each other "Mom" and "Dad" in front of the kiddos, though I still refuse to. Sophia has renamed John and me . . . instead of calling John "Dada" or "Daddy," she likes to call him "Dohn."

Me? I am most often called "Honey," though she occasionally switches it up to "Seetheart." That one is less common and is tough to get on video, so "Honey" it is. Really it's when she wants something that she calls me honey. She'll come over to me and say "Storytime, honey!" or "Snack, honey!" . . . or in the case of the beginning of this video "Fruit, honey!"

Spontaneous craftiness

I had big plans for Sophia's naptime today . . . writing a blog post and resting on the couch with a good book or an episode from Season 7 of Project Runway. Then I got home, put Sophia to bed, and got inspired. (Though I guess I did end up doing the blog post . . .)

My bedside lamp has some sort of electrical ghost that turns it back on at random in the middle of the night, unless I unplug it. Kind of a bummer when you are 9 months pregnant and have to either get down on hands and knees to plug in or out, or put up with possible extra mid-night wakenings.

I have had a lamp in my basement that my sister gave me instead of putting it in the trash, and I've made various plans for it . . . the kid's bedroom, our bedroom, etc., but had yet to do anything with it. Then today I was thinking that I was feeling crafty, and as my friend Joanna reminded me . . . "I would rather work on what I want to, instead of what NEEDS to be done."

There has been a lot of doing what needs to be done around here lately, and not much "what I want to." So, today I refurbished a lamp. Granted, it is a bit makeshift, as I only had one spray paint color option on hand (guess that is not really an "option," then), and only two colors of ribbon. But it was fun, won't turn on at random, and looks better than I expected!

Before

Time for some math to figure out what to cut for fabric . . . and it worked out! Whew!

Here's my one color of spray paint! Won't be short on drama . . .

I was going to use spray adhesive . . . glad I used a piece of test fabric first, because it leaked thru a brown color! Time to go back to the hot glue gun, which worked great.

Ribbon to cover where the fabric meets up. My only other ribbon was brown and pink!

And after! Note to self, tape the cord a bit further out next time I spray paint . . .

Get your craft on, people!!! And make it something you WANT to do!

Crunch!

And here I am, back for another birthing post, as last night I set up the birthing tub. I figured it was about time even though I expect to be pregnant for at least a couple more weeks . . . better to do it without the pressure of being in labor while setting it up!

Here's the thing, though. Our bedroom is approximately 127 degrees right now as we have no A/C upstairs, and that is NOT the right temperature at which to be setting up a birthing tub. Especially if you are trying to be nice to your husband who just got home from work and insist on setting it up by yourself. (John did offer very nicely and genuinely to help, I'm the stubborn one that insisted on doing it myself.)

I'm pretty sure I sweated out my body weight (which is considerable right now!) while setting up the tub. The instructions say that it should take 10 minutes. Ha! Whenever instructions give you a time estimate like that, you should at least triple it. (Like when an alcoholic patient insists that they drink a max of four beers a day, you know what they mean is that they down at least 12.)

But I digress . . . back to the tub! First you have to put down the tarp, which I cut out of the insulating black plastic we have leftover from insulating our basement. Then the round foam floor pad has to go down. After that you start on the actual tub.

First there is the very hard plastic molded part in two sections that you have to wrangle into a circle shape and hook together. Then the thick foam that goes inside that. And then you have to test the heaters and make sure they are working before you put them into the backside of the first (HEAVY!!!) liner. Said liner fits inside the tub just so with the heater cords coming out thru the foam and plastic layers, and then it's time to pull the liner over the outside of the tub as well. The last, and easiest part, is putting in the disposable liner that we bought from a birth supply company.

Whew! One five foot birthing tub complete! And one almost-9 month pregnant lady collapsed in front of the downstairs A/C unit with a HUGE cup of ice water for the next half hour.

And that, my friends, is show-and-tell for today.

Nesting much?

A few weeks ago, I took the opportunity of some down time at work to jot down a list of "to do" items that I wanted to get done before the baby comes. Some items have been checked off, like "finish baby quilt (finished at 38 weeks, 1 day!), make puppy ears, pick strawberries and can jam, organize baby clothes, have Sophia's birthday parties, and get together the rest of the birthing supplies," along with several other items.

You wouldn't think that such a little quilt would be such a time-sucking endeavor, would you? Ha!

It is.

If you would like to know when the hottest days of summer are going to be, just ask me when I am going to be canning.

Other tasks are partially done . . . organizing the basement, working on Sophia's babybook (almost two years old and I am finally putting in pictures!), and stocking the freezer with post-baby meals.

Then there are the tasks that I think of at random that should be on the list, so I go ahead and do them . . . and then add them to the list so I can check them off! These include organizing the den/craft room, sewing a torn sheet, and cleaning the bathroom (Thank you, John! He even changed the hand towel, what a guy!).

All this to say that I have learned the secret to success when attempting to complete a massive list like this one. It comes in the shape of my 12 year old sister Mallory, who is working toward becoming the BEST BABYSITTER EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.

The last few weeks Mal has come over to spend a whole 24 hours here each week, and she is uber-good with Sophia. Not to mention fun to be around! And Sophia adores her. I can get thru my list like gangbusters when she is here. I am so sorry for anyone who does not have a sister 17+ years younger than you . . . you are missing out! Common question when Mallory spends the night: "Do you want to sleep in? I can get Sophia up."

Um, hello?!

Actually haven't taken her up on that one lately, but I sure have in the past when Sophia was getting up at the crack of dawn!

This week is camp week. Mallory headed off to camp on Sunday and won't be back until Saturday. I have decided that I hate camp week. And that there will be no going into labor until at least this weekend (which would still be early, so not much chance of it anyway). Not only because Harry Potter is opening Friday, but because we need to have Mallory here to be one of Sophia's people when I am in labor. I mean, the girl knows Sophia's medication schedule!

So hurry up, camp week. It is only Tuesday and I am already so over you.

Sneaky picture taken from just inside the front door, Sophia and Mallory doing one of the Snuggler's favorite activities, drawing with sidewalk chalk. "Chalk, Mama, chalk? Chalk?"

38 weeks and counting . . .

Yesterday I hit week 38 of the pregnancy, so theoretically I could go into labor at any time, right?

Wrong.

I am a Munsell by birth, and what that equals in LaborLand is that I hope to be popping this kid out by the end of July, though if I go a full two weeks "late" then we are looking at an early August baby.

So. I decided that in order to avoid phone calls and facebook messages asking if I had the baby yet, I would write a blog post about my preferred "etiquette" of the next 2-4 weeks.

BAD: Phone rings. I drag myself off the couch to answer. "Have you popped that baby out yet?"

I have officially received my first of these calls, and while I didn't go into a pregnancy-induced homicidal rage or anything, I can imagine that I will in another couple weeks.

GOOD: Phone rings. I drag myself off the couch to answer. "I know you are feeling huge/hot/tired and have cankles, though you look great and I would never think you were even more than 6 months along and you are just glowing and did I say you look amazing? . . . but I was just wondering if you needed anything? Like a meal prepared or a friend to visit or someone to take Sophia off your hands for a bit?"

You see, the person in the "good" example still gets to find out if I have had the baby, or am in labor, etc . . . but thru being sneaky and "helpful" will not incur the wrath of a mama-to-be. But really, in this electronic age, how long do you think we could go with no one knowing another little Libby had entered the world? I am on facebook, after all!

So go ahead, people. Call for an update. Just be sure to follow the good example . . . but be forewarned, I will take you up on any offers!