Chloe's Last Day As an Only Child

I love these random un-seasonably warm days during winter.  Today was sunny and temps reaching the low 50s - a great day to hangout with Chloe the day before her little brother or sister joins her.  I may be making too big a deal of how much her life is going to change.   Perhaps I'm projecting my small fear of change onto her.  Anyhow, it was a fun day.

The morning started with our usual breakfast oatmeal with chocolate chips and honey.  Something I highly recommend - just a smidgen of honey with about six Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips - we need to get our anti-oxidants from somewhere.  :)  We watched "Handy Manny" and "Little Einsteins", drew pictures with triangular shaped crayons and played with oversized Lego blocks.  We took an early nap on the couch at around 11:00 and ate lunch.  We read some Curious George and Dr. Seuss books and then spent the rest of the afternoon at Baskin and Robbins and the playground.  Dan came home from work and took us out for an early dinner.  Chloe played with the sugar packets at the restaurant while Dan and I discussed  girl's names - we have a couple of boys names picked out that we strongly agree upon, but it's a girl's name that has us stumbled. 

They say when you have a second baby, you're first baby suddenly seems so much older.  I was labeling the video disks from the past year and was amazed how much Chloe has changed in the past year.  Her cheeks aren't as cheeky anymore, and she's become more adventurous - climbing onto anything and everything to reach things she's not suppose to play with.  She picks up phrases quicker and likes to repeat them.  The other day, Dan, Chloe and I were in the car and she kept saying "cheeky monkey" and wouldn't stop.  She knows almost all the words to "Do-Re-Mi" and her favorite songs to sing are "Ooh Eeh ooh ahh ahh ting tang...", "Zippity do dah", and "Ring Aroud the Rosey". 

While I'm sure Chloe and I will have more "just us" days, this one felt a little more special. 

1. Giddy Up!, 2. Beautiful day in January, 3. One of many slide rides, 4. Chloe at the playground, 5. Someday she'll do the splits, 6. Chloe in a ponytail, 7. Daddy-o and Chloe-o, 8. Mom, your tummy is in the way!, 9. Chloe gets up close and personal, 10. Mid-twirl, 11. Like my sweater?, 12. We've been good this year

Look Who's Wrapped Around Chloe's Little Finger

I've spent the past hour clearing out the camera disks so that we'll have enough space to take pictures when the new baby arrives.  Dan and I have two digital cameras:  a Nikon D70 which takes awesome photos - there's no delay when you push the button to take photos plus you can change the lense and a Cannon Digital Elph SD 1000 which is about a quarter of the size of the D70 and takes great photos.  You can also shoot video with the Elph SD 1000 and every once in a while, when I mean to take a still photo, I accidentally take video.  As I was cleaning out the disk on the Elph I came across the video below.  It was taken by the water in downtown Charleston, SC last July. 

One of the things I've enjoyed the most about having Chloe is watching Dan become a father.  He has so much patience and will do just about anything to make sure she's safe and happy.  During Chloe's first year, I rarely had to get up in the middle of the night to tend to Chloe.  Dan would get to her so quickly that I wouldn't even wake up to hear her cry.  It took a while to convince him that sometimes it's good to let her cry it out and that she needs to learn how to comfort herself.  When giving her dinner, he still makes sure that the food is cut up into little pieces so she won't choke, even though she can (and does) put all the little pieces of food into her mouth at once.  I wonder if it's a father-daughter thing and perhaps if Chloe were a boy he'd be a little tougher and less concerned.        

Back in Full Waddle Mode

Both Dan and I went into baby mode soon after the New Year began.  Not only did my tummy stick out even more, but my feet and fingers have swelled up a bit.  I can no longer wear my wedding ring.  It's funny how during the holidays, family members asked if we were ready for this baby to arrived.  At the time, it felt we plenty of time to get ready.  But then after New Year's, we realized we had about three weeks left and we quicly shifted gears.  I've been buying gender neutral baby clothes.  Dan cleaned out the kitchen and made trips to BJ's for bulk purchases of diapers and wipes, food and coffee.  He grabbed baby stuff out of our storage unit and installed the car seat.  We've both been busy cleaning out the apartment.   

I think I'm ready.  Towards the homestretch, it's a getting harder to sleep and last week I felt my lower area stretching - The cold weather and rain didn't help.  For the most part this pregnancy has been easy.  It doesn't seem that much different from when I was carrying Chloe except I haven't been exercising as much, I haven't gained as much weight and my mother-in-law and sister-in-law think I'm carrying differently.  I'm a little anxious about how the labor will go.  I'm trying to go for a VBAC .  I love the practice that I go to - they're open to VBACs and have both physicians and midwives.  I wish I had gone to them when I was carrying Chloe.   

While I'm happy that Chloe is going to be a big sister, I'm a little sad that her world is going to change.  She knows that a baby is coming soon, but I don't think Chloe knows just how much things will change - I may not be able to hold her if I'm feeding that baby or give her immediate attention whenever she calls.  Luckily she has Daddy wrapped around her finger and he'll help make up for any attention that I can't provide.  Being the youngest, I never had the experience of feeling slighted by my parents due to a new sibling.  I'm not sure how my older sisters Jennifer and Janice will ever get over knowing that our Mom loves me the most.  :P  Luckily, there are young babies where Chloe goes for daycare, so being around babies won't be foreign to her.

Just a couple of more things to do - pack the to-go bag, narrow down the baby names, charge the camera batteries and then wait.  Anyone know of any tricks that induce labor?  

  

So Far All's Fine in 2009

Dan and I quietly rang in the New Year.  Chloe went to bed  (after pulling ornaments off the Christmas tree, which she called "Mrs. Tree") and Dan and I watched "Stardust" on DVD.  I fell asleep during the movie and missed all the scenes with Robert DeNiro.  I did wake up in time to see the ending.  We toasted the new year (I had a nice glass of grape-apple sparkling cider) and watched the Clintons and Mike Bloomberg push the huge button to make the ball come down in Times Square. 

As for resolutions, I only have two, one of which has already been broken:

• Get more sleep - Um, if you check the time of this post, you'll see that I'm still up past 1:00 am.  But overall, I've been good about getting sleep - actually taking naps on the weekends (being pregnant has forced me to do so...) 

• No baked goods like cookies, cakes, etc unless I baked them or someone else that I know baked them.  Why is it whenever I say "baked goods" I think of weed-laced brownies?  But seriously, this pregnancy has heighted my sweet tooth and I've indulged a little too much in McDonald's apple pies and donuts.  So this resolution will discourage from impulsively eating sweets and encourage me to bake more.

I'm looking forward to this year.  It'll be full of change - the baby that will arrive soon; watching Chloe become a big sister; plus Dan and I will continue our house search.