Elly quotes

Mr. Potato Head = Tomato Face

peepee = peep

jammies = jams

Elly is spelled E-E-L-Y

Me: "What should be on my list of things to bring to Aunt Carolyn's house?"
Elly: "WORDS!!!" (so excited that she knew the answer!)
I start writing...
Elly: "Mommy's writing her name!"

Carolyn took a picture of her picking her nose. So yesterday she says, "Mommy, I'm getting a booger. Take a picture!"

A Packaging Problem

That's what the doctor called Kes's facial asymmetry.

He also said, "It's a deformation. That's a good thing." Which is the first time I've ever heard those two sentences in a row, but hey, I'll take it.

So, it's a packaging problem, because it was caused by the way she was positioned (packaged) in the womb. She was in a strange position and it pushed her face up against one of the structures of my pelvis. That pressure caused the bones of her face to grow faster on one side than the other.

So the good news is, there's no disease or anything to worry about. And more good news: she'll probably outgrow it by the time she's two. If she doesn't, it should be fixable with orthodonture.

Phew!

Elly quotes

(reading my shirt) "U... C... L... A... says Mommy!"
"I just need to cuddle wif my mommy."
"Ohhhhh, HI Daddy!"
"I'm firsty for some nemamade" (lemonade)

The weigh-in

Oh, I forgot to say - Elly and Kes were both weighed and measured. Elly weighed 27 lbs 3 oz, and they measured her standing up which said 35 inches - I know she'd be more than that if they'd measured her laying down, though, because that's what she was 4 months ago, and the last time they measured her standing up it was a full 2 inches under the height they then got when I insisted they lie her down. So I'm guessing it'll be closer to 36. Kes weighed 14 lbs 12 oz and measured 24 inches.

Halloween

Yesterday I decided to take Elly to the doctor b/c she'd been waking up with stomach pain, sometimes to the point of not being able to get back to sleep for a couple hours and lots of crying, even shaking. The doctor said it didn't sound like anything to worry about and to try simethicone, and if that didn't work to try a Tums. We'll see what works.

Since we were going in I decided it had been long enough and that Kes could get her HiB vax. Well, it decidedly did not go as well as the DTaP. She was very fussy last night, actually crying a real cry, for the better part of a few hours. She also had a low grade fever, and a hot hard lump at the site of the injection. The fever is still there today but slight, and the hard lump is there but smaller and not as hot. I think it's a mild reaction but we will be talking to the doctor about it for sure. At least I know what shot caused it since we separated them.

So, since Kes was so miserable, we did not do Halloween. Luckily Elly did not know what she was missing. I'm keeping her costume, so I'll have to put her in it sometime soon just for kicks.

I Know a Rhino

Today, while reading I Know a Rhino, Eliana was cracking me up with her comments on all the pages. My favorites:

On the ape page, which is the page after the pig in the dirt - "Look! E changed er shirt! E changed er shirt and er pants and er shoes! Dey got messy an now dey're clean!"

On the dragon page -
Elly: "Look! Da girl has a steffoscope. Just like Elly's! Where's Elly's steffoscope?"
Me: "I don't know. Does Daddy have it?"
Elly: "No. Steffoscope went bye-bye in Grandma's car." (pouts) "Awwww. Poor Grandma's car."

On the giraffe page -
"Look! E made it work!" (pointing to the girl blowing a bubble)

Giggles

Kes can giggle! The first time I heard it she was in the bouncy seat facing the mirror and Elly started goofing off in the mirror too. Kes started giggling and Elly fed off it and got goofier. This went on for five minutes! Big belly laughs, too. It was marvelous.

Who's that in the mirror?

Today I set up the bouncy seat to face my closet door mirror while I got some things done in my room. Kes looked all around at everything she could see in it, looked at herself and cooed at that baby in the mirror. Then I came over and talked to her in the mirror, but she kept looking at the real me too. So I picked her up and looked at both of us in the mirror. She looked at herself, looked at me, looked at herself, looked at me... and then the lower lip went into full pout and she wailed! I turned away from the mirror and she stopped crying. I think she was jealous to see her mommy holding a baby!

M

Scott wrote an M on Eliana's magnadoodle.

Elly: "M! It looks like a mountain!"
Scott: "Yeah! And mountain starts with M. Mmmmmountain!"
Elly: "Mmmmmmegan!"

Kesenia's 2 month checkup

Kes's 2 month visit was today - she's 13 lbs 10 oz and 23.25 inches. The dr gave us a referral to a craniofacial clinic but said sometimes babies who are smooshed in the womb (and Kes was *definitely* smooshed!) have one side of their face grow faster than the other so it's probable that she'll grow out of it on her own. Yay! - hoping this is the case, looking forward to seeing the specialist to make sure. She got her DTaP shot and didn't cry and has had no reaction to the shot - Elly was always cranky and a little feverish after getting all five of the vaxes at once. We go back in a month for HiB/IPV - hopefully that goes just as well.

Soft

Today Eliana was rubbing Kes on the head and she says, "Kes is soft." Well, we all know where soft things belong - on the nose! Elly leaned over and put her nose right on Kes's head. "Mmmm, soft on the nose."

In other news, Eliana wrote her first letter today! She took her magnadoodle and wrote "n" - I'm so surprised that her first written letter was lower-case, since she knows her upper-case letters so well, and not so much the lower-case ones.

First blood

At the park with Grandpa today, Eliana was rocking on the fire engine and donked herself in the face with the steering wheel. It was very traumatic - she cried, said, "I don't like the park," and had to come back to my parents' house to get her blankie (or should I say "blank") to put it on her nose to make her feel better. But even once they were home, blankie had to wait, b/c she had a bit of blood coming from her mouth - first time she's bled. I looked around and it was coming from the upper frenulum, and her gums look bruised too. I'm just glad she didn't knock out a tooth - I did on my second birthday and it hurt so bad I still remember it happening!

More Elly quotes

"Mommy needs to change clothes. Mommy needs a new shirt, new pans, and new bwest pads. How fink o' dat?"

"Mommy, Kes smiled at you! E smiled at her big stister!"

"Baby stister Kessasenia."

"I'm too sad to wead this book. I need diffwent book."

"I'm too windy to go home."

"I want Nemo movie and see scarf." (scarf = shark)

Kes, seven weeks

Time is flying by, Kes is changing rapidly, and she has absolutely captured our hearts.

She started smiling very early, at around a month, and now smiles a ton! She's very social, loves playing and talking with Mommy, and also flirts with stuffed animals and the fish mobile on her swing. The best one is the smile she gives her big sister, it makes my day.

She reaches for things and gets frustrated that she cannot control her arms enough to actually hit or grasp them. She holds up her head very well and often pulls back to look at whoever is holding her.

She has definitely started anticipating. Often I will lay her in my lap and start getting ready to nurse her and she will stop rooting and smile and coo instead. She also has a very particular "protest" cry that she does when what she was anticipating doesn't pan out - like if I were to pick her back up to switch sides instead of latching her on as she expected, she'd do the protest cry til I got her back in position.

She has turned into a frequent daytime nurser but makes up for it by only nursing twice most nights and usually going a 5 hour stretch, sometimes up to seven. A common scenario is a 6 hour stretch, then 3 and 3.

It's fun seeing her personality come out. At this age Eliana was primarily social through touch and loved movement. Kes is social through face-to-face contact and is usually more interested in visual stimulation than in movement. What's amazing is that it's so continuous with her in-womb personality - compared with Eliana she was calmer and much more interactive in utero.

I know the best is yet to come - looking at Kes and Eliana the amazing growth of infancy and toddlerhood is so apparent. Watching them develop is magical.

Elly quotes

"I'm gonna sit on the pillow because it's more comfier."

"I'm gonna just stay here... I'm comf."

"The doctor's gonna look at Mommy and say Mommy's heffly."

"I'm a big stister."

"I'm stirsty."

"I'm not tired"

"I'm not tired, I'm just yawning to wake up."

"I'm not tired, I'm just cuddling blank."

"I'm not tired, I'm just resting on bed."

"I'm not tired, I just need to cuddle Mommy." (This one's Mommy's favorite.)

1 month checkup

11 lbs 14 oz, 22 inches, and healthy!

No more Y

Eliana has discovered that many words she has used are childish when Y is added, so she's dropping the Y... and she's generalizing it so that even words that are supposed to end in Y no longer do.

Doggy is dog
Mommy is Mom
Daddy is Dad

but also...

Blankie is blank
Monkey is monk
Puppy is pup

Practicing

Eliana is really in the phase of toddlerhood of trying so hard to be competent, and practicing hard!

Today Eliana would turn off a toy's on/off switch and say, "Oh no! It's broken!" With a pout on her face and putting her head to the side and her hand on her cheek. "Elly has to fix it!" Then she'd turn the switch back on, and operate the toy. "I fixed it! Yay!" or "Tada!" with arms outstretched.

Unrelated but cute - "... eighteen, nineteen, tenteen, eleventeen..."

And singing, she sings lots of songs that she makes up the words to now. Often it's to Farmer in the Dell - today's was

"Boogers in the nose
boogers in the nose
Oh hi the derrio
boogers in the nose"

Then it developed into "all the boogers in the noses" and "boogers in all the noses". Then it was "all the poos in the bottom."

She is also still practicing lots of face drawing. She enjoys having me draw our family. I differentiate us simply by the hairdo. Well, today Elly drew herself - she drew a happy face (circle, eyes, mouth) and added on a line on each side of her head - ponytails! Also today, she told me I needed to put hair on my drawing of Kes (I'd been drawing her bald). I said, "well, babies don't have much hair" and she went over, pet Kes on the head, came back to me and said, "Kes has lots of hair!"

She is really reaching a point where a lack of competence leads to BIG frustration. She will throw things down on the ground, throw herself down on the ground, scream, do what I call a "monkey dance" (hopping around making short grunts), or start stuttering (her newest response, usually when trying to say something just so). She doesn't want to hold Kes because the first time she tried, Kes was cranky, and she now thinks she wasn't good at it.

Kes is practicing too. She's gotten really good at holding her head up, and is tracking a little bit. Today she cooed at me communicatively (as opposed to just making a random baby noise). I can't wait to see all her quirks when she is Elly's age!

Skill update

Eliana is drawing faces. She'll draw a circle (which is really a bunch of circles) then push the pen down hard and say "eye", do that again, and then she'll say "smile" and draw a line or say "sad face" and draw a line (which looks the same as the smile line).

She also can now jump with both feet 3 or more times in a row.

5 day checkup

Kes had her 5 day old checkup today. She is doing marvelously, the doctor was very pleased. She weighed in at 9 lbs 2.5 oz, so she has already gained back her birth weight and more, and she has grown a half inch to 21 inches.

Announcing Kes

Aug 4

11 am - I'm 5 days overdue, so I go in for labor-inducing acupuncture
11 pm - nothing doing, so I put pressure on the needle sites hoping to stimulate them more. Then I listen to my "Come Out, Baby" hypnosis CD that had just arrived, and go to bed.

Aug 5

9 am - NST (non-stress test) which baby passes with flying colors. I ask the nurse if she can do a cervix check. She does - I'm 2 cm, soft, but thick and posterior. She strips my membranes but says she doesn't think she really did anything.

9:45 - on the drive home, I get my first contraction.

10:30 - I go walk at the mall. Lots of contractions, by the time I'm done I can barely walk through them.

11 am - At home I sit and time them, figuring if sitting doesn't make them go away and they are regular, this is the real thing.

11:30 - they are, 5 minutes apart and 1 minute. I call Scott to come home, and go hypnobirth with the Come Out Baby cd.

12:00 - the nurse calls to tell me my next NST is on Monday. I tell her it probably won't be needed. She says to call back when they're closer and stronger.

1:00 - I get in the shower. Immediately the contractions are 3 minutes apart and over a minute. The shower feels really good, I stay in for half an hour.

1:30 - we call and say we're ready to come in. They let us know there's already another family laboring, so we'll be put in the second birth room.

2:00 - upon arrival, Kathy checks me, says I'm a 4 but still thick, and she's concerned about the baby's position so when Beah (the lead midwife) arrives she'll have her check me too. I go out on the porch swing and swing in circles through contractions.

2:30 - Beah arrives. By now the contractions are very intense, I'm thinking how different this is from my experience with Elly's birth. I'm focusing on positions and hypnosis techniques to open my cervix and bring baby down and into position, rather than pain relief, because I want this baby NOW after being 6 days late.

2:45 - Beah checks me, and says I'm only a 4 if she stretches and during contractions, and otherwise I shrink back to a 2. She says because of the baby's positioning the head isn't on the cervix right, which can keep the cervix from dilating (which I already know from Eliana's birthing). She says they might send me home, it could be another day before I'm ready to have the baby, but she wants to give it a while and see whether my cervix is changing and how fast.

3:15 - that was a slow half hour. Very painful contractions, and thinking "I can't imagine doing this for another day, it's so much more intense than Eliana's birthing." Around now, I have 4 really hard, long contractions right on top of each other. I’m sitting on the birthing ball, leaning forward onto Scott who’s sitting on the bed massaging the endorphin points on my neck and head, and Bethany (a midwife apprentice) is applying pressure to my back helping relieve the back labor from baby’s position.

3:30 – when I’m sure those are over, I say, “I think I have to pee.” I stand up, and my water breaks. I lay down on the bed to drip over the chux pad and immediately those intense, long, no-rest contractions start back up. I yell for Scott and he holds my hand and starts massaging me again, and Bethany climbs up on the bed to get to my back. By now I am vocalizing through the contractions, not just breathing through them. But I’m glad my water broke so that it will help things move along. Plus Scott adds, “I guess we’re not going home.” Once again I feel like today will be my baby’s birthday. When the contractions let up for a minute I haul to the bathroom, spend a few contractions in there moaning on Scott, but this is more comfortable... laboring on the toilet is great.

4:00 - I decide I want to go in the tub, though, so we take advantage of another break and get back to the room. Kathy comes in to check my cervix, and on the next break she checks me and says, “You’re a 7. And I’m not stretching you to a 7, you’re a 7.” Yay! I get in the tub, it feels so good. On the first contraction, Scott pours water over my back and I realize my back labor is gone. I tell him to go get his swimsuit on. One more contraction passes, I’m enjoying the tub, Bethany is in the room just watching, I don’t need anything. On the third tub contraction, my body starts pushing, against my will, harder than I ever told it to push when birthing Elly. I’m overwhelmed by the intensity and helpless to stop it, just grunting like a wildwoman and thinking “I can’t push I’m only a 7.” Bethany asks, “you pushing?” and I give some sort of affirmative, she runs out into the hall and says, “Megan’s pushing,” and everyone runs in. But no one tells me to stop. They tell Scott to get in the tub and tell me to lean back on him. Beah asks where our cameras are, they put the video camera on the bed facing us and Beah starts snapping pictures. Bethany is watching as Michelle (another apprentice midwife) coaches me when to push and when to stop, to prevent tearing. I feel the ring of fire but it’s mild and easy to push through. She says, “I see light hair!” and I reach down and feel baby’s head – it was further out than I thought it would be. At one point she says, “slow push” and I say “I can’t slow” and she tells me to do little coughs. This works great for about a minute and then I just have to really push again.

4:19 – out slides the baby! Baby goes up onto my chest out of the water, I’m crying, Scott and I are both in total disbelief that our baby is finally and already here. I try to see if it’s a girl or a boy, but the cord is so short I can’t, b/c it’s tightly covering the genitals. I figure it would probably be pushing a penis to the side though, so I say, “I think it’s a girl.” We wait a few minutes and just enjoy, and then we cut the cord and find that we definitely have a girl.

No idea on times after that, other than the fact that the other family’s baby was born at 5:00, the closest two babies in birth home history. They did a great job juggling us.

I got only one stitch that she said she wouldn’t have even done if my tiny tear hadn’t gone right through a blood vessel. I did bleed more than they liked, but nowhere near as bad as I had after Eliana was born, and the uterus mashing to get it to stop didn’t hurt nearly as much either.

It was an amazing experience. Eliana’s birth taught me something about the power of the mind, and Kesenia’s birth taught me about the power of the body. I loved the Birth Home experience. So much support, great environment. While I was on the swing when we first got there I was so glad not being in a hospital. In retrospect I think if I’d planned a hospital birth, I probably would’ve labored at home planning to go into the hospital later, and would have never made it and had an unplanned homebirth. As is, it was an unplanned waterbirth – I wanted to labor in the tub but had planned to get into bed to push... ha.

I’m really enjoying the easier recovery and being home. Eliana is doing OK... she is clearly mad at me but is also excited about Kesenia and enjoying her new role.

Kesenia Lily
August 5, 2005
4:19 pm
9 lbs 1 oz
20.5 inches

Love Daddy

Today we were out at lunch and Eliana and Scott were on a bench seat together. Eliana kept standing up on it and Scott would tell her to sit down. Her response to this would be to put her cheek against his, put her hand on his other cheek, squeeze him, and say as sweetly as possible, "I love Daddy."

It was so sweet and so obviously manipulative, we were rolling.

Two years old and already learning to wrap him around her little finger...

Dreaming

Eliana is starting to communicate about her dreams now.

Today I woke her up from her nap and while I was cuddling her she said, "In Bubbe's backyard."
Me:"What's in Bubbe's backyard?"
Eliana: "Issa pool. And Max, too."
Me: "Yeah, Bubbe has a pool and Max kitty in her backyard." Elly: "I saw it sleeping!"
Me: "Max was sleeping?"
She gave me a blank look and sort of shook her head.
Me: "You saw Bubbe's backyard while you were sleeping?"
Elly: "Yyyeah!"

A few days ago after she woke up and climbed into bed with us for her morning cuddles, she fell back asleep. After a few minutes she woke up grabbing at her blankie and doggie and exclaiming, "No doggie in toilet!" Oh the things 2 year olds have nightmares about...

Prelabor

Prelabor stinks. I'm so glad I avoided it with Elly - though it may have made more sense to deal with it while not trying to parent a child, than trying to deal and take care of a 2 year old at the same time. Today I had contractions 3 minutes apart for 7 hours. Just painful enough to interfere with my life, not strong enough to hypnobirth over. Scott asked "How did you know it wasn't real labor?" I said real labor would have gotten increasingly strong contractions and these stayed the same. And then they went away.

Elly's first song

Today Eliana made up her own song! We were on our way into Babies R Us and there were lots of birds in the parking lot. To the tune of Frere Jaques -

I see birdy, I see birdy
Over there, over there
Birdy is flying, birdy is flying
In the sky, in the sky

Of course "birdy" is more like "boody," "over there" is "obadair," and "in the" is "inna". But a very clear, complete song, and so quick! I'm a proud mommy. This child just blows me away.

2 year stats

Today was Eliana's 2 year checkup. The doctor was very happy with her weight and development. We discussed the chickenpox vaccine and basically decided to wait until the baby is a year old - if she got it now, she could have a few pox for up to 3 weeks, and I can't guarantee the baby won't be born before then, and babies under a year shouldn't be exposed because they have more risks with it.

Eliana did fantastic - didn't cry, scream, or anything of the sort. A few times she whined "I wanna go home" or "time-a go bye-bye" but accepted "We have to see the doctor first" and calmed down. I think it really helped that they let her stand on the big kid scale - for some reason she hates the baby scales. The things that used to be scariest - the stethoscope and otoscope - she did just fine with. She even told the dr "'at's a skefscope, put in ears" and just watched as the dr put it on her chest and belly, then turned her head and opened her mouth for the dr to look in her ears and mouth.

Despite a lack of tears, she was exhausted afterwards. Worrying takes a lot of energy! She cuddled her blankie on the couches and the floor all afternoon until her nap, which we went in for half an hour early and she crashed within a minute.

Stats and development:

Height: 35 inches

Weight: 25.25 lbs

Teeth: all in!

Verbal:
Usually uses 4-7 word sentences, vocabulary passed 500 words 3 months ago (so I stopped counting), she talks constantly (my narrator)

Physical:
Can jump with both feet leaving the ground, tries to hop on one foot but ends up galloping, can draw pretty good circles

Preschool skills:
Counts from 1 to 14 (associated with objects, up to 6)
Counts backwards from 10 to 1
Sings alphabet song (except LMNOP is L no no no P)
Letter recognition on all upper case, a few lower case
Number recognition on 1 to 9
Colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, white, brown
Shapes: circle, square, triangle, oval, rectangle, diamond, octagon, mixes up hexagon and pentagon

Eliana is two!

Well, Eliana's birthday and her party were both fun, for all of us! Tiring, but fun.

On her birthday we just sang to her and had her open some presents. Yesterday was the big party day. We had a ton of friends and family over. I think everyone enjoyed it. Elly got to open a ton of presents from us and her grandparents (a couple guests ignored the invite and brought presents too). She enjoyed being sung to, and did a great job trying to blow out her candle (Mommy helped). She even ate some cake this year! But then noticed the ice cream on her plate... and she'll take ice cream over cake hands down.

She is really enjoying having some age-appropriate toys now. All her old toys were very much outgrown... I even boxed them up the night before her birthday in anticipation of their replacement. She is really enjoying her new baby dolls, stroller, beach ball, and of course her singing and dancing Blue (of Blue's Clues fame), and oinking pig (yes I broke down and got her THE piggy). But really everything is being enjoyed! She just loves having new toys and books and music!

Tomorrow is her 2 year doctor's appointment. It's her first appointment with the new practice - hope I like them - and of course I'm curious to find out her stats now. They'll be getting the whole hospital story too... gotta make sure they're vigilant about keeping me informed about her weight and any adjustments I need to make about her diet. I'll hopefully post tomorrow with that story.

Hungry

Eliana has figured out how seriously I take her eating... and she's using it to her advantage. Nowadays when it is time to go to bed she says she wants to eat, to try to get out of it. Today was especially vigorous (she really didn't want to take a nap)... as soon as I said it was time to get Blankie, she said, "Need eat someting! Snack time! Nonna's hungwy! Weally, weally!!! Mmm-hmm!!!" With this wild, expectant look on her face, and rolling her head around in circles.

Hide 'n Sing

My mom's birthday was a couple days ago, and we were in town for it. The same day, a local toy store was having an anniversary celebration - a sale for the adults, and activities for the kids. Well, this is what my mom wanted to do for her birthday, so we went.

Eliana had a blast. The store is fun to begin with - lots of toys out for kids to play with. She got her face painted, rode "Plasma Cars", used a minigolf putter for the first time (and got a hole in one), and got a heart-shaped balloon from a clown. For my mom and me, the best part was none of these but the presence of a kids' musician who sang and played guitar.

Eliana's going through a shy phase, and when she sees someone new, she covers her eyes. The musician sauntered back and forth between the store and the outside hallway where the activities were. Every time he came near us, Eliana covered her eyes.

This did not stop her from enjoying his music. She grooved to that music. Every time he came within earshot, she immediately started to rock out, eyes covered. When he sang the alphabet song, she sang along, eyes covered. This could go on for 10 minutes - enthusiastic dancing, hands over eyes. My mom and I were in tears laughing at this adorable display. Even the musician was chuckling through a couple songs.

Oh for a video camera.

Bustin' Out

Four months and one day after the scariest day of my life, we're done. Finito. Finished.

Eliana had her first pediatric GI appointment in 2.5 months yesterday. Dr. Davies said she's doing fantastic, staying on her growth curves, including weight-for-height, and we should just keep going with the high-fat high-calorie diet to meet her high metabolic needs. But what really sums it up, she said, "I don't need to see her anymore." She gave me her voicemail in case I ever get concerned, but we appear to be in the clear.

I wish Eliana could really understand this, she'd be so thrilled. I still had to tell her "no tube" as we were waiting for her appointment to start. It helped calm the hysteria but she still cried, repeating "I'd like-a be all done," with every breath. Even after the appointment, as we were waiting for her records to give to her new pediatrician, it took me a while to calm her down. Once she was no longer crying she changed the refrain... her last tearful "I'd like-a be all done" was followed by a very calm, "Wanna go bye-bye out door. 'Ere it is! Door have knob. Let's go get that knob!" After which she spent 5 minutes repeating "Let's go get that knob!" (which involved 5 minutes of me repeating "In a minute. We have to wait for our bye-bye papers.")

I spent the whole drive home fighting tears. After not only that horrible day 4 months ago but the entire stressful month of February, to find this relief and closure, just felt marvelous. Of course I'm sure pregnancy hormones had something to do with it too.

I hope we never need anything from Dr. Davies again, but as far as I'm concerned, that woman is the best doctor I have ever come across. We were blessed to have Eliana in her care.

This Little Piggy

In the mall today, we passed by KB toys, which has a display of those little animal machines that walk and make their little animal noises. There were two dogs, a neon blue elephant, and a rainbow-colored cow. While I wondered why the dogs were given the dignity of looking like dogs while the elephant and cow looked more like sno-cones, Eliana was enraptured. She bent down, barking, trumpeting, and mooing her little lungs out. After about 5 minutes I managed to lure her away from them with the promise of more toys elsewhere in the store, and we headed down the first aisle.

There, near the end, was a wayward pig. Having somehow escaped the ring that enclosed his animatronic brethren, he'd made it two-thirds of the way down the aisle before toppling over, helplessly hoofing the air and oinking vigorously. Just as I noticed him, Eliana broke into a full run, arms stretched high in discovery, shrieking in delight, "Look! A pig! A pig! A pig!!! It's a piggy! It's a piggy!"

I didn't stop to find out, but I'm pretty sure the only thing all the other people in the store saw was a gigantic pregnant lady trying to waddle-run while throwing her head back and cackling.

By the time I caught up and caught my breath, Eliana had stopped short, dumbfounded. Now that she had reached the wayward pig, she didn't quite know what to do about this helpless furious mess. It was covered in dust and dirt but I reached down and turned it upright so it could continue on its escape. This not only re-animated Eliana, it also made her "wanna 'old it. Nonna touch it too. Soft piggy, put on nose." EEEWWW. Me: (look of horror) "Yes, it's a soft piggy, but it's too icky to go on your nose and it's too icky to hug." Eliana: (brightly) "Let's clean it." Me:"We can't, I don't have anything to clean it with." Eliana (sadly): "Just look at it." So we did for a few minutes, then moved on to the rest of KB's toddler offerings (not much, definitely an older kids' toy store).

So this has been our topic of conversation for the rest of the day (either to me or talking to herself). "Is an icky piggy. No touch it. Just look at it. Icky piggy icky piggy dirty. No clean it. Just look at it. Is a dirty piggy."

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I'd say I got a haircut, but that would be an understatement. I chopped off 10 inches of hair. Locks of Love. I couldn't stand my hair anymore but I couldn't give up on the Locks of Love donation after waiting so long to cut it, so my hair is now shorter than it's been in about 13 years. The first time in that amount of time that I can not get it in a ponytail.

Shock aside, I really like it. The only thing I have to figure out is how to keep me from looking like a poodle without blowdrying... I hate blowdrying. Of course now that my hair is so short it shouldn't take so long to do and I won't mind it as much. But still, I can't even be bothered to put on lipstick most days, 15 minutes of blowdrying seems like a huge commitment. And the other part of it is, I really wanted a curly style. So now to figure out curly, not huge, with all my hair. Hmmm...

Eliana got a kick out of it. I came home with it wet, so she associates the change with wet hair and even now that it's dry she keeps playing with it and saying "wet hair". She really likes putting it in front of my eyes and playing peekaboo.

Hair aside, I'm definitely feeling like a different person in other ways too. OK more like a different species. The belly is huge, the boobs are heavy, so I've reached the stage where I start feeling simian. (Pathologically anthropological, as always.) As Elly would say, "EEE-EEE, OOO-OOO." I should start knuckle-walking, it would do my back some good...

Horsie

Downtown, there's a stable shop that has a statue of a horse outside of it. Eliana loves this horse. We spend lots of time paying attention to it every time we pass by - we pet the legs and talk to it. Yesterday I lifted Eliana up so she could pet its muzzle to say goodbye, but instead of petting it, she put her finger in the slightly discolored nostril and said, "Horsie have boogers in nose."

Mommies learn something new every day. Yesterday I learned that after twelve comes firteen, and after that comes firteen, firteen, and firteen. So now Elly counts to sixteen... except it goes something like this... "One, two, fwee, fowa, five, six, teven, eight, nine, ten! Ledden, twed, firteen, firteen, firteen, firteen!"

ING

Eliana is learning that she can add -ing to verbs. And she's also adding it to anything else.

If we're going to the park, we're parking.
If we're going up the escalator, we're upping.
If she's sitting on her blankie, it's stucking.
If we turn of the light, it's darking.
If she wants a bug to go away, then bugging all done.