21 Weeks

I have reached the stage where the belly is starting to bump into things, like the counter when I'm doing dishes. And I have to lay on my side when I sleep.

Tess climbed into bed to wake me up this morning and her first question to me was, "how is Baby Sister?" After I told her she was good. Tess told me another list of things that she was going to teach her: how to cut and rip paper, put on stickers, write with markers, and glue!

I'm leaving for a five-day trip to San Francisco on Thursday. It's a big deal. It will be the longest stretch by far that Tess and I have ever been separated. Last night Tess asked me if Baby Sister was going to stay with her and Dada or leave with me. I told her that Baby Sister pretty much goes everywhere I go these days, and that made Tess sad all over again. "But I don't want Baby Sister to leave!"

Playing Teacher

This morning, I set up a sheet of paper for Tess to decorate as she wanted. For the longest time, she was singing a little song as she colored all over the paper. Something like, "Color the paper," sung over and over again to various tunes. It reminded me of Frances from the Frances books, and I snuck up to get a video of it. Just as I started the video, she stopped singing, but then started this game instead.

For Mother's Day, Tess made me a card at school, and on the inside, it said, "Thank you for the hugs." So I quickly recognized this as Tess pretending that she is her teacher at her school. She's pretending to ask the kids, "What do you want to say to your Mommy?" And then she's writing that and saying, "OK, Thank you for the kisses. Write down message. What else do you want to say?" "This says..."

I was charmed.

Sharing the News

I finally decided to talk with Tess about the new baby. I've been holding off, because I didn't want the nine months to stretch on as an eternity for her. But she's starting to hurt me when she wants to climb and jump on me, so I decided it was time.

Yesterday I sat her down with an ultrasound picture of the baby and explained that this was a picture of a baby.
"Oh, is that me when I was a baby?" Tess asked.
"No, that's a picture of the baby inside my tummy."
She stared at my belly and felt around, confused at first. "But Mommy, I can't see the baby. The baby isn't outside yet."
"That's right. The baby is still growing. But one day she will come out, and you will be a big sister."

Once that began to sink in, Tess was super excited. "I'm going to be a big sister! And Mommy I will help you with the baby. I can help you put it to sleep, and nurse it, and take care of it Mommy!"

We talked some more about her being a big sister, and about her baby sister, and after a couple of minutes and a quiet pause, Tess announced, "I'm going to tell Daddy!"

Since sharing the news, Tess loves to talk about "her baby sister" and "her baby." She asked me, "Mommy, can we take my baby sister in the car tomorrow? Can she come with us? Will she like the car?"

She's also started listing all the things that she will teach her baby sister. Including: How to run. How to splash in the bathtub.  How to wear a headband in her hair. How to ride a scooter. And many more life skills.

I'm sure the jealousy and the hard parts of sharing the parental attention will come later, but for now we have one little girl who is counting the days until she can meet her little sister.

Sick Again

I've been wanting to post some pictures of myself, pregnant. And a picture of the cute Mother's Day presents Tess made at school. But today I am sick...AGAIN. I seem to have caught some virus from Tess and have a sore throat, runny nose, general aches and fatigue. I feel like I have been sick more than I have been healthy over the last 20 weeks. In fact, that might be true. So I'm putting on more movies, making tea, and trying to rest as much as possible while watching a three year old.

Painting

Tess has loved watercolor painting for a while now, doing it almost every day. Just a few days ago, she realized that she could paint with her fingers rather than a brush, and that has been her preferred method ever since. Yesterday she rubbed her eye while painting. It made for an interesting look. (I wish I could have gotten a better shot of her painted on black eye, but she didn't want to hold still.)

Here's the painting:

Week Day Play

Tess has hit a super-social phase lately, and when we are home she almost never settles into playing by herself. She begs me to call up one of her friends, is happiest when spending the day hopping from one playdate to another, and if no friends are available, then she wants either TV or my constant attention.

So it was a fun break one afternoon to stumble upon this work when walking home from visiting a friend. Tess asked to stay and watch for over half-an-hour while the backhoe ripped up the road and loaded it into a dump truck.

It was noisy, but fascinating.

There was one brief period of time Friday afternoon where she settled into her own play. She had been taking her dog for a walk around the house, and then asked for my help tying him up, because she needed to go shopping.

Hide-and-Seek with a Three Year Old

Tess loves the game of hide-and-seek right now, though her version of the game is still very simple. She understands the counting, and loves to say "ready or not, here I come," but she doesn't like to close her eyes (she needs to see where you are hiding). And though she can count quite well up to about 15, she never counts up to any particular number when playing the game. She will ask me, "what I have to count to?" I often say, "ten," and then she counts, "one, two, TEN!" So I've started mixing it up, and regardless of the number I give her, she always counts, "one, two, FIVE!" or "one, two, TWENTY!" Etc.

Once she's free to start hunting, she quickly runs into another room, and then becomes frustrated if she can't find you after five seconds. She starts calling out for you, and you usually have to give yourself up, which is met with excited squeals.

When Tess hides, she can hardly contain her excitement. She is almost always in plain sight, but when we pretend to not see her and start to look elsewhere, she instantly gives herself up, screaming, "here I am!"

Covering your face with your hands also counts as hiding, as does throwing a blanket over yourself. I've tried both of these strategies in lazier moments.

Time with Eric

Tess calls the weekends "Dada no go to work days." Here's how one Saturday played out with lots of extra "Dada time."

First they made bread (at 6am). Eric has started moving the operation to the floor so Tess can help easily.

That afternoon we had to make a trip to Woodside, which gave us an excuse to try a new burger place that's connected to a famous butcher shop. The burgers and fries were SO good.

While waiting for our meal, a game of hide-and-seek was played. Tess is roping us into this game whenever possible these days. Eric is a more willing player.

Tess hides while Eric counts.

He found her! (What a surprise.)

Tess counts while Eric hides.

Hmm, could this lump here be him?

Tess is trying out a new scooter that we borrowed from a friend. It's a hit. Eric loves a chance to ride his bike.

Tess tries it out.

Spring

At the beginning of April, we had a few nice stretches of weather so warm we were breaking out the summer dresses. Tess was thrilled to be able to wear her "Easter dress."

Everything bloomed about a month early, and it's been gorgeous to walk around the neighborhood for the last six weeks or so.

We also were excited to get the news a couple of weeks ago that we will be having another girl. Here she is:

I celebrated by buying ice cream. It really was that warm. :)

Then it turned cold and rainy again, and we have been wondering where that summer weather went. Meanwhile, there have been lots of birthday parties in the neighborhood as many of our friends from the Jackson Heights Spring Babies '09 group turn three. Here's some dark (Iphone) shots from one party. The theme was "pink." There seems to be a girly-explosion going on amongst the three-year-old girls here.

And then this week I finally walked into a salon and got Tess a much-needed haircut. Here's the super-cute results: