Your Belly is Getting So BIG!

This picture. This morning I told her that it was picture day and she picked up two pair of glasses and asked, "can I wear these?".  I'm wondering how that's going to work with her wearing two pair but I said sure. Of course one pair was for bear, of course.

This month felt long yet I didn't scribble as many funny Polly notes because I'm tired!  Here are some highlights:

• I'm still pregnant. I was a little too hopeful last month thinking my last post could have been the last before the baby but this baby has her own plans.  My due date is still 4 days away but...
• Polly is very quick to point out with wide eyes, "Your belly is getting so BIG!"
• She asked who the baby got in there while we were at the store the other day. I simply said, "It grew in there." and that seemed to be enough.  Now I'm just waiting for her to ask how it gets out.  
• Polly still hasn't mastered the potty.  She does pretty well but I think some of this is her choosing but it's hard to know.  I'm not really sure how many accidents are to be expected but we (I mean Ben) wash a lot of laundry.  I'm wondering if I'm going to end up with two stubborn girls. I guess I'm okay with that as long as that translates to stubbornly standing up for their values, stubbornly fighting against discrimination and hate, and stubbornly loving people who try to oppose them.  
• Conversation between Ben and Polly while talking about rhyming words:
• Polly: What rhymes with mommy?
• Ben with no hesitation: Salami  (thanks dude)
• At night when I tuck Polly into bed I lay down with her for a few minutes to talk about the day after reading a book. Tonight she was not a good listener before bedtime so we talked about that:
• Me: Polly, daddy and I need you to try to be a better listener okay.  
• Polly: Okay, mother.
• Me: We don't like having to fuss at you and put you in timeout.  We'd rather play.
• Polly: Okay.
• Me: You know we both love you very much.
• Polly: (sweetly) I know you do.  (this made my heart explode, she knows we do!)
• Above she said, "okay mother" I'm not sure where that comes from but when I have to fuss at her or tell her to do something she switches from mom or mommy to mother.  It makes me laugh each time.  She can lay on the drama. 
• I'm still pregnant.  

Officially 3.5

Well look at that big kid! This picture is freaking me out. First of all she cooperated without a bribe and she has developed a slightly fake yet adorable "I'm having my picture taken" smile. This month was loooooooong to say the least so maybe there was enough time for her to turn into a big kid in one month. Here are some highlights from this month:

• First of all Polly developed pneumonia at the beginning of the month after having a cough for a long time. I had a very busy week at work and super dad was there all the way staying home and taking her to the doctor but she wasn't getting better.  I was up all night with her many nights and dad had day duty as I dragged my giant pregnant self to work. Pure will power got me through the week.   As a pending out of town work trip across the country drew nearer, this mama was losing her mind with guilt and worry. We booked another doctor appointment and Ben dropped me at the airport. I felt TERRIBLE about leaving my sick baby. As I'm boarding the plane I get the word that she's allergic to amoxicillin. We've been poisoning our child all week, great.  So, turn your phone to airplane mode and don't freak out during the four hour flight. OK. Two days later she was back to her normal self and I couldn't have been more relieved.  
• A conversation with Polly

          Polly: Mommy, can I watch a movie?
          Me: Not right now
          Polly: (angry) Mommy!  When I ask to watch a movie, you say yes!

• I'm still feeling super sentimental about these last few weeks with just Polly and I think she's feeling it too. Today she was very cuddly and told me she loved me a lot which is just too much for this pregnant mama's heart. 
• Public service announcement: after a certain point in pregnancy, don't talk to women about their bodies. Saying, "you look like you are going to go any day now" when they still have 5 weeks left isn't helpful or "are you sure there aren't two in there?" 
• This could be the last Polly post before the baby comes. At least that's what I'm hoping. I'm so swollen and I'm a few pounds away from having to cut a head hole in a bed sheet and wear that to work. Just in case, we snapped this pic today.  As you can see, my sausage fingers and feet are out of control.  I definitely didn't swell like this with Polly but this heat is out of control and that isn't helped by all of the sitting in meetings I'm doing these days at work since it's planning season.  So, if I'm still pregnant when I post next month, know it is accompanied by lots of tears. 
  
  
  
  
  

Lonely Song by Polly

I'm definitely hitting a phase in this pregnancy where I'm really sentimental about the fact that my days with my one little sidekick are numbered.  I know we have enough room in our lives for two little girls but there is something bitter sweet about hitting this final stretch of pregnancy.  This last month seemed to go by at a normal pace aside from the fact that work is CRAZY for me right now.  Here's this month in review:

• While eating breakfast the other day Polly breaks the silence with, "sometimes when you and daddy leave me at school I sing a lonely song."  Well thanks kid, that feels terrible.  I reassure you that she loves school and playing with her friends but she definitely loves her music too and to mess with our emotions.
• She likes to request songs to hear in the car by basically telling you a playlist when you get in. If you don't play them all or play the wrong one she will notice.
• You are NEVER allowed to end a song in the middle.
• She got in trouble at school the other day for eating weeds on the playground.  When I asked her why she was eating weeds she said it's because she and her friend were pretending to be panda bears eating bamboo.  She actually says bamboos which made it sound even cuter.  I'm thinking this is how I trick her into eating salad.    
• She's really into running around naked and shaking her naked butt in your face. Where does this come from? 
• She had a lapse in potty training over the last few weeks just to keep us on our toes.  She's finally gotten back on board but our nerves are shot at this point.  
• I'm definitely at an emotional point in this pregnancy.  On Monday I was working from home and I looked out the upstairs window to see Polly swinging on her glider in her Wonder Woman shirt with her cape blowing in the wind.  The sun and weather was perfect and the whole scene made me cry. Yikes.  
• Polly is officially in a big kid twin bed which this emotional momma can barely handle. She's so proud of it.  We made sure she knows to sleep close to the wall and put a pillow between her and the edge of the bed along the side.  That didn't keep her from falling...off the foot of the bed and smacking her little face on the bookshelf. There were big tears and blood which is extremely stressful in the middle of the night. In the middle of the crying and the dabbing of her bloody lip she looked up at me seriously as I rocked her in her chair with big tears in her eyes and asked, "Is Marlin a clown fish?" I'm confused by this question in the middle of the drama, "Like from Nemo?", I ask.  She lets out a sad pathetic, "yeah." I assure her, "yes Marlin is a clown fish." She is satisfied with this and says, "ok, I'll tell my friends at school."  In my mind I'm thinking, OH OKAY, YOU ARE FINE?!?  I'M A LITTLE STRESSED HERE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW THIS SOONER!!!  It is terrible seeing your little kid get hurt but I was so proud of her too for getting back in bed without worry. 
• There is a baby room with a crib waiting for a baby. No, I'M NOT FREAKING OUT A LITTLE OVER HERE! I'm freaking out a little over here.  

Elephants Are...

So, so tired.  Having a toddler at 26 weeks pregnant is no joke.  Luckily she keeps me on my toes.  She was not interested in cooperating this morning but we did get this serious pic.  Even when she's driving me crazy, she is still the cutest person I've ever seen.  She's also at an age where you never know what is going to come out of her mouth.  Here are some highlights from this month:

• Just tonight she was telling us about how elephants are vagitarians to which Ben and I both busted out laughing and corrected her, "we think you mean vegetarians".  Vagitarians are probably something completely different and it's perhaps a title that belongs in the adult film industry.  To afraid to google if this title exists out there but if it doesn't, you are welcome world, it's yours to use. 
• The other night Polly was calling for me to come into her room but I sent daddy instead to which she said to him, "get out of here, I don't like your hair.  I don't want to look at it."  WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM?!?
• Every thing good she learns is from us and everything bad she learns is from school.  That sounds about right, right?  Fact.  
• She is making room in her mind for her little sister.  We bought a new rocking chair for her room this weekend that gives her room to sit next to me in the chair since I'm running out of lap space with the belly and frees up the old chair for the baby room.  We were reading the other night and she stopped and said the baby has room to sit on the other side of me.  I love that she's thinking of our routine and imagining her baby sister there.  She's going to be so loving.  This baby is going to have a second mommy for sure! 
• She remembers everything. EVERYTHING!
• She pretend reads and it's my favorite thing right now.  I love hearing her version of the stories that we read.  I'm always amazed by how much she remembers but she also just makes up her own stories too. It's crazy to see that transition. She's growing so fast. 
• I'm feeling very ill prepared for #2.  By this point in my pregnancy with Polly her room was in process and we were reading everything.  We have time right? 

Pizza Cake

It truly feels like I just posted the last Polly update.  Time is going so fast between work, stealing moments to enjoy spring, and chasing this crazy little lady around with a growing baby belly.  I usually have a note open on my phone that I write funny little things that she has said over the last month and there was only one thing that I have down:

She's really exploring her boundaries and experimenting with listening or better yet, not listening.  After a back and forth exchange with her about doing something she didn't want to do she yelled, "walk away, you're not in my life, this is closed!"  Again I find myself wondering what in the world will come out of her mouth in the teenage years.  Here are a few other highlights from the month:

• The web of night time routine that she weaves is constantly evolving.  Right before bed she is hungry, thirsty and transforms into half sloth, half human.  She has developed a kiss routine that has grown to include a regular kiss, an eskimo kiss, a butterfly kiss.  Just added this week we have the forehead kiss which consists of her banging her forehead against mine and then the grand finale where we kiss one another on the nose.  Last night she tried to add me doing the routine with Bear before turning off the light but I declined.  I could hear her high pitched voice, which is her voice for Bear, fake crying as I went down stairs.  
• When given the choice between most restaurants and Indian food, she will always pick Indian food.  The pizza option can throw her for a loop though.  
• She has been talking a lot lately about wanting to make a pizza cake.  She describes it as having sauce on the inside and frosting, strawberries and cheese on the outside.  
• She got me a bear for my birthday.  The bear I've slept with for the last 20+ years finally lost both of it's legs this month.  She named it Mommy Bear or Chris.  
• All of this is cute and funny and sweet but this year so far has been hard.  Work has been a challenge and I feel tired a lot which is tough when you have an eager little lady ready to play all the time.  I'm so lucky and I know that but that doesn't make it easier or make me feel less guilty for wanting some quiet, alone time.  I try to remind myself that this time is passing so quickly and there will be a time in my future when the world is still and quiet around me and I will probably hate it.  I've been trying to focus more on appreciating the simplicity of one before there are two little ladies with hilarious bedtime routines.  

Girl Parts - Part II

We are getting ready for another baby in our house and it's quite amazing how different the second time is and how guilty I feel about how little I've posted about this baby in comparison to our prep for Polly to arrive.  Today we found out that we are having another little girl and things are starting to settle in that our family of three is about to become four in 20 weeks.  Sisters!  That makes my heart melt.  My sister and I are so different but I love having a sister and I can't wait for my girls (MY GIRLS!) to have that too.  If the coming 20 weeks pass as fast as the past 20 weeks have then she will be here basically tomorrow.  I wonder how different they will be.  This baby girl is already facing the right way which Polly never did.  Maybe there is a natural childbirth in my future after all.

Polly couldn't be more excited about her baby sister.  She has said from day one that it was a girl.  She would never entertain the fact that it could be a boy.  She also wants to name her Aika.  I'm making up the spelling because I have NO idea where that comes from but she's insisted that's her name for months.

What will we name this little girl? How will she change our little family? We don't know but we can't wait to see what happens.  20 weeks down, 20 weeks to go!

Also, I feel huge already!!!

Statue of Liberty

She is yelling, "I look like the Statue of Liberty!" in this photo.  She really loves that statue!  She is a handful and this month between a three year old, being pregnant, the February grey days and work kicking my butt, I have been one tired lady.  This year should be interesting.  Polly is definitely at an age where you never know what in the world is going to come out of her mouth.  I truly can't document it all but this first interaction sure does sum it up many of our interactions this month:


Polly: (angry voice) GO AWAY!
Me: (nice calm voice) Polly, be nice.
Polly: (louder angry voice) PLEASE GO AWAY.
Me: silently walking away to laugh in the other room

Other highlights:

• I was leaving for work and then for a night away to attend the Midwest Craft Con, organized in part by my awesome business partner in Crafty Supermarket crime Grace, and feeling a lot of mommy guilt about working too much and going away for the night.  Earlier in the morning I told Polly that I wouldn't see her until tomorrow night and she was quite sad which doubled my guilt but as I was leaving out the door she stood up in her chair and yelled, "BYE MOMMY HAVE A GOOD TIME!"  It melted my heart.  She is such a perfect combination of salty and sweet.  It's terrifying.
• Last night we were reading books before bed and she wanted to cuddle with the baby so she laid her head on my belly, rubbed it and said, "I love you baby".  I'm basically going to cry a lot between now and this time next year I think.  I can't handle the idea of my little Polly being a big sister.  It's too much for the tear ducts to handle.  
• My insides still turn upside down when watching Polly and her dad.  He is such a great dad and it's my favorite thing to see.  
• The other night we were at Skyline eating dinner and above our heads a TV had the news playing.  Polly looked at the television and said, "Look, it's Donald Trump".  I said yeah, we don't like Donald Trump.  Polly's face gets all sad and she says loudly, "BUT I LIKE DONALD TRUMP!"  Ben and I are both shaking our heads frantically saying no, no!  Hopefully we don't have an Alex P. Keaton on our hands here.  Donald Trump is like a cartoon character so I can see the appeal to a toddler.  No I can't.  This is terrible!  What have we done wrong?!?!  
• I'm too sleepy for more bullets.