Flutters

Late as always with posting. I've been dealing with a toddler who is in full-on asshole mode AND getting at least two molars.

Last Thursday night, as I was awake at 3am listening to my child shriek and wondering what the chances were she would go back to sleep without parental intervention, I felt my first baby flutters of this pregnancy. I had totally forgotten how awesome that feeling is, and how much I missed feeling it after Ella was born.

I am kind of surprised to be feeling baby flutters already. Then again, I felt flutters with Ella at 14 weeks and by 17 weeks could feel outside movement, and from everything I had heard, you feel movement earlier with subsequent pregnancies.

One perk, I guess, of being up at 3am.

Hmmm, I guess I need to explain a little better

I've been trying to explain to Ella about the new baby. I brought out the doppler this morning and said to her,  "You hear that? That's the baby!" She clapped her hands and blew kisses. It was incredibly sweet and I was amazed she grasped what I was saying.

Until I asked if she could give the new baby a hug. I thought she would hug my belly, as we've been trying to teach her that's where the baby is right now.

Instead, she grabbed the doppler and cuddled it to her chest.

I guess I am not doing as good of a job explaining as I thought.

On the plus side, I bet she thinks her new baby brother or sister is pretty neat.

Homemade finger paints

In the interest of full disclosure, I will start this post by stating that there is a big part of me that loathes finger paints. They are messy and only keep her occupied for maybe 20 minutes max, and then it's a huge pain to clean up. We've tried the much neater "finger paint in a ziploc bag" solution, but of course, where is the fun if you can't make a huge mess? I figure if I am stuck doing finger paints for the foreseeable future, we should  at least do them right.

While browsing the internets, I came across this post on Learning 4 Kids, detailing how to make puffy paint. Even though Ella is not at the age where she cares about the puffiness of her paint, I decided to try it with her since she is at the age where she eats the paint. And if she is going to eat the paint, I would rather know exactly what is in it, even though her store-bought paints claim to be non-toxic.

It also is an easy and quick learning activity. We counted while I measured out the ingredients and went over colors as she made her palette selection. She helped mix and we talked about the texture of the ingredients. Of course, finger paints are a fantastic sensory activity.

Best of all, the homemade paints were SO much easier to clean up than the store-bought ones (washable and water based? The stains I am still scrubbing out of her clothes would beg to differ). A quick rinse of her hands and face, a few dabs of her shirt with a sponge, a wipe down of the high chair tray, and we were done.

We just might end up doing finger paints more often.

The two seconds where she was content actually painting on the paper instead of on her face. 

And that's more like it. 

Puffy Paint Recipe (as found on Learning 4 Kids)
1 tbsp self-rising flour
1 tbsp salt
3 tsp water
Food coloring

Soos!

After Ella got out of her pajamas this morning, I asked her, "What do you need to put on now?" 

"Soos." (Shoes)

"Don't you need socks on first?" 

"No." (Emphatic head shaking). "SOOS!" 

She sits down and attempts to put her shoes on. Mind you, she is buck naked at this point. 

I help her put them on, and say, "Are you missing anything?"

She looks around, pats her belly, ensures that there are shoes on her feet. 

"No."

I think she has a slight obsession with her shoes. 

Sick Toddler

My clothes are encrusted with snot.

There are crayons all over the kitchen floor.

Everywhere I turn, there is yet another dirty tissue.

Foods that don't contain cheese are poison. Unless they are crackers. Preferably eaten with cheese.

Yesterday the only thing that made her happy was pretending to sweep the floor. Today, it's watching me sweep the floor (is she trying to tell me something about the cleanliness of the house? Hey kiddo, if you didn't smash your crackers into the floor, it wouldn't be so dirty).

We may not survive the week.

Weaning

Over the past few weeks, I've had to gradually wean Ella from nursing three times a day, to two, to finally only before bed. Tonight was the first night that I cut her nightly nursing session in half, and tomorrow I will cut that time in half again, until we are through. It feels weird to think that by the end of the week, I will no longer be breastfeeding her. 

I know many people are thinking, "She's 14 months old! It's far past the time when you should have stopped!" (And if you are one of those people, don't even get me started). I know logically it is the best decision, not only because of my history of miscarriage and preterm labor, but because my body is having a hard impossible time keeping up with the demands of pregnancy and nursing a toddler. I know Ella will adjust and be fine, and that I have breastfed her longer than the majority of women do in this country. I know I made it past my initial goal of one year, and I should be proud of that. 

Yet I still am having a hard time coming to grips with weaning. I already have fears and anxieties about going from one baby to two, and it feels like I am telling Ella that the new baby is more important than her. 

To be honest, I don't know if I would feel ready to stop even if she was two. 

The next few nights are not going to be pretty.  

Big news!

Ella tried to call up everyone to tell them herself, but as she's having trouble working the phone, I'll let the picture tell you instead. 

That's right, Ella is going to be a big sister! Baby Schrodinger (because we don't know whether it's a boy or girl so we can simultaneously think of it as both) is due on October 5 and is doing fantastic. I've been nauseated and exhausted, which is why there is a dearth of blog posts recently. Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll start feeling better and can get back to posting more.