Allie Rebecca

Allie Rebecca

8 lb 6 oz

21"

10:25 pm
August 21, 2012 

Complete with fur on her forehead, back and some braidable strands on her ears. 
9 days old today, and still smothered in kisses all day from 3 adoring household fans.

Birth story to come.

Enjoy Jackson's reaction when we got home (just a little excited):  

An Extra Treat

We've given up waiting for baby sister and moved onto having fun with Grandma.

Of course Jackson's favorite is looking at pictures of Jackson on G'ma's computer. Shocking.

Waiting

Cell phones have really changed a lot in life. Perhaps the most poignant aspect I can think of is coordination. I remember distinctly as a child, waiting for rides (from other people or my parents), and figuring out that if I sat and watched out the window, they were less likely to come on time. If I did something productive--beside waiting--they seemed to come faster. A book, a little homework, etc always helped move the unknown wait period along. Cell phones seem to totally change this waiting game, since a quick phone call can let you know if someone's lost stuck in traffic, or just late. Bam. Expectations are shifted and waiting time has just been significantly reduced.

We're thrilled that baby sister doesn't have a cell phone, but boy has she thrown us for loops! I'm pretty sure, I've received 10 texts this week of people asking if she's here yet. I guess we over anticipated her early arrival and now this waiting for baby sister has been very much like my early days of waiting for rides.

So, why not continue to be productive. Contingent plans are a bit hard to plan around ("ya, let's get together on friday... as long as I'm not in labor"). But, I guess this is how God is teaching me patience and reminding me of that lesson I learned so long ago.

With our billion contingent plans this week, Jackson and I managed to have quite a bit of fun.

Sticks are always a favorite, but we now added bubbles being stabbed by the sticks!

(Our real life version of the Fruit Slice game)

We've played a lot of pretend--today's animal happened to be the horse.

And, we've been to our favorite neighborhood fountain 3 times this week. I finally brought the camera today to capture Jackson's incredible faces.

 

Amazing what a plastic cup and some water can do--even the 3rd day in a row. (Notice the horse is still in hand).

We'll keep waiting patiently and trying to remember that this little girl is a lot less work inside then she is outside! Hopefully Grandma doesn't get too bored when she shows up on Sunday.

Left and Right Coordination

I have an issue with a few basic things that 1st grade teachers should have mastered: spelling, and telling my left from my right. It makes me feel great that I married a man who is an expert in both fields, and I have learned to deal with both issues (spell check, and pointing are the easiest), but they seem to still haunt me quite often. Although there seems to be a correlation amongst all of us in-laws on Mark's side of the family, I am hoping that it's not genetic since I didn't seem to inherit it from my parents.

Every parent is always scared of passing on their weaknesses to their children--thankfully Jackson has not shown major signs of poor spelling or right left distinction. The only indication I can see hindering his future skills, is his tricycle riding. He has an awesome 2-wheeler skut bike that he's a bit scared of--but slowly warming up to, and then a normal tricycle. He LOVES being pushed on the tricycle, but before this week, could not get the coordination to push the right foot and then the left. I know bud. This two sided body thing is rough. Everytime I made him try to ride his trike by himself, he would get SO frustrated and end up falling off {who falls of 3-wheelers!?}.

We had a turning point this week. Apparently a slight decline in pavement, and a little help from gravity was what he needed to feel the coordination. He is ridiculously proud of his new abilities and now seems to want to do nothing else.

Now if we could teach him to turn around, and pedal uphill, this could be an independent activity. And we could determine him free from the genetic issue of right vs. left.

Toenails and Big Bellies

Can I just say I miss my little iPod Touch. It's just so much lighter and easier to capture Jackson with than our totally awesome massive camera. I guess I can go back to my point and shoot when I don't want to bring the beauty with us. Jackson and I have been on quite a few adventures lately, but I have no documentation of them because I didn't want to carry the camera. Sigh. Such is life. So, we'll stick close to home with our discussion today.

I didn't want to carry the camera because. Du du du du:! I'm 37 weeks preggo, and sensitive to all extra weight. Especially if it's not consumable. With that 37 weeks, I decided it was time to post a belly shot--first official one, and it's blurry because I never remember to have Mark do those types of things when he's home--so the self timer had to work without focusing.

For a reference point, here's Jackson at 38 +

Gosh that car was a beauty!

We are all baby planning around here-the carseat is finally washed and ready to be thrown in when needed, she actually has clothes that are not all blue, and we've got 5 different people who want to help with Jackson.

I officially cannot touch my toes (which is not good since they need to be painted), have a hard time sweeping the floor, and cringe anytime Jackson wants to sit on my lap.

Jackson can still touch his toes, is very affectionate toward "baby sister"--aka my belly--and has no trouble running away at crucial moments during the day. Great fun!

Although he can touch his toes, he's been suffering the random effects of Hand Foot and Mouth disease [HFM] which he acquired on our vacation at the beginning of June. We noticed his right toenail was doing something weird a few weeks ago. I thought he just kept stubbing his toe really hard, or had acquired a fungus (as a result of his distaste in shoes of all kinds). Thankfully, Google held the answer--the sores on the feet from HFM cause the nails to start to come off 6 weeks after they've had the virus! Thankfully his nails should grow back. And thank you Mark, for finding that out BEFORE we went to the dr--since they can't do anything anyway! Gross warning: don't look if you don't like feet.

Hopefully we get that all fixed up. The good news is Jackson asks to get his toenails clipped every day! Definitely a first. In other good news, Mark will be coming to the hospital with me and carrying all our bags--so we will have camera documentation of our upcoming adventure--whether that's this week, next or in 3 weeks!--hopefully not in 4.

Oh Happy Day

It was Mark's b'day on Saturday. We decided to celebrate for most of the week, and sing the birthday song all day on Saturday.

It's funny how Jackson makes everything so much more exciting than us boring adults. So, we enjoyed celebrating Mark's birthday by entertaining Jackson.

This meant the long awaited bus ride down to Georgetown.

 

Jackson was by far the most enthusiastic rider (especially compared to all the plugged-in commuters) --"Truck!" "Water" "Crane!" "Boat" "Airplane!!!"

We went specifically to get a cupcake at the infamous Georgetown Cupcake, but since we saw an awesome fountain, we stopped there first, and had a bonus duck feeding.

 

And then the cupcake.

Jackson even got to top off the day with a playdate at Lilia's house while Mark and I went to a Brazilian Steakhouse yummy!

The actual birthday was spent at Clemyjontri Park--a place I've been wanting to check out, but just haven't gotten around to. This insanely large, all rubber matted park was designed to be very accessible for handicap children, and as such was a toddler paradise!

To really help the birthday sink in, Jackson insisted on singing happy birthday to Dad, at every meal and multiple times (he even rounded up a tea light candle from who knows where to help out at breakfast time).  Overall, I think Mark enjoyed his birthday by thoroughly enjoying Jackson. Oh happy day.

Cooling Agents

This whole week I've been trying to imagine being pregnant in the east without A/C. I understand that it was done for thousands of years, and for a good portion of the last century. But my goodness, it must have been an incredible challenge.
We had a nice little storm visit over the weekend. Incredibly, our electricity stayed on, but the majority of the 10 other pregnant women I know right now, were not so lucky. I think everyone became very creative with how to deal with the lack of temperature control. Water--in pools, sprinklers, fountains, where ever--became the theme.

We did recieve this beauty as a gift from the storm.

(The tree branch, not the neighbor's car)

Jackson and I took advantage of utility trucks out our front door and watched the city crews clean it up. Talk about a dream come true for Jackson. He was in love and completely entertained for the whole hour it took to clean it up.

Later in the week, we escaped the heat and went down to Virginia Beach for the first time with another family. Jackson and I were both thrilled by the temperature of the atlantic waters. Water is almost more amazing then AC because it's such an incredible cooling agent, and it's been around since the beginning of the world!

Mark was amazing at helping Jackson make the most of his ocean experience. Those two played for hours in the sand and water.

Love those boys and love me some water!