The late stages of pregnancy can do funny things to a person.
Erika just started spontaneously cleaning out the refrigerator, a task she has *NEVER* willingly undertaken in her adult life unless there were thousands of dollars in rent deposit riding on it. You would be amazed (horrified? sickened? disgusted?) to see what she found lurking under the vegetable drawers.
She has also developed a near-insatiable appetite for cheesecake, a dessert she formerly despised (except for Junior's Cheesecake of NYC for some odd reason). She traces the strength of her original aversion back to the day her father presented her with a plate of cheesecake but called it "banana cream pie" (one of her very favorite desserts) in an effort to get her to admit she actually liked cheesecake. She realized his deception after that first, unexpectedly sour bite, and never forgave him. Also never liked cheesecake. Until the third trimester of this pregnancy. And now she can't get enough of the stuff, especially the newly in season pumpkin variety.
We are hoping to make it through Halloween before baby moves to The Outside, if only to take advantage of the many unique costume options available to extremely pregnant women. Basketball and Jack O Lantern have been suggested, and Erika came up with the very clever "Pregnant Lady!" Ok, maybe not so clever. She is going with her favorite suggestion (can't remember who suggested it -- another curse of late-stage pregnancy): Black Widow Spider! Think all-black with a strategically placed red hourglass cut-out.
She is really tempting fate, though, by purchasing theater tickets for Friday night for a "Last" date with her dear husband. (Is there dating after a second child? Inquiring minds want to know...) A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by one of Nevada City's finest theater people, and playing at the Nevada (formerly Foothill) Theater, a venue she grew quite familiar with on trips to Nevada City in her youth. Couldn't resist.
And now she is off to a much-anticipated pre-natal massage, but not without one for the English majors out there. This will probably only be funny to English majors who are familiar with California's Central Valley (Andrew? Are you out there?) but here goes. Found in the advertisement section of AAA's Via magazine: Experience the "wonders" of Solvang!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
All About Peter
I blame The Bump, but the amount of neglect this blog has gotten over the past few months rivals only the amount of neglect *I* have been getting lately. Erika can no longer bend down to pet me, and when I try to make up for the lack of petting during daylight hours by making myself un-ignorably PRESENT in the pre-dawn hours of the night, I get shafted. Swept off the bed. Removed. Unloved. Ignored. This will all change when breast feeding starts up again -- those were the days! At least 20 minutes of good petting while the baby gets fed, and every few hours!
And then Peter will learn what it means to share the spotlight, the attention, the undivided love that used to be all mine before he arrived. And so, this blog post is devoted to Peter and Peter exclusively. It's probably the last exclusive blog post he'll get if this baby shows up in a timely manner.
Peter is officially three and a half years old! He stays busy in pre-school four days a week now, while mama gestates, writes, and tries to get healthy food into Nevada County schools. The kid LOVES trucks, especially fire trucks and dump trucks that he can load with whatever is handy. He also loves dental floss. Not sure where he picked that one up, but upon departing his first Real dental cleaning with a balloon, a new tooth brush, stickers, and a container of dental floss, he said: "Mom, I have ALWAYS wanted to have dental floss!" Whatever kid, keep it up.
He is constantly in motion, but has a gentle, sweet side and is finally learning how to pet me properly. He also has a great sense of humor. He frequently cracks himself (and mom) up (see dental floss quote in previous paragraph).
Here he is flying his Barbie plane.
And here is how he used the dozens of ink stamps at the shield decorating activity at the Children's Fair. Mom still says no tattoos until he is 40.
He almost learned how to swim this summer -- next summer for sure. Hopefully he will be potty trained by then as well. Sadly, he didn't get to spend as much time in the South Yuba as he did last summer, as mom was having a hard time clambering around the rocks. But he had a lot of fun weekend days with dad and a picnic from SPD.
The family did get a couple of mini-vacations late this summer, one to the beach in Pescadero...
Where we met up with Peter's San Francisco buddies Mateus and Carter AND Uncle Bill (not pictured).
And another to Pagalonthia, an epic festival with a bunch of other families, on a secluded private lake in Mendocino County. Peter got to hang with another San Francisco buddy (Paxton) and hone his fishing and painting skills. Not napping for five days took its toll, but it was worth it...
Here is what Peter will look like in 60 years or so (There was an actual BATHTUB at Leonard Lake!).
And finally, we had a nice birthday celebration for mom with Nevada City friends "LindyPiper" (Amy, Lance, Lindy, and Piper). Don't be fooled by the innocent smile -- look where his fingers are.
Peter seems ready to become a big brother -- he gives "his" baby lots of hugs and kisses and kind words through mama's belly, and has volunteered to share several toys and outgrown pieces of clothing with his little brother or sister. We'll see what happens when Baby is actually on the Outside.
He notices more and more about the world around him (the leaves are changing colors!) and has become quite articulate, when the dreaded whiny voice has not taken over his vocal cords. He loves to tell stories about his day, what happened, what he learned. And he LOVES music. He makes requests now, for the "Hello Song" on his Music Together CD (ad nauseum) and for "angry" or "sad" songs. Mom introduced him to a capella and then punk rock the other day. He is very interested in which instruments are present in each song he hears, but he seems to prefer banging on a drum (or several of mom's pots and pans) to any other form of musical expression.
Mom is getting a bit nostalgic about her time with Peter and just Peter, especially now that she is able to take him grocery shopping, and out to restaurants almost without incident. But life goes on, and that's a good thing.
And then Peter will learn what it means to share the spotlight, the attention, the undivided love that used to be all mine before he arrived. And so, this blog post is devoted to Peter and Peter exclusively. It's probably the last exclusive blog post he'll get if this baby shows up in a timely manner.
Peter is officially three and a half years old! He stays busy in pre-school four days a week now, while mama gestates, writes, and tries to get healthy food into Nevada County schools. The kid LOVES trucks, especially fire trucks and dump trucks that he can load with whatever is handy. He also loves dental floss. Not sure where he picked that one up, but upon departing his first Real dental cleaning with a balloon, a new tooth brush, stickers, and a container of dental floss, he said: "Mom, I have ALWAYS wanted to have dental floss!" Whatever kid, keep it up.
He is constantly in motion, but has a gentle, sweet side and is finally learning how to pet me properly. He also has a great sense of humor. He frequently cracks himself (and mom) up (see dental floss quote in previous paragraph).
Here he is flying his Barbie plane.
And here is how he used the dozens of ink stamps at the shield decorating activity at the Children's Fair. Mom still says no tattoos until he is 40.
He almost learned how to swim this summer -- next summer for sure. Hopefully he will be potty trained by then as well. Sadly, he didn't get to spend as much time in the South Yuba as he did last summer, as mom was having a hard time clambering around the rocks. But he had a lot of fun weekend days with dad and a picnic from SPD.
The family did get a couple of mini-vacations late this summer, one to the beach in Pescadero...
Where we met up with Peter's San Francisco buddies Mateus and Carter AND Uncle Bill (not pictured).
And another to Pagalonthia, an epic festival with a bunch of other families, on a secluded private lake in Mendocino County. Peter got to hang with another San Francisco buddy (Paxton) and hone his fishing and painting skills. Not napping for five days took its toll, but it was worth it...
Here is what Peter will look like in 60 years or so (There was an actual BATHTUB at Leonard Lake!).
And finally, we had a nice birthday celebration for mom with Nevada City friends "LindyPiper" (Amy, Lance, Lindy, and Piper). Don't be fooled by the innocent smile -- look where his fingers are.
Peter seems ready to become a big brother -- he gives "his" baby lots of hugs and kisses and kind words through mama's belly, and has volunteered to share several toys and outgrown pieces of clothing with his little brother or sister. We'll see what happens when Baby is actually on the Outside.
He notices more and more about the world around him (the leaves are changing colors!) and has become quite articulate, when the dreaded whiny voice has not taken over his vocal cords. He loves to tell stories about his day, what happened, what he learned. And he LOVES music. He makes requests now, for the "Hello Song" on his Music Together CD (ad nauseum) and for "angry" or "sad" songs. Mom introduced him to a capella and then punk rock the other day. He is very interested in which instruments are present in each song he hears, but he seems to prefer banging on a drum (or several of mom's pots and pans) to any other form of musical expression.
Mom is getting a bit nostalgic about her time with Peter and just Peter, especially now that she is able to take him grocery shopping, and out to restaurants almost without incident. But life goes on, and that's a good thing.
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