One more week!

Today is Monday. By this time next week, I'll be holding little Amelie in my arms, discovering all her little parts and features, and hugging her nonstop. I can't wait.

This weekend was a good one. On Saturday I went in for fetal monitoring and everything checked out okay...Amelie's read out from the machine looked great, and they confirmed that she has turned to a head down position. My fluid level is great. Now we wait.

On Sunday we attended Alia's second annual Halloween party at Dr. H's office (the fertility doc that created her). Since Alia was afraid of her original costume, we improvised...

...and of course, I felt that Alia was the bell of the ball in her tutu and Halloween t-shirt. In this shot, we're watching airplanes taking off and landing at the nearby airport, which, in Alia's opinion, was better than any of the party's activities!

Here, some one was nice enough to take a photo of all three four of us...and you can really tell there are four of us!

And here my little darling is making Mama proud by reorganizing all the sodas and bottled waters...it seems that the water and soda had become mixed in the different ice bins, but leave to my baby to reorganize it for everyone's benefit. That's my girl!

The state of things....

This week has been not the best for Alia....last Friday she caught a cold and has been under the weather all week. She also had her 15 month checkup, (weight: 26 pounds; height: 33 inches....greater than the 94th percentile for both) which also required 3 vaccinations and a flu shot booster. Like I said, just not a good week for our little monkey. 

Like I said in Alia's 15 month update, she is also showing signs of moving from 2 naps per day to 1 nap, but she's not quite there yet. On Wednesday, she managed to make it through the day with 1 nap, but it was ugly...really ugly...by the end of the day. We're talking full-on monkey mode with tears by day-end ...pinballing from one piece of furniture to the next and crying at the drop of a hat (or in her case, Froggy).  Re-reading what I've just written, I ask myself if perhaps she's not ready for 1 nap a day. I question my reasoning. Hmmmm. But the thing is, Alia has always been a good baby when put down for a nap...she gets her Froggy, a bottle of water, lies in the crib and looks up as if to say, "thanks, Mommy...I could really use a nap right now". But these past weeks, she's begun resisting her morning nap, which used to be around 9 or 9:30, but is now pushed all the way back to 10:30 or 11AM.  But she's still sleeping like a log once she goes off to naptime. So what's the answer? Do I keep on pushing her back and try to consolidate? Do I keep on just reading where she is day to day and then decide? And oh, yeah....how is all of this impacted by the brand new baby that'll be coming home in under two weeks?

In less than two weeks...that's right...a new baby. A BRAND NEW BABY!!!! A teeny tiny one with teeny tiny toes and teeny tiny little hands. And teeny tiny stretches of sleep. I am going to be one busy girl. As this pregnancy draws to a close, I feel a little bit sad...this is our last baby. This is my last pregnancy. And sure, I'm at the very very uncomfortable stage. And sure, I'm dying to get this body back in shape. But there is something so special and intimate about pregnancy...and this is the last couple of weeks of the experience for me. To share my body with another little person...to know her every wiggle...to feel her every hiccup...to wonder what position her arms (or is that a leg?) are in to make it feel like that. It's bittersweet to be at the end. I'll be happy to have my bladder back. I'll be happy to have less to lug around. I'll be happy to be the old me again. But I'll miss pregnancy, and I'm sad to know that this is it for us. 

Alia is 15 months old!

I'm sitting here with my feet on the coffee table. I can barely see my swollen piggies peeking over the top of the laptop. I am very, very pregnant. In fact, this is the last time I'll be writing Alia's monthly note with her as an only child. Her sister will join us in one week, five days.

This month has been one of big adjustments for me personally. I've had to come to terms with the fact that I'll be in the hospital for 3, maybe 4 days when Alia's sister Amelie is delivered. She's frank breech, which makes another c-section my choice, which means perhaps a little longer stay away from my darling. I can't imagine how hard it's going to be to be away from her for a few days. It brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. I haven't been away from Alia for more than 2 or 3 hours in her entire life, so leaving her is huge for me.

That said, let's talk about how my big big girl has grown and developed this month. The word toddler...it means something now. She toddles about all day long. When she's tired, she turns into a human pinball, bouncing from one piece of furniture to another, and nearly always being and inch from eminent danger in this wobbly state.

Alia's personality is developing daily. She is a very sweet girl who loves to share her favorite possessions with everyone who she comes into contact. Of course, she's more showing you, "hey! here's my Froggy! take him! now, give him back!" and if you miss a beat? She becomes just a little impatient that you're not giving it back in a timely fashion.

Alia's vocabulary is growing at an impressive rate. Her understanding of what we're saying is really impressive. Just about any household item is recognized, and she's happy to retrieve anything you tell her...the ball, the pillow, the pointy scissors, the kitchen knife....you name it, it's in her hands and she's happy to run it over to you.

Alia is now showing signs that she's ready to move from two naps to one. Her morning nap is inching later and later into the day, and her afternoon nap is nearly always only 30 minutes...at least, that's this week. She does change from week to week. My hope is that she'll be steadily converted to a one-nap day by the time I go to the hospital, just to simplify her Grandma and Daddy's job.

Speaking of Grandma, Ajay's Mom arrived a couple of weeks ago. Once again, Alia has taken to Maya like a duck to water. Alia has been a little more clingy with me lately, which I believe is because she senses my pregnancy and the changes that are happening around her.

Alia is very interested in how things work, and if I didn't know that her curiosity about how things work is her driving force, I'd swear she was up to mischief. Some of her new favorite past times are toilet paper unrolling, safety corner unsticking (from the pointy edges of the tables), and pulling all my clothes off hangers in the closet. Yes, I am giving her the benefit of the doubt...she's curious, not bad!

Alia says lots of words...they just might not sound like words to people that don't know her. For example, golk-golk means yogurt. She also knows the sign language for eat, banana, car, cat, and birdie. Oh yeah, and she shouts bow wow wow at the top of her lungs anytime she sees a dogs

Alia is an excellent pointer. She points out her ears, nose, eyes, hands, fingers, toes, feet, and belly button. She points to Daddy, Mommy, Grandma, Grandad, Uncle Jim, and Aunt Carol on demand. Alia also points at the moon, airplanes, birds, bees whenever she notices them. Her hearing is noteworthy...we can be sitting in the living room singing along with songs on the iPod and she'll point to the ceiling, at which point I'll notice the faintest sound of an airplane over-head. Same with neighborhood dogs barking...they can be blocks away, and when she hears them she shouts BOW WOW! Here Alia points out a plane overhead....above all the noise of the park, she hears it! Even if it is flying at 70,000 feet!

Alia is addicted to Daddy. She can't get enough of him. Before last week, Alia woke up at 5AM for a bottle, which Daddy would give her, change her diaper, and put her back to bed....she would then sleep until 7AM give or take. But these days? She's figured out that he's only home for the a tiny window in the morning, so she stays awake and cries for Daddy so she can spend time with him before work.

Oh, and did I mention? Alia is now wearing shoes from time to time. She's been a barefoot baby up until fairly recently. The reason she's finally agreeable to wearing shoes is that she hates to be dirty...no dirt is allowed on her hands or her feet...which makes a trip to the park very tricky without shoes...

Oh, and speaking of fashions...were we speaking of fashion? Here's my lastest little project...Alia's jeans jacket for fall....which I dolled up with a cute heat transfer. And did I mention? Alia's new favorite thing?
Teething biscuits.

Alia's test drive...

We brought the Mountain Buggy up from the garage in preparation of Amelie's arrival...she'll be sleeping in the bassinet next to our bed for those first few weeks.

Upon unfolding the collapsed stroller, but before attaching the bassinet,  I noticed the tires needed air. And the whole thing was a little dusty. So while I was tidying it all up, a little toddler toddled my way, and sweetly put her hand on my shoulder. Obviously this thing had potential for being as fun as a carnival ride.

So before we did anything else, Alia climbed aboard for a test drive around the house in her new race car....

....with Bow Wow Wow as her co-pilot.

Is it just me?

Yesterday I ran some errands on my own. Alia woke up with a faucet for a nose, and Maya graciously sent me on my way to run some errands solo. Do you know how much I can do without a 29 pound baby to lug around...sitting atop of my 9 month pregnant belly? Well, not as much as I could without being 9 months pregnant, but still...just driving with NPR on instead of Baby Beluga was a real treat for me.

Okay, my point of this blog? BabiesRUs was my destination, but I also wanted to stop at Trader Joe's.  With this as my objective, I decided to venture out to Aliso Viejo, which is one city inland from me here in Laguna, but a city I haven't spent much time in. So I pull up BabiesRUs online to check the address for navigation purposes, and notice a button that says "print in-store mailer" or something like that. Coupons? Why not! So in addition to printing out the address, I print out the store's ad and notice a $5 off total purchase in addition to a savings on things I was going to buy anyway. Score! That's just found money if you ask me.

So I go, shop, and get in line to check out. I hand over my freshly printed coupons, and wouldn't you know it? They require your BabiesRUs Rewards card. Which I don't have. I've never had an actual card that I'm aware of...they always look it up. But today? No, they can't pull it up by looking up my phone number like they do every other time. The system is down. No, the manager can't authorize my membership without being able to look it up. No, they can't do anything. I can, however, save my receipt and coupon, and the next time I'm in, just bring my non-existent card, and they'll be happy to refund my savings at that time.

Yeah, that's going to happen.

I was so annoyed! I mean, had I not gone to the trouble of looking up the address, I never would have known that I had about $20 off my purchases coming my way. But knowing that I had actually printed the coupons? And twice had to go to the printer and figure out why it wasn't just printing (paper jam, and a restart required)? I was so miffed! Had I not known? No problem! But knowing? Just another case of clearly horrible customer service and bad decision-making by management!

Where is the time going?

Well, Ajay's Mom Maya arrived almost 10 days ago. Where has the time gone? Seriously....yesterday I realized that she didn't just get here!

So the countdown is on...Alia's sister will arrive in 2 weeks and 3 days. It's surreal how quickly the days are passing right now. This whole week passed in a blink. I can't believe it's already Friday, and I haven't posted a thing in a week. Sure I've thought about it, but who has time?

This week I managed to do a little more preparation for the baby's arrival. The Mountain Buggy and bassinet was brought up from the garage...just like with Alia, we plan to use the bassinet setting for the stroller at our bedside for the first weeks home. Then I'll probably move into the living room with the baby once Ajay goes back to work.

Last week I unfortunately had to let my nanny go. Now that I'm back to going it alone, I am a little stressed about having a 15 month old and a newborn at home by myself. Sure, Ajay is taking off for 3 weeks. Maya will stay as long as she feels she's needed (quick...what's the best way to prove incompetence?), my Mom will visit on 11/9 for a week, and my sister will come for a short visit over Thanksgiving weekend. But beyond that, it's me. On my own. Is this possible?

All that aside, I'm doing pretty good. We learned at the last ultrasound that the baby, who we have named Amelie, is Frank Breech. Meaning she is head up, butt down, legs fully extended with feet in front of her face. Literally folded in half. And I wondered why I could breathe.

So that's where we're at....big as a house, ready to pop, and scared to death that I'm going to be outnumbered by my babies!

Pat the Bunny

If you have a baby and or kids, you're probably familiar with the book Pat the Bunny....
You know the one...

Well, in the event you don't know this book, it was written forever ago and is a classic baby book. It begins with a brief introduction...Here's Paul and Judy...they can do cool stuff...so can you...

Judy can pat the bunny. Now you do it (and the bunny on the following page is very soft for little curious fingers)...

Then there's the page that Alia loves...Paul and Judy play peek-a-boo. Now you play peek-a-boo with Paul.

And Alia lifts the little cloth and squeals with delight.

And finally is the kicker...the "Paul smells the flowers...now you smell them..." page. See, Alia hasn't really learned the subtlety of what is expected of her on this page...so I picked up the book and held it to my nose to show her, but she thought I was licking the page. That's right...when Alia sees this page, she licks it...

...and this page...

...and this page, too. But on this page, the licking is followed by waving bye-bye. Because it's only polite.

My poor mistreated daughter...

Yesterday was a nice cool day, and for the afternoon trip to the park, I pulled out a jacket for the first time this season for Alia. The only thing? The jacket was from last spring.

So there's Alia, in her totally cute gray and black striped leggings with her black Hello Kitty pumpkin Halloween shirt, being stuffed into a springy turquoise jacket that was too little. And on top of that...I haven't bought her any shoes for fall yet, so all she has are sandals from the summer. So imagine what started out as a really cute little outfit, add the too-little turquoise jacket (which, by the way, when Ajay pried on to her arms, she cried) and her pink sandals which are also too little.

What a look. My poor little orphan girl.

So what are we up to today? We're going to the mall. To buy my baby a new pair of shoes (and a jacket)!

Grandma!!!

Today Ajay's Mom arrives for her baby-stay. That somehow makes it more real that this new baby is right around the corner. Where are we...5 weeks away? No? 4? Wait a minute...Monday marked the 4 week countdown, so that means we're under 4 weeks!? Shit! When did that happen?

Well, needless to say I can't wait for her to get here. I have her room all ready and can't wait to see Alia's little face light up when she realizes her Grandma is here!

Just when you think it's safe to enter the baby's room....

We have a typical a.m. routine here at the Lalvani household. Since my pregnancy (and thus need for additional sleep) coincided to a new and improved sleep schedule for Alia, basically here's what happens in the morning: Ajay is up at about 5:45 to get ready for his day at the hospital. He showers, gathers his stuff for the day, and just before he leaves, he checks the monitor to see if Alia is awake and kicking around. If she is, he takes her a bottle of milk, changes her diaper, and puts her back in bed with the bottle. Previously she went back to sleep after the bottle, but now she has her bottle and plays with her Froggy and Bow Wow Wow for 45 minutes or so. Usually around 6:45 I'm up, grab a cup of coffee (yes, I still drink coffee but have switched to 1/2 caff...which since my OB says one cup of coffee is fine in the morning, I rationalize that I can have 2 cups of 1/2 caff...) and when the hooting and hollering begins, I go get Alia...usually around 7.

So this morning was no different than any other. I heard Alia on the monitor talking to her Froggy and Bow Wow Wow. I glanced at the monitor and saw her head peaking up over the rails....it was time to go get her. Somewhere in my mind I've decided that if Alia is lying down and playing, she's happy to stay put, but when she stands up and pops her little head over the rails and starts her vigorous bouncing, it's time to set that monkey free.

So today, on cue, I openned the door to see Alia waving her Froggy in one hand and holding onto Bow Wow Wow with the other, and her bottle hanging out of her mouth. But hang on...something's not right...what's that in the crib? If she's holding everything that is supposed to be in there, what's that?

On closer inspection, I realized that it's Alia's diaper. A quick look at the changing table confirmed that when she was changed this morning, Ajay left her pants off, which he sometimes does if they feel damp from the overnight diaper. So here's Alia, standing proudly with her guys and bottle, and absolutely positively no pants.

Four weeks, three days

I'm going to have a baby in a little over 4 weeks. This means that I am big, feeling fat and bloated, and tired. It also means that the smallest tasks can feel overwhelming...like keeping up with the laundry and dishes and routine stuff. The lack of sleep at night is taking it's toll on me, but all that said, I still feel like I'm in a surreal place right now. I wake up to pee every couple of hours at night, and sometimes I'm surprised to find my belly so heavy...like, I've forgotten that I'm pregnant. And not just a little pregnant...a LOT pregnant...over 8 months! I've been slowly getting ready for my trip to the hospital...I've got all of the baby's things washed and snuggly. I've added a few things of my own to the pile that's waiting for a suitcase to magically appear. But it still feels somewhat unreal.

This pregnancy has been so different than the first one. No drugs, hormones, or crises. No "I have no idea what to expect with this new baby coming" stress. There's just been the feeling that the routine that we've created and that works well for us is going to change dramatically with the new little person here with her own set of needs. And while that's a little frightening to think about, it's nothing that I haven't handled before.

So here we are...tired. Ready for the baby to come. Amazed that I still have four weeks left. And at the same time, amazed that there are JUST....FOUR.....WEEKS.....LEFT!