Thursday, July 25, 2013

Two-Year-Old State of Mind

Harper has taken a couple of steps backwards in the potty training department recently. Like, all of them. I attribute it to stress related to the soon-to-be arrival of a sibling. My plan is just to be patient and wait her out. It is unlikely, I rationalize, that she will go off to college in diapers (which is really the only reason one potty trains a kid anyway).

Then this evening I found her running around the living room buck-naked.
Me: “Harper, what happened yesterday when you ran around without a diaper on?”

Harper (avoiding looking me in the eye): “Ummm… I used the potty?”
Me: “No, you did not use the potty. There was an (prompting her)…”

Harper: “Accident.”
Me: “Yes. And where was the accident?”

Harper: “A carpet accident.”
Me: “That’s right; you had an accident on the carpet. So now you need to pick out a new diaper or go potty in the potty. You can choose. Which one would you like to do?”   

Harper: “Ummm… I would not like a diaper or the potty. I would like to run around naked.”
Me: “Yes, I can see that.”

Do you ever find yourself having a conversation you could never have envisioned prior to parenthood?

 

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Early Bird

So I’ve been having some pretty serious “Braxton-Hicks” contractions all day today. Braxton-Hicks is in quotation marks because I’m not at all convinced that is what they are. They’re a lot more… intense than the ones I experienced with my first pregnancy or even earlier in this pregnancy. They are not, however, regular or building so I’m pretty convinced I’m not going in to labor just yet. Soon though. Very soon.

Too soon, in fact. The thing is, I still have too much to accomplish before Baby Day arrives. I absolutely cannot go into labor before the 2nd of August due to scheduling issues (more specifically, a lack of babysitter issues). And yet here I am, breathing my way through another “Braxton-Hicks.”
Depending on who you talk to I am either 36 weeks and 3 days or 37 weeks and two days along. My midwife (who firmly believes in the power of a woman’s intuition) told me she’d be happy if I got to 38 weeks gestation. I told her I’d put in the request but I’m pretty sure I have no control in the matter.

Send good thoughts.

7-24-2013. Self-portrait. No, it is not photo shopped. Yes, I am aware that it looks like I am attempting to smuggle a basketball under my tank top.     

Thursday, July 18, 2013

...Try, Try Again


For those of you who haven’t heard yet we had our first middle of the night ER excursion Wednesday morning. Turns out Harper has croup, which isn’t a really big deal but sure sounded scary at 1:00 am.

After only one nebulizer treatment and one dose of steroids she is well on the mend, but I don’t dare take her out somewhere to infect other kids (or to catch something else with me about ready to go into labor any second!). So today, after she absolutely insisted on wearing her “dot dress,” we went to the neighborhood park (which was kidless at the time) and I was finally able to get some beautiful photos of her. I wanted to share some of my favorites. I hope you enjoy them!   

 


 
 
 
 

 
 
 
Have a wonderful Thursday!
 


 
 

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

TMI


I started this blog to keep friends and family who are scattered far and wide abreast of current Booker events. But once I started making entries it occurred to me that it was a great way to journal our lives. The truth is, I am terrible at keeping a baby book or in any other way chronicling this journey of marriage and parenthood. So please be patient with me if sometimes my posts seem overly indulgent or personal; I just don’t want to forget anything.
With that in mind I must say that Harper is a pretty comical kid. I know, I know, everyone thinks their kid is clever and funny. But I swear, she has said some of the wittiest and/or most bizarre things I have ever heard in my life. Two recent examples of her hilarity follow.

July 14, 2013
Our little family was enjoying dinner when Brad excused himself to use the, ahem, lavatory.  

Harper: “Where is daddy?”
Me: “You know where daddy is. Where did daddy go?”

Harper: “He’s taking a ride on the pee hole!”
This visual was too much for me and instantly triggered a laughing fit that lasted until my sides hurt (which, obviously, only served to goad her). There is absolutely no one in Harper’s life who would use this kind of terminology so I am left believing that she came up with it on her own, which seems almost unfathomable given the perfectly inappropriate yet crassly descriptive nature of her turn of phrase. So, of course, we had to adopt it as part of the Booker common vernacular. "I need to clean the pee holes this evening, " I'll state. "If you need me I'll be in the pee hole, " Brad will remark, "I'm going to take a ride."

And then there was this:

July 16, 2013

On the drive home this evening Harper started talking about what mommy and daddy’s “jobs” were.

Harper: “Daddy mows the grass.”
Me: “Yes. What else does daddy do?”

Harper: “He washes the car.”
Me: “Yes. He washes the car. What are his other jobs?”

Harper: “To take care of mommy and Harper.”
Me: “That’s right. Daddy takes good care of us.”

Harper: “Drives the tractor.”
Me: “Yes, he drives the tractor at the farm. What are mommy’s jobs?”

Harper: “Take care of Maisy and Willa.”
Me: “Yes, I take care of the dogs.”

Harper: “Mommy knocks things over.”
Brad (perking up): “Mommy knocks things over?”

Harper: “Yes. And waves her arms.”
Brad (looking at me quizzically): “She waves her arms and knocks things over?”

Harper: “Mommy drinks.”
I swear that she really said this and I did not prompt her. By the time she said “Mommy drinks,” I was laughing so hard I was crying. I fear Brad has an inaccurate depiction of what transpires in his absence.

I told you she’s the funniest kid ever.

 

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Wet Blanket

This morning I asked Brad if he could keep Harper busy while I straightened up the house. This is where I found them:

Look at how much fun she's having!

I think I need to work on letting go a little. I never would have thought of doing this because I'd be too concerned she'd fall and hurt herself, or we'd be wasting too much water, or that it would be a big mess to clean up afterward. It's a good thing she has a dad to make big messes (and memories) with.

Well done, Brad. Well done.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

My Birthday

Happy birthday to me! I can't believe I'm forty... something already.

As a marker I thought I'd get an updated baby belly shot (you people are unrelenting with your demands!) but wasn't able to get my face and my belly in the same shot due to, let's call it "girth" issues. (I'm not sure I would have been able to get the whole belly alone in the shot, either, for that matter.)

Of course, the camera always attracts Harper's attention like a moth to a flame. So this is what I ended up with:





 
 
And then there was this...
 
I humbly offer the following birthday-related Harperism, in two parts.

Part I:

Harper was asking me what kind of birthday I wanted; a dinosaur birthday? A dog birthday? I told her I wanted a clean house and cuddling birthday. Then this morning I found her taking all the pillows off the couch and throwing them on the floor.

Me: “Remember, today we are having a clean house birthday.”

Harper: “OK, mommy. I will make a mess tomorrow.”

Part II:

And our (fantastic) sitter recanted the following exchange from this afternoon:
 
Sitter: “What did you get mommy for her birthday?”

Harper: “Mommy wants a clean house.”

Sitter: “Oh, really?”

Harper: “Mommy is so silly!”
 
I suppose I am.
 
Thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes!




Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Photo Shoot

With all the baby planning around here I haven't taken the camera out in a while, and since the Bookers are still on a self-imposed quarantine (thank you RSV Type-A) I thought I would try to get a couple of shots of Harper this morning.

The weather was perfectly overcast and our neighbors have a pretty painted fence in the ally behind their home which I've wanted to use as a background for some time. Today was the day! Unfortunately, it was also a good day for mosquitos, and they see Harper as an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet, so we only were out for about ten minutes before we were forced back indoors.

Harper insisted on bringing Sir Bumble Frog along.

She quickly became disenchanted with the entire process.
 
If only she'd stay still!

I wish this one weren't blurry... just look at that expression!

I'll have to try again in a couple of days.