Monday, February 13, 2012

Lydia Talks! A lot!

Lydia knows her animal sounds.
Lydia knows where all of her face is!
She is also bilingual!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Lydia is going to be BIG Sister!

Today I am officially in my second trimester! Lydia is going to be a BIG Sister! Baby Gaurkee, kindly referrred to as G2, should arrive at the end of summer approximately August 9, 2012. Almost 2 years from Lydia's birthday. They will be 23 months apart which I think will be perfect for them as siblings. They will be able to grow up together and go to school together. God willing they will be the best of friends.

This first trimester was a little bit rockier than the first trimester with Lydia. The waves of undealable nausea would come over me every evening for several hours. I lost 7 pounds without even trying. The exhaustion has also been overwhelming. Luckily, I have not tossed my cookies but there have been a few close ones. Of course teaching all day then coming home to an active and excited toddler is wonderful but by the end of the night I would fall into bed as if I had been dragging an elephant across town for fun just from the Skyway to the Howard Franklin just to see an elephant dragged. Sigh. Some days I have even gone to sleep at 8PM with the amazing support of my husband. But all in all, I can not complain.

There is a very calming sense about the second pregnancy. There aren't as many wonderings or worries. I remember constantly wanting to know if things were okay in there before and this time I just know that things are okay in there. I also feel a lot more movement than I did last time. I think it's a matter of recognizing certain feelings. We have now seen G2 twice on ultrasound and he/she is definitely a wiggling little bugger. Our last ultrasound as the tech was trying to achieve the perfect angle for a specific test, G2 was trying to wave them away until he/she just flipped upside down as if saying, I'm done. The magic of seeing your baby never quite subsides.

We are trying to remind Lydia and there is a baby in mommy's tummy especially since she likes to bounce on mommy. She kisses the tummy and pats it softly. It's very cute. Of course, minutes later she tries bouncing again. We say baby and point and so does she, but considering she calls her dolls babies I wonder if she may still be a little curious on why the term is the same. My tummy doesn't take a bottle or go night night, so it must be.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Parenting

Lydia was born with her amazing personality.

She has a puss and boots from a Happy Meal that my mom has told her that she's afraid of, so Lydia finds it and runs over to my mom and shoves it in her face and laughs. She loves to takes people's seats. As soon as someone gets up, she jumps on in. She was born funny.

At a terrifically early age Lydia had the most stunning sense of balance. She would ride a toy zebra her friend has and stand up on the top of it, let go of her hands and never fall. She runs as fast as she can and kicks the ball. She throws her balls better than some adults I know. She was born athletic.

She will cuddle in bed or sit on the couch and watch cartoons with an incredible focus. She will watch intently and now she follows along with the story. If Mickey says clap, she claps. We have taken her to the movies where she sat for the full film and watched. She was born with the ability to focus.

She speaks Spanish and English. She dances differently to different types of music. She likes some fruit more than others. She eats what she likes when she likes. She sleeps 11 hours every night. Lydia gets mad at the stuffed animals in her crib and yells at them and throws them out. She then forgives then and makes my mom bring them back in. She was born with these unique fantastic expressive parts of her, her father and I didn't parent her that way.

Perhaps it's that old nature versus nurture argument but there is no chance that I could force her to make certain facial expressions or laugh at certain times, that is her nature. I can't not force her to love the cabbage patch doll as much as her stuffed dog Violet. She loves what she loves, it's her nature.  Our role as parents is to set boundaries, instill values, and teach her right from wrong. In the process of doing these things to love her fiercely and remain tenacious. As a parent, I pray for her safety, her wellness and hope.