5 Things

In keeping with an old tradition, here are five things you might not know about Maeve:

1) Maeve loves to dance. Her dancing starts at her head with some back and forth wobbling, works its way down to her torso, with some hands in the air, and finally ends with her best attempt at jumping around. She has yet to leave the ground. Her musical preferences are totally different than her sister’s. Whereas Reilly loves her Jackie Evancho, Maeve likes to rock out to Justin Bieber. (Reilly loves Justin Bieber too, but not for his music.)
2) Maeve loves her Italian food. Pizza, lasagna, pasta – pretty much anything with red sauce on it. Red sauce is to Maeve what ketchup is to Reilly.
3) Maeve can identify her eyes, nose and mouth when prompted. She will point to her eyes and nose, but when we say, “Where’s your mouth?” She will move her tongue back and forth across her mouth.
4) In addition to the words eyes, nose and mouth, Maeve also can say: no, Rah-Rah(for Reilly), wa-wa(for water), bird, ball, bubble, woof, nana, dada, mama, ow!, wow, uh-oh, more, and all done. The last two words she also knows in sign language as well.
5) The things she carries: Shoes and flip-flops, play-dough, and mama’s cell phone. Her favorite thing to carry around the house is a washcloth. She will walk into the bathroom, open the door, pick out a washcloth, and then walk around the house with it for quite some time, maybe up to an hour. And don’t you dare try to take it from her.

Oh, the stories I could tell...

Today's entry brought to you from "guest blogger" Shawn...

Mommy: Reilly, why were you crying?

Reilly: Daddy said he had three stories, but he only told me two and one of them was unusual.

Mommy: Why was it unusual?

Reilly: One didn’t have any characters in it, it only had an orange. So it was unusual.

Week 24

What’s different this time around? I can’t remember a thing.

When we were pregnant with Reilly, we would read a Week by Week book as each new week turned over. The book was complete with pictures and taught us all the details of what was going on with our growing baby. I always knew how far along I was, how big the baby was, what she was doing, and what to expect the week to follow. We sometimes (always) would read the next week in anticipation of what was to come.

Early last week someone asked me how far along I was. I-had-no-i-dea. I had completely lost track. The blog we read had been put on hold, knowing I could look it up and read the weeks that had passed to see what this baby has been up to. I thought if I went to the blog it would come to me, but as I selected a week and read, I wasn’t sure if I had experienced it already, or if it was a sign of what was to come.

I’m grateful for my monthly doctor visits for one primary reason: to keep me on track. We had an appt on Friday…24 weeks. So far, the baby continues to grow and her heartbeat is strong. I still don’t have much of an appetite, more aversions than cravings, although a nice plate of steamed broccoli with butter, salt, and pepper sounds wonderful right now!

We’re supposed to be thinking about things like registering, setting up the nursery, and taking a hospital tour. All I want to do is settle in and watch a movie. Brian, on the other hand, is entering the nesting phase. As I type this, he’s in the process of burning all of our CDs, dating back to the early 1990s (who remembers ABC – Another Bad Creation??), just the first step to making room in the soon-to-be-named-nursery.

The things she carries

Reilly loves to pick up scraps and bits of things that she calls her "treasures." Once she has become connected to her treasures, she will not let them go. Here is a recent example:

This pile of sticks, leaves and palm fronds pictured below sat in the corner of our hotel room for three days, and lo! beware the housekeeper who dared to remove it from its location.

Most often I don't come across her collections until I empty out her pockets at the end of the day. Here is a recent stash of treasures after a day at school:

I like to wonder what it is that attracts her to these things; is it the weight, the texture, the color, or just the availability for her little hands to grasp them?