Sabrina

I've been noticing a lot of personality traits in Sabrina recently, and it makes me curious to think about the person she will become. Here are some things I've seen in her. Some of them may be just because she's an only child (for another three months) and a 2-year-old. Others, I think, are more enduring.

1. Dramatic. Two-year-old or enduring legacy? I don't know. But just TRY taking her to bed before she's ready.

2. Loving. My cousin Julianne told me Sunday she just got a kiss from my daughter. Sabrina is sweet and affectionate, and likes people. Including strange men, but that's another story.

3. Empathetic. Whenever she hears someone crying, she gets a concerned look on her face and says, "Baby, cy-ing?" I say, "Yes, the baby is crying. Why is the baby crying?" She will usually say "Mama," as in, "The baby wants her mama." She also can be distracted from her own drama sometimes (see #1) if I tell her that her dog or other stuffed animal is crying. She will then need to give it hugs and kisses to make it feel better. She has also asked, concerned, "Mama cy-ing?" at times. Recently, I had an eye infection that made my eyes red and sometimes tear up. She was very sweet about my perceived cy-ing.

4. Care-taking. I have gone up to her room in the morning or after a nap to find cups, books, and the ubiquitous stuffed animals in a circle around her, all covered up to their necks (if they have one, that is) with her blanket. She also shoves pacifiers back into babies' mouths (she's not so good at fine motor control yet) if they drop them, and likes Mommy to "go sleep" with her, which really just means snuggling in the covers for about .3 seconds before giggling, sitting up, and commanding Mommy to go sleep again.

Three good, one...a challenge for parents. Not bad odds. Of course, I'm biased.

My child was lost. For a minute.

Personally, I blame it all on Sabrina's cousin Bode. They were playing together, and suddenly I didn't know where they were. We were at my aunt Kathleen's house, which means I didn't really know the really good hiding places. But the two two-year-olds weren't inside, or in the backyard, or (thank goodness!) in the fishpond. So I started going down the street. A long ways. Saying (out loud, or it wouldn't be true) "This is not happening." About eight houses down, I see a little head bobbing up and down on a tree-lined driveway. A grandpa-aged man was watching them, and asked the naughties if "you know this lady." "Mama," says a very naughty Sabrina. Phew! BODE had apparently opened the door (this is why I blame HIM) and the two of them gleefully went about giving their mother/aunt and grandmother a heart attack. Lock the doors, check. Thank goodness for a very nice neighbor and a street with no traffic. And the power of prayer.

Productivity Update

So, bathrooms clean! Not the floors, though. I'm not a miracle worker.

Oh, and I forgot to mention I did dishes twice on Monday. Once was almost exclusively tupperware from the fridge than held nasty, nasty leftovers that we should have eaten for lunch before they went bad, but alas, did not.

Feeling producting and not diabetic

That's right, I passed my glucose test today. Phew. Imagine giving up sugar for three months! A 14-pound baby seems (almost) worth it in comparison. Isn't that why they invented c-sections? (I'm kidding! Kidding!) Anyway, Baby is measuring about 10 days ahead, which he has been for basically three months. I'm still hoping for a September baby (his due date remains September 12), because sapphire will be much prettier in my mother's ring than August's peridot. Shallow? Yes. So?

I also have had such a productive week. Well, Monday was productive, and I'm still in the productivity "glow." I cleaned the whole house (okay, picked up the house, vacuumed, mopped kitchen; bathrooms still need a clean), did AND PUT AWAY all laundry, watered the new grass, burned a crapload of crap on our patio, and did a dictation project. I suddenly feel the need to go clean the bathrooms. Okay, as soon as I'm done blogging. I guess that's...now. Besides, Sabrina finally fell asleep on her desperately needed nap, so I have fewer excuses. Productivity, here I come.

Babies babies babies

While Sabrina was blissfully asleep (blissful for me, I mean), I was feeling the new baby kick inside me and loving him! It was weird. I haven't really felt the bonding stuff that some pregnant women say they feel until today. In fact, I've felt that I can never love Baby as much as I do Sabrina. I think I've changed my mind. It doesn't even feel disloyal to think I might love him as much, which it did before!

I have even felt sorry for Sabrina that she would have to share me and not be the center of my universe (all the time) (at least to share it with Zane. As everyone knows, husbands and children can share the Bright Center of the Universe. Besides, it's not like Zane is not TOTALLY wrapped around her Tiny littlest finger). But then I thought about how sad life is for only children. You need a brother or sister to play with, torment, and be tormented in your turn. Ah, childhood.

Wind, rain, and missing garbage cans

What a busy time I've been having! (Not that you would know, from all my posts.) As you may recall, we're moving in a few weeks to Eden. I've been trying to frantically get the house and especially yard in condition to sell. So, I weeded about 300 square feet and planted grass. It's not taking, but it was about 2 years old. So, I may go get more grass seed on Saturday if I don't see any sprouts. Grass sprouts, not weed sprouts. I also hope to do some painting tonight, once Zane gets home and can watch Sabrina. Last night I burned the wood that came down during...

THE WINDSTORM OF THE CENTURY.

So, I went to take the Counseling Praxis on Saturday up at Utah State, since the next one down here wasn't until July and hey, I'm already 27 weeks pregnant, thank you. (For those of you who aren't teachers or haven't been for a few years, the Praxis is a multiple-choice test that, if you pass it, PROVES WITHOUT A DOUBT that you are a good teacher/counselor. I, personally, have no doubt that the Praxis test is the definitive proof, if you have any questions, that the person is a good, qualified teacher. Silly things like student performance and the opinion of your principal and colleagues shouldn't matter at all.)

ANYWAY, I come home from the Praxis and find THE WINDSTORM OF THE CENTURY has knocked down huge branches down from our trees, tipped over rosetrees (sniff) and disappeared our garbage can. That's right. I have looked all over my street, in neighbor's driveways, in neighbors' BACKYARDS, for pete's sake, and cannot find it anywhere. So. I call the city. They say I have to call the police and report it missing to replace it for free. Because the police don't have actual crimes to solve, they have all the time in the world to deal with garbage cans that have been kifed by the wind. I feel dumb, but call the police anyway. New garbage can to be replaced in 2-5 business days. Overflowing diaper pail not reason enough for emergency delivery. Oh well. We have an old-style garbage can that will do for a few days, in a situation like this.

I might be waddling

So, I am now 5/8ths done with my pregnancy! And don't think I don't recalculate that fraction every week! Although being, for example 23/40ths is not really inspiring, when I can reduce down to 5/8ths, I'm very pleased, not least with my math prowess.

I've been trying to get this house ready to sell. As we bought it as a fixer-upper, I don't want to sell it as one! The past two days I've been weeding, weeding, weeding. That part was actually fun, although my hands and wrists hurt. The part I hate is bagging up all those de-grounded weeds. It's tedious and not nearly as fun as ripping those nasty weeds up by their roots! However, I should be done today, and then we can plant grass on Saturday. Better than a weedy backyard for a buyer, no?