Monday, May 31, 2010

Happy 10 Month Birthiversary!

The Bloods street gang has a pretty cool one, Spock had the “live long and prosper”, the queen has her signature lead-with-the-elbow-but-not-too-fast wave, Richard Nixon had his famous two-fingered victory V’s, Michael Jackson had his crotch grab, and Kaleia Rush has this:
Okay this picture looks a little like she's taking a page out of Hitler's book but usually the Kaleia reach is a little more her distinctive. The shoulder comes right up to her cheek (go ahead, try it...) and her palm flares outward. Either way, she does it A LOT, and reaching out, in general, is a very fitting gesture for this stage of Kaleia’s life. Whether it’s for something to support herself walking (which she can’t quite do on her own yet) or to grab some mischief (constant vigilance!) or to reach out to someone (her Mama attachment has definitely abated), she is always reaching for something.

She is also reaching out with her voice more and more and I think we have a real talker. Making noise is definitely at the top of her favorite hobbies list. Loud ones, quiet ones, delicate ones, and growly gremlin ones. She babbles consonants and screams for fun, especially when she can lure Magnolia into joining the chorus. The duets we get in the back seat of the car are somewhere between hilarious, adorable and I-know-this-is-gonna-be-annoying-soon. She doesn’t have any words yet but we suspect she’s starting to make the connection between her “mamama”s and her Mama.

Maybe it’s because she is so interested in vocalizing or maybe it’s our inconsistency but, aside from “milk,” she hasn’t picked up many signs.

We haven’t reported Kaleia’s stats as faithfully as we did Magnolia’s but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been on our radar. In fact, Kaleia’s growth has been our biggest concern. She has always struggled to gain weight dropping from the 95th to the 80th to the 65th to the 50th and is now at the 25th percentile. In the last three months she has only put on a few ounces and now her growth in length has also slowed. The benefit has been that she is still in 9-month clothes but I’d much rather she start packing the pounds. Thankfully, she’s started to accept foods that have texture so our weight gain bid has become a little easier.

Even if she’s not growing much, our little girl is definitely growing up. We love you Kaleia Shalom. Happy belated 10-month birthiversary!

Friday, May 28, 2010

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. I moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your moment in the comments for all to find and see.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Already Her Father's Daughter

Magnolia walks into the bathroom, showing me her wide open mouth.


Hi. Why do you have your mouth open so wide?

No response.


Are you trying to show me something? What's in your mouth?

No response.

Did you eat something? Oh, did you eat some peas?


Nooo, MaMa. PEA!


Oh my. My two year old is already correcting my pluralization. It's bad enough with Brian getting on me for my "dangling participles," misusage of further and farther, and ending my sentences with prepositions. At least I can still talk to Kaleia without any verbal red ink.

Friday, May 21, 2010

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. I moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your moment in the comments for all to find and see.

Friday, May 14, 2010

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. I moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your moment in the comments for all to find and see.

Friday, May 7, 2010

{this moment}

I recently saw this weekly post idea on a college friend's blog and loved it! She took the idea from this blog.

Here's how the originator? describes it:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Monday, May 3, 2010

*double sigh*

*Sigh*

What is this relief I am feeling?

Looking around the room, I notice Kaleia playing contentedly, maneuvering herself around her toys and I hear Maggie happily reading a book to herself in the other room. Kaleia smiles up at me.

During my pregnancy I heard that while human gestation is officially 9 months, the human baby needs an additional 9 months out of the womb to reach the developmental point most mammals are at birth--infant fawns can run, for pete's sake!--and since you are still baby's sole source of nutrition, mobility, and comfort, it's almost like you're still pregnant for that additional 9 months. I call it post-partum pregnancy.

I just realized I've made it. Since Magnolia was conceived, until now, because Kaleia was conceived 7 months after her sister's birth, I've either been officially pregnant or post-partum pregnant for a LONG time. I know there will be new challenges as the girls get older but right now it feels like things are getting a lot easier.

The relief now is deeper and all the more sweet since I never felt it with Magnolia.

*Deep, Cleansing Sigh*