Phone call for daddy

Julia, what else are you doing today? I repeated the question.

I'm going to take a nap. Julia finally answered.

That's a good thing, taking a nap. I said.

Thank you, daddy.

Sleep well, Julia.

Thank you, daddy. She rushed over my words.

That's a pleasant phone call.

Thanksgiving Fun & Blessings

It was so nice to have the day off with both Jai & Julia, us all home together, no work, no school, no plans in the morning. I'd done holiday cooking preparation already - our contribution was ice cream. I made a few different kinds during the weekend. We had a leisurely day of homemade pancakes. Julia took her nap, then we headed to my mom's for appetizers, soup, then dinner. Lots of yummy food, different people had made. It's a fun tradition that my mom started a few years ago so she doesn't have prepare tons of dishes. Thankful for family & friends!

32 week visit

I wish I could remember what I was going to write about this visit to see midwife.
I didn't gain any weight from the past 5 weeks which is a miracle. Thank goodness!
I talked with the midwife about next visit which is for the Group B strep test - I forget what it does, something that is important to know if you have before delivery because of treatment so baby doesn't get the virus. I wonder if it's an issue for baby delivered by C-section, but I didn't plan for that last time & this time the goal is a VBAC. I didn't have the virus last pregnancy thankfully. My blood pressure is excellent even with the weight gain this pregnancy. Baby's heartbeat is low which people say means it is a boy. All is good!
Another 4 weeks to 36 weeks & then I'll go EVERY week until the end. How time has passed quickly though I will not be sad to say goodbye to the heartburn.

Childbirth classes

UGH! Once again I have an old post with only the title to remind me of what I might have wanted to write.
Well, here goes with trying to remember from a month ago! : )

We took a child birth class series at General Hospital on 4 Monday evenings in November (we missed 1 class because of family illnesses). Even though we plan to have the baby at Vanderbilt Hospital as that is where the midwifery center delivers babies, the class was free (not the case at Vandy) & Jai was born at General so it was neat to have some connection there.

Though we have had a child it was a great experience. We knew a lot of information already from reading & of course, Julia's birth. However, we learned some, clarified some, reminded of lots; it was a good refresher kind of course. We also received a beautiful knitted blanket to add to our collection of lovely hand made works of art & love.

Grilled Cheeserie

YUMMY! The food truck was at the West Nashville Farmer's Market yesterday & we hadn't eaten there in FOREVER. So glad we ventured out so far! We got lots of great green veggies, some meat, goat cheese of course, finally found some APPLES & the raw food. Then we snacked on a grilled cheese sandwich, tater tots (Jai & Julia shared) & the special dessert of vanilla bean/pumpkin pudding. It was a beautiful day to be outside, sunny, slightly windy, gorgeous weather.

Raw Food

I'm not really a fan. I like meats, eggs & cheese too much to be a vegetarian, much less a vegan. We try to buy/eat less meat to decrease our carbon footprint & definitely buy local products whenever possible. However, we still cook our food.  Today I got some amazing food from The Raw Warrior at the West Nashville Farmer's Market. I've actually sampled some of their wares when we'd stop by their table at the East Nashville Farmer's Market. It never tasted that great, not bad, just not good enough for me to purchase it.  Today was another story. It was spinach almond hummus & cilantro lime flax seed crackers. The garlic & spices also must be a big part of the overall taste sensation. Whatever it is the snacks are yummy!

Colds are Cruel during Pregnancy

That's all I want to say. It's not right!

Imagination Peaking

Julia has been very verbal from the moment she became verbal. Her vocabulary and grammar is pretty amazing; picking up on the things we say, filling in gaps and so on. Recently she's gone off the rails with imaginary language. Sometimes Julia will talk for 20 minutes straight in her own imaginary language. Its a verbal vomit. She starts talking about something and then it transforms into this gibberish.It sounds like she is pronouncing sets of jumbled letters yet it sounds like words. Its mind-boggling to hear, especially her extended monologues.

Side note. One of my fav radio shows just did a very interesting show on language development

Then comes the imaginary play, this is obvious stuff. She mimics what she sees. She feeds and reads to her "friends". She plays games and she tells them stories. In that spectrum is drawing where she puts a dot on a page and says she's drawing a tree or a smiley face. Today it finally took that twist we all dread to hear...

Julia, why did you drop the book? I asked.
Daddy I didn't do it, Bunny did. She answered.

Great! She now has accomplices.

Also...

Julia quote of the day: Do you want your penis in your mail? (I can put this is context if you wish but it stands on its own)

Old McDonald's

That's what Julia says about the yellow arches. Cute!

Other than that, she doesn't know about this place. Sometimes I'm sad for her missing out on some memories & experiences I associate with childhood like Twinkies, Tang, McD's fish sandwich & milk shakes. However, not that Julia's in any danger for childhood obesity, it is a real situation for many young people. The statistics are scary. Thankfully she understands or at least repeats what we say about it being unhealthy.

Also her normal is very different. She's growing up with Farmer's Market & CSA. She knows what sweet potatoes & okra are as well as kale, garlic & onions. Julia is unique compared to some of her peers, but then there are others who are living a similar way.  Everyone packs a lunch at the Parent Day Out program she attends; snack is provided. However, we bring her snack also. We don't want her eating goldfish & vanilla wafers every day when she likes pretzels & trail mix. Sometimes Jai doesn't want her to be different, but I'm used to it. It's OK for her to learn to be herself now when she's not self conscious about it.  When she has her own money & wants to buy "junk food," we'll see what happens. I wonder if she'll want to by that point.

Blueberries for Sal

This is the book Julia got from Imagination Library yesterday.

Jai & Julia told me she got a new book, but I forgot to ask what it was or look at it. I usually do when I get home from work as I'm excited when it arrives in the mail. However, it was Friday & I was really tired! Growing this baby is exhausting!

This morning walking home from the Y with Julia, we were talking about her new book & I asked her what it was. She said Blueberries for Sal very clearly, no hesitation. Of course I was impressed which I usually am with her verbal skills in general, but she just got this book. Maybe it's not signficant, but it seems amazing to me that she said the title so quickly & easily. Actually her memory is incredible so maybe it's not that earth shattering.

However, more importantly I loved this book as a child! I'm so excited to be able to read it with her as I was so happy when my mom gave Julia "Bread and Jam for Frances" for Mother's Day in May, another favorite of mine.

I'm so grateful & blessed that my child loves reading as much as I do. I'm sure we'll have many opportunities to bond over something, but I'm glad one experience is the wonders of reading wonderful books!

oh, the funny things kids say!

The reality is that children say what they hear from others, in particular parents or their consistent caregivers. Lately I am saying the word "crap" too much, mainly frustration with some toilet training lapses/accidents!
Now it is a favorite phrase of a little girl in our house.

Actually Julia proves my hypothesis constantly. Once again it happened recently. I really need to watch what I say!

Julia has a weekly play date with our friends' child, Sam. I'm sure we've mentioned his name or my friend, Anne Marie, in other posts. Anyway, this week they played at our house (they rotate every other week so each parent gets a mini-break for a few hours). It was a nice day so they played outside; at some point they watched some construction work being done across the street & Jai said that the worker talked with them. I jokingly said something like "I wonder what he thought of this black man with a black kid & a white kid." It's stupid, I don't usually make comments about race distinctions, it's not important.

Anyway, Julia quickly says the following:

• Who's the white kid?!
• Am I the white kid?!
• No, Sam's the white kid!

I know I shouldn't laugh, but I did. I couldn't help it, I couldn't stop, Jai is chuckling too. Of course Julia is a great social laugher so she starts laughing; we're all tickled! You also have to imagine her hand motions too - she touches her chest when she asks the 2nd question.

What is typical is the topic of conversation moves on to something else quickly, but I wonder why she knew Sam was the white kid. She knows colors, probably that's it. However, I'm having a moment of guilty conscience & contributing to my child's racial identity, creating some kind of bias. This won't be the first time of discomfort at something I've said to her or someone else, but I still wish I didn't say what I think sometimes.

Self-determination

Three year olds are obviously short versions of the adults they will become.

Julia has expressed herself really well since she was much smaller but today she took it one step further. She said she was hungry (mid-morning snack) and I was apparantly taking too long so without announcement or warning she runs off. About 20 secs later she reappears and says in a very matter-of-fact, matter-of-course way, "Dad, I was in the pantry." "I want rice cake and almond butter." Then she sat back down and continued what she was doing.

It's all very normal, but it's quite amazing to watch up close.

Addition from Tara on 11-5-11:
Today Julia did the same thing with the juice. She took it from the fridge & came back to tell me it was on the counter, again after she'd already asked for it & waited patiently for me to respond & I was taking too long.
She's resourceful & communicative! Kind of like someone else I know! : )