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| Happy little bug! |
So, I honestly just got back from hanging with Analisa for a bit before our sitter Emily showed up.
Here's a sample "conversation" I had with Ana, upon hearing her chatting with herself and slowly waking up from a nap:
"Hi Ana! How was your sleep?"
"MAMA!"
"You are such a big girl. Did you have a poopy? Kind of smells like it." <--- (sorry if TMI)
"Poopy! Yesh. Dada?"
"Dada just left for work. He loved spending the morning with you. You'll see him later!"
"Oh no, oh NO."
"Sorry, bear!"
"Emmy?"
"Emily is coming over any minute."
"Emmy soon?"
"Very soon! Wanna go have some lunch? I was thinking yogurt and a peanut butter and jelly."
"Yesh. JUICE."
"We'll get some juice too! Let's go change your diaper, find your sippie cup and grab lunch."
See you guys? She's a real, tiny human! Who has little chats with me! Where's my clapping emoji?
You might want to sit down for this next tale. Because it is so cute you will die.
On July 30 -- yes, I wrote down the date and some details from this event in my iPhone Notes because of its sheer adorability -- James, Ana and I were hanging on our front porch. I was blowing bubbles out of a little container for Ana, she was chasing them and yelling "POP" every time she snagged one, and James was just kind of standing by, tickling her and loving on her, per usual.
The next thing I knew, James and I were lost in a conversation, and I had stopped blowing bubbles for a minute. And then, out of nowhere, I felt this warm, tiny body squeezing me from behind -- and you'll laugh, actually. Because I had no idea who it was! My brain was like, "Do we have a creepy neighbor? Are Candace and Natalie surprising me? What in the whatttt?" And then I heard this ridiculous little giggle and I knew it was her: Ana! She had snuck up behind me and surprised me with the biggest bear hug she could manage. I was almost crying tears of joy once I realized, I was so happy! Like, how did she know to do that? She's getting more and more affectionate every day, but a surprise hug? OMG, I was dying. I couldn't stop smiling and talking about it the rest of the night. James, who was facing Ana at the time, said he saw the entire thing unfold, and it was one of the cutest moments he'd ever witnessed, to see Ana all proud of herself, and to see the look on my face as I realized the surprise hugger was in fact my baby. AH I'm tearing up again, just typing it out. What a little love bug! Between this and the kisses she volunteers all on her own ... I'm dead.
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| Baby face |
What else? She has been singing up an absolute storm. If she's starting to fuss in the car, I'll just start in on the Itsy Bitsy Spider; the ABCs; Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes; Old McDonald; or A Bushel and a Peck. She'll join me in no time and she's actually pretty solid at the words!
We're still into the Children's Museum. Our summer pass is about to expire at the end of the month, but I'll probably renew for the rest of the year. It's such a good place for toddlers! It's way smaller than like, the Rochester, NY children's museum -- but everything is accessible and perfectly sized for a current-day bear. I'm sure she'll grow out of it at some point, but that point is not today ... and it's not even soon, tbh. We finally explored the outdoor area last week and it was really fun!
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| My fun girl |
James and I did a pretty random thing and we went to Chicago two or three weekends ago. It was the perfect trip. He'd never been there, and I had these Southwest points that were about to expire, and I had enough points for 2 (basically free) roundtrip flights. I wanted to fly out of Flint, as I hear that airport is lowwww traffic and it's also right by our house, but they only had like, two flights offered on the Saturday that we needed, and they were both set too late in the day. So we used DTW, like usual. There wasn't much difference in the air! The flight was just under an hour, and although some might call it a waste, we only wanted to leave Ana for a quick overnight. I thought it was worth our time, NOT to be stuck in a car for 10-12 hours roundtrip.
James and I stayed at a Hyatt in the Loop, ate at some seriously delicious restaurants, walked until our shins hurt (was that just me? I'm never in appropriate shoes), did a little shopping, stopped by a few touristy spots but also hit up some of the other neighbs ... it was perfect. Outside of the fact that we're old people now and we were in bed EARLY -- hey, didn't bug me, actually -- it was honestly the most laid-back, fun trip. We just did whatever we felt like; had 0 plans and I ate the best avocado toast of my life before our flight back.
Oh and we really need Zara in this area. I realize it's like, a worldwide store, but we don't have one ... do we? Well, I know the Flint area sure doesn't. We don't even have f'ing Costco. Maybe Detroit has Zara? Although I can't picture it at Somerset or Great Lakes. I honestly could have spent $500 in there on Ana clothes (a conservative estimate). James is really good in times like those -- for example, I really wanted to get her this little sweater, it was kind of elderly looking, but what's cuter than a baby dressed like a grandma? (Nothing).
James was all, "Put that down. I'm raising a baby, not a 70-year-old widow with cats." lololol. I made it out of there with baby jeggings, a little boho top and a cashmere-type sweater. TFG it wasn't worse.
Ana had a great time with Grandbob and Grandma Leese (who are lately named just "Bob" and "Meese.") It's so funny how much she loves my dad. I mean, she loves both of my parents, obviously, but it's my mom who follows her around every Tuesday and does EVERYTHING with her. My dad will read to her or play for a bit, but usually, he's like, at work or tending to the puppy or winding down upstairs or off somewhere. I guess Ana fell outside and scraped her knee while we were on the Chicago trip, and she just needed her three sources of comfort. "Milkkkk?! Bluuuuue?! (Her blue blanket). BOBBB?!"
She'll just randomly try to find him around our house on like, a random Thursday. She'll run into the living room, like, "Bobbbb?" We went up north and she was peeking in doorways, checking out our rental, asking for him. It was the funniest/cutest. As if we're just hiding my dad in a closet.
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| "Bobbbb?" |
Let's talk about BLUE, who I've probably mentioned a million times (yes, it's a person). Well, it's her blanket, but we use human pronouns. As in, "Blue? Where is he? Let's find him!" I'm not sure how Blue ended up being a boy. Anyway, I finally ordered a backup! He got really dirty one afternoon and she still refused to sleep without him. So I just thought, enough is enough. Our wash cycles take forever and we need a plan B. So I got another on Amazon and holy shit, totally forgot how soft the OG Blue is -- and big! I swear, new Blue is four or five times bigger than the old. Does bamboo material continue to shrink, whereas even 100% cotton will just shrink the one time? Man. Old Blue is like a cloth napkin compared to New Blue. Ana definitely knows something is up, but will accept New Blue as one of her own. I just try to keep one always clean and hiding, so we can pull it out in case of an emergency. I think all hell will break loose if she finds out there are two Blues. Andddd this is what we're dealing with right now, with a 20-month-old :)
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| Up north -- this pic will make sense soon : ) |
Anyway, the one weekend James and I were in Chicago, and then next, all three of us headed up north for a long weekend. It was perfect actually! We went up to the Tawas/Oscoda area, which is where my extended family and I vacationed growing up. We used to rent out these A-frames right on Lake Huron, and I have SO many fun memories, summer after summer, of playing on the sandy beaches with my cousins, collecting caterpillars (what a monster), begging to go downtown (for the candy shop AND Marion's ice cream), etc. It was like a blast from the past to return. A lot had changed, but ... a lot HADN'T changed. It seemed like some things were like, frozen in time.
It was the principal at my mom's school actually, who had reserved a rental and she and her husband couldn't make the dates work. I guess she had posted it on Facebook, trying to see if anyone wanted to take over the cabin, just like, a Saturday through Tuesday-type deal, and my mom knew we had been looking for one final summer trip. We knew we wanted Michigan, something far enough but not too far, and this was ideal. It was probably only two hours from our house actually, which ... doesn't even seem far enough north to be considered "up north!" But with a baby bear who's getting more and more fidgety in the car, honestly, the drive was awesome. She slept on the way there but not so much on the way back, but such is life, I suppose.
Anyway, as I was checking in and grabbing the keys from the front office, as in, right when we pulled in for our trip, James was all, "Ana really wants to go in the water. She's obsessed with the idea." I said something like, "Well, I packed about 97 outfits for her. I don't care if she gets kinda wet splashing around in those clothes -- just let her in." OMG you guys. I walked down to the beach after getting check-in situated, and I was not expecting it: Ana was SOAKED, like, head to toe, the waves were crashing in as if we were at the ocean, and she was just loving every second of it. James said as soon as we basically gave her the all-clear, she marched from the car/office area directly into Lake Huron. Fully clothed, not giving one F that she's a tiny human and the lake was massive and roaring.
She was getting doused by the waves, but just like, shrieking out in delight, loving life. I thought I was recording the whole thing on Snapchat, but the sun was so bright, I guess I just ... wasn't? Haha I went to check my Story later and I think the glare was so strong; my thumb must have been holding down a random screen instead the the record button. Sad face! It was the cutest sequence.
Luckily, there was a lottttt more cuteness to capture in the coming days!
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| Like this gem. |
My parents came up for a few hours on Sunday. James and I went downtown Tawas once or twice and I stumbled upon the bestttttt baby store -- like, honestly, one of the cutest shops I've ever found, like ANYWHERE, not just by Northern Michigan standards. Nearly everything was handmade, they had so many cute and unique brands, I was just like, in heaven. Also they had a bomb children's section, like with toys and games and stuff for Ana to entertain herself with, so she and James played the entire time I shopped (which was a while, tbh). Just like Zara, I could have easily spent $500. I didn't. This was another one of those times when I was a little relieved that I don't know the sex on baby #2! I swear, if I knew we had another girl coming, or our first boy, I would have gone 10x more HAM. Anyway, I walked out with a magnetic onesie (isn't that genius? Won't irritate the umbilical cord, easy for overnight changes!), a really cute woodsy onesie for when (s)he's a little older, a suctions-to-the-table placemat for Ana, new stubby silverware for Ana (why are all the spoons at Target soooo long?), a little something for a pregnant friend, and a cute af hair clip for Ana's second birthday. Not horrible, right? (No one guess my total).
Oh and it was really funny in that store how much Ana liked this one baby. I think it was the owner's baby ... but she kept pointing and saying in awe/delight, "BEEBEE!" (as if she's some older kid. That baby wasn't even all that much younger than Anz).
Oh OH and my final aside: For that magnetic onesie I bought, I was debating between pink, light blue and gray. Usually I'd just go gray; I don't even like the cliche pink/blue stuff all that much -- hence, one of the reasons I've chosen now both times around NOT to learn the sex. But the gray onesie was like ... almost black in this case, and I wasn't loving it. I was feeling odd about committing us to pink, especially in NB size, but the light blue felt really warm and gender-neutralISH, if you know what I mean. I asked James, "I could put new baby in a blue onesie, right? Like, even if she's a girl? Ana wore plenty of light blue!" James was like, "Um, yeah. Ana wears Michael Jordan T-shirts." (True story. "You can put new baby in whatever." <--- Agree! I did get some comments early on, "He's so handsome!" ... "Actually, she's a little girl." ... "Then why would you have her in a BLUE blanket?", but they've been few and far between. So ridic, right?
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| Lala and Po = BFFs |
The rest of the trip can be summed up like this: Ana stole James' massive ice cream cone and wouldn't give it back (tell me you saw the Snapchat), she woke up honestly EVERY morning and said, "Outside? (Bathing) suit?" and then ran into the water, despite our mornings starting out at 58 degrees, cloudy and windy -- so, brrr -- and thennnnn we had Sunday night. That was the best! Ana just wanted to stand at the break-wall in front of our cabin, which was getting pounded with waves. Like, there is no way for me to exaggerate how rough it was, out on the water. These waves would come to shore, hit the wall and just rainnnnnn cold water down on us. It was just the two of us out there for a bit, and we got soaked. Ana loved it. I was freezing and scared that my phone was ruined. James took over at one point and then Ana just wanted to burrow her little body into the sand. The whole trip was a bit of a sandy nightmare for James, tbh. Although he kept saying, "Honestly, whatever. As long as it's not our house!"
And I wouldn't exactly call the trip relaxing. One night we were just like, watching the clock from 5p until bedtime. Another night we crashed as soon as the bear was in bed (like, at 9:00). Haha it was quite the experience, though.
I'd say, "Ana, the waves!" And she'd wave at them. She was kind of a disaster at this Mexican restaurant. We ate hot dogs on the grill the rest of the trip. But like, #memories. She is just this ball of personality and love and words and happiness. I can't even express how much I love being her mom.
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| Fake smile ;) |
Every time that she's just like, "I know!" or "I don't know!" or "I see YOU!", I just melt. We had two car rides this past weekend, to my parents' and back, where we hosted a little girlfriends get together + our babies, and Ana was just the happiest bug. OK, a little shy at the actual playdate, per usual. But the entire drive there and back, she just wanted to giggle with me, sing, kick her feet up, get my attention and tell me stories. And then even last night before bed, she wouldn't stop pinching my cheeks and saying "SHEEEEKS! MAMA!" and giving me kisses. It's usually our wind-down time, to have a sippie and watch a little Sesame Street/Daniel T, but we were laughing until we couldn't even look at each other. She could not even catch her breath. I didn't want to put her down, despite the fact that I wasn't feeling well and was pretty exhausted. She is worth every moment. I don't know how we got so lucky.
SHE is such a little mama. Grandma Leese got her a purse recently, and she'll just walk around their house wearing it, putting her babies night-night. I can't even. Speaking of nigh-nigh, that little regression I mentioned last time is a thing of the past (knock on wood). We just had a weird 2-ish weeks and she went back to normal. Well, we may have shifted the nap back by a half-hour or an hour ... but she's not dropping it anytime soon! And she stopped fighting it. Praise the lord!
OMG we (OK, *I*) killed a bug this morning after she tipped me off to its locay in the living room. It was a creepy little guy. Ana was all, "Bug! Bug!" and I squashed him with a paper towel. She was a bundle of emotion. "Oh no! Sorry! Sorry! Bye!" lololol. Do I apologize when I kill bugs? Where did she get that?
K, I have to wrap up at some point.
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| Our news! |
So finally: The thing that finally came up this entry but I haven't really ADDRESSED addressed -- the pregnancy! We're expecting Baby #2 in January. I'll maybe do a longer entry about it soon, but here are some quickie notes:
--I'll be 21 weeks on Thursday.
--Not really showing unless I wear skin-tight clothes or you catch me from the side.
--I'm not sick, never have been (not this pregnancy or last). Not even nauseated.
--Was overwhelmingly tired during the first trimester, but that's pretty much it.
--I've had a couple food aversions, but I'm not as picky as I was with Ana (when I think I lost 15-20 pounds out the gate? I was probably only down 10 at the most, this time around).
--We're not finding out the sex (obvs). We have some finalists for names already but we won't be sharing. Ha sorry!
--My placenta is low, which is a long story but mostly nbd, but cross your fingers it self-corrects!
K, longer entry on all that is coming.
Next time we'll talk about: Potty training (could she be getting closer to ready? She's certainly showing signs. I do NOT want to rush it, but my mom and aunt suggested just setting up a little potty in a corner somewhere downstairs, so that she knows it's coming).
And her big-girl bed! I bought a frame off someone online and we're debating when to set it up. I'm not sure she'll ever be able to climb out of her crib, just based on how it's set up, so ... we'll likely pull the trigger before we get to that point. Maybe the next few months. But parents of older children will have to tell me all the things: How do you convince them to stay in there? If she's mad, won't she just ... crawl out of it? Or will I find her in a random corner? lol #sendhelp.
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| Cutest face you've ever seen? |
