Tuesday, October 18, 2011
We just noticed that we've only blogged a total of three times in 2011. That's a bit sad. Sorry to any of you who actually use this as a way to keep in touch with us. It must seem we've abandoned all pretense of friendship. Such is not the case! We're just busy people who don't really blog naturally.
First things first, I suppose. The biggest development in our lives in the last several months is the upcoming addition of another baby to the family. We're expecting Baby the Third at the end of April 2012. Meagan's first trimester has been picture perfect, with hardly any morning sickness (a bit of nausea, some headaches, but no throwing up!). The biggest problem she's had is a bit of fatigue. No matter how much she sleeps, she's always tired.
Ellie and Lydia may have something to do with that. Ellie started walking in August, and has been an unstoppable force of nature ever since. Add in Lydia's potty training (successfully accomplished, thank you very much) and the general homemaker lifestyle, and it's pretty clear that Meagan has every reason to be exhausted.
Unfortunately, I'm not much help most of the time. My second year of med school (started in August) has proven to be much more trying than my first. An overwhelming amount of pharmacology, pathophysiology, microbiology, and other -ologies like them has been keeping me at my desk for hours and hours through the day and night. So far I'm managing, but I keep hoping to get my grades up a little bit more. I finished last year at the very bottom of the top 20% of the class, and I'd really love to stay in that percentile, if not go up a bit. Only time will tell.
A bit more on the girls:
Ellie is a delightful little person. She is frequently smiling and very quick to laugh. She's a sweet girl, but she has a mischievous streak a mile wide. Her favorite activities include pulling dishes off the table (it's even better if they have something in them), running away when you tell her to bring you what she has in her hand, and believing the entire world is a game for her entertainment. It's tough to get mad at her. Sometimes we have to scold her for a minute, then leave the room to get our smiling and laughter out. We can't let her think she's gotten to us. Oh, and Ellie's first word is "nana" in clear reference to bananas. We still can't get her to say either of our names, but she excitedly yells, "Nana!" any time we pull out her favorite fruit. Hopefully we'll get into her vocabulary sooner than later.
Lydia is a sweet girl with a strong personality. She enjoys jumping on her trampoline (often bouncing to the cadence of "jump...ing...on...tramp...line!" repeated ad infinitum) and playing with her trains. Man, this girl likes trains a lot. At home, at nursery, wherever she goes; if there's a train there, she'll find it and play with it the entire time. She also loves to color. She'll sit at the table with a box of crayons and notebook for hours. She's picked her favorite color (brown...yeah, we don't know either) and has recently started drawing faces. Meagan loves these pictures, which Lydia described as "a smile" and "pail."
Pail is a character on her new favorite TV show, Blue's Clues. And it's not a favorite like you and I have, like, "Oh, I like that a lot!" No, this is a full-blown obsessive crazy addiction. She eats, sleeps, talks, and breathes Blue's Clues. She has the episodes memorized. No kidding, she will request to watch an episode based on a little two minute vignette. She can identify which episode has been put on, despite the fact that Meagan and I cannot see any identifiable markers to indicate it. It's almost supernatural. Lest you all think we're just selling Lydia's brain to the TV, I'd like to point out that we have a pretty strict two-episodes-daily rule. In fact, some of Lydia's biggest fits lately have been pitched because she can't watch a third episode.
Lydia and Ellie have an odd sort of relationship. They can play peacefully side by side for a long time. It's quiet, but they're both in their own world. There's not a lot of interaction until someone has a toy that someone else wants. It's Lydia just as often as it is Ellie. This is when the screech fights begin. They don't get particularly physical (they both pull at the toy, that's about it), but they keep trying to yell louder than the other. Ellie's screech tends to be a high-pitched, wordless yell, but Lydia is often yelling, rather ironically, "BE NICE TO SISTER! BE NICE TO SISTER!" If Meagan is in the room, all eyes go to her, expecting her to mete out wisdom and justice like Solomon of old. Her choices seldom meet with mutual satisfaction, but they are grudgingly accepted. If a victor is declared, she walks haughtily away, clutching her prize. The loser is left to find some obviously inferior toy and to wallow in her shame. The Mom giveth and the Mom taketh away.
We've done some other things (summer trips, etc.), but really, there's not a lot to tell there. We've had a good time the last several months. Sorry we didn't share any of it.
To close it up, here are some pictures! Everyone who isn't a grandmother can stop reading now.
