Jelly on Mommy's Belly

Look Ma, blue hands! (A gift from one of the nurses.)

Since Baby D2 is on the small side, I've had to go to quite a few doctor's visits lately. I'm now going to the hospital twice a week for non-stress tests and growth scans. And Tali is coming with me. Luckily, she's been pretty good. I give her a container full of dried fruit and Sesame Street on my iPod and she sits happily while we listen to the baby's heartbeat and then look at the baby on the monitor. It doesn't hurt that she has a huge crush on one of the doctors there and asks to go see Dr. Bobby on a daily basis. He's flattered and always makes sure to tell her hello. She's also developed a relationship with some of the other doctors and nurses on staff. They all love her and make these frequent visits tolerable.

The best part of this whole experience is that Tali plays OBGYN at home all the time now. She pretends to put "jelly on Mommy's belly" and then uses some sort of long device (a necklace, Jackson's rope toy, etc.) to listen to the baby's "heartbean" and makes the noise of the heartbeat. It's very funny, even if she wants to do it 5-10 times a day.

She's A Big Girl

Now that the weather is nice, all of the kids in our complex are playing outside. Of course, Tali wants to play with the big kids (ages 8 and up, usually) and just invites herself along. Luckily, the kids are very nice and most of them like her. In the past week, she's played with three different groups of kids and been on three different 'big kid" toys.

The first was a pogo stick. She didn't fully get on this one, but she tried. And the owner was very nice in letting her play with it.

Next, she learned how to ride a skateboard, sort of. She sat on the board and went back and forth while. Then she decided to stand on the board. We didn't let her go anywhere, but she had a blast.

At the end of the week, she got on a motorized scooter. Of course, we didn't turn the motor on or she would have sped away and fallen off, but she held on to the bar and we pushed her around a bit.

As her preschool teachers constantly remind me, this kid has no fear.

Hello, Old Friend

I cannot believe it's been more than a month since I've posted here. I've been so busy that I really haven't had a chance to sit down and write anything. Very sad. So, here's a quick recap of what has been going on in our world.

Trip to New Orleans
We went to New Orleans for Passover in April. Tali and I went down a bit early so we could spend some extra time with the family - including Tali's new cousin Ariel! Tali missed Jackson terribly (we left him with Savta) and even cried over it a few times. Then, H came down on Friday evening and we spent a weekend alone at a friend's B&B. We had a great time and it was nice to get away. Unfortunately, Tali didn't have such a good time. She was so depressed that I left her that she just want to take naps all day. She wasn't a happy kid. My poor mom and sister did the best they could with her. During Seder, Tali recited the Four Questions in Hebrew (she repeated after me), saving Uncle Brian the embarrassment of having to do them. My only regret is that we did not get it on video. She did a great job.

Colds
Near the end of our trip to New Orleans, Tali got a cold. We flew home with her cold and then I caught it. It was miserable. Since I'm pregnant, I couldn't really take anything. And I couldn't sleep because I couldn't breathe. I spent quite a few nights on the sofa (so H wouldn't catch it), just laying there. Its awful to be pregnant and sick and it took me about a week to get better.

Potty Training
I now consider Tali fully trained. It was pretty easy, really. There were some accidents in the beginning but she picked it up pretty quickly. The only downside is that she now wakes up at night if she has to pee. Even though I put a Pull-Up on her, she won't go in it. Usually, it's just once but sometimes it is two or three times. It's not fun being nine months pregnant and having to get up in the middle of the night. But I guess she's preparing me for a newborn. I just hope she's not waking at opposite hours of him. Then I'll never get any sleep!

We have a house!
H and I signed a contract on a house! Our four-year search  is finally over. It's a half hour from where we are now in a beautiful little town. But, the house needs some work. So now I am going to take on a house renovation with a 2-year-old and a new baby. I must be crazy.

Those are the main things that have been going on over here. I promise to be better about blogging going forward. (At least until the baby comes.)

Gymnastics

When I picked Tali up from nursery school today, one of the teachers told me that I need to put Tali in gymnastics. She went on and on about how flexible she was, as well as coordinated and fearless. The perfect combination for a gymnast.

Tali regularly sits in a full split (see picture above, we were rolling a ball back and forth and that's how she chose to sit), but I just assumed all little kids could do that. Apparently not. I did have her in a general gym class over the winter and she did well with the gymnastics part. However, she got very frustrated with the balance beam because the other children went slow and needed help while she was practically running across it. While the other children were learning how to a somersault down a wedge, I was teaching Tali how to do it on the beam. She has excellent upper body strength and tons of energy. At home, she likes to do headstands and handstands (with help) and always begs H for more when he flips her in the air.

All of these things, plus others, indicate that she would enjoy gymnastics. I did when I was a child. Now I just have to find a class for her and the time to do it. And for the record, I have no desire to be a "stage mom" and push her to go to the Olympics. I just want her to have fun with it.

Uh-Oh

H and I just punished Tali in her crib for pulling Jackson's hair (something she rarely does). When she's punished in her crib, she's not allowed to have her blanket. But that doesn't stop her from asking for it. We're in another room listening to her scream for her blanket and all of the sudden I hear a thump. I rushed in to see her on the floor on her knees! She'd completely climbed out of her crib and wasn't even phased by it! She just wanted to get her blanket. H told her she's not allowed to climb out of her crib and that it's very bad. I'm not so sure that's going to work, though. I thought she was too short to climb out but I guess I was wrong. Good thing I bought a toddler rail months ago so that we'd be ready when this happened.

Five Days

Although I consider Tali potty trained, it seems we cannot get past the five day mark without an accident. It's usually a "number two" (won't go into details) and she's always very upset by it. I know she isn't doing it on purpose, but it's very frustrating for both of us. I've been told that's the hardest part for them to learn to control and it just takes time. But she'll go four days without any sort of accident and then once day five rolls around, she just cannot hold it.  I try not to get upset in front of her but it's hard. It's even harder because I need to comfort her and clean up the mess. Yuck.

So the sign on our bathroom door is back to zero tonight. This time I drew a sad face inside.

Manipulation

Now that Tali's potty trained, she's found a new way to try and manipulate me. The past two days, she's tried to get out taking a nap by telling me she needs to go potty after I've put her in the crib. She knows I'll go in there, take her out, and bring her to the potty. But, what she hasn't figured out yet is that I'll just put her right back in the crib after she goes (or doesn't go, as has been the case). She might try, but I still win.

Embarrassing Moments

Tali's at the age where there are quite a few embarrassing moments for me (I'll get to embarrass her in about 10 years). Putting down the potty in the driveway of someone's house doesn't bother me. Neither does getting a bit messy at a restaurant (as long as she's well behaved). But within the past week there have been two distinct moments where I wanted to hide.

Last week, at the end of our shopping trip at Whole Foods, Tali told me she had to go potty. So I brought her into the bathroom and sat her on the toilet. She went and as I was washing up, I heard the alarm go off. I peeked outside to see if everyone was evacuating and no one seemed to notice. Then Tali told me she had to go again. I put her back on the potty and someone knocked on the door to ask if everything was okay. Turns out she pulled the emergency string next to the toilet! Ugh, I just wanted to disappear.

Yesterday, we were in a cafe picking up some salad and Tali walked away from me. I told her to come back and she walked back towards me with a giant ginger cookie that she'd taken a bite out of (plastic wrapper and all). I told her she couldn't just take things, that she had to ask and I took the cookie away from her. As I picked up my salad, she walked away again. I turned around to see her with two sugar cookies in one hand and munching on a piece of rugelach in the other hand! At this point I was both embarrassed and angry. So I paid for all of the cookies along with our salad and left. The entire way home, I explained to her that I was mad and she cannot just take cookies (to be fair, they were all on tables right at her height), that she must ask me first. When we got home, she began to repeat what I said in the car. It's hard to stay mad when she's being so funny!

(Apologies for the jumpy video. Jackson was trying to get me to play tug while I was recording.)

Ginger

In one of the many food documentaries I've convinced H to watch over the past few years, there was a scene that's had a big impact on how I raise Tali. The cameras and narrator went into a first grade classroom with a basket of fresh produce and other healthy foods. When asked to identify things such as potatoes, chicken or broccoli, none of the kids could do it. But, they could instantly identify French fries and chicken nuggets. I was horrified - guess the documentary made it's point. I have vowed to teach my children to recognize and eat as many healthy foods as possible.

As Tali and I are at the grocery store at least twice a week, I use some of that time to teach her about these different foods. When we walk through the produce section, I quiz her on what I am putting into the cart. By now she's pretty good and often identifies things that I am not buying. Today one of the items was ginger. I don't use it that often so I didn't expect her to know what it was. I was right. But once I told her it was ginger, her response was "try ginger." I explained to her that I had to cut it first and she could try it later at home. She quickly went back to the mango she was eating and I assumed that was the end of it. Nope.

This afternoon Tali saw a few ingredients for tonight's dinner sitting on the counter. Without me asking, she said, "that's a pepper" and "that's a onion" but then she pointed to the ginger and asked what it was. I told her it was ginger and again she asked to try it. Since I always encourage her to try different foods (and I never tell her she won't like something as I believe she can determine that for herself), I cut her a tiny piece. She ate it, made a face and asked for some milk. After she washed it down, she left the kitchen for a few minutes. Then she reappeared and asked for more ginger! She ate another small bite and again drank some milk.  I had a few more pieces ready for her but I guess that was all she could handle. Even though it was just two pieces, I am impressed. That's a lot of flavor for a 2-year-old!

They Grow Up So Fast

This was taken immediately after Tali said "Come on Jackson, let's go."