Libby's favorite things

It's fun to see Libby go through different phases and see her interests change. Right now, some of her favorite things are:

• "Where's Waldo" and "Look and Find" books. I checked some out from the library on a whim, unsure if they were too advanced or not. Turns out, Libby loves them and I am so impressed with her patience and attention to detail. She can easily spend 5 minutes on one page, looking for all the characters. We've spent a lot of good family time playing with these books lately.
• Playing in the cardboard tunnel Jared made for her out of a couple of large boxes. It isn't the prettiest structure in our living room, but it gets the most use. 
• Going for walks. Libby likes to say "ready, set, go!" and race against us. One day, Jared was teasing her, saying "I'm winning!" and that phrase really stuck. Libby loves to run and say "I'm winning!" Jared also taught her to say "Mommy's losing!" but luckily, she doesn't repeat that one as often.
• Getting "snacks" from the bakery. We usually go to the grocery store twice a week, and Libby loves to check for free samples in the bakery. They're usually pure sugar, but if they keep her from taking bites out of broccoli and plums when I'm not looking, I guess it's worth it. There's no telling how much unwashed produce that girl has tasted. (Don't worry, I usually buy the things she puts in her mouth, so no one else has to.)

Boggio's

We had beautiful weather here on Saturday and I wanted to get out of the house, so we took a drive to Boggio's Orchard, which if you're wondering, is pronounced "Bojo's." Who knew?

We didn't actually do any apple picking, but they had a petting zoo, a playground, and a silo full of corn to play in. Who needs a sandbox or a ball pit, when you can play in thousands of pounds of corn kernels?

Libby loved the animals, of course. I knew she loved goats, but I was surprised how fearless she was around the huge camel. It licked her hand several times and she kept going back for more. I'm sure it helped that she was safe in Daddy's arms.

I finally remembered to take a picture of me and Jared together. Libby usually gets all the camera action.

And, here is a belly shot at 35 weeks. When we were leaving the house, Jared asked "are you sure you don't want to wear a different shirt?" I thought he was implying I was going to be hot in long-sleeves, but apparently, the issue was that my belly was hanging out (unbeknownst to me). Even most of my maternity shirts aren't long enough to cover my belly. Maybe it's because the baby is riding so low? I just can't seem to keep my skin covered. Oh well, I'm not ashamed. But we'd both look a lot cuter if you would just COME OUT, baby!

2

To Libby, on your second birthday,

I'm writing to you today in hopes that both you and I will remember what a sweet and joyful second year we've had together. Growing from 1 to 2 can be tough; there are skinned knees, bonked heads, and fierce desires to be independent. But even on the rough days, I love you and you love me and I'm eternally grateful that you are part of our family.

You are quick, clever, imaginative, and funny. You make silly jokes (like insisting that Mommy is a boy) and play silly games (swinging under your high chair, hiding behind Daddy's nightstand) and dance your heart out (especially to the "boy-girl" song from Signing Time). Every day, I have at least one story to share with Daddy about some humorous or brilliant thing you did.

You have a great English vocabulary and a truly remarkable ASL vocabulary. You recognize and can name all the colors of the rainbow and can sign most of them, too. You know lots of animal names, sounds, and signs. You are well on your way to counting to 10 (so far we've gotten to 1 2 3 4 5 8 9 10) and can recognize several letters (last week you figured out B Y and U, just in time for football season).

You love going for walks in the stroller, looking for bugs in the grass, picking tomatoes/berries/flowers/etc, swinging, and being outside in general. You also love to read and especially enjoy books with animals, babies, and trains.

 While you are cautious around new people, you love babies and kids and often impress me with your generosity and willingness to share.

I'm so glad you're here.

Happy birthday.

Love, Mom

32 weeks

Thought I'd do a quick update on baby #2. I've reached the point where I now understand the intense desire many women have to GET BABY OUT. I never felt that way with Libby - I LOVED being pregnant the first time around and was in no rush for it to be over. I am still in awe of the miracle of pregnancy and so grateful that I get to experience it, but I'm kinda done with this one. 4.5 more weeks till I'm full term and then it is go time. I am going to walk that baby right out.

Last week I was having some really obnoxious and worrisome back pain and upper abdominal pain. I called my midwife and she recommended I go see my family doc. He recommended I go see an obstetrician. She wasn't available for an appointment, but recommended I go get an ultrasound. Good news? It was not pre-term labor. Bad news? Baby was pushing on my ureter and my right kidney was backed up. After spending a few hours on my knees and elbows and sleeping on my left side with my hips elevated, baby must have shifted and the pain went away. I did take the opportunity to confirm with the ultrasound tech that baby is indeed still a girl.

I've been trying to talk to Libby about the baby a lot lately. I don't think it makes much sense to her that there is an actual baby in my belly. But, I did ask her if she wanted a baby to come live with us and she grunted her approval (we're still working on the word "yes").

Bugs

One of Libby's favorite things to do lately is look for bugs. We have had great success finding grasshoppers in our front yard this past week. Libby spent a good 20 minutes admiring this little guy and letting him crawl up and down her arms.

Surprises

I love when I walk into a room and discover Libby doing something adorable and surprising, like yesterday, when she was just hanging out in a chair wearing my glasses.

July

Since I can't get the song "Oh, what do you do in the summertime?" out of my head, I thought I'd share a few things we've been doing lately. 

 Clockwise from top left:
1 - Watching the Olympics. This photo was actually taken at the beginning of July, so we were probably watching the Olympic trials. Or Wheel of Fortune. We only get 2 channels, even with the fanciest antenna money can buy (the fanciest available at Walmart, anyway). Thank goodness NBC is one of those because I LOVE the Olympics!
2 - Trying to convince Libby to go to bed. She's a master procrastinator.
3 - Eating watermelon, the favorite summer fruit in our house.
4 - Dressing up in winter gear even though it's in the 90s. Hats and gloves are just too fun, apparently.

Top left: Seeing the animals at the 4H fair and contemplating how soon we can get Libby into 4H.  Also trying to convince Jared we should get a goat.

All other pictures: Playing outside with the boys. There are 3 other moms that I meet for park play dates, who happen to all have boys. They love playing cars and Libby fits right in.