Ballerina Baby

C is certainly not lacking in the personality department. Her imagination has really taken off lately. She spends large parts of her day pretending to be something else (a frog, a dog, a chicken, a princess, a ballerina, a super hero) and expects us to play along too. 

If she is a dancer, I must also wear a tutu and spin around the living room. If she is Super Catherine, I must fix her cape and "fly" around the house. If we are frogs, I have to hop.

Today, she woke up in full ballerina mode. She wore her pink tutu, her ballerina shirt, and danced around the room with her Ballerina Baby (I danced too). When we went outside to play, Ballerina Baby came too.

Ballerina Baby wanted to slide and swing. Then, she just wanted to catch Banks (who Catherine has started lovingly referring to as "Catherine's Banks"). Catherine and Baby chased Banks around the yard until he finally sat somewhat close.

Success. As you can see, Ballerina Baby was pretty happy with herself.

Ladies Who Lunch

I haven't written as much lately, mostly because I am utterly exhausted all the time (a little side effect of the first trimester I had conveniently forgotten about); but also because C is in full out toddler mode, which is exhausting and exhilarating all on its own.

In other words, I nap when she naps now.

But since I left a pile of dishes in the sink, pushed the pile of unfolded laundry on our bed onto the floor, and went to sleep at the same time as a two year old last night, I'm actually awake after our toddler-tastic play date with friends.

We were planning to meet my friend Jessica and her two kids at the park when it started pouring, so we revamped and went to Barnes and Noble to drink coffee and watch our kids play with the train table instead - a decision I'm sure the employees appreciated. 

After letting them play and dance on the stage and fight over stuffed animals neither of us were planning to buy, we declared it lunch time and walked over to Panera.

Then chaos ensued. C wanted a sandwich, Ben wanted mac and cheese; but when the food was ready, it turns out that neither of them wanted the food on their plate. Abby (14 months old) was along for the ride, eating whatever we put on her plate while dropping things on the floor all around her. All of the sudden, C stood up in the booth next to me and started crying out undecipherable words, getting louder in her frustration, pairing it with stomping feet for emphasis. I could not understand what she wanted. 

So, I lifted her out of the booth and watched as she climbed in next to Jessica and started eating Ben's mac and cheese. Seriously. That's all she wanted.

I gave Ben C's turkey sandwich and they both sat, quietly eating, for the next three and a half minutes.

Remember when lunching with friends was relaxing?

On our way home, Jessica sent me this pie chart. That about sums it up.

Still, I'm so glad to have a friend living in the same crazy stage of life as me. Plus, she proves that it can even be done with two! 

In all honesty, I probably won't know what to do with myself when I can eat an entire meal, in one sitting, with both hands, without begging someone to sit down and just eat one bite (not that it is happening anytime in the next 3-7 years). I may have just cracked the code to avoiding too much unnecessary weight gain during this pregnancy - dining with a toddler!

No More Trampolines

I remember reading all of the rules of pregnancy when I was expecting C and thinking that the "no jumping on trampolines" was a particularly weird one. Now, I know that rule was clearly written for those who are already mothers of toddlers.

I scheduled a play date last week at iJump, a warehouse full of inflatable bouncy castles and slides, before even considering that I shouldn't be jumping up and down or going down giant inflatable slides with a thirty pound child in my lap. Why? Because #2 will be making his or her debut sometime around January 18th! 

We told family and friends a mere 24 hours after a positive test, but waited until the doctor confirmed that I was, in fact, with child before telling the social media world. I am the worst secret keeper ever.

C is pretty excited about it (as excited as a two year old can be). She calls herself "big sister" and kisses my belly all the time. She thinks poking my belly button tickles the baby. She also thinks the ultrasound photo looks like a cat.

We couldn't be more thrilled about this baby. I can't wait to watch our family grow.

For now, I'll just watch my belly grow (at a much faster rate than the first time around) and try to avoid trampolines.