We're Having A...

We had our friends over for Christmas Eve, and during dinner we decided to unfold our stork.  Yes, so much for all that "we're not going to find out the sex of our baby this time; we know what we're doing, bla, bla, bla".  I have been under the influence of the pregnancy hormones and obviously thinking irrationally, but I'm surprised that Len gave in. So, our little linguine turns out to be a linguina.  

We're absolutely happy to be having another girl and were both secretly hoping for one, but because of the totally different pregnancy symptoms, we were convinced I was carrying a boy.  So, when we read the note from our doctor that said: "Congratulations upon your new arrival; it's a girl", we were totally shocked.  And even now, 5 days later, I keep mistakenly referring to the baby as a he instead of she.  Sometimes we look at each other with Len and say with a big disbelief and happiness: "We're having a girl!"

Her New First

At 23 months and 1 day, K for the first time put her own shoe on - just one and on the wrong foot, but she did.

The Big Ultrasound

As our appointment was getting closer, Len and I kept asking each other: "Do we REALLY want to wait until the 'end' to see whether we're having a boy or a girl?", and every time we said "No, we don't". So, today was our only chance (unless we wanted to pay out of our pocket for another ultrasound) to find out.

When we met with a doctor, the first question he asked was: "Are we finding out?" Instead of just simply saying: "Yes, please.", we asked if he could write the sex of the baby on a piece of paper and put it in an envelop. The doctor said he doesn't do it. Instead, he wrote it on a sticky note and worked on folding it for a while. Then he asked: "Do you know where babies come from?" That's where I started thinking... is he going to give us a lecture on safe sex?, but Len was faster than me and said: "The storks bring them." And, that's when the doctor handed us a little paper stork and said: "Yes, that's the correct answer. When you're ready, unfold the little stork - the sex of your baby is inside."

The rest of the appointment went very well. All baby's measurements were perfect, which we're very grateful for.

First Kicks

In the midst of packing and moving yesterday, at 17 weeks and 2 days, baby linguine made his first official kicks.  

The New House

We got it! I feel like I have written this before, but within the last few weeks we've gone through so many ups and downs regarding the loan, the house, the bank, the wire transfers that even though we rented a u-haul truck for tomorrow, we still weren't sure if we were getting the keys or not.

Well, they just called from the bank saying "CONGRATULATIONS, the house is yours; you can pick up your keys at any time". And, here it is:

Baby Linguine

Our new baby has a new nickname. We're not sure where it came from, and until we both decide on a real name, linguine it's gonna be.

Tongue Twister

Klaudia is definitely making changes in her communicating skills. And yes, it's changes, not progress. Within the last couple of weeks she's been using her vocal cords much more often than before, but most of the things she says aren't comprehensible. Yet, at least.

Recently she's started tongue twisting. Every time she's trying to say something, she sticks her tongue out, twists it and makes some sounds at the same time. It looks hilarious. I'll have to record it (although it never lasts long enough) before she stops doing it.

Her new words:

• bath (pronounced as bas)
• niania (a new name for her doll)
• fish (for gold fish)
• dzieci (Polish for kids)
  

Is It a Boy Or a Girl?

We don't know and we won't find out this time. When pregnant with K, I wondered how people may not want to take advantage of the great technology and see what they're having. Well, here we are - doing the exact same thing. Our answer is: we just want to go through it. Yes, it would be much easier to know the gender, and that's why we found out K's. This time, however, we won't. Unless we see "it" by accident at the 20-week one-hour-long ultrasound or simply ask the doctor because we won't be able to take it any longer, we'll find out if it's a boy or girl when s/he is born.

However, I believe it's a boy. Here is why:

1. I'm craving sweets and meat (liver in particular). When pregnant with K, I almost became a vegetarian and wanted nothing to do with sweets.)
2. I'm not as moody (as I was with K). Actually mood swings are gone (supposedly girls cause those).
3. It's my gut feeling.

On the other hand, it could be a girl:

1. The condition of my skin is unbearable (they say daughters take mama's beauty away).
2. The nausea was much worse this time.
   

K's First Drawing

Here We Go Again

I'm 15 weeks and 4 days pregnant, and it looks like our little bug is doing very well. When pregnant with K, I don't remember worrying much especially during the first two trimesters about the wellness of the baby. I somehow believed that everything would be fine. Since then I met a log of women (great friends included) whose pregnancies weren't as successful as mine, so I have to admit, I flt like it was my turn (that's why we waited with announcing the news until at least the end of the first trimester).

Some say that the morning sickness is a sign of a healthy baby. If that's the case, our bug is extremely healthy. The nausea this time didn't last as long as with K (6 weeks - 15 weeks) but was much much more intense. From week 5-12, I was nauseous 24/7. I would wake up nauseous and go to bed nauseous. Anything made me throw up even doing the dishes, brushing teeth and the worst - changing K's diaper.

Well, I am back to "normal". Even though I don't feel any of those "happy hormones" pregnant women are supposed to be showered with, I'm trying to enjoy and appreciate being pregnant. I cannot wait to hold my little bug in my arms and breastfeed him. It's going to be amazing to introduce him to K. I can hardly wait.

Our 22-Month-Old Klaudia

• She is a great sleeper; when at 7.30 pm, she hears "Idziemy dobranocki?" (Should we go night night?), she grabs Len's or my hand and takes us to her bedroom, where we put her into her crib, kiss good night and leave. She falls asleep on her own and usually doesn't wake up until 6.30-7am. Her nap goes from 12.30-3pm every day.

• K has just figured out that if she covers both of her ears with her hands, the sounds that she hears will be different. She loves to experiment with it in the car, at the playground or at a restaurant.
• She loves her gymnastics classes on Saturday mornings. We noticed that they helped her become more athletic and definitively more courageous. Climbing couches, chairs or anything that appears climbable to her is her new favorite.

The sounds she makes while climbing - way too funny!

• She absolutely loves her daddy. I remember when I was pregnant with K, and we found out we were having a girl, Len was worried that he wouldn't know how to play with a daughter. Well, somehow he never runs out of ideas, and K adores everything he comes up with. Watching these two play melts my heart. (I used to worry that K would get upset when seeing me leave for work. I don't know what I was thinking! When she sees me get ready, she can't wait for me to leave - she keeps saying Bye Bye and opens the front door when I'm trying to get dressed.)

Halloween 2009

• She is eating again. After a couple of months (that's right, not days or weeks) of eating close to nothing (she was able to go through a day with 2 strawberries only), she is back. She is not as adventurous as she used to be about a year ago, but she has her favorites, and she will eat quite a bit of them almost every day. She still loves any kind of fruit, and her new thing is oatmeal for breakfast.

• She is a lover: she likes to have her boo-boos kissed; she enjoys changing her stuffed animals' diapers; she takes her baby in a stroller everywhere we go; and my favorite: if she sees her daddy sitting on a couch busy with something, she will sneak behind him, put her head on his shoulder and just lean against him.

• 

• K loves water except for when she has to drink it. But she squeals when it's time to wash hands, take a bath, or go to a water park.

• She is an easy and very happy baby.

Quick Update

I'm sorry for not posting for such a long time. I've been feeling quite miserable although today is a good day. So yes, we're doing it again! I am 11 weeks pregnant and have been extremely nauseous for the past 6 weeks. More details on the pregnancy - coming up soon.

AND, we just found out - we got a house!!! More details on that, too as soon as I have some energy to sit down and write.

Going Private

We're thinking about making our blog private for invited readers only (in a few weeks, once I have time to find out how to do it).  Please let us know if you'd like to be a part of it.  Maybe it's because of all those things happening in the world, but suddenly we become less and less comfortable posting details about our bug knowing that everyone in the world may have access to them.  

Call us, email us or simply post a comment, and we'll be more than happy to add you to our readers' list.  

Mommy!

First it was Ma, then Mama, and now it's Mommy.  I LOVE IT.

Crawling

Klaudia has just figured out how to crawl. And as a little perfectionist as she is, she takes every opportunity to practice her new skill.

She likes spacious places like our hallway, any mall or C.ostco. And we never know when she is going to start practicing. She simply drops on her fours and starts crawling. Stopping her by picking her up or explaining stimulates major meltdowns which we yet have to learn how to handle. Until that happens, we'll let her practice her new skill wishing she could do it at home where the floor is much much cleaner.

Pneumonia Update

It's gone. It came suddenly at the end of June; I was down and off from work for two weeks - the longest time off I'd ever taken, but I had never been that sick before. After returning to work, it took weeks to get my energy back, and this week is the first week since my illness that I'm not coughing (more than two months after the actual disease!).

Pneumonia is a lung disease, but it effects the whole body. Sometimes it may take up to a year to get the strength back. I was very lucky to have my parents here and was able to stay in bed during the hardest time and then take naps every day for weeks after I returned to work.

And speaking of feeling better, maybe it's because of those naps I was able to take, and the fact that K sleeps through the night and for 12-14 hours straight, I have to say that I'm feeling awesome!

She is Back!

When my parents were still here, Klaudia had a no-eating period. She was fine with just a teaspoon of food for the entire day. Our pediatrician wasn't concerned explaining that toddlers may do such things for up to a week. K did this for 5 weeks straight. She never lost weight but didn't gain any either. She drank a lot though: water, juice, and milk (that was before she quit drinking milk). And from time to time she ate some fruit, but that was it.

I am happy to announce that she is back! Although she still doesn't like her milk, she is a much better eater. And as weird as it sounds, she loves jarred baby food. She is very picky about what's on her plate but at least she eats something.

K's favorite foods nowadays:

• yogurt
• mac and cheese
• spaghetti with tomato sauce
• baby food
• any fruit
• snacks: jello, cheez-its, cheerios, apple sauce
  

Fellow mamas, I'm open to any new ideas. I'm willing to try anything to add some more favorites to the list. What is it that your angels like to eat?

Babysitting

We haven't used much of it since there was never a need for it. K has been under care of my parents or our neighbors who also have a little girl, so she was always well entertained, and Len and I never left her with anyone for too long.

Yesterday I had a meeting at one of the schools I'm working at, and they provided free child care. I was glad since it's good for K to interact with other kids (and by staying home with me, she doesn't get much of it), and I was actually able to attend the meeting.

When I dropped her off with the babysitter and two other kids, she was shy at first, but the babysitter did a good job involving her in some games, so I had a chance to sneak out. And while fighting the tears, I had to remind myself that K was going to have fun and would get a chance to play with others.

The whole meeting was a blur. I tried to focus as much as I could, but my thoughts kept going another direction. At one point one of the teachers had to leave and another one had to go with her to show her where the babysitter was. When the person came back, I tried to make eye contact to see if she saw Klaudia and if she was doing OK. But there was no eye contact, so I figured everything must have been fine. It was confirmed at the end of the meeting: "Kate when I went upstairs, Klaudia was playing so nicely. She is the only one in the group who doesn't talk, so she just smiles at everyone."

As soon as I could I said good bye to everyone and went to pick up my angel. I felt so proud... she didn't cause any trouble, she just smiled. As I walked with a big smile on my face, I could see the classroom where the babysitter stayed with the kids. I peeked through the window, and that's when my heart dropped. K was sitting on the babysitter's lap and was crying her eyes out. I could not open that door and get to her fast enough.  As I held her in my arms, I could feel how shaken she was.  I could feel her heart beat and her whole body calming down.  She stopped crying right when I picked her up, but she didn't leave my arms until we got to the car (it took 45 minutes since I had to make some copies and pick up some papers from the office).  The babysitter said that she simply started crying 5 minutes prior to my arrival, and that she must have been tired.  I on the other hand, just wanted to scream "What happened to my baby?" but instead held it together and with saying: "thank you for your help today" left the room.  (I ended up leaving my meeting stuff in the room and had to come back to pick it up; that's another reason why I didn't get to my car earlier).  

Any person watching the whole thing would say:  "Nothing happened, the baby was just crying for 5 minutes".  What I saw was an angel traumatized by being left alone for over 2 hours.  And even though I know we'll need to use babysitting services at one point, I know that I won't let it happen for a long time.  

Our Trip To Michigan

The day after my parents left for Poland, K, Len and I left for Michigan. We took a red eye. Our flight was at 12.30 (midnight). K slept at home until it was time to go to the airport. Here she is helping out with the luggage. (I forgot to take her birth certificate - the only ID document she has, but it turned out it wasn't needed. Noone asked us for any proof that K is our daughter! Isn't that interesting?)
We were a bit nervous about our first flight with K, but there was no need for it. She played with daddy for the first 30 minutes and slept for the rest of the flight. On the way home, it wasn't as smooth - K slept only for the first hour and then wanted to play. She was a trooper though considering the space limit and no toys (OK, I forgot those, too!).
Once at grandma and grandpa's, K was in heaven. Len's mom used to have a daycare not too long ago; she kept all the toys, which K was absolutely mesmerized by:
In the following two pictures, there are 5 generations captured. Klaudia and I are so lucky to be a part of such a 'rich' family (I never had a chance to meet my biological grandfathers; they had passed away years before I was born whereas K got to meet her great grandparents; how wonderful is that!)

From the right: Len, K, great grandpa Claude (Carter's great great grandpa),
aunt Claudel (Len's sister),
Mike (Claudel's son)
and little Carter (Mike's son, Claudel's grandson:)

Here she is (ready to run) with daddy, grandpa and great grandpa.

Finally, we got a chance to meet 3 new additions to our family. Here is Danielle (to the left), Mike's girlfriend:
Mike and Danielle's baby Carter:
And, little princess Bella - a daughter of Len's niece, Autumn:

Doesn't Len look good with babies?

Here are some more pics from our great vacation:

K obsessively playing with Danielle's cell phone.

Len and K's great grandma Lois.

K and uncle Jim playing knuckles.

Len, his dad with K and Len's nephew Parker.

K playing wii with cousin Chelsea (above) and auntie Claudel (below).

And, here is K chilling after an exhaustive game:

... and having fun rafting with daddy.

For two nights in a row, there were some serious storms with thunder and a lot of lightning at the lake where we all were staying. One night the lightning hit a tree next door, and although it didn't catch on fire, it exploded:
We had a wonderful time in MI (to those who know what I'm talking about: I'm trying to erase the spiders from my memory). We hope to see everyone soon - maybe in CA next time? Thank you to all for making our trip so memorable!

My Parents' Final Days in CA

Watching TV with grandpa:
First time bowling:
First the lecture (let me just add here that my parents beat me big time! I guess I did a good job training them):
Then this:


and this:

Milk Issues

Klaudia has stopped drinking cow's milk. It started right before my parents left. She had loved her milk and had taken every opportunity to drink it as many times a day as we were willing to give it to her (we did have to limit it to 16 oz per day since she refused to eat solids).
I called K's pediatrician and learned that it's pretty common at this age. Kids become very picky about what they eat or drink and can quit their favorite foods cold turkey. She said not to worry but make sure she eats things with calcium. Thank goodness K likes cottage cheese and yogurt.