Ready or not?

This is why I love having
girls.

People often, kindly, ask me how my pregnancy is going, and whether or not I'm ready for a new baby. It's such a big question, that second one.

So I'll answer the first one first. The pregnancy is going fine. I'm only just entering the achy, insomniac stage--a month or two later than last time, for which I'm grateful every day. That doesn't mean I don't have my share of weird symptoms and issues (why is my foot swollen and hurting? Why all the indigestion? Why do the kids need something, or try to crawl on me, every single time I sit down?!?)

I had a doctor appointment Friday, and brought the girls for the first time since the big ultrasound. Except for the super-annoying, super-common chant of, "I'm bored, I'm tired, I'm hungry," they behaved like princesses (the good kind, not the snobby kind) and enjoyed seeing Mommy in the hot seat for once (I wonder if they wished I'd gotten a shot).

College friends!

I was rather charmed that when the doctor pulled out the tape measure and the heartbeat thingy, and two smiling faces peered over the table. The girls, up unprompted off the chair they'd been nicely sharing under threat of having to stand instead, were pretty excited to check on their baby sister! It was their favorite part, of course, aside from introducing their stuffed animals to the surprisingly interested nurse and the doctor.

I'm measuring 32 weeks (I'm 35 along) and didn't gain weight despite my food tour of Durham with Aunt Nancy. Has the baby dropped? Is it just because it was morning and I'm smaller in the mornings? I'll have an ultrasound next time to make sure everything's okay; I'm not really worried.

And onto the second question: are we ready?

ISU: the next generation.

Are we ever ready? Is it even possible? The truth is, we are definitely not ready in a practical sense. Definitely not. If the baby comes now, she'll be sleeping in a drawer, wearing outfits that have not recently been washed and wearing her sister's size 5 diapers (they're just for nighttime), plus whatever we can nab from the hospital. Oh, the horror.

The children have stopped asking me if I'm going to have the baby today, but they'd probably better start up again in the next few weeks. And we've been working a lot on getting ready for the little one.

For instance, we've thoroughly scrutinized photos of Baby Kalina and Baby Elise, read a few "I'm a big sister now" types of books, ensured that the baby has a "soft blankie" (this is a big one for Elise), covered "baby etiquette" in minor detail (so far), and stocked her room with a few presents people have given us (Elise is very protective of the baby's things for her).

We took our houseguests to the
botanical garden!

Still to do:
-Take a picture of my growing belly
-Fill the freezer
-Get the baby's room, clothes and diapers ready
-Track down all the baby equipment that's scattered throughout 3 different areas of the house
-Clean, clean, clean
-Visit the zoo, the children's museum and all the other fun places for the "last time." (Ever?!? I can't help but wonder)
-Finish all my freelance work to the best of my ability
-Give kids a crash course in all the "self care" items I've been neglecting for months
-Pack the hospital bag
-Finish Elise's and Kalina's baby books (eek! but I have this blog, right?)

In short, it does feel like I'm preparing for the end of the world. "It's not the end, it's the beginning!" I try to tell myself. We'll do it all in August: there's time, right?

The kids are getting ready in their own ways, which includes asking lots of good questions (Will the baby have hair? Kalina thinks no, Elise and Mommy think yes. "Will the baby fall on the floor when she pops out of your tummy?" -Kalina) and making lots of assumptions ("If the baby crawls toward bath water that's too hot, I will scoop it up and pull it away!" -Elise "I will catch the baby when she pops out of your tummy!" -Elise). They are excited for the baby to walk, run ("It'll be the slowest runner!" -Kalina), talk, toddle, sing, laugh, smile, eat mushed-up food, eat birthday cake, and all the rest. Me too. Kalina has also just begun to be on the lookout for things the baby shouldn't put in her mouth. I have a feeling she will be an annoyingly vigilant big sister (much to her mommy's delight). They do anticipate her being very cute--a unanimous sentiment in our family.

They're prepared to laugh at the baby's antics, from expecting her to "sing cute little songs" to swing in the baby swing. They anticipate that a highlight will be having her grab their fingers (they're not far off, honestly!). Elise also anticipates a lot of waaah-waaaaahing (as she calls it). 

[Elise, as an aside, also has a baby in her tummy. It used to be Ellie, her doll, who was born on her birthday (so the story goes), but now it's a boy baby. Ask her if you can feel the baby move sometime...]

And they're already starting to bond. They like to say hi through my tummy and, occasionally, into my mouth (they think that'll help the baby hear them). 

But I don't think they have any idea how much their world will be changed (they think they're tired now!). Oh well, they like surprises. Right??

Ode to the third Odegaard

Ultrasound at 30 weeks: learning
to suck her thumb?

The other day, I realized I was in my third trimester. The final one. I'd been in it for weeks, but didn't even know--how could this be? Is this simply the way it is with child #3? I already feel bad for this little girl!

I'm trying to convince myself that there are good things about being the third child in our family. And here's what I think this baby should know:

-Your birth is being anticipated with more excitement than fear. I know how to take care of a newborn (and toddler, and preschooler), and I know how to take care of two. This is markedly different from my previous two babies (How will I take care of a baby?!? What if labor hurts?!? What if I don't sleep?!? and, Is it even possible to manage two children at once?!? What if they both cry?!? What if I don't sleep?!?). Mommy will probably be calmer and more rational with you than either of the previous babies: they have done the hard work of wearing me down.

It's a foot!

-What's more, there are two extra people to be excited for you. And they're REALLY excited. Elise has already helped me wrap a present for you (Shh! Don't tell, but it used to be a cat toy, but it's been one of her favorites at several ages! This was all her idea.). Kalina is planning ways to help out and entertain you.

-Think you'll be wearing only hand-me-downs? Think again! Not only are there a few sweet new outfits waiting for you already (thank you, Grandma!), but plenty of our other old standbys are just plain worn out and need replacing. You'll be getting some new clothes. And besides, whenever we go to Target we're already

-I love your sisters. But I will swiftly (and gently) elbow those two thugs out of the way if they so much as breathe wrong on you, and I'm not afraid to admit it.

-For what it's worth, Elise has less Mommy time, but more fun, than Kalina did. You'll have double the fun (plus plenty of Mommy time, because who doesn't want to hang out with a cute baby all the time?).

-From week 1, you'll really get to see the world beyond the four corners of our living room. Hope you like it!

-Mommy will be too tired to fight common first-year no-nos, such as: gnawing on shoes, sharing a cookie with me, playing in the sunshine and chasing the cat. You'll probably get away with a lot more than your sisters ever thought of.

-Our craft cupboard is well-stocked. We own every toy any child ages birth to 6 could possibly dream of. We have stuffed-animal birthday parties down pat. I don't have to Google the words to all the classic songs and nursery rhymes. In short, we're really well prepared for a little sister to join in our fun.

And we also might be able to guess a few things about this new little baby:

-Nope, she's not going to be a good sleeper. I am not kidding myself this time. She wakes up when I: shift positions, eat or lay on my back, and she's been known to stay awake for 30 minutes to an hour at a time, if not more (sometimes i lose track). I'm already pretty certain she sleeps light and only when absolutely necessary.

-On the plus side, she seems to already have a routine--and I can handle routines, even if they're not particularly in my favor. Baby Girl 3 currently sleeps longest between about 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. She then takes only short naps until about 9:00-ish, at which time she's more awake than not for several hours. She also squirms whenever we're hungry. In fact, the only time I can guarantee she'll be still is when poor Elise is trying to feel her kick.

-She will have lots of separation anxiety. This is because if she doesn't naturally display it, I will have no choice but to teach her. I know no other method of parenting than, "stick with me and you'll be alright." So, she will need to be by my side at all times--but she'll have her big sisters there, and we usually have a pretty good time.

-Baby Girl 3 just might be strong-willed. We have it coming from both sides in one form or fashion, and we're due--we don't have one yet. If this happens, Uncle Tom will be spending all of his vacation time running her around in the yard to wear her out, and Daddy will take over on weekends (all my genes are obedient ones, so I will not be held responsible).

-She might also be mellow. Her movements, while frequent, aren't something I would describe as crazy or even random. Calm and calculated, maybe (this could be worrisome in itself)? I've never felt like she was doing backflips, just stretching and repositioning.

-Or maybe she's just very seriously strong-willed. Uh-oh.

-She'll be another small baby--no doubt about it.

-She doesn't hiccup much, if at all. According to some wisdom, this might mean that she won't have tummy troubles once she's born. That will hopefully make for a happy baby?

-Baby Girl 3 will be cute! Her ultrasound photos are clear in that. She also may be a thumb-sucker, in accordance with her hand positioning in at least one photo.

-And she'll be much loved. No doubt about that.

Can't wait to meet her in person (but stay in there just a little longer, Baby!)!

Kalina is 5?!?!!!

Kalina and her girls! (Minus a few.)

Kalina is 5! In fact, she is very 5! Sometimes it seems as though she's been 5 for months, but it's now official. Five is the age at which you take on more "big-kid" traits, like fixing your own breakfast, perhaps (and with any luck, your little sister's, and then gets you both ready for preschool, while Mommy takes care of the new baby), and fewer "little-kid" ones, like needing to be told to say "thank you," hopefully. It's a strange thing, having a "big kid!" But just in time, right?

Actually, Kalina has been acting "big" for a long, long time now. Not only is she ultra-responsible about everything from bedtime to removing her shoes each and every time she enters a house (LOVE that!), but she's an amazing big sister who has trained her little sister well in similar areas. And equally "big" is her heart, which has her playing sweetly with babies (whether animal or human), attending to her sister's needs (especially the purple ones), praying whenever we hear sirens and usually preferring "having conversations" with people over playing. I do not remember how this all happened, I'm just gratified that it did! She's incredible.

Birthday Girl and Birthday Girl's
Sister headbands!

And there are milestones, of course. Kalina is now, officially, a reader--and has been for some months! Actually, probably since her early fours, but she really took off a couple months ago with a series called the Bob books and now not only can read, but likes it! I look forward with mixed feelings to the day when she can pick up a book and read it cover to cover--we may never see her again!

The girl can add, subtract and divide within reason, count far past 100 and talk in depth about the life cycle of a butterfly. She knows all her planets, in order, including which ones are gaseous and which ones are rocky. Kalina can now cut shapes out of paper and bites out of a pancake. Her attention span is unmatched in her age group (and even among some adults). Perhaps best, and hardest, of all, she knows how to be patient.

If you look closely, you can see how
the cake has rainbow colors!

Kalina is clearly amazing--so we did our best to have a birthday celebration to match!

Her special day landed on a Friday this year, and Kalina was in our room the second her clock turned green. Happy birthday, Sweetie!!! We started the morning with "rainbow" cereal (Lucky Charms happened to be offering extra special rainbow marshmallows last week at the grocery store), and moved quickly to opening a couple presents, one of which was Elise's.

I knew we needed to open Elise's present early, because otherwise the surprise would be (very good-naturedly) spoiled. In fact, it had already been spoiled once or twice in the week prior, although I'm not sure Kalina noticed. Besides, Kalina loves keeping things as a surprise, so maybe she was able to deny what she'd heard. The truth is, Elise was very excited about her gift for Kalina: ponies like the ones she has! She came up with the idea herself, possibly motivated by the fact that Kalina had been borrowing her ponies for quite some time. Amazingly, I'd recently seen a new pony book set, like Elise's but different, at a reasonable price, so I quickly purchased it. Just as I'd hoped, Kalina was every bit as excited as Elise. She dug right in, and the girls nicely combined their herds. Brilliant thinking, Elise!

Next on our agenda: a surprise big-girl outing for Kalina. It just so happened that the local theater company was performing Cinderella that morning. Cinderella...5-year-old girl...birthday--we had to be there. I bought the tickets and surprised Kalina with them. Elise, for her part, was happy to stay home with Grandpa--making a rainbow birthday card for Kalina, no less!

Kalina dressed up in her princessy Easter dress, and we headed to the show. Albeit a bit overwhelmed (there were some rather loud activities beforehand) and not wanting to let go of my hand for a second, she managed to win a "beautiful" plastic ring as a prize, and we got our picture taken! The performance was amazing, and well-suited to kids. Wowed by the fairy godmother, Cinderella and her prince, Kalina even helped the rest of the audience call the fairy godmother in Cinderella's moment of need. Her favorite parts? The magical parts, and watching Cinderella dance with the prince. After the show, we took her picture with the fairy godmother--and near Cinderella, who was utterly swamped by a posse of pint-sized princesses, of which Kalina was the most patient.

Painting a suncatcher!

Back at home, it was time to make Kalina's birthday cake(s), including an "official" family cake and cupcakes for the party the next day. Her theme was rainbows, so we carefully mixed the batter and divided it into six bowls, one for each color. Then we layered cakes and cupcakes until all the colors were used up. We'd tried this before, and have not been disappointed in the results--pretty and pretty easy!

Soon, Daddy was home, early, from work and Elise was awake. Grandpa arrived and we dug into presents! Our 5-year-old did, in fact, need to be told to say "thank you" after every gift. Maybe next year...? I believe each present was considered the "best ever," or possibly it's just really fun being five and opening a bunch of fun stuff.

Kalina had asked for crafts, books (that she could read herself, and also chapter books), pets, room decorations and big-kid toys. "But not little-kid toys, Mommy, and I'm going to be giving all my toys to Elise." This pretty much describes what our big girl received. Daddy gave her a butterfly house (five baby caterpillars arrive by mail), Grandpa and Uncle Tom provided some craft kits (already highly popular), Aunt Nancy got her a piggy bank shaped like an owl (Aunt Jeanie provided $5, and we also started an allowance for her!) and some books, and I found some Lego sets for her (one from my childhood!), some books and some paper dolls. We've thoroughly enjoyed slowly getting out each of them, except for the Legos, which she dove into with gusto.

The rainbow walk game.

Speaking of Legos, I had never noticed before that they are their own language. It's not a spoken one; it's visual. For instance, we wouldn't all have the same name for the 2-bump x 4-bump chunky block, but we know exactly what it is (it's a classic). I can proudly say that Kalina has made great strides in her fluency in the past few days. Bewildered at the start, I witnessed her expertly fly through some instructions yesterday for a pony stable, needing little help from me. Quite a sight to see! But I'm off topic...

We enjoyed homemade pizza for the birthday dinner, followed closely by rainbow birthday cake. But how do you convince a birthday girl she needs to go to bed? Fortunately, we had a rainbow party with friends the next morning to look forward to!

Look! 5 candles!

Giddy hardly begins to describe Kalina's enthusiastic mood in the morning as she welcomed her party guests. Tidal wave? Pack of screaming monkeys? The guests may have felt a bit overwhelmed, especially since a mini-tidal wave mimicked Big Sister's every move. After some hyper playtime and dancing to rainbow-themed music (and sunshine and lollipops), we painted rainbow suncatchers. Then it was time for games (pin the sun on the rainbow, anyone?) and a highly popular rainbow walk. As it turns out, when you randomly dish out candy and stickers for walking around in a circle, kids will play for a long, long time. Fortunately, we had plenty of candy and stickers (still do).

We then sat down to cupcakes, and I lit four candles. We were all inhaling to sing the first note of Happy Birthday, when I was kindly reminded by a friend that my daughter is now five. Oops!! We quickly remedied the problem, took a new picture, and soon Kalina was beaming while all her friends sang.

A rainbow lunch.

And then the girls all clustered around, but patiently watched, as Kalina opened her gifts. Again, each one was the best ever (although she did, unfortunately, at one point decide out loud that the birdhouse craft kit was actually the best). We've continued to enjoy getting out new crafts and toys. In fact, we're still doing it. (We also used her birthday money towards a Cinderella doll for Kalina--Mommy fielded half the cost--handing the purple Rapunzel princess she received to Elise--both girls were quite happy.)

Then it was time for everyone to go, and Kalina graciously waved them all out the door. Technically, the birthday was over, but we still had an afternoon of crafting and Lego building to keep us quite contentedly occupied.

What a fun party!

What a lovely birthday it was! But it's important to remember that Kalina's still not entirely grown up. She still very much believe in fairies, still calls me Mommy most of the time, still wants to cuddle up for story time, still makes up songs and dances, still plays with stuffed animals (thank goodness!) and still pronounces penguin, "pingwing." Kalina at five is every bit as precious as the day she was born, and we're still every bit as proud of and enraptured by her.

Happy, happy birthday--and a happy year ahead!