1m2aSandbox

It’s that time of year – the
sun comes out, the clothes come off . . . and the sunscreen fights
begin.


Last year Maddie was just a year old, and not able to fight us very
effectively. She submitted with good grace, largely because she
didn’t know she had options, I think. This year, she has no
interest whatsoever in sitting still while we get the sunscreen on
her and is very vocal about it.

Since Maddie and I are both feeling better
(not perfect, but close!), we spent as much of the glorious day
yesterday outside as possible. Park in the morning, backyard all
afternoon, dinner on the patio, and a walk after dinner.


Which brings us to the highlight of Maddie’s day – the
walk was to Baskin Robbins.

As I inch towards 38 weeks and my belly
inches towards Guinness Book worthiness, I sit here, still sick,
still pregnant.


On the upside – while feeling worse Monday morning, a whole
day pretty much in bed made me feel significantly better by the end
of the evening. And Madeleine’s had a slight drip, but
I’m hoping it stops there.


On the downside – I’ve stayed in bed pretty much the
whole day, and haven’t even had the baby yet.

I’m 37 weeks, which is full-term in
anyone’s dictionary. My doctor actually tried to prod me into
labor at my weekly visit on Friday – she had another woman
starting and figured she might as well make a weekend of it, thanks
very much. No go, but it shows how happy she’d be with me
kicking it into gear at any time. We’re ready. Except –


I’m sick.

Maddie’s always been an outdoor kind
of girl – she loves going to the park to play and even enjoys
walking for long distances, which I hear is rare in a toddler. But
just this spring she’s discovering a whole new playground
– our backyard.

Dear Family Members (specifically Gamma,
who’s been hassling me for the last few months that there are
no new photos up on the website for her to show off at work):


I’ve finally updated the photo galleries here at 1M2A, which
means you can now see Maddie in something more recent than a
Christmas shot. To view the newest photos, click on whatever random
photo is currently on your screen. That’ll take you to the
photo gallery. Once in the gallery, no matter what picture
you’ve clicked on you’ll see the last photo listed on
the left – number 241, “window gazing”. The
photos numbered in chronological order, so that’s from the
most recent batch. Clicking on that will take you to the end of the
line and you can browse from there.


Of course, I’ve also updated “Maddie’s
Friends”, mostly with pictures of her and her main hang,
Naomi, so those are worth viewing as well.


So enjoy the new pics and show them around the office to your
heart’s content. Happy now?


Yours truly,


Mommy

As part of my fast and furious “get
as ready as I possibly can for Peanut’s arrival”
campaign, I’ve been going through Maddie’s baby book
and making sure it’s up-to-date, knowing it’ll suffer
from serious neglect once Peanut shows up. Likewise, I started
filling in Peanut’s own book (as much as you can for a baby
who’s not yet here!) and anticipating her arrival.


I remember when I was pregnant with Maddie, I wanted to find the
perfect baby book. Brian had recently re-discovered his little
memory book and was overjoyed to see it wasn’t simply for
newborns: his book went through at least his fifth birthday. So
when we set out to find a memory book for our first baby, we wanted
to find something that didn’t just have a few spaces for
photos and footprints; we wanted something that would be thorough,
with lots of blanks to fill in and plenty of room to grow.