Ten hours of sleep!

(wrote this first part about a week ago)

The Child has discovered the joys of blueberries. They were on special today, and I am helpless in the face of fresh berries. So is The Child, apparently. I put some on her high chair, she started snarfing them up like lines of cocaine, and two minutes later I heard retching. There's Grace with 47 blueberries crammed in her mouth. Way to go, kid. Now, she has learned to chew and swallow each bite before the next one comes; I guess blueberries are just so freaking amazing that clear airways suddenly become strangely unimportant.

Oh, but it is the funniest thing ever when she gets a sour one in her mouth. I wish I could get a picture of that face. It's like if a lemur ran face-first into a brick wall and then his face stuck like that, and then he ate a lemon.

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People, I am already in maternity clothes. Starting at 8 weeks. This is insane. For now, it has more to do with what I eat and how much, but still. There is a pouch. I could wear normal clothing, as I don't really have a baby bump, per se, but I do have what looks like a beer gut. Or an I-eat-way-too-many-doughnuts bump. See, I still have weird postpartum stomach pouch, and even though my belly itself is not yet sticking out, I still can't suck it in anymore.

I very much want to buy a whole package of white tank tops and some cigars and cans of cheap beer and hang out on my front porch with them arranged around me. I should probably also get some aviator glasses.

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We got basic cable a few months ago, and now that all my evening shows are no longer in season, I never watch TV. The only things on are soap operas (yuck), infomercials (sometimes fun, but usually too shouty), Spanish-language TV (which I love, but is strangely exhausting), and religious programming. And then! I discovered MeTV. All the Matlock and Hawaii Five-O a girl could ever want.

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I am very sorry, but I completely forgot to document Grace's atrocious haircut. Now she's grown into it, and it looks pretty cute. In a few days or weeks I'm hoping to finally feel myself again, and then we'll be back to the crazed photo-snapping of yestermonths.

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My sister is in the area this week, which is the best thing ever. Today they are going to a baseball game, which was not my cup of tea at the moment, so I'm staying home today. My sister is awesome, but it's nice to have a break from driving to and from the Milwaukee area to visit. I crashed last night at 10:30 and woke up around 6:30/7:00. It was GLORIOUS. I feel like a million dollars today.

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I'm starving. I need to go hunt down something I can eat. Aversions and nausea have been much, much better (times a thousand), but it's still something of a quest to discover the day's Holy Food Grail. I think today it is fruit (as usual) and potatoes of any variety. We shall see.

Well then

First, it was the heartburn. Then the forgetfulness. Not my typical forgetfulness, which is pervasive and annoying, but not so bad that I forget common words and old friends' names and how to put on pants. Which is what I have been doing lately. Finally, the fatigue. Days where, if it weren't for The Child, I would spend hours at a time lying in bed, staring at the ceiling fan and wishing for sleep.

A light bulb went on last Thursday.

And the two pink lines practically popped through the foil wrapper before I'd even opened it.

Yes, The Child is being promoted to Big Bad Sister. By my calculations, it will be February 22nd. If it is anything like The Child, I will look due sometime in September, and it will arrive somewhere around February 17th. If it IS anything like The Child, I'd best step it up with my crunches and sit-ups, or there will be epic lower back pain.

PS Yes, we DO know how babies happen, thanks for asking.

PPS Yes, I DO know I'll have a 17-month-old and a newborn. (I'm trying to maintain my optimism until I'm through the joys of first trimester)