a good read

The latest trick for keeping Nica happy in the car - a favorite book! Thankfully reading doesn't seem to make her car-sick.

giving thanks

 Thanksgiving Day: our first all-family exercise was a raging success!
Adelaide on her bike, Miles and Anika napping in the chariot, and Joe, my dad and I ran for a full hour!!

No complaints, but with all of the coordinating that was required, I had to wonder: would it save time for us to each run alone for an hour than to fuss with trying to run together? Probably a wash at best.

Little Anika has been better known around here as Tiny-ka, Nica, Nica-nic, or my favorite Ana-Nika (any of which Miles can say, although he can't say Anika).  Despite her name, she's not too Tiny-ka anymore: weighed in at 9 lbs 13 oz and 22 inches, despite being a week early for her 2-month check-up. Good grief! She doesn't seem to eat all that often, so all I can figure is that she's fattening up because she sleeps so much. Solution: more tummy time for Tiny-ka.

Miles is Two!

 Miles celebrated his second birthday this past weekend. He had an awesome swim party (complete with swimming pool cake). He absolutely had a blast -- he was so excited to have all of favorite people swimming or watching - over and over we heard "hi Margaret!!" and "Grandma watching" with such excitement. He is fun to watch in the pool on any normal day, jumping in with such enthusiasm and splashing like he owns the place, but a birthday swim was especially fun. We must have gone down the water slide 50 times.

Over the past month, his skills have really blossomed - he's turned into a two-year old!  Just this past week, he surprised us with counting to 10. Although I never before heard him say a number past 2, he now regularly counts to 10 correctly. He must have worked it all out in his little brain and waited until he had it perfect before spitting out those numbers all at once. Miles also has learned his pronouns - me, you, I, my - a lovely step in communication. And he has figured out how to play "imagination" games. My favorite is "going fishing" - he has a little striped cloth bag that he loads up with acorns or any random thing, slings it over his shoulder and announces, "Bye! Tomorrow!" (Miles, where are you going?) "Going fishing! A big one!!" -- This is just hilarious because I have no idea how he knows what fishing is, or why he wants to catch a big fish. He's never been fishing, and as far as I know, he doesn't even know anyone who goes fishing or have a book about fishing. Where did he get this idea? How does he know what "fishing" is? And how does he know to catch a "big" fish?  I have not a clue. Does this stuff come naturally to all boys?

In any case, we are very proud of our very independent little guy. He has such a joyful personality, always laughing and smiling, and it's such a treat to watch all of his recent developments

the best thing ever!

One month into life with little Anika, and I am positive that the third baby is the best thing ever!  Anika is healthy and happy, and I am loving every single minute with her. A few of her many great features to remember:

1. Although most of her hair is dark, she has two little blond streaks behind her right ear, making us wonder if she'll end up with dark or light hair?
2. She has bright interested eyes. Whenever she is awake (which is not too often), she is wide-eyed and watching! She studies her black-and-white pictures and mobile with great intensity. I wonder if she'll be a "thinker" to match this early studious disposition.
3. Her little head fits perfectly under my chin. Fortunately for me, she doesn't sleep well if I set her down, so I get to carry her around, head under my chin, all the time, loving the smell of her sweet baby head.
4. This past week, she started smiling. She smiles at me, and she smiles at herself in the mirror!  Just adorable.

My midwife says that third babies grow up bathed in love, and that has certainly been her experience of the  first month of life. We all love you, sweet baby girl!

10-4, good buddy!

 Anika Jo Nelson joined the world on Thursday evening at 8:17pm.
My labor was lovely (intense but short) - we went in early (about 2 hours before she was born) and had time to feel settled before she joined us.
We got "skin time" right away, and as soon as she landed on my belly, she wiggled up to feed - a good eater straight out of the shoot!
She weighed in at 7lbs, 11 oz and 19.5 lbs (right between the sizes of Adelaide and Miles).

From the start she has had long periods of alertness, open-eyed and aware. Adelaide and Miles so far are doing great. Miles frequently asks to "hold baby, hold baby" and Adelaide loves to be the helpful big sister - running for diapers and "giving taps" after baby eats.
Baby Anika is the most beautiful completion of our little family team that I could have imagined. We're a little bit overwhelmed, but mostly thrilled to treasure this last tiny addition.

top 5 list

In just an hour, my official due date will have passed, and Norbert the dragon is still comfortably kicking around in my belly, no hint of transition into the real world. As I walked around the neighborhood today, enjoying my huge belly and trying not to waddle, I thought about why I love being pregnant. 

5. The attention: This is likely the closest I'll ever be to a celebrity. Everywhere I go, people smile at me, random strangers start conversations (on my walk: the totally-grunge with headphones in his ears and untied laces who I least expect to make eye contact with me, "hey! there's a baby in there! what kind?" with bright eyes and a huge smile - guaranteed he'd never talk to non-pregnant me). Whether male or female, young or old, a majority of the people I encounter no matter where I go, are interested in my belly, and it makes them happy! I never have to sit on the floor, or stand on the bus. I always get first priority in line. And any stupid things I say are attributed to "baby brain" as if it wasn't my fault! Although I don't always love the attention, it's pretty fun at times, and very shortly, I'll never again be as special, or earn as many smiles, as right now!

4. The leeway: my unrealistic expectations are totally reasonable. For example: over the summer when I was working nights, Joe would take the kids out for breakfast so I could sleep. One morning he brought me something cheesy from a bakery, and I complained, "please only bring home healthy food, nothing fatty and gross like that." The very next day, they got breakfast burritos, and I was appalled that he didn't bring me one. Although the contradiction there is obvious, when he relayed this story at our weekend camping trip, he got no sympathy: there was consensus that I should change my mind at least daily, and that he should anticipate my indecision. For the non-pregnant, it's hard to get away with that nonsense!

3. The human body is amazing, and the journey towards motherhood must be one of the most fascinating of all human abilities. To gain (and hopefully loose) almost 40 pounds in just a couple of months, to double my blood volume and cardiac output, to triple my abdominal girth, to drop my immune system sufficiently to allow another person to inhabit my belly without rejection, all while (mostly) continuing to function like a normal person ... any of these feats would alone be absolutely incredible, but in the context of pregnancy, it's all just par for the course. Not to mention all that labor and delivery business of getting the baby out into the world. Incredible. It's such a privilege to be able to experience this. 

2. The company: each of these 3 have shared a different part of my pathway towards becoming a doctor, and each of them have been valuable companions at tough times. They have shared lots of study time, long hours at the hospital, scary and sleepy call nights, and starting my first real job. Having a little wiggling being in my belly, a little foot to hold under my ribs, is like the grown-up version of an imaginary friend or a security blanket that comes everywhere - 9 months of an internal support system who provides constant companionship, always agrees with me, and occasionally has a good idea that I get to take credit for. I'm going to be a little sad when I'm all alone again.

1. New life!! Absolutely the best part is knowing that there's a new person, about to join our family and the world, with every possibility still possible. Will this little person be kind or smart or thoughtful or silly? Will he be athletic or artistic or studious? Will she one day be president? Or learn to belly dance? For such a brief moment, I have the ability to nourish and nurture this person, and hopefully start him/her on a path to become a valuable citizen in the world. The responsibility is so enormous that I'll still cry in terror if I think too much about it. But this great responsibility starts so simply: I am growing a person!!

We are trying to relish these last few days (moments?) with Miles and Adelaide in harmony, before the balance is again upset to make room for another. And I am trying to treasure my co-inhabitant, before a new chapter of life begins. I'm already a little nostalgic that soon my last little one will start his/her journey towards independence, and the joys of pregnancy will be only memories. 

5 bikes, 2 potties and a stethoscope

The end of summer was a whirlwind. I graduated from residency (hurray!), and started life as a "real" doctor - it's been terrifying and terrific both.  Over 6 weeks, I started 3 new jobs (all part-time or temp) to try to work as much as possible until baby arrives. This included moving our whole clan to Medford for a month. My dad was gracious enough to drive down with me and our stocked full "Ovo", and as we loaded the apartment elevator full of a month's worth of kids stuff, we had to laugh as we looked around - 5 little bikes (perhaps that seems excessive, but they all have their own purpose!), 2 tiny potties, and my white coat with a stethoscope - it was quite a sight.

Now Adelaide and Miles are back at their Montessori school, and loving every minute. They get to see each other on the playground, which is a highlight for both of them, and I am again grateful for 2 who get along so well. Adelaide includes him in her playground games even though she has a class full of friends - what a blessing!

As for Miles, he has quickly become a "kid" - and he's 100% boy - but still super sweet. He's in the middle of a language explosion - new words every day (yesterday: mountain lion!). His favorite recent word is "it" (as in: wash it, drop it, tap it ...), and now he's very excited to have little sentences to share - "mama eat it" or "Ada find it" or "Miles paste, brush teeth" or "baby coming!" - every little expression is so enjoyable. Adelaide seems to love it as well, repeating back everything he says "ohh, Miles, did you find it? good!" His language is hilarious because he pronounces the end of words rather than the beginning - like -ater for water and -oes for shoes so interpretation is sometimes a challenge but he's patient and insistent in conveying his messages.

We are all settling into the fall routine and getting ready for baby. Joe finished his summer fence and has been working diligently on getting his shed done.  Now that's it's October, I am feeling emotionally settled and ready for baby to arrive. Physically, I still don't have the "end of pregnancy" discomfort that I felt with the first two. But the weather is changing from summer to fall and my body seems to be following suit. Our final little family member will be out to greet us soon!

Lightly Row, the folk song

Adelaide started playing Suzuki violin a full year ago (although it took her from August until October to "earn" the violin to play!).
Today she played a great recital yet.
It was outside at a park near our house, beautiful weather.
The only part I missed in video-taping was her self-introduction, which was loud and confident. Even at the back of crowd, you would have heard her say, "My name is Adelaide Nelson, and I am going to play Lightly Row, the folk song."
Daily practice and twice weekly lesson/class is paying off after all!
The video has been immortalized on Flickr.

appreciating mobility

 Miles is excited to announce that he has gone diaper-free!  He has a new-found affinity for his little potty and loves to plop himself down, announce "peeee!!" (followed by leaping up, demanding "dump" and scooting himself behind the toilet to "flush"). He has little hand gestures to go with his words, and each part of the process is equally rewarding (and pretty adorable). For my part, I am very relieved (knock on wood) that we won't have to manage "two in diapers"!  But I think he's figured out that not wearing diapers gives him more mobility, and thus more productivity on his little projects. It's been hard to capture a photo of his face lately as he is always diligently working - moving wood from one stack to another, loading the wheelbarrow, or chasing Ada on his little bike.

For her part, Miss Adelaide (who is "4 and quarter" she's happy to tell you) has taken off like a banshee on a two-wheel bike. We give Papap credit for the bike and for the first lesson, but within the first 15 minutes, she was off and going - no training wheels, no skinned knees. Amazing. For her 4th ride, we did a 40-minute "family run" - Adelaide on the bike, and we only had to push Miles in the Bob. I was quite impressed with her quick progress and her stamina ("can't we keep going?"), and I can't help appreciating that we've made space for our new baby in the two-kid running stroller. Win-win-win!!

sequel

 I've come full circle on the 'gender question' and resolved my "fear of boys" - I decided that Miles would love to have a little brother - they'll be close in age, so they'll be great playmates, and little boys are adorable fun. Adelaide will be a great little helper either way. We are all super excited to meet the last little member of our family - boy or girl - (even Miles peaks under my shirt at the growing belly, saying "babee!").  And my dreams have changed back to the usual useless renditions and recollections of pregnancy.

In other news, part II of the world's most amazing back-yard play structure is complete! We have a joke that if natural disaster every strikes Portland, our family and all of the neighbors can take refuge in the playhouse, which is sturdier and larger than any reasonable family home.

Props to Joe (and thanks to my Dad) for getting this done - hopefully our little 3 have many hours of backyard fun ahead, although Miles will certainly miss the power tools and skill saw that have been occupying our yard!

oohhh, BOY!

Let me preface this by saying that Miles is the most wonderful little boy I could ever imagine. He is amazingly affectionate, loves to give kisses, snuggles, hugs. His favorite self-soother is to run his fingers (remarkably gently) through my hair, which is quite endearing. He has an infectious sense of humor and laughs often, agreeably cleans up his toys (with encouragement), listens well, sleeps well, eats well, and is generally an incredibly great little person who we love having in our lives.

All that said, he is a boy in every sense, and becoming more boy every day. And he's pushing me to the brink of sanity. I have developed this terrible fear that my third little dragon will be another boy ... and I don't think I can do it! My pregnancy dreams (why do I only dream when pregnant? I hate dreaming) almost exclusively involve some dramatic exaggeration of Miles' less-than-ideal little boy actions.  I've been thinking lots about my Aunt Margaret (who has 4 boys), my Aunt Lisa (who raised 3), my M-I-L and Grandma Mary (who each had 4 along with multiple girls) ... and I tell myself that if they can do it, then I could survive 2 ... and then I wake up in terror because I am not sure I could survive 2!!!

Growth!!

Everyone is our family is growing by leaps and bounds right now (well, maybe not Joe, but he's trying hard to take care of all the rest of us).

Adelaide has exploded into 4-year-old-ness. The past few months have been a steep learning curve in every aspect. She now counts to 100 by 1s, 5s, 10s and does simple addition. She's gone from sounding out a few words here and there to reading whole sentences. She does the monkey bars, back and forth, over and over, like a real monkey! And her ability to think and reason are just astounding. She's suddenly a real person. I am daily amazed at the things she can do, achieve, comprehend, remember. It's been explosive. Here she's "spelling" farm animal names.

As for Mr. Miles, he's in a language explosion phase. New words abound every day (today: spider, jump, raspberry), and he's starting to put them together occasionally "Ada, bath" (when she's too slow up the stairs for bath time), "mama, no!" (when I misunderstand his request). Unfortunately for us, his annunciation of all these new words is just above terrible. We recently discovered that "bauk-bauk" (the sound he makes for chicken) sounds almost identical to Papa, his name for my dad, which has been amusing for all but one in the family. Fortunately for us, he is very expressive and persistent, so when we misunderstand, he repeats, points, gestures, frowns, until we get it right! Nonetheless, new language is so exciting!

For my own part, I have a growing belly. Now 20 weeks with the big #3 (third and last, if anyone is counting!). Had my fetal anatomy scan this week, and everything looks good which is a nice relief. I've been affectionately calling the baby Norbert, the little dragon. This baby absolutely tortured me for the first 18 weeks or so with nausea, exhaustion, lots of illness ... it was a rough winter. But now the spring has arrived with gusto and thankfully I am feeling like a normal (fat) person. My belly is swelling to the point that I look "plump" (thanks mom) but not quite pregnant. The nurses at work have been teasing me about my new "booty" and I'm just at the point that my clothes all look too small, but the maternity stuff is ridiculously baggy. Here's Norbs, blowing a kiss from that cozy little space to his/her new family.

catching up!

It's been a busy couple of months.
Here are a few of the highlights:

A trip to Florida for a wedding, complete with rides through the airport:

A quick visit to Disney's Magic Kingdom, which was pretty magical I have to admit.

 Of course, no hotel stay is complete without a good pillow fight.  Adelaide is getting big enough to fight back, but she still loves getting thrown around.

We celebrated Joe's 31st birthday and Adelaide's 4th birthday. Everyone loves candles.  Birthdays are more fun every year as she is more and more able to anticipate, plan, participate, and have a great time.  Adelaide woke up the morning of her birthday and announced, "I'm 4; look how high I can jump now!" And she has been jumping, hopping, skipping, leaping at every opportunity since, showing her newly acquired (or at least newly appreciated) skills to everyone who asks about her birthday. I think 4 is going to be the smoothest year yet.  

 

For his part, little Miles has developed into a busy little boy; he and Adelaide are best buddies. Their interactions have become downright hilarious as they've learned to play together over the past month or two. In this photo, Ada built a "nest" and coached him in, through the obstacles, so they could read together. The reading never lasts long, as most games erupt with a tackle into hugs and shrieks of laughter. Adorable. When the day of "boys-are-stupid-girls-are-mean" arrive, I hope I remember these times of two little happy companions.

a little walking

 Miles finally decided to walk last week!
He's been standing unassisted, even playing with both hands while standing, for several months now, but he has simply refused to walk.
Our theory is this: although he obviously has the balance, he's become such a proficient "pusher" that he doesn't want to slow down to walk.
Miles started pushing a cute little wagon when he was about 8 months, and has become increasingly steady and now super fast with the wagon.
Then he learned to push the little shopping cart (with swivel wheels - an extra level of challenge but also extra maneuverability).
Now he's transitioned to pushing absolutely anything -- he turns toys and furniture over and over until he finds the best sliding position and defty maneuvers them all over, almost fast enough to keep up with full-speed-ahead Adelaide.
Now, although he can walk, he knows that running behind a small table or a tipped stool is much faster, so he does that in stead!! Who has time these days to toddle around anyway??


Adelaide has also been learning how to walk ... up walls!  Here we both are on the rock wall. She surprised me with great enthusiasm for the rock gym and fearlessly attacked some pretty tough stuff!