Four months, already!?

This past week, I hit the 16th week of this pregnancy. I can't believe it's been four months already. The time has flown by, much more so than when I was pregnant with Caleb, most likely due to my more abundant work commitments and, well, Caleb... who has been a sweety lately, but probably is bored out of his mind, for the past month has been spent with nothing but work. Work and videos. His favorites are: Cars, The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars (he calls this one "Toaster, Baby" because there is a baby in it, and a toaster of course, the hero of the story), and Elmo's World. He can watch these over and over, requesting one after the other, and I've been having to allow him to watch more of these than I would like, because my work schedule has been so brutal. He sings along to the songs (and I also catch myself singing the songs through the day, and sometimes in the night).

We have not been anywhere this month and it is starting to bother me, because we're usually out doing things all the time. I tell myself, the child surely needs some activities, even if his Mommy doesn't. Of course, it's also been January, yucky January, so there are really not that many places we could go. The other day Caleb and I were looking through some pictures from the summer, of the lake and of the park, and remembering all the fun things we used to do, I found us both wistfully whispering words like "lake" and "swimming" and "park," while Caleb also inquired: "Go?" Yes, we will go, I promise, very soon. We WILL have a life again. Just let me get through one more deadline, first.

We actually had a playdate set up for tomorrow, to a children's museum with a friend and her daughter just to get the kids out, but my friend cancelled due to illness. We rescheduled for next week, so hopefully we'll go then.

Sixteen weeks passed by much faster this time than last, which makes me wonder about the baby years of this next child. For it seems Caleb was just born yesterday and here we are two years later. Will time accelerate with the next one even more? Will having to divide my time between the two of them, and then my work, make the days go by lightning fast? I hope not. They're going by fast enough already.

I have been feeling this baby move for quite a few weeks. I'm one of those "early feelers" - I felt Caleb for the first time around 13 weeks and felt this one around 10. Crazy, I know. They're just little butterfly flutters at this point, but distinct. I think I feel them so early, because I sit quietly at my desk for hours when I work and I'm also consciously "listening" to the baby. I don't feel anything when I'm running around or standing up. The last couple of weeks the movements have become more frequent. I love this time.

I started showing much earlier with this pregnancy. With Caleb, I was well into my fifth month before I showed. They say you show earlier with subsequent children and that's been true. I started showing at about two months, though not necessarily noticeable to others.

I haven't had as much time to reflect during this pregnancy and of course I had already done my research on pregnancy, childbirth, health choices, baby care, nutrition, etc. last time, so there's not that much on my "to do" list. I also have tons of clothes and baby equipment, so I'm not out there shopping. In fact, I haven't bought a single thing, not even maternity clothes. My "to do" list during this pregnancy can be pretty much summed up in one word: PRAY. And isn't that the most important part of any preparation, anyway?

The past few days we've had an ice storm and we had the chance to see one of the most beautiful sights of winter, iced-over trees. I always find this sight so magical, tree branches glazed over with icicles, bending under the weight, like an icy winter wonderland. I ran out one day to capture some of this beauty. Here are a few photos. (Click for larger viewing.)

On second thought, January isn't so yucky, after all.

Mission: Make Mommy Laugh!

Peek-a-boo turns into one of Caleb's many, many funny faces.

All with this purpose:

Mission: Make Mommy Laugh!

Photo of the Week

2009 Week 3

Followed by laughter. Lots and lots of laughter.

Transfer of Power

Four years ago on this day, we were celebrating the inauguration of George W. Bush at an Inaugural Ball in DC. If my memory doesn't fail me, I believe it was the Independence Ball located at the Convention Center. We didn't see the actual swearing-in ceremony that day, just heard it on the radio in the car as we traveled to DC. We were one of the first ones there, me in my embroidered black and white satin gown and Ron in his rented tux, and we were one of the last ones to leave the party, well past midnight.

When we finally got through security and in the door, a quick survey of the hall and some quick thinking (on my part, I'm proud to say) led us to snatch one of about eight small round tables (with four barstools) located in the big, yet empty room. We got ourselves some drinks and whiled the time away. As the room began to fill with people and become quite crowded, we rejoiced in our good fortune that we had a table.

We guarded that table throughout the night, leaving it one-by-one only for food from the nearby buffet, more drinks, and some photos of the President and First Lady as they made their appearance. (Sadly, this was in a year when my digital camera was busted and all I had was a flimsy disposable. Can you believe it? I cannot tell you where those pictures are.)

And throughout the night, many visitors filed by our table, asking for permission to sit, people like Morton Blackwell, various elected officials, and celebrities, whose names I don't even recall. All of Washington was at our particular ball, as our state got grouped together with DC, which was great, because we got to meet several people who worked in the Bush administration.

It was an awesome night, one we will not soon forget.

Needless to say, we were not in DC today, nor were we attending any Inaugural Balls. We watched the peaceful transfer of power on television, reverent of the US political process, and aware of the historical significance, but wary at what America's future holds with this 44th President at the helm. Beyond campaign slogans and sweeping promises, some of which have already been cast aside, America has yet to see who Barack Obama truly is.

Starting tomorrow, we will find out.

13 weeks

As you can see, our gummy bear baby has now turned into an ALIEN BABY. At my 13 week visit, the midwife sent me in for a quick scan, because she couldn't pick up the heartbeat with the Doppler (apparently the placenta is totally in the way, being on top of the uterus). Imagine my surprise, when a little alien face showed up on the screen, looking straight at me...

Summer Baby is doing well, heartbeat is now 146 bpm. Since I was already in there, I asked the technician: "You can't tell the sex yet, can you?" She couldn't. A few more weeks of mystery, everybody, hang in there.

Another surprise was just how low my blood pressure was (and has been through this pregnancy)... I can't recall the exact numbers, probably because I was in extreme shock after hearing them, something like 108/58 mmHg. The diastolic was definitely in the 50s. In other words, barely alive. (This is my conjecture, not the nurse's. The nurse liked my extremely low, barely alive blood pressure.)

My blood pressure during my first pregnancy was normal, but significantly higher. Then again, just being in a doctor's office could make my blood pressure go up. I used to do relaxation (breathing) exercises while sitting there having my blood pressure taken. I still do them, absentmindedly. Maybe I should stop doing those now. It looks like I've gotten extremely good at them.

Or maybe I'm just having a VERY RELAXED second pregnancy.

Chocolate Love

Chocolate Love

Photo of the Week

2009 Week 2

As many of you know, Caleb LOVES chocolate, something I don't discourage. :)

So when the tree came down and the forbidden chocolate (szaloncukor) that was

hanging on the tree was no longer off limits, that was a very special moment.

You can see just how special in his expression.

2 years old

You turned two a couple of weeks ago, on Christmas Eve; that’s how late I am with this letter. In my defense, I have been very busy with pursuits that put food on the table, on your table, so you can eat. I know you’d rather eat than to have a promptly delivered 2-year letter, which you probably won’t even read until you’re at least 20. Why do I know you’d rather eat? Your appetite has increased to unspeakable proportions in the last couple of weeks, since you’ve turned two. You went from never asking for food to sidling up to me every 30 minutes (I kid you not!) with a ravenous look, pleading with your charming Hungarian word: “HAMMM!!!” It reminds me of Oliver Twist pleading: “More, please!!!

But getting back to the month before you turned two. Firstly, let it be known that in your 24th month of life, you began to call me and your Dad not only “Mama” and “Daddy” but also Mommy, Mummy, MOM and DAD! I have no idea where you picked up these shortened versions, normally not uttered by very young children, except for the fact that you do like to simplify things and thus make your life easier, your speech more succinct. I wouldn’t be surprised if you came up with Mom and Dad entirely on your own, in your quest to be concise, never having heard it anywhere before. (You might make a good dictionary editor one day.) When I hear you call me MOM, I often want to ask: “Just how old are you?” To this, you would grin, show two fingers on both hands and shout: “TWOOOOOO!”

You do this now all the time, except for a brief one-week period coinciding with Christmas at your grandparents’, where I was eager to show off this adorable cuteness. You had been saying it for a month, but a few days before our trip, what do you know, your Daddy decided to teach you ALL OF THE ENGLISH NUMBERS with corresponding fingers, and after this you decided that, actually, you liked to show the numbers 5 and 1 much better than 2. So anytime I asked you your age at your grandparents’ your reply of “TWO!” was accompanied with a showing of 5 fingers, or sometimes 1. (Arrgh!)



Honestly, I can’t blame your Dad entirely for this, because a few days before Christmas, just as I discovered that you are unable to show me two fingers anymore as you tell me your age, and was scratching my head about this, I sat down with you to watch an old episode of Sesame Street. Immediately, a light was shed on the mystery, as the cute little Sesame Street character was unable to match the pronounced numbers with his displayed fingers, saying FIVE when showing THREE fingers, and ONE when showing FOUR, etc.

Why the creators of Sesame Street in 1975 thought that confusing a generation of children about their numbers would be funny, I’ll never know. But I’ll venture to guess they didn’t actually know any toddlers. You know, the real live kind. The kind that soak up, like a sponge, absolutely everything they see and hear. Like wrong fingers displayed with the wrong numbers. And the kind that, come Christmas 2008, will now be unable to display the proper fingers with the proper number when it’s time to show off their knowledge to the grandparents. Very funny, indeed!

There are other cute things you say. When I ask you “Who loves you?” you say, “Mama.” Then I ask, “Who else?” and you answer, “Daddy.” When I prod you for a third time, “Who else?” you shout “GOD!” while pointing at the ceiling. When I ask you, “Where is God?” you quietly answer, “Heaven.” This is good enough material for video, but of course, you never want to say any of this when I bring out the video.

There are so many other things I could recount, if I had all day. Let me just say that you delight and amaze us every day. Whether you’re locking me out of the house when I take out the trash (no worries; I had my keys with me!), or obsessively turning on the oven light every time you pass by the kitchen, or taking all of your toys into the bathroom when you potty, or hugging and kissing us at random throughout the day, or making mischievous (kópé!) faces with your eyes looking off to the side just to make us laugh, or singing at the top of your lungs when you watch your shows, when you bathe, or just about anytime, using anything you can get your hands on to pretend it’s your microphone, one thing is certain: you make our lives brighter with your presence. We thank God for you every day. We love you more today than we did the day you were born. We're so blessed that you are part of our family. Happy birthday, Cakes!!

Love,

Mama (Mommy, Mummy, MOM) and Daddy (Dada, DAD)

A birthday party

On Friday the 9th, we had a birthday party for Caleb. It was just a small event, we invited 4 kids (ranging from age 15 months to 6 years) and 5 adults, but it turned out to be just the perfect size for a 2 year old's birthday party. We set up a whole bunch of toys in the living room for the kids to play with, and they didn't need any encouragement, they even found the stash of toys that we keep in the playpen in my office, taking them out one by one. They all seemed to have fun.

I served snacks of crackers and a cheese platter, blueberries and olives, which doesn't sound like the ideal food for a toddler's party, but these are the foods that Caleb loves. We also had our generic cheese pizza that all children love (and garlic/tomato pizza for adults). I had juice boxes, which Caleb just loved (he doesn't normally get these) and Italian sodas for the adults.

The cake was a lemon-butter frosting cake with fresh blueberries and strawberries on top that I toiled over the night before, trying not to wake Caleb, whose room is right above the kitchen. This required taking the mixer more than once out into the living room, to whip up the batter. Here's a picture of the cake and Caleb blowing out the candles on top.

I found out at the end of the day that we made Caleb very happy with the party. Before he was ready to go up to bed, he went into the dining room and started recounting the day's events. He pointed to the Happy Birthday banner, and started singing "To you!" Then he said torta (cake) and made blowing sounds, like he was blowing out the candles, all the while chuckling. He said "baby" several times, laughing, his name for one of the little girls, Vienne, the daughter of a friend who attended birthing classes with us two years ago (Vienne actually arrived 2 weeks earlier than Caleb!).

We had asked everyone not to bring gifts, because Caleb has so many toys already, and thankfully they all complied, bringing only gifts that truly came from the heart: beautifully hand drawn cards with hearts and messages like, Have a happy forever! I think we will.

Sometimes, sleep wins

Sometimes, sleep wins

Photo of the Week

2009 Week 1

And because I can never be satisfied with just one photo,

you get to see a couple more angles of the same:

He was playing with his trains and assorted multitude of toys he got for Christmas,

until he was overcome by sleep.

Notice the abandoned cracker next to him on the carpet.

(Click on the photos for larger viewing.)