A Full Day of Gymnastics, Gymboree, and Biting My Tongue

At the beginning of gymnastics, Abby stopped Coach Vali with a rush of urgency - to show off her painted fingernails! On the balance beam, Abby hopped across without holding anyone's hands! After months of working on boosting her confidence to walk across on her own, she’s suddenly hopping across without a second thought?!?! When I asked her about it after class, she just brushed it off and said she was a big girl now. Well, ok then!

Abby's
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Shawn's
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Ms. Michelle subbed for Ms. LouAnn today in Art. The theme was 'Fish.' The first project was to make an aquarium. It started by putting glue on the bottom of a page and then covering it with green sand. (It was very hard for the kids to keep the glue/sand on the 'floor' on their tank.)  Then, Ms. Michelle gave them various sponge stamps of sea creatures, a few colors of paint, foam brushes, and glitter glue. The kids got very excited about their projects, but the more they put on their pieces of paper, the more they covered up their fish, and the less they looked like aquariums! Oh, well... they had fun.


They also got to make a play dough octopus with pipe-cleaner tentacles. Abby was able to copy Ms. Michelle by wrapping the pipe-cleaners around a crayon to make the legs curl at the ends. We re-read Big Al by Andrew Clements, which Shawn and Abby have really gotten to like a lot. Finally, they made their own ugly Big Al fish with finger paints on a large fish cut-out and taped to the wall. Abby kept asking for more and more paint! Hers was thoroughly covered and it may take a few days to really dry! Shawn started strong with the finger paints, but it lost its appeal quickly. (Finger painting has never been much of his interest.)

 

 

After class, I transferred the kids from Art 3 to School Skills class starting tomorrow. So, we will no longer be going to Play & Learn Level 6. Otherwise, we’d start Gymboree be at 11:00 am until about 4:00 pm! That makes the day really long. (We did it last week.  It was a lot of fun, but saying that it was too much is a gross understatement!)  While they/I still enjoy the Play & Learn Level 6 class a lot, they really have outgrown it now. (I’ve mostly come to terms with that fact.) I joked with Ms. MaryBeth about missing out on her class, but it backfired. She reminded me, “You know, there’s a way to solve this problem! You just need to have another baby so you can enroll in the classes again!” DOH! I bit my tongue and replied, “I know, I’ll keep you posted!” (I should’ve known better since this has been an ongoing banter between me and the staff for a very long time.)
 
Moving on...

I hadn't anticipated continuing Art 3 because I didn't want to pay for both Art and School Skills classes. However, as we were leaving today, Ms. Michelle realized that Shawn and Abby were the only two students that are actually enrolled in Art 3 right now, while a few others come on a more inconsistent basis. She said that there's a possibility that Ms. LouAnn (and the owner, Melissa) might invite us to stay in Art 3 to keep the class going and entice others to join - free of charge! Therefore, we'll go to Art 3 next week either as our last week or as our first free week! Good deal!


We came home for lunch and naptime. Abby woke up about half way through her usual nap, crying and obviously upset. I eventually got her to calm down and got her to reveal that she had a bad dream about lightning. She eventually did go back to sleep, but I don't think it was very restful. She is normally a fairly sound sleeper, so this was a big surprise.

When Abby went home later, Shawn wanted to play outside.  I was expecting him to pull out his bike, gardening tools, baseball, football, or something along those lines.  Instead, he asked for the push-broom hanging on the garage wall!

Really? Why would I say no or discourage you when you ask if you can sweep out the garage?!


In the evening, I left Shawn and Raj to get an awfully needed haircut. I hope I didn’t give myself away, but I have a feeling Becca sensed something. When we were catching up with events in our lives since my last haircut (Shawn’s birthday, our trip to Disney… NOTHING about a positive pregnancy test!), I mentioned that we were looking at preschools and my nervousness about the concept. Her first question: “So, are you knocked up yet?” AHHHHHH!!! I could only get out “I’ll keep you posted!” (Thank goodness I had said it earlier at Gymboree, so I didn’t have to sputter too much!)

Oh, man.

This is going to be hard.

I Want to SCREAM! (in a very good way)

I anxiously called my doctor’s office to make schedule my first prenatal appointment, but got their answering service. Too early. ARGH!! Another ten minutes later, I got through. I have to wait until I’m eight weeks pregnant before they’ll see me… August 30th may as well be an eternity from now! I remember having to wait when we found out we were pregnant with Shawn, but I didn’t remember it being so long. Luckily, according to an online Pregnancy Calendar , I’m already three weeks pregnant, so just 5 more to go… Will I make it?

It’s so hard not to announce our news to everyone I see!


I dropped Shawn and Abby off at Spanish class and had to leave the center in order to stop myself from talking too much to the staff. I camped at Panera a few blocks away instead. While I had a list of things I should have been doing, I browsed pregnancy websites and tried to remind myself of what to do while pregnant – what types of foods to eat (and not), etc. I downloaded pregnancy apps to my iPhone…

I’m pregnant!!

 

I can’t concentrate on anything else!

Ok, I'll try.

 

After having a few weeks of inclement weather, Shawn and Abby were thrilled that class was outside at the park today. They were excited to tell me that they put bandaids on a stuffed teddy bear and a kitty cat coloring page because they were pretending the animals had 'ouchies.' They learned words about being sick or hurt, though they couldn’t tell me what they were. (It's a good thing they brought home a sheet explaining different vocabulary, so I can attemp to help them practice.)

While Abby napped, Shawn and I spied on a baby rabbit. He looked about palm size and grateful to have found shade behind some planters in the backyard. I wanted to offer him cool water and greens, but I knew that opening the door would startle him away. Still, it was sweet to watch the little bunny rest.

Eeek! I’m pregnant!!

Victory and +

We spent the day cheering the Cubs on to victory against the St. Louis Cardinals (4-2) at Wrigley Field. Shawn’s becoming a mini-expert on going to baseball games, though I think one of his favorite parts of the whole experience is the food! He dined on a single hot dog from the first inning through the middle of the 5th! I’m not sure if he was savoring each bite or distracted by the game (not likely)! When he finally finished, he looked up at me with a gigantic grin and announced, “Mom! I finished my hot dog!” (Finally!) He proudly, yet quietly, sang along to Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the seventh inning stretch, but he slowly started to fade after that. Raj and I decided that it was time to go when the teams were tied in the ninth inning, but was we walked to our shuttle bus, we could hear the excitement from the stadium as the Cubs hit two more runs. Shawn finally got to attend his first Cubs victory! Pooped from the excitement, he slept on the way home.

 

 

When we got back, I ran to the grocery store to pick up a few things while Raj and Shawn played at home. On a hunch, I picked up a pregnancy test…

When I returned, Raj offered to help put the groceries away, so I handed him the bag with the pregnancy test box in it. He saw it immediately and claimed, “I knew it!” I had to wait a little while before I was ready to take the test, though my adrenalin was going crazy. Raj and Shawn monitored a timer set for three minutes and when it was time, Raj wanted to be the first to check the digital results:

 

 

PREGNANT

 

 

Tears of joy robbed me of words. We stood in the bathroom together - I'm not sure if we were hugging or trying to hold each other up!  The reality of having our second baby consumed us.

 

 

Meanwhile, Shawn continued playing in the living room. We agreed that we needed to wait before telling him the exciting news to limit the potential of leaking our secret before its time. I wanted to tell everyone immediately, but Raj’s sensibility calmed me down. We compromised. Instead of waiting for the entire first trimester to go by, we’ll wait until our doctor’s confirmation. I’m making an appointment as soon as the office opens in the morning!

 

 

After about four months of not preventing pregnancy, I am entirely grateful that we haven’t had the stresses of trying to get pregnant that seem to be increasingly common among the people I know. Even watching family and friends go through similar situations, I cannot imagine the anxiety that accompanies months or even years of trying and waiting, which I’m sure doesn’t help the process get any easier! Raj and I reminded each other how fortunate we have been, both with our pregnancy with Shawn and now. It all just makes us more emotional!

 

 

Congratulations to us!