Eleven Weeks Today -- Again

Things are about to change -- a lot -- around here. I'm eleven weeks pregnant; the baby is due on Thanksgiving Day.

I realized the other day that I started this blog the day I was eleven weeks pregnant with Henry. Since then, my life has changed more than I ever could have imagined, in ways I never could have dreamed.

I adore being Henry's mother. He is so smart, so funny, and so sweet. I love seeing him grow up and learn new things and develop into his own person. But I want him to have a sibling, one raised in the same household with the same parents, sharing the same memories. I want that for him now, growing up, but also for when he's an adult and his dad and I are elderly or deceased.

And I want another child for me, I'll admit. There's nothing wrong with having only one child, I know, yet I can't help looking forward to the day when I can refer to "my kids."

At the same time, I'm nervous about once again going through the exhaustion and stress and dirty diapers that accompany the first year or so of a new baby's life. I'm thirty-nine years old (the other day Henry greeted me with, "Hello, you old pregnant woman!"). Part of me wishes I had done all this child-rearing stuff about twenty or even ten years ago, but I know I'm a more aware and patient mother now than I would have been then.

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March 2010:

[New Mama]: This morning in bed Henry said (in his sleep), "No! Put it back!" Then 30 seconds later he mumbled, "Never mind. I was just dreamin'."

[New Mama] is both amused and annoyed by the new game Henry invented. He calls it "Sound Search." It's like a word search, but out loud -- he spews nonsense words with a few real words mixed in for about two minutes, and then we have to tell him what real words we heard.

[New Mama] likes it when Henry calls me "Mama-ka."

[New Mama] hates it when Henry tries to get my attention when I'm on the computer by silently pushing the lever to lower my chair.

[New Mama] was coloring robots with Henry when he stopped to watch me work. I said, "Honey, are you going to finish yours?" and he replied, "No, I'm just mostly making sure you stay in the lines."

[New Mama] likes to use reverse psychology on Henry. So I shouldn't have been surprised last night when I was laying with him waiting for him to fall asleep, and he kept begging me to hand him his water bottle for "one more drink", and he finally said quietly, "Mom? You better not get that water before *I* do."

[New Mama]'s son is now pretending that he's a dirigible called "The Hindenburger."

[New Mama] just explained to Henry about earning the cat's trust so she would stop running from him even when he's trying to be kind. He replied, "I'll earn Venus's trust and then surprise her by being mean to her."


April 2010:

[New Mama] is getting a little weary of answering questions like, "What happens if your bladder explodes?" and "Why do they call it a 'penis' if pee AND sperm come out of it?"

[New Mama]'s son just found out that he's been drawing Jewish stars. Henry said, "Mom, I think we should become Jewish since I've been drawing Jewish stars." And then he got mad when I told him I didn't think that would be happening.

[New Mama]'s son just said to the cat, "Venus, I love you. Let's kiss."

[New Mama] recently explained to Henry what a GPS is and he's started pretending to be one in the car. Let's just say that if this is what GPS is really like, there's no way in hell I'm ever buying one.

[New Mama]'s son woke up this morning and asked, "Who's getting up with me?" I told him that I was and he said, "That's good news. I love you more than Daddy." Poor Daddy.

[New Mama]'s son just said, "Venus [our cat] is mostly made of purrs and meows."

[New Mama]'s son is constantly asking me to look up projects on the computer ("Mom, I want a project of a blimp! Mom, look up a project of a volcano!"). Just now he said, "I want a project of a project."

[New Mama]'s son has been SO sweet to me when I've been feeling yucky. I told him, "Henry, I really appreciate what good care you take of me when I'm not feeling well." He replied, "That's because...I love you!" Awwww...

[New Mama] just heard Henry say sternly to the cat, "I want more purring and less meowing."

[New Mama]'s son was just asked to clean up the living room. As he pushed everything against the walls, I said, "Why don't you put things where they belong instead?" He replied, "This is my way. If you don't like my way, don't ask."

[New Mama] adores that Henry says "Mom? I love you" constantly throughout the day and night.

[New Mama]'s son just had an accident and when I asked him why he didn't just poop when he was peeing on the toilet two minutes earlier, he said, "It's too hard to explain."

[New Mama] was singing "Skip to My Lou" (it's on a children's CD we have) and Henry said, "Are those the words? I thought it was 'hit the loop of hot garlic'."


May 2010:

[New Mama]: This morning Henry said, "My pajamas don't make any sense. They have astronauts floating in space, but they're not tethered to anything."