August and Everything After

(Warning: there may be a mini pregnant lady rant to follow)

I have to say, being 30 weeks pregnant and spending the day with a very active two year old in the height of summer is a challenge. I remember when I was preggo with Claire, it was also the summer (she was born Aug 27th) but I was on summer break from grad school and until a month before she was born we lived in a nice apartment complex with air conditioner and a resort-like pool. I used to spend hours sipping decaf lattes by the pool and reading books, then I'd retire to the air conditioned apartment for a nap. HAH! Now, no pool, no air conditioner, no ice maker for iced coffee beverages, no naps (well, not entirely no naps, but far fewer and at the expense of cleaning the toilet or folding the mountains of laundry) and no time for books unless they are of the Hop on Pop variety.

Claire is in a crazy-fun, sometimes beat-your-head-against-the-wall-and-then-go lock-yourself-in-your-room phase. She loves to tell stories about her day. She constantly astounds us with her capacity to understand and explain her world. She also has an uncanny memory for events from months and months ago. She speaks in complete, mostly intelligible sentences (more intelligible to me because I hear them ALL DAY LONG!) I've had to institute a "mommy's taking a break" time occasionally just to stay sane.

Kevin's favorite thing Claire does: She calls him "my daddy." He converted her crib into a toddler bed, and she was so proud to show it off. She told everyone "My daddy made it [for] me!" And speaking of toddler beds, Claire transitioned to hers without so much as one single issue. I was all prepared for a few nights of up and down, but it was all unnecessary. She is such a sleeper! She goes down between 7 & 8 and sleeps until 8 or 8:30. When she wakes up, she calls for me, "Mommy, I'm awake!" from the edge of her bed and waits for me to come in before climbing down. It's unreal!

I am not ready to lose this sleep!!! So, I'm trying to capitalize on the time I have left before Jude arrives.

Here's a few pictures from our latest visit to the beach: