Improving Speech and Time Flies

Ellie's been using more and more words. And the words she's been using for a long time are getting clearer. Greg and I just about did a dance of joy when she called for him the other morning with a clear, "Daddy!" One of Ellie's speech issues has been that she just uses one syllable, then repeats it, to say many of her two syllable words. (Think of a baby saying "ba-ba" for bottle.) This meant our whole family was Mama, Dada, Nana (Annie), Doh-Doh (Cody -- this is our favorite). Then suddenly this week, we've heard Mommy, Daddy, Annie and Doh-dy. It's not consistent yet, but it's happening with very reassuringly increasing frequency. She's also recently moved from a noun-filled world of just naming names and objects, to using a bunch of words like go, stop, up, down, in, out, off, on. And she asks for everything with a sweet, "peees" (Please.) She's combining more and more words now -- pointing out a big truck, and a 'bug up' (a fly walking up the screen on the patio door), up please (which means despite being sore and tired and huge, I pick her up every single time she says it, 'cause I can't tell my two year old who just barely decided to start speaking that I'm not going to pick her up when she so clearly asks for me too! And there's no reasoning with her about me being 8 months pregnant, she seems to have no empathy.) :-) She finds amusement and joy in mimicking words or showing off a new word, which opens up a whole big world from when she refused to even attempt to say what we asked her to. And all of this in time for her second birthday next week!

Speaking of which -- this may sound dumb, but it just hit me yesterday that the girls birthdays are NEXT week. I mean, sure, I knew they were coming up. I knew they were the 19th and 20th of May. And I knew that was soon. But only yesterday did it hit that they were literally only a week away. My babies are going to be two and four in one week (or less now)! Then came the realization that this baby's coming soon too. I mean, sure, I was telling someone just last week I had 8 weeks left. And 8 weeks seemed close, but not that close. Then at Annie's dance class yesterday, one of the other Moms asked me how long until I was due, and I thought for a second, and suddenly realized, "Wow, like 6-7 weeks." And then later on in the day it hit again, that if Isaac was born as early as Ellie was (which I don't think he will, but it's a possibility), I would be having a baby in 5 weeks. Holy crap. We haven't painted or decorated the nursery (which currently has a cute pink checkerboard trim around the wall), or finished the sandbox, or started the shed, or got the yard all ready for summer, or cleaned the house from top to bottom, or made a dozen meals to throw in the freezer for later. Or all the other things I want to get done before the baby makes his debut. And, between my low, low blood pressure and the dizziness and weakness that's been plaguing me lately, these projects are looking all the more daunting (although, really, it's not like I was gonna be out building a shed either way). I think I need to make a list and just get started . . . or accept the fact my baby boy's gonna spend his first couple months in a room with pink wallpaper trim :-)