The Many Hats of Lily Kidwell

Since I have last blogged we have decided that it would be ok to tell Lily about the baby. It has been a constant barrage of cuteness and hilarity since we had that talk. She has already come up with several (unusable) names for the baby. Tillie, Hella, Pummel, Tennie, Poya, Poonie to name a few of the gems we have heard more than once. Lily insists on talking to the baby in my tummy. She presses her mouth into my gut and talks into my chub. It's hilarious because she asks where the baby's ears are to make sure she can hear her. I used a feminine pronoun because Lily has requested a sister. Tonight Lily looked at me with a very concerned face and said,
"I forgot to talk to the baby today!"
So we pulled up my shirt. She inserted her face into my belly and said,
"Hiiiii, Baby. You're so cute. Bein' so kindful to Mommy in her tummy."

Earlier this week we were spending some time at Mark's parents' house. Mark's dad slipped on the deck and had a nasty fall. Mark's brother Michael and I were sitting in the living room so we didn't know that this had happened. Mark had called from the deck to Lily at the door to go get Uncle Mike. Lily comes running into the room and tells us, "Uncle Mike! I need you! I've got a big problem!"

Mike and Mark get their dad in the house and settled into his chair. He had hurt his arm pretty badly. I was looking around in the meantime to see where Lily had gone. She comes into the living room lugging her doctor kit and proceeds to set up shop at Papa's chair. She climbed up in his lap and took his temperature. She checked his eyes and nose. She delicately smashed his shins to check his reflexes. She deemed him to be hurt and gave him a shot, a bandaid and a cast. She then diagnosed him to bedrest. The tiny three year old sent him to bed immediately and with no complaints. Mark's dad is a notorious bad patient. He has a severe dislike for doctors. I think Dr. Lily changed his outlook. She informed the rest of us that she was going to lay down with him and make sure he was ok.

Here is a shot of the doctor taking good care of her patient.

Fever All Through the Night

Lily had a pretty high fever last night and a rough night's sleep. She was up and down and whimpering while she slept. It made for a lot of worrying awake hours for this mama. It made me think of how precious of a gift she is and how I'd be lost without her.

She has recently started using so many new words in the correct context. She was sitting in her carseat rubbing the rubber top of her Converse sneakers. I asked her what she was doing.

"I'm feeling the different textures. This side is rough. And this side is smoooooth! Those are opposite textures, Mom!"

As I sat there stunned driving to our destination I began to think of all the new concepts she has grasped and exceeded in the last few months.

Mark and I like to give her "options" when getting ready for bed or other undesirable activities. It gives her what psychologists like to call perceived control of her little life. Plus, we don't want to appear as unyielding authoritarian discipline machines. So, we tell her...

"Lily, you have two options. You can either take a bath, read some books and then bed. Or you can take a bath, watch a movie in the big bed (our bed) and then bed."
The other night this backfired completely. We gave her the standard options and she counter offered.

"How about I have three options. One, I stay up all night. Two, I play games out here (in the living room) all night, or three, I stay up all night."
She then just looked at us very seriously waiting for us to pick one of her "options."

The other day she actually told me I was not a part of the tea party process unless I was seated on the floor in the correct area.

She is in perfectly good spirits today even though she was up all night not feeling well. I feel so lucky to have such a rad kid.

12 weeks

The end of the first trimester.

The regaining of energy and the ability to inhale through the nose.

The quietly understood "safe" time to tell.

We are having a baby.

I am almost 12 weeks along.

We are thrilled.

We have NOT told Lily yet because she is three and things

that you tell her are going to happen should then instantly become an occurrence.

Our progress will be updated via this blog as often as I can.

Thank you for your time and attention.

You are now going to be rewarded with photos of my abdomen and ripped pajama pants.

Lucky.