Multi-tasking

These past few weeks have been stressful (to say the least) for Erick and me, but they have probably been some of Sophia's best. I know that I have a much lower threshold than usual for toddler behavior, so I am choosing fewer battles, which means next week will be a nightmare in that regard. Really, though, she has been about as sweet and hilarious as I can remember. That, of course, is very bittersweet given our current circumstances, but I am really trying to enjoy it.

An example of a slightly less demanding home is that here she is, probably at ten in the morning: no pants, talking on the phone to her daddy, while watching TV. Awesome. An example of how she can be her daddy's girl. Ha! Just kidding! Or am I? Now you'll think twice when you call us, won't you?

Aarrg!

Just when it was cute and fun to be a pirate, the headlines go and ruin it. Shouldn't we be able to come up with a different name for these modern pirates? I don't know - burglars, smugglers, kidnappers, sea criminals - something that I don't typically encourage Sophia to pretend to BE.

Now I have to endure an inner battle each time she puts on the pirate hat and eye patch (and this probably happens more here than with most 2-year-old girls). Should I really be encouraging her to pretend to be someone who ransacks ships and holds people for ransom? Probably not. It was one thing when I could pretend she was just a harmless 19th century pirate. Their pillaging, etc. was far enough in the past that it could be distorted and softened with images of Johnny Depp and, yes, Errol Flynn. But it will take some pretty serious casting to make these current characters into lovable but messy pranksters.

Just saying.

Poop Stinks

This post has nothing to do with poop, but it just seemed like the only way to start.

I've been on radio silence for a while for one main reason. We've been having a rough stint. Last Monday, almost two weeks ago, I was planning a very fun post. I had an ultrasound scheduled to make sure that everything was okay in my - yep - early pregnancy. I was 8 weeks, and the ultrasound technician could only find an empty sac. That was not good news, but it wasn't necessarily the worst news. The basic idea was that I could have been off on dates and less pregnant than I originally thought or it could be something called a blighted ovum. That means that an embryo implanted but only the sac continued to grow. The only way to know for sure which we were dealing with was to wait nearly two weeks - until yesterday morning - and have another ultrasound.

Two weeks of waiting was pretty miserable, but we managed to carry on with life in the most normal way we could. I worked so hard not to think about what we were waiting on that I ended up not doing much thinking at all. That's why no I couldn't think of any posts.

So yesterday morning was the ultrasound. Poop stinks gives you an idea that it did not turn out like we had planned. The sac was still empty and hadn't grown at all. So this week I will need to have a procedure to end the process.

So that's where we are. After two weeks of stopping feelings in their tracks, we are finding it to be a challenge to access them now. It will happen when we least expect it. With people who care close and each other closer, we'll make it through this as we have anything else.

Most of you already knew about all of this, but it always helps me to get things out in writing. I appreciate you hearing me out, but I don't really need feedback. I've disabled comments on this post. I just don't want anyone to feel the need to find something to say.

Cover Your Eyes

On Saturday, we made a quick trip to the St. Louis Zoo. As usual, Erick and I had as much fun as Sophia. She was pretty tired for some reason, so we had to take breaks between the animals for her to get excited for the next one.

In the main building of the zoo, they have an incredibly large shark, squid and sting ray on display. On the way into the zoo, she freaked out a little, but by the time we were headed out of the zoo, she was already prepared for the fright. Without any reminder from us, she said, "I won't look at the shark." and put her hand over her eyes.

Just peeking through them a tad.

Winter's Over

It's been over for a couple of weeks now I guess. I've been too distracted by the cold temperatures and chilling wind to notice. Anyway, I haven't said anything about this, even though I noticed a while ago. I didn't want to jinx anything. This winter was exponentially better than last as far as Sophia getting sick. Last winter, Sophia was in the doctor's office probably every ten days or two weeks. Our longest stretch of health was four days....seriously. So, even though Sophia had the burnt hand and stuff this winter, I'm just really grateful that our entire winter wasn't fraught with sick days and visits to the doctor's office. I would call that a big victory.

Now, on to allergy season!

The end of a very long week

Our week of spring break felt quite a bit longer than we thought it would, for the obvious reasons. However, we have had a great end to it and feel very grateful. On Friday, Erick and I took a day trip to St. Louis. We didn't talk about anything serious and just enjoyed each other's company and a beautiful day. I can't resist a good opportunity to use the timer, so here's my favorite shot of us.

Sophia has been as sweet as can be the entire week. I am just grateful that we have had some quality time together as a family to truly enjoy one another. The sweetness of that time is always increased by the reminder that life is short and you can't love or be loved too much.

Why I love Board Games and Candy

My dad's mother has always been Momo to me. During my summer visits as a child, we would play board games for hours and days on end. At the coffee table, on the porch or continued between. I always assumed the enjoyment was mutually great, but as an adult, I realize there was a great deal of patience involved, not to mention love. Somewhere along the line, another staple became m&m's. We'd eat them as we visited and get a few bags to carry home. Between the homemade donuts and the candy, I nurtured my natural love for sweets in Momo's house.

I described Popo in this earlier post when he passed away less than a year ago. After so many decades together, it was no wonder that Momo's heart was broken beyond repair without her partner. With each conversation after Popo's passing, it became more clear that her one desire was to be at home with Jesus and Popo. Selfishly, I wanted just a little longer. This week, I planned to take advantage of Mary's spring break by having her watch Sophia so I could take a trip to see Momo for a couple of days. We were both excited about the possibility, although she was disappointed that Sophia wouldn't join me. Every conversation started like this. Me: "How are you today?" Momo: "Oh, I'm okay. How's our little girl? What's she doing?" One of her favorite stories was about the time that we came to visit when Sophia was just learning to walk and how she toddled directly into Popo's waiting arms. It was a good memory for both Momo and Popo, and I plan to remind Sophia of how loved she was by her great grandparents.

I will make the trip to Illinois this week, but it won't be the one I planned. After having a stroke on Friday, Momo finally had her broken heart restored this morning. Now she is completely whole in the arms of Jesus. I wil miss her greatly, especially when I spot (and eat) a bag of her trademark m&m's.