Joanna says "Hi Baby"

I've been trying to get Joanna to recognize that there is a baby in Mama's belly. Here is my feeble attempt:

Mom: Joanna, there's a baby in Mama's belly.
Mom: Joanna, What is in Mama's belly?
Joanna: (blank stare)


Yesterday, my newest attempt was humorously successful:

Mom: Joanna, there's a baby in Mama's belly.
Can you say "Hi baby?"

Joanna: (Looks at Mama's belly and waves) "Hi baby!"

Realizing things slowly

This pregnancy is different from my first. I don't seem to think about it as much, although I am excited. The further along I get, I do start to realize more and more, "Hey! I'm really pregnant!"

Silly Dog

Date: Tue, Mar 24, 2009

I have this dog, Pudgie. He drives me crazy sometimes.

Every morning, weather permitting, I let Joanna get two dog treats out of a canister (she gets two, one in each hand, sometimes both in one hand) and we go outside and give Chester and Pudgie a treat.

Chester is usually at the gate by the time we reach the gate, sometimes we get to the gate first, but not always. We go inside the gate and I sometimes either set Joanna down or I just hold her and she gives Chester one treat and he takes it gently from her hand.

Now, Pudgie is another story altogether. He'll stay in his dog house or in his lounging spot in the sun and, acknowledge our presence, but not appear to give one care that we have a treat for him. Maybe it's small dog syndrome, I don't know, but he won't come get the treat. We have to start out toward him and get about half the distance from where we started to him and he'll jump up and bound up to meet us and eagerly take the treat.

It's just fascinatingly irritating.

V8 and Salt & Vinegar Chips

Date: Fri, Feb 13, 2009

I felt like I would actually get sick if I didn't drink a V8. I called Ian's Market and found out they had V8. I jumped in my vehicle and headed out. While there, I realized they had chips, too.

Joanna Pattycake

Joanna has been clapping her hands together for quite some time, but now she can pat them and say something similar to "patty cake." Yesterday, she threw out her hands for "throw it in a pan" :-)

birthday and deer in the road

On my birthday, Jason, Joanna, Big Momma, and I went to Gatlinburg. Big Momma treated us all to a nice lunch and a visit to the Aquarium.

Joanna pointed at all the fishes and ran around the activity area and interacted with most of the displays. If it had a button, she pushed it. If she could climb or step on it, she was on it. She weaved in and out of the crowd with a precision of a skilled race car driver. I was in sheer amazement at her speed. I must have looked silly bent halfway over, trailing behind her with outstretched arms. We were quite the spectacle, I'm sure.

We were all exhausted at the end of the trip. Joanna fell asleep near the end of the tour. We finished close enough to dusk that we decided to delay our departure shortly so we could see the lights. We were all hungry and tired, so the Chic-fil-A drive thru was a beautiful sight. Joanna got a chicken nugget and we all enjoyed dinner without engaging our feet.

We stopped in a souvenir shop for more fun. Joanna hugged a giant bear and Big Momma bought her some tiny moccasins and a shake-rattle thingo. Daddy deposited Joanna on a big pile of stuffed grizzly bears. Joanna was in heaven. One not so funny toy was a sweet, cuddly bear puppet that growled a really mean, authentic growl when a button was pressed. Yikes!

I think this is the best birthday ever in my recollection of birthdays. Well, second only to my first birthday ever, courtesy also of Big Momma. Thanks Big Momma!

On our way home we came close to colliding with a car stopping in the middle of the road to rubberneck at a injured deer and car in the other lane. Goodness gracious. We called Emergency and let them know about the accident.

Gym-going

I've officially joined a gym and I've been going for over two weeks. Yay for me. I get up early and attend an exercise class at and return home before anyone is awake. So far, Joanna has slept soundly through the whole think and never realized my absence. :-) There has been only one day that she woke up right as I would need to leave, and therefore, I did not go. I haven't been to the Monday a.m. class, yet. I'm looking forward to attempting that feat next week.

I decided to join two days after the presidential election. I had to find something new to do besides follow politics with an obsessive frenzy. I realized that I did all I could do there.

I heard part of a news broadcast that said there is a rise in gym memberships before the holidays this year. Usually there is a decline at the end of the year and a peak at the beginning. I guess I'm a part of that increase. Why not start now?