Hug Ambush!

When i first started hanging out with The Professor's extended family, i was taken off guard by how huggy they are. My family is not very physically affectionate, so i wasn't used to so much hugging. Especially when the whole clan converges in Zion, the last human city. There's exponentially more hugging then.

Even just on a day-to-day basis, this is the hugging pattern of a trip to The Professor's dad's house:

• Hug each person present as soon as you arrive.
• When someone leaves, they hug each person present. Let's say that they are just running out to Pizza Hut to pick up dinner and will be back in 10 minutes. Hugging is still required.
• Hug each person present when you are going to bed.
• Hug each person present when you wake up in the morning.

A weekend stay with The Professor's family usually provides a net quota of hugs that exceeds the amount of hugging most people get in several months. Now that i've gotten used to this way of life, i love it and think it's great! Bring on the hugs!

The BabyGirl, true to her heritage, is quite a hugger. She hugs early and often. And during this turbulent time in her life of having a new baby, her hugging needs have increased.

Today was The Professor's first official full day back at work since BG2 was born. He's had a few unofficial half-days, but today was the real deal. I was terrified, truth be told. BG2 is a very difficult baby and the BabyGirl has been a nutcase recently, so they are each quite a handful on their own. Fortunately, a friend called in the morning to say that she was going to come over and bring us lunch!

This friend was accompanied by B, her 3-year-old daughter, so the BabyGirl and i were both thrilled to have a playmate. Neither one of us have had much social interaction the past few weeks and we were kind of people-starved.

When our friends arrived, the BabyGirl and B ran off to the living room to play while Sarah and i sat in the kitchen. We were chatting away when the BabyGirl and B came back into the kitchen. B was preoccupied with a toy she was holding as the BabyGirl was attempting to give her a hug. It's fairly awkward to hug someone who doesn't know that they are being hugged. The BabyGirl would get right up in B's personal space, and at the moment that she reached her arms out, B would back away. The BabyGirl, undeterred by B's resistance, started over. This process repeated several times until both girls were somewhat frustrated, the BabyGirl because her hug was being thwarted and B because she didn't want to hug.

As soon as I noticed that the BabyGirl was unsuccessfully trying to force a hug on B, i instructed the BabyGirl to first request B's permission to hug. She eagerly asked, "Wanna hug???" and B ever so slightly shook her head no. It was almost imperceptible. The BabyGirl asked again and B did the same thing. Her refusal was not emphatic enough to have much of an impact on the BabyGirl, so she continued her attempts. I had to tell her to leave the poor girl alone, she does not want to be hugged right now.

They went back into the living room, where the BabyGirl hung back a little and waited for B to resume playing. Then she came at B from behind and gave her a Surprise Hug Attack! Haha, gotcha! During the course of their playing, the BabyGirl sneaked in a few more of these ambush hugs.

It was funny in that each girl received an admonition from their mother. Sarah told B, "Just let her hug you!" and i told the BabyGirl, "Stop hugging her against her will!" I think they both listened to the opposite mother.

After a while Sarah and B took their leave. As soon as they were out the door i heard B say to Sarah, "That was fun!" Sarah, surprised, asked, "Did you like it when the BabyGirl hugged you?" B smiled and nodded.

The BabyGirl is slowly winning people over to the ways of hugging, just like i was won over by The Professor's family!
 

BabyGirl Meets Baby Sister

Big Belly Entertainments

The poor BabyGirl has been living a pretty lack-luster life these past few weeks. We don't play outside because she runs away faster than i can chase her. We don't go to the park because of the heat and the previously mentioned running away. We don't go to the library because of the running. Do they have track and field for 2 year olds? Because that might be one thing we could actually do.

Mostly we sit on the couch and read books. I feel bad for the poor girl. It's no way for a toddler to spend the summer. Nonetheless, we have had some good times. With a little creativity, we have managed to provide her with at least a small amount of cheer. Here are some things we've done:

We painted our toenails! Oh how i have longed for this day. Being a VERY girly-girl, i knew she would love it. I was biding my time until the right moment. It wasn't my best paint job, due to one set of nails being very squirmy and the other set being extremely difficult to reach.

We made a cardboard BabyGirl. The colors are not very bright, but i hope you can see it a little bit. She thought it was great. For some reason, she kept calling it "Space Monkey." We could never figure out why. But for a day or two, Space Monkey was her dynamic duo and they did everything together. For example: she was walking towards her room and said, "Wait! Need to bring Space Monkey!" Unfortunately the novelty was short-lived, possibly due to the difficulty of portability of the Space Monkey. So now for poor Space Monkey is shoved in the corner.

We FINALLY unpacked all of her books! She had way more books than space to put them, so many of them remained boxed up until we bought a bookcase. It was like Christmas, both for us and her. Even The Professor and i had forgotten that we had certain books. The bookcase is in BG2's room, so the BabyGirl carried her folding chair in there and spent about 3 days reading loads of new books. Then she wised up to the fact that just because the bookshelf is in that room, doesn't mean that the books have to stay there! So now she simply carts the books here and there and everywhere to read them wherever is convenient for her.

We started watching YouTube videos. This was a big strategical error on our part. The BabyGirl was sick with a bad cold, and we needed a low-energy source of entertainment. Now she's addicted to youtube and wants to watch it all the time. This particular video was her favorite for a while. It has about 94 million views, and i'm pretty sure that at least 4 million of those are the BabyGirl. It's fairly cute, so it doesn't get annoying immediately like most kid videos. You can watch it for at least two dozen times before you're totally over it. The Professor's favorite part is "Waddle, waddle," and he enjoys singing it to me as i walk around. The other day when the BabyGirl and i were at the grocery, she gave me a mischievous smirk and asked, "Got any grapes?"

The only time that the BabyGirl gets any real excitement is when the Three Brothers are involved. Her best buds are three boys ages 4, 2, and 10 months. She LOVES hanging out with these guys. About a month ago we all went down to the Children's Museum together. Recently they took her with them to a local park that has a kid's farm. Yesterday she stayed at their house while The Professor and i toured one of the hospitals in town, and they gave her a rose! She's two years old and already boys are giving her flowers. I was at least 21 before a boy gave me roses.

I appreciate the BabyGirl's patience in bearing with us through this low-key summer. Not that she has any choice in the matter =]. Hopefully next year we can make it up to her!

 

Good Things

Despite the woes of the final weeks of pregnancy, the oppressive heat, and the limitations of my SI joint, there are several good things happening over here. Martha Stewart may think she owns the copyright to the term "good things", but i'm not talking about recipes and kitchen organization. I'm talking about every good and perfect gift that comes from the Lord. Here are a few of the blessings we've been enjoying recently:

1. Mother's Helper - A sweet and considerate girl from church offered to come over and play with the BabyGirl one morning so i could get some stuff done. She was a saint. She played so patiently with the BabyGirl! At ten years old, she definitely has a gentle and quiet spirit, something i long to cultivate myself but doubt i'll ever achieve.

2. The Grabber - Oh people, i love this thing! It used to be the case that whatever items landed on the floor during the course of the day simply remained there until The Professor got home. Unless i could sweet-talk the BabyGirl into picking something up for me, it wasn't going to get picked up. And since the BabyGirl was the reason that 97% of those things came to be on the floor in the first place, she wasn't often in the mood to retrieve them up. Until i received The Grabber. A nice older man at church gave it to me. I later found out the back story. His wife had broken her arm a few years ago, so for Christmas he bought her The Grabber. He thought it was clever and amusing; she was appalled. She told him, "Get that thing out of my sight!" It was never spoken of again until they were getting ready to go to church and he said, "Wait one minute; i have to get that Grabber." She was irritated to learn that it had still been dwelling under their roof because she thought he had disposed of it. But when he told her that he was passing it on to me, she was pleased to know that it was going to a home where it would be loved and appreciated. And boy is it appreciated! We've been grabbing like crazy over here. I think from now on I'm going to buy one for anyone who gets pregnant.

3. Baby Name Books - My friend Carrie-Who-Is-Not-Scary heard about our baby name dilemma. She checked out a stack of baby name books from the library and delivered them to my house! It was so thoughtful of her during the time when i couldn't get out of the house much because i couldn't walk well. One of the books she checked out was an Irish name book. While entertaining, it was not very useful. Irish names are just plain weird. Somehow we latched onto the name Sinead and joked about it for several days. (SPOILER ALERT: the baby will not be named Sinead.)

4. Baby Gifts! - We have been so greatful for all the wonderful gifts we have received for BG2! Our UPS man probably has our address memorized. If and when BG2's room ever gets presentable, i will be so excited to show you the before and after pictures. Every morning i go look to see if magic gnomes showed up in the night to put everything in order for me, and every morning it's still a big mess.

It has been so wonderful to receive such help and generosity from family and friends these past few weeks. Thank you to everyone for taking care of us!

 

My Budding Modeling Career

Such as it is =].

Only the most elite models and movie stars are chosen to pose while pregnant, so i think this puts me in a special category.

This is for a promo flier to be used at a big baby expo, hence they needed a pregnant woman. I think i was the only person available who fit the profile.

Tenderhearted

My debilitating, unbearable Sacroiliac Joint pain is back. With a vengeance. I've been in horrible pain for a week. Sometimes i can barely walk. It also hurts when i sit down. Lying in bed is painful too.

The Professor and the BabyGirl have been so wonderful to me in my suffering. After i'd already endured several days and it wasn't getting better, my coping skills disappeared. On one particular day when the pain was really bad, i started crying. The BabyGirl and i were sitting at the kitchen table eating lunch, and i just burst into tears without warning. At first she looked at me with a "what in the world is happening here" expression. But within seconds it changed into concern. She said to me softly and with compassion, "Mama crying. Why tears, Mama?"

I told her that i was going to rest on the couch and finish my crying; she nodded understandingly. I remembered to grab a box of tissues en route and the BabyGirl trotted after me. As soon as i got settled down on the couch (which is no small feat), i wanted a glass of water so badly. Well, as luck would have it, one of her favorite things in this world is carrying my water cup. Most of the time she is prohibited from doing so because it results in lots of spilled water.

When i nicely asked her to please fetch my water cup from the kitchen table, she thought it was her lucky day. It was as if she was born for this. She was SO HAPPY to run back into the kitchen and get my water cup from the table. The task should only have taken a second. Instead, i heard chairs being pushed around and some grunting. Then she mumbled to herself something about, "Reach!" Finally she returned triumphantly with a cup in hand. Unfortunately, it was not my current water cup that was left on the edge of the table within easy reach. It was Daddy's water cup from dinner last night, which had not been cleared away. It had been moved to the very center of the table where you could not easily get to it if you happened to be 36 inches tall. But she had gone after that day-old water cup with everything she had. She climbed and grunted and reached until she claimed her prize. Mama had requested water, and the BabyGirl was not going to return empty-handed.

She was so pleased with herself as she presented me with the day-old cup she had procured. I thanked her profusely and made a big deal about what a great helper she was and such a big girl to get the cup all by herself. Nonetheless, i couldn't bring myself to drink the small amount of water that was in that cup. Day-old Daddy backwash was swimming on the surface and taunting me. It really grossed me out.

But i was so touched by her desire to help that it took my mind off the pain a little. Then she sat down next to me and snuggled up close. She gently rubbed my leg and said, "All better, Mama. All better."

I'm so greatful for that moment. She doesn't have the first idea about sacroiliac joints, but she dropped everything to be present with me when i was in need. She has repeatedly demonstrated her compassion during her short life, and i am so impressed by her caring nature.

A few weeks ago it was my turn to serve in the nursery. The kids were sitting in chairs quietly eating their crackers at snack time. A mom came in carrying her three-year-old girl who was in the middle of a tantrum. It wasn't a kicking, thrashing tantrum; it was a fairly well composed crying tantrum. The girl just wanted to cry and nothing else. She didn't want to be comforted by her mom, she didn't want to talk about it, she didn't want to be distracted with toys, she just wanted to cry. So her mom put her in a chair in the corner and left.

Most of the kids in the nursery took little notice of this. They continued enjoying their snack. The BabyGirl, however, was full of concern. She had such a worried look on her face when she said to me, "Girl is crying!" I asked the BabyGirl if she wanted to go give her a hug, which is exactly what she wanted to do. Unfortunately, the crying girl wasn't so much in the mood for a hug. She had her head buried in her lap, and none of her body parts were very accessible. The BabyGirl did the best she could and hugged as much of the girl as she could get to.

(We later found out that the crying girl had lice at the time (her mom didn't discover the critters until that afternoon), so i was VERY RELIEVED that the hug wasn't a close embrace!)

Once again, the situation proved that the BabyGirl is a very tenderhearted soul who is attentive to others.

I didn't fully grasp the significance of all these things until a friend asked me if the BabyGirl was treating me okay while i'm so physically limited. I told her that the BabyGirl's favorite pasttime is snuggling, and that she is perfectly happy to curl up with me and read books. My friend was shocked. She has three little boys, so she didn't even know that such a thing as snuggling existed in the world. Her boys want to spend all day playing Hide & Seek, Superheroes Jump Off the Couch, and Pillow Attack.

It was the words "pillow attack" that really got to me. I'm pretty sure that pillow attack would be the end of me. The only foreseeable outcomes are either several weeks in traction, or a Clinitron bed with a Sip 'n Puff.

I was extremely greatful for my BabyGirl prior to that conversation, and now i'm exponentially more greatful! Praise the Lord for snuggles instead of pillow attack.

I am excited to see the plans that God has for the BabyGirl, and the ways in which she will be able to apply her gift of compassion. I pray that He gives me the wisdom and insight to point her towards the woman He created her to be.

 

Praying for Friends With Enemies

I've never been a good pray-er.

My praying regimen has always been more reactive than proactive. When things comes up, i pray for them. Otherwise i don't have a regular, routine prayer life.

The past few weeks i had been feeling drawn to prayer in a new way. I want to grow and mature in this area. Incidentally, the leaders of my church feel the same way. Our church is focusing intently on prayer this summer, with several resources to help people learn more about praying.

Our pastor is preaching through the Psalms, and we are using the lessons found there to shape our prayers. We have a daily reading guide to use for personal study.

Let me quickly explain why the heck i'm telling you all this. It's because i am a huge failure when it comes to journaling. I kind of hate to journal. But occasionally, there are journal-worthy events that i want to record. This blog is composed of 30% BabyGirl stories, 25% cosmic freak-outs, 40% preserving our life events to remember when we are old and gray, and 5% miscellaneous. This entry on prayer falls into "miscellaneous." You are welcome to leave now. I'm not writing this because i necessarily want you to know about it. It's more so that i personally want to remember it. Having evaluated all my options of effective places to document things i want to remember, this came out as the best choice.

Okay, so moving on. Last night The Professor and i studied Psalm 5 together. As we were discussing it, we decided that we couldn't fully identify with it because we do not have any full-fledged, oppressive enemies. We started brainstorming people we are close to who are currently being attacked by enemies. The answer was very clear. There are two men in the Big City that are having a terrible time right now as a result of a particular person. To accomplish our task of praying through the psalms, we are praying Psalm 5: 11-12 for our friends who are dealing with an enemy:

"But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you. 
For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield."