Family,
And a good Tuesday evening to you from the Queen City, where the Bull is HOME ALONE living the life of a bachelor while his girls are down in the Sunshine state for the week. I'm happy to report
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| "Rachel Ray ain't got NUTHIN' on me!" |
Another week is in the books, and the milestones continue to fall as K develops so rapidly. For starters, there is no surface in this house she cannot reach at this point, as she continues to remind us by bringing our phones, papers, cards, picture frames - you name it - to us when she grabs them. I will say it's very cute when she grabs one of our phones, as she'll say either "Mama" or "Dada" depending on whose phone she's claimed, and then she'll hold it up to her ear as she walks it to us. All the same, we need to be a bit more careful going forward, as she can also reach things like the iPad, which are not quite as conducive to being carried by little fingers.
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| "Ooooh - Pirate Island!!!! Wake up, Grandpa Pig!" |
K's also starting to like the bath more now. She wants to spend more time in there, and when you start singing "Row, row, row your boat," she begins splashing like a Marlin caught on a hook - HILARIOUS! She's finally at the point that she'll stay in and play after bathing is done, and she's even now started trying to climb back INTO the bathtub after we pull her out. She used to sit quietly in my lap, but those days are OVER. Instead, she'll take her wet body and hug me instantly, clinging to me (and soaking my shirt) while she tries to climb back in so she can play some more with her rubber duckies (or "baba's" as she still calls them).
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| 4 words: Rhodes Scholar in training. |
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| Why spend $$$ on toys? K can spend hours being entertained by her infant bath sponge. |
There are 2 new rituals at present. The first is that, whenever there's a pause during feeding or she knows I'm looking, she'll either do the itsy-bitsy spider fingers or the "false start" motion, which is code for "Time to sing Wheels on the Bus!" Jenny and I probably sang that 5,011 times this week. If you need a refresher on all the verses (there are 9 I'm aware of), just let me know - I can ROCK all of them. The second ritual is at NOMAD, where she always has to make one trip up the stairs, down past the cardio room, and then down the back staircase before departing. The folks there are starting to recognize us (LOVE THAT PLACE!) and know when "the climb" is coming, which I find quite cute. K is also continuing to love NOMAD's Childwatch. Each day is a little easier, and the ladies there know which toys she likes and are great about bringing them out the second she enters the room (making it easier for JT to exit stage left :-)). Two other K notes for the weekend. The first is that we went to visit Santa again - same guy, same location...and same result. K was SUPER HAPPY entering the place. In fact, she's been saying "Ho Ho Ho" all week. She recognizes the Santa in our house, and she didn't seem freaked out in line to meet him. However, the second it was our turn - A. SWITCH. FLIPPED. First off, K did NOT want to let go of mommy. And then, when we tried to put her in Santa's lap, well...I think the photos pretty much describe it:
That being said, as soon as she was done, she was an angel. She even pointed back at him and kept saying "Ho Ho Ho!" There were two other photo stops in the room, and K was even treated to her first sugar cookie and sucker (both of which she LOVED - "Num, num!"). So Santa's clearly not a favorite yet, but something tells me it's only a matter of time!The other item was a cookout on Sunday with one of Jenny's
new friends from the mommy meet-up group. They have a daughter almost exactly K's age, and you can tell that they recognize each other. I actually think they will get on great when they get a bit older, but right now they're still trying to learn how to share with each other. :-) The interesting thing to me is that K's always the one having things taken from her vs. doing the taking, and she always takes it in stride. I will say however that recently she's taken a bit more offense and it has upset her - but not to the point she's ready to throw a punch. :-) She actually tried the technique of securing a monkey and  |
| I'm happy to report that K is getting much better (meaning gentler) with the ornaments. |
handing it to daddy, but I didn't protect it for long, trying to show her that she needs to both share and guard what's hers. It's tough, as I'm not sure how to teach that. Medidate and do more research on best practices, I must...
Wrapping this blog, I would be remiss if I didn't record another important chain of events that transpired this week. This blog is entitled "Raise Kids With the Taylors," and the implication there is obviously that Team Taylor would like more than one should the good Lord bless us with such fortune. Last month we started trying for #2, and after some potential indicators (cramps in odd places, JT being a day late), we tried a pregnancy test on Monday. While it was thin and faint, there was no question - we had 2 lines. Same thing on Tuesday - 2 lines. There was no doubt about it, sports fans - Team Taylor was pregnant! We were in shock that it had actually worked out of the gate and couldn't believe it. We were so excited in fact that we started planning how we'd tell people over Christmas.
JT had a regular OB-GYN appointment on Wednesday, but the test came back negative. We found this odd, but as this was consistent with the last time (when JT had foot surgery), we didn't think much of it. JT was an ANIMAL doing research, trying to figure out which tests were the best to take in terms of detecting HCG (Readers - let me just say that I've learned SO MUCH about home pregnancy tests in the last week that I think I could be a QA Tester for EPT), and she picked up several different brands to compare (as each can detect different levels and concentrations). We had a positive test again at home on both Thursday and Friday, and we just knew that this past Monday (yesterday) we'd get the dark blue line we'd been waiting for - consistent with the previous pregnancy.All of that changed on Saturday when Jenny didn't feel well. For starters, the test that morning was negative. She then felt off all day. She felt better on Sunday, but again the test was negative. And then something else happened - JT started cramping and spotting. I will save all the details, but suffice it to say that Sunday evening and night especially were quite rough for JT, and at that point it became quite apparent to us what had happened - we'd lost the baby. It feels weird to type it that way, and I actually just spent the last minute starting at the PC thinking of the noun to use - zygote? Embryo? Fertilized egg? It? But in the end, it was a baby - a potential Team Taylor baby, and just like that it was gone.
Now look, I don't want anyone reading this thinking I'm sitting at home going "Woe is me." It was extremely early, this kind of thing happens all the time, and people obviously go through MUCH worse than losing the potential child this early (we're talking 4 weeks). However, it has taken me longer to process this than I expected, and yesterday was a rough one for me. I told myself on Sunday I was fine, but by Monday morning I knew that wasn't the case and knew this whole thing would be easier if I admitted to myself that I was upset and a little sad. It's the expectation, you see - the excitement that you rush to of thinking about telling folks, the nesting, the things you do to minimize the impact to K and ensure she knows that she's loved as much as she always was - it that build-up that gets the adrenaline racing and the endorphins pumping. And then, when you suddenly realize you aren't on the clock and you don't need to being cleaning out the spare room, ordering a "big girl bed" quite yet, looking into day care, etc. - that's what gets you: the come down. Sunday and Monday I waswandering around aimlessly it felt like, desperate for to-do's and tasks. I'm better now, but the task list I've given myself during Bachelor week is a testament to the fact that I'm not quite back to full speed just yet. I know everything happens for a reason, and as I've always said - K was such a miracle that I feel blessed beyond measure no matter what happens. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little sad at work on Monday, and especially laying in bed with Jenny last night. Okay, so there you have it - the good, the bad, and the unexpected for Team Taylor this week. It's all part of life's rich pageant, and all I can say is bring on the next round and bring home my girls! Speak soon!
Love,
Sam and (probably having a little wine or a chocolate stout in Valrico) Jenny
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