Friday, March 8, 2013

The calm before the storm

Actually, it's pretty stormy in San Diego today.  Abigail and I spent the morning at the zoo with a few of our play group friends who weren't afraid to get wet.  It was quite an adventure, down to the tiger who literally pounced on one of the kids who was standing right next to the glass.   Oh man, my heart stopped.  The tiger jumped from several feet away and his whole body was against the glass, scrambling and clawing, right on top of the little guy who was wedged in a corner looking at the tiger.  You know, the same tiger that you usually see sleeping in a remote corner of the enclosure, with just his tail distinguishable.  Logically I knew that the tiger could not get through the glass, but I still wanted to swoop up the kid and get the hell back.  As much as I love the San Diego Zoo, it was a reminder that wild animals don't belong in enclosed spaces.  Yikes!

The storm I was referring to in the title, however, has yet to descend, and who knows just how wet it will be.  Our little girl seems so much bigger these days, and with that come many, many funny statements and amazing developmental observations.  She's creative, interesting, musical, willful, coordinated, talkative, and loving.  She knows what she wants, and while I am thrilled at her growing ability to express that in new and more mature ways, two and a half holds a few challenges that make the thought of adding another child into the mix a little daunting.  We will adapt, I know.  We will feel that love at first sight -- I have no doubt.  And that love provides this mom with enough adrenaline to do just about anything, in my experience.  Still, this transition is both less stressful and more fearful than the last.   Though I won't go so far as to say we know what we are doing, we have cared for an infant before.  We all survived and enjoyed the wild ride.  But there seems to be more at stake, with one family member who lacks the ability to fully understand the changes at hand.

For weeks I've been meaning to take a good, sideways belly picture, for the record.  I even went so far as to set up the tripod in my room so I could set the self timer and take a photo.  Of course, that was the exact moment someone woke up from her nap and would only tolerate the following pictures.  




Turns out the best belly picture I have is from a recent ride on the carousel at the zoo (Abigail to my inside, riding the red dog).


So right now I'm 34 weeks along.  Come April (hopefully not late March, but that's when I'll be full term) we will be a changed family.  Since it took me 2 hours to get my daughter to sleep this afternoon, I should probably get to my chores, instead of sitting at this computer.  Happy Weekend!

Train expo at the Del Mar Fair Grounds with her Dad
Running around at California Adventure in her princess dress--it's getting too tight!
Family Mardi Gras Photo
One of these days I'll actually write the blog post about how to make a king cake.  I took pictures of all the steps last year and still haven't managed to get it together.