Today, Sophie crawled up on the couch & sat beside me so I could give her a snack. I found myself staring at her for a minute. When did you become a person??

Not to say babies are not people, of course. Even at their most helpless of stages they deserve our respect. But wow, Sophie, now 17 months, has become this person…with a personality: able to share her wants, desires & needs carefully & clearly rather than just laying there, crying waiting for mommy or daddy to figure it out…not that we always get what she wants, but for the most part, days here are so smooth & wonderful!

The other day, I had a basket of laundry to fold in the bathroom. As I cleaned the sink, I watched as Sophie went over to the laundry, pulled out the microfiber cloths & proceeded to put them in the proper cabinet in our bathroom. I was dumbstruck. How did she even know that they went there?? Obviously, she is at that age where she observes everything (by the way: Sophie has her own microfiber cloth. She keeps it with her things, & if she happens to spills something, like her juice, she will wipe it up enthusiastically. How awesome is that!). When I put on my lip balm, and purse my lips together, she does the same. I scratched my head the other day, and there she was scratching hers. The other night at dinner, I wiped my hands back & forth to remove crumbs, and she stopped eating to do the same thing. Talk about cute (and highly scary. To have a mini-me)!

I must say, I am blessed with a very easy going child. She likes to play quietly while I sit at the kitchen table making jewelry. Every so often, she will come up to “feed” me some of her “soup” from a wooden spoon that she has carefully mixed in her bowl. Again, something we never taught her to play, she just picked it up from times I have fed her. Rick laughs and remarks, that Sophie will feed me when my hands are full. Too funny!

“What a great little helper you have!” everyone says. And I beam with pride.

Rick & I laugh hysterically at her choice of music. This morning there was polka music on, and she sucked it up: dancing away in a circle, with a can of mushrooms tucked under her arm (don’t ask. We don’t quite understand it either). Today while having a hormonal moment & feeling a bit sad, she went to the cupboard & brought me the big box of pita bites. I guess she thought comfort food was just what I needed…

The best moments though – is when she climbs up beside me when I am on the computer to give me a big giant kiss. Or snuggles beside me for a nap. Those are truly precious moments to be cherished…

Never, ever, underestimate your children. Regardless of their age.

We love you, dear Sophie. You will be a wonderful big sister!

Well, it’s March. I don’t know how we got here as we have had the most uneventful, wimpy winter here in Québec. Compared to major blizzard after blizzard last year…trust me, I am not complaining…but it has left us with a feeling of waiting-for-the-other-shoe-to-drop all winter. At this rate winter will be over & spring will be upon us!

Someone mentioned the other day, that I have not blogged at all about this pregnancy. You know, I just haven’t had the urge. This has been a very uneventful pregnancy. I’d like to say that everything is textbook but I’d like to see it as above average. I haven’t had any illness, I have had great energy throughout & the past few weeks I have been like an energizer bunny getting housework done & working again on my jewelry business. I will be reaching my New Year’s goal of 100 pieces in my Etsy Shop probably tomorrow, which is a great accomplishment. I also wanted 20 sales by the time this baby comes & I have exceeded that. Mission accomplished. It’s nice to incorporate something creative into my life again.

But back to pregnancy & birth and all that. If I thought Sophie was an easy pregnancy…I think this one has been pretty much the same except this baby moved a lot more & a lot sooner than Sophie, which is a lot considering how much she moved! I swear he/she also has their father’s rhythm as it feels like they are playing a set of drums in there. The other major difference, is that by this stage with Sophie, she was pretty much ready to bust out. She was a stretcher, & her feet were constantly planted firmly in my ribs the last couple of weeks. Which is probably why she was born at 37 weeks. She still likes to stretch out. From the moment she was born I saw that signature stretch that I felt when she was in the womb. When she is in bed with her dad & I, I am constantly reminded at how much she flopped around in utero. :)

This bambino, however, has an easy-going energy about them. Which, in the long run, is great for us…however I have a sinking feeling they are not going to want to come out of there! I have absolutely no discomfort…in fact I tend to forget that I am pregnant even this late in the game, until I feel movement! They seem very comfortable so I wouldn’t be surprised if I go overdue with this one. That said, there will be no induction or doctor intervention as far as I’m concerned. I remember Sophie’s birth, & how the doctors marvelled at just being there to catch…they did nothing. The only indication that I had that she was coming out soon is that they started putting on their goggles, gloves & “hazmat” suits. So sad that birth in hospitals is treated so sterile. Those dirty, dirty birth canals we have…just a big ball of infections women’s vaginas are. *Roll eyes* Those poor neonates, so terribly fragile their immune systems, right? Yet we give birth in a germy cesspool of an institution with a healthy dose of MERSA to go around…and allow the medical community to do all kinds of “precautionary” procedures that leave our babies open & prone to infection…anyway, I am digressing…the point I was starting to make is that babies come out eventually, by design. If they need a little extra time, take it. They obviously need it! There are many positions to give birth other than writhing in pain on your back with a suctioning device or a scalpel…

I was thinking, that last March we had a 6month old…now I am about to have an infant…are we nuts? LOL! Truth is, as uneventful and quick this pregnancy has been, we are both very excited to be parents again. There is a lot of mystery around this baby…since we do not know the sex…there definitely is a lot of female energy around this baby (conceived on the new moon, due on the new moon) but really, we would be thrilled with whatever we get. I haven’t had an ultrasound, so there aren’t any clues as to what this one will look like at all…I remember Sophie’s signature lips on her ultrasound picture! I regret subjecting her to unnecessary & dangerous sonograms though…oh well, live & learn.

The hiccups! This baby has chronic hiccups just like their sister did…definitely inherited from their father! I feel it right now…hic…hic…hic…hic…yes, it feels weird. If there was any doubt whether the head is down or not…the hiccups coming from my pelvis certainly confirm that! ;)

The other major change this pregnancy, was that I prepared my body for birth with Sophie: prenatal yoga, lots of walking…but didn’t do a lot of the mental/spiritual work. This time I have made this top priority. I have spent a lot of time getting my mind ready for birth. This has certainly been a spiritual pregnancy: in fact I keep seeing the number 7 everywhere lately (spiritual number). I feel very one/whole & close to this child already. Hopefully I can use this positive awareness to bring him/her into the world gently. A good start means a lot to the development, mental & physical health this lifetime for his/her soul…