My daughter is not yet three, but we know she is a neat-freak. Very particular, almost prissy. She nibbled at her first birthday cake, becoming frustrated that we gave her no utensils and yet expected her to eat it. In a very anti-climatic scene, she sat and pinched off several bites with her thumb and forefinger, and then signed that she was “all done.” When you understand that she could feed herself oatmeal out of a bowl (with a spoon) before her first birthday, maybe her reaction makes total sense.

My son on the other hand: I never posted his first birthday pictures (I should go back and do that!) but they were the typical fists-full-of-cake-and-chocolate-frosting-from-head-to-toe shots.

So as you can imagine, he is 17 months old and still doesn’t feed himself oatmeal. We have tried. But always flips the oatmeal across the room and gets frustrated when there is nothing on the spoon when he puts it into his mouth. We’re working toward that though.

Last night Daniel was working late. We had chicken tortilla soup for dinner–one of my favorites!–and I was already planning to give the kids their baths right after dinner, so I decided to let Micah try to eat the soup with a spoon. It’s very thick: lots of chicken, black beans, diced tomatoes, salsa, so it’s not like he would be dribbling broth down his chin, right?

Well, he tried the spoon for a while until the novelty wore off and the hunger overcame his desire to master the spoon. Then he began stuffing handfuls of soup into his mouth, and when the bowl was almost empty, he just picked it up and poured the rest into his mouth!

You can see that he thoroughly enjoyed the soup, and he wasn’t bothered one bit by the mess he had created all over himself and his high chair. There’s no way my son and daughter are related! 😉

In hindsight, I’m not sure whether Micah was actually “tackling” eating soup with a spoon? or if that was just me.

Either way, for more “Tackle It Tuesday,” stop by 5 Minutes for Mom!

One random anecdote for each family member:

First of all, my hubby.

I’m just amused that my husband is better at giving my progesterone shots than the nurse!

I literally didn’t feel the needle go in. I just thought he was taking forever to give my shot . . . I was so impressed. “You did it? You’re sure it went in? . . . Thank you, dear.” 🙂

We let Mara watch, so she won’t be terrified of shots, like she has been in the past. For now, she remains unconvinced: “I’m so worried, Mommy. I’m so worried about your shots.” . . . Maybe by week 36, she won’t be quite so worried.

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Next, my son:

In the grocery store Saturday night, I had to “park” my cart and walk about 3 cart-lengths away to pick up something, because of all the shopping cart traffic on our aisle.

Since I “left” him in the parked cart, Micah shrieked–one of his ear-piercing shrieks that generally captures the attention of the entire northeastern section of the United States.

I shot him a disapproving look, and instantly he put his finger to his lips and very innocently said, “Shhhhhhh.”

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And, finally, my daughter:

Mara: “Mommy, I need more orange juice in my diet.”
Me: “Why?”
Mara: “Because orange juice has fruit in it, and helps my tummy to feel better.”

I was talking to my sister-in-law a couple nights ago, and she asked how many weeks I am.

After discussing it for a minute (how long it has been since the ultrasound and how many weeks I was then), we came up with 22. I’m 22 weeks pregnant. So she commented that Micah came “10 weeks from now.”

And it really got me thinking, ‘Wow, it’s not that much longer!’

Although we’re hoping Little Boo is not a preemie (and we’re doing all we can to prevent that), even if she doesn’t come early, I know my body is going to start slowing down again and if I go full-term . . . ?? Wow, those last couple months are going to seem like eternity, compared to last time! (No regrets, if I go full-term though!)

So all this thinking is propelling me into action . . . Hopefully this isn’t “nesting.” Hopefully, this is just the logical response to higher energy levels during the second trimester and the realization of the busy-ness of the next couple months and the fatigue & lack of energy that set in during the last couple of months.

These thoughts are scrambled in my head. I need to. . .

• Complete 40 credit hours of CPE to retain my CPA license before December 15th.
• Re-organize both kids’ rooms and figure out where Little Boo is going to be. 🙂
• Go through Mara’s baby clothes and see what will work for this little girl; wash the clothes; organize them; etc.
• Schedule a family portrait as soon as possible, preferably before water retention sets in. (Initially I was going to do this in October, but weekends in October completely filled up.)
• Write a family update letter, update mailing list, and send.  (Wow, I sent out Christmas/New Year’s letters with much more regularity before I even got married! Daniel and I have talked about doing this since we got married–and I listed “send Thanksgiving letter” as one of my 2009 Goals.)
• Preferably clean the basement. . . it’s horrific. . . and I won’t go into detail.
• Plan meals for several weeks of my family staying with us from November 19 – December 8. (Woo-HOO! We haven’t seen my parents or brother & sister-in-law in over a year. And we are so glad my sister will be here too!)
• Christmas shopping (We have started, but have a lonnng way to go.)
• Plan Christmas baking.

All that to say . . . I will be posting here and there, as time permits for a change of pace and a little relaxation, but for the next few weeks, my posts are going to be less consistent than they have been the past few months.

That said, I have several posts in mind right now . . . can’t wait to get time for them!