A few pregnant pauses

Charlie is already a month old now and it's enough to send a new mom reeling. One minute, you're as big as a house. The next minute, you're as big as a house, but without the convenient excuse of an additional human being in your tummy.

With both Will and Charlie, I never got to that point where I thought, "I'd do absolutely anything to get this baby out." That's supposed to happen -- some biological thing that makes you actually want to go through labor. Despite a few aches and pains, I pretty much enjoy being pregnant. A few of my favorite moments from my most recent pregnancy:

-- We were at a park about two weeks before Charlie was born. After having a picnic lunch, Will was playing on the playground equipment, most specifically the "fireman's pole" that he had recently mastered. He challenged Scott to go down the pole too. Scott did, despite the ridiculous image of a 6'2" man sliding down a 5' pole. Scott, always looking for a laugh, decided to extend the challenge to me. Will quickly came to my defense. "No. Mommy can't do that, she has a baby in her tummy," then, looking at me with his serious face, "Mommy, it's my job to keep you off the pole." Perhaps, if we hadn't seen so many Sopranos episodes featuring scenes from the "Bada Bing," that wouldn't have been so funny.

-- My friend Karen saved my life by providing me with pretty much all my maternity clothes. I loved them all, except for one shirt. It would have looked great on a woman with more height, but the gray color with sequin trims made me feel, um, well, like a circus elephant. I told Scott, "I'm that elephant that they dress up in a tutu, pop a big pink plume on her head and cart her around the ring calling, 'Ladies and Gentlemen, say hello to 'Cha Cha', isn't she pretty?'"

-- Months ago, I bought a pink maternity sundress and waited anxiously all spring for it to be warm enough to wear it. I broke it out the week Charlie was born. It did elicit some comments. My doctor said, "You're still shaving your legs! Good for you!" One fellow employee said, "Wow, can't miss you coming down the hall!" And, Scott's inevitable response: "Here's Cha Cha! Isn't she pretty?"

Flying windows

Here's a new one: I'm lying here contemplating our next blog post when I see something large and white fall from the sky. I get up and look at the front yard, and that thing is a window from our bedroom.

Walk upstairs, and who's standing by the window? Our oldest, shutting the main glass window.

As we explain to him the negative outcomes that could have followed punching out a window, he breaks down into tears ...

Track pictures

Here are some shots of Will running and jumping at Saturday's track event for the kids. Don't you just love the smile on his face?

Track meet

Today there was a track meet at the school in Iola. Will was a little reluctant to participate at first, but eventually warmed up to the idea and really enjoyed himself. Jared offered him $4 to run (later rescinded), Will's first brush with being a pampered, overpaid athlete.



He finished third in both the 40-yard dash and the long jump. His time of 10.18 seconds in the 40 was a tad off what the NFL scouts are looking for - in an equipment manager - but Will ran with such joy that it didn't matter what his time was.



We didn't get a distance for him in the long jump, but I thought I heard it was over three feet. He employed three distinctly different styles: a triple jump, a straight long jump (his longest effort), and a run-straight-through-it style.





I'll post some photos tomorrow.

Our caterpillar

We found a caterpillar crawling around in our front yard on Sunday, and Will didn't kill it accidentally, which was something of a surprise. He found a nice spot for it in a clear container, and we put mulch and leaves in there. We're hoping to see it turn into a butterfly. I think Will's hoping it turns into his first pet.

Brothers

Everyone keeps asking how Will is getting along with Charlie. Just fine, thank you.

Behind the lens at last

After being the subject of approximately 30,000 photos, Will has started taking a crack at taking pictures of us. Here is his first attempt with our Canon Digital Rebel with the SLR lens. I think he did a really nice job, considering you have to tap the shutter button once to activate the auto focus. Of course, it's hard not to get a good shot of me ... and Charlie.

Splish splash

Charlie was taking a bath recently, and I was able to snap some shots. Don't you love that hair? Where does he get that from?

Raising Thuliens

A brief departure from the Charlie and Will show ...

Our good friend Karen lives up the street from us, and Will has long looked up to her two oldest children, Megan and Jared (reading to Will below), who have been great to him. Will, in turn, has been great looking after Ryan at day care, and loves having his friends over to our house.

They stopped by after a T-Bird baseball game last week, and Ryan had a ball knocking over a tower of blocks we built from him over and and over again. It's so much fun having multiple kids in our house, which is why we're so excited about having Charlie around!

No farting dogs allowed

Last weekend Will asked if he could stay at my folks' lake house with Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Sara. Sure, we said, and they had a great time.

Sara's dog Dayne was also there, and he laid down in bed with Will for a good night's sleep. Apparently, the scene was very cute ... until Dayne cut the cheese.

"I don't want to sleep with a farting dog!" Will demanded, and that was the end of that.