Month: June 2011

New Baby

Posted on by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com

Here he is! The “new baby,” or as I’ve been calling him with Clare “our baby.” Due, November 11 (11-11-11) but I’m guessing we won’t make it that long. Just a hunch, but just like I was pretty sure Clare would be late I’m pretty sure this little bugger will be early.

We had our 20-week ultrasound/anatomy check this last week. The little fella is healthy, a little bigger than expected, and VERY active. Did I mention active? Yeah – the poor ultrasound tech had to take several attempts to measure and record his hands and feet. He kept squirming. then the feet went up by the head, so she couldn’t get a good read on his face. None of this came as a surprise to me though since I’ve been feeling this kiddo move around for a few weeks now. He’s waaaay more active and seemingly stronger than Clare was. It should be interesting final few months…
We decided to find out the sex of the baby in the room. I said before the ultrasound that it didn’t really matter, and, honestly, it doesn’t. We knew Clare was a girl before she was born and it didn’t affect anything we bought (all gender neutral), the way we talked to or about her, our plans for her, etc. I plan on doing the same this time around. Part of the reason we kept Clare’s gear and clothing so neutral was that I hoped to use it again if we had a little guy. Even now, if I’m making a more expensive purchase for her (winter coat, boots, delightful but expensive Hanna Andersson sleepers, etc.) I lean more towards boy or neutral clothing so that it can be a hand-me-down for a possible brother. Good thing 🙂 I imagine we’ll do the same thing this time around too, that is keep our purchases fairly neutral. I kindly ask the same from our friends and relatives. Or rather, if you’re going to get the baby little footballs, trucks, tractors, or other stereotypical boy stuff then please get one for Clare too. Otherwise then let’s wait to see what this little guy is interested in.
I wasn’t all that surprised to find out that Our Baby is a boy. J has been claiming it’s a boy since the moment he found out about the pregnancy (that is, after his “Oh S*$%! Really?” reaction). This pregnancy has been totally different than my last one, and one of the most plausible answers for the difference was the difference in hormones running through my body. Our Baby causes me to crave hamburgers, but not sweets, get nauseous at night (still!), want to sleep all the time, and not gain that much weight. I’m also much less emotional than I was with my last pregnancy, but I’m a little bit more tense and preoccupied.
All in all, the pregnancy is going well and we’re very excited about the new addition. I can’t wait to get my hands on my new little baby! I’m looking forward to the rocking, snuggling, and general falling in love that a new baby brings. I’m also excited to see Clare as a big sister, though I’m trying to figure out how best to help her handle that transition. I’m looking forward to watching the kids grow up together, play and fight together, have secrets and adventures, and try to help them turn into friends and allies. Today we were playing around in the backyard with Clare and I was thinking how much more fun it will be in a few years when she has a live-in playmate. Besides the kids relationship together, I’m excited to meet this new member of the McPherson family and see his take on the world.

Almost Two… almost but not quite

Posted on by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com
Here is a selection of Adam’s pictures from May. There was lots of outside time this month and Clare mastered climbing ladders and sliding. (Don’t tell, but over the weekend we bought her a little toddler climber with a slide for her birthday!)
Clare is just about 3 weeks away from her second birthday, which I can’t believe in concept but when I look at her and see how agile, verbal and feisty she is, she seems like she’s two already. I remind myself though that she is still just one, and still really a baby who needs extra attention, patience and snuggling sometimes. Still, a few things to remember about Clare on the cusp:

  • She can identify and label “boys” and “girls” really well. We haven’t really taught this to her (not specifically) but she picked it up and has started pointing out groups of “boys” and “girls” she sees playing. She also tells me which of the children on her curtains are boys and which are girls. This morning I asked her if she was a boy or a girl. She responded “a girl?” She then told me that G was a boy. It’s a good reminder that she’s always learning and observing, regardless of what we’re intentionally teaching her.

  • On that point, Clare has entered the “mimic” stage. It’s so funny to see a little two-foot person repeating back what we say. When she puts her babies or stuffed animals to bed, she always pats them and says “ni’night, sleep tight, bed bug bite (don’t let the bed bugs bite).” This is how I put her to bed at night. She also brought Adam a ‘plate of food’ the other day and told him “careful! Hot!” She’ll pull words out of adult conversations and repeat them (fortunately no bad words so far). She’ll also imitate how J and I are doing things, like pull herself up on the couch and sit at the edge so her legs hang off the edge like mine do, or brush her hands off like J does, etc.

  • Clare’s quite the little singer these days. Her repertoire has expanded to include songs she makes up, though these made up songs often include portions of Old McDonald and other familiar songs. While we were in Colorado I overheard her singing and recognized it as the Hookie Pookie. This lead to a family rendition of the Hookie Pookie, which will always be remembered because it caused fussy Maddy to immediately fall asleep in my arms. Deb reports that she has used that trick a few times in the last week and so far the Hookie Pookie puts Maddy to sleep every time.

  • Over the weekend Terri and Randall, Pat and Dave were all visiting (hooray!) and Clare was quite enjoying being the attention of so many adults. Dave taught Clare to say Yabbadabbadoo, and Terri brought her a little golf set (that she loves).

  • Over the weekend Clare was showing off how well she turns her little Wheely Bug in tight circles. Grandpa asked her what she was doing and she said “cir-cohs” very quietly. He asked “what?” and she looked up at her and said “cir-cohs” very slowly while drawing imaginary circles in the air. My brilliant mechanical engineer father figured it out and we were all impressed that Clare associated circles in the air with turning circles on her bee.

  • Below is a picture of beloved Monkey, who stayed in Bend for the last few weeks on an extended vacation. Clare didn’t ask about him to much but when Randall brought him back for her she clapped her hands together and said “thank you!” It was gratifying for me to see her say that, since I probably prompt her 10 or 20 times a day to say “please” and “thank you.” I’ve realized that a lot of parenting is basic repetition. I have a blog post in my head about the phrases that I say over and over again, but you’ll have to wait for that one.

  • No last note, just a cute picture that Adam took of Sadie. Poor, forlorn, no-more-attention Sadie… he captioned this picture “have the kids gone to sleep yet?” She does really well with the kids, but sometimes the noise and activity level stress her out a little bit. She’s a good girl, even though she’s been seriously demoted in the family’s rankings since Clare arrived.

Mad about Maddy

Posted on by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com

Clare will concede the blog top picture to this one of Maddy smiling at J. I mean, really, was there another choice? This may be the cutest picture of 2011.

We’re fresh from a visit to meet Miss Madeline Dion and see her parents, JP and Debbie. We had a blast, despite a Clare having my cold from last week (stupid cold!). We didn’t do so much but there was lots of kid playing, visits to the playground, meal prepping and eating, catching up and the obligatory baby gazing.
Clare did pretty well with Baby Maddy, spontaneously sharing her toys with the baby (I found all manner of “toys” around Maddy – including a coaster in her car seat one day), talking to her, holding her hand, touching her gently, etc. She was not so good at sharing her parent’s attention, specifically when I held the baby. We’ll have to work on her sitting next to me rather then in my lap, holding my hand rather than being held, etc. before our new baby comes and is taking space in my lap and arms.
We did get out for a little family hike in the beautiful foothills. JP and Deb went mountain biking (a mere 8 weeks after Maddy was born – Deb is a warrior!) and J and I hauled babies. Literally, Clare rode in J’s shoulders or in his arms (she wasn’t feel well), Maddy was in the pack on my chest and then there’s the one in utero so I told J we had become “baby sherpas.” We didn’t go very far but it was sooo pretty that checking out the flowers, watching butterflies, talking about cows and horses, etc. was a nice outing.
The homecoming has been a little rough. Tonight Clare threw her worst tantrum ever and we ended the day with a long cuddling/rocking session. I think I ultimately determined that she was confused/sad about J and I being gone all day after we all spent several days together on vacation. She had fun with her boys today, but when I talked to her about Momma and Daddy always loving her and coming home from work she hugged me extra hard. It’s rough to be a small girl in a big world, and we spent lots of time reassuring her tonight.
I’ve really noticed in the past few weeks that Clare is putting together family relationships and figuring out that Mom, Dad and Clare are a unit. A few weeks ago in Bend I told her that Grayson had gone home and it was just Mom and Dad in the house. She looked at me with alarm and said “Momma, Dada and Clare!” Tonight I told her that the family was “Mom, Daddy and Clare and we all love each other.” She said “yep, and Sadie too.” Oh yeah, Sadie too 🙂
Lastly, a cute Clare story. I think her favorite part of the airplane ride wasn’t the airplane itself but the rental car bus. On the way to get the rental car she wasn’t sure about the bus and kept telling me “No! Get off!” So we sang the Wheels on the Bus and reassured her that it was OK. On the ride back to the airport from the rental car return, well, it was a different story. Clare LOVED the bus and kept talking about “Bus! Ride on bus! Mama, Dada and Clare on bus!” I asked her if she wanted some of her water and she said “yes! Water! Water on bus!” Apparently everything is better on a bus.

Memorial Day

Posted on by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com

Just a little catch up about our Memorial Day weekend trip to Bend with our friends Steve, Leah and their little guy Grayson. We were long overdue for a nice three-day weekend (really overdue) so some R&R, good food and kid chasing was just what the doctor ordered.



(it was COLD!)