Ms. Adessa Faye

This beaut of a picture is the only one taken on her 20 months, 8/12ths birthday. (February 12th) Not her best look.

That's better! Valentines Day, 2009.

Dog sitting. Sugar has a tiny leash, so as long as Daddy held on to Adessa, she could hold onto Sugar.

Tiny Dancer! (Thank you, Madrina Romina!)

"Own bed, big girl!"

Accessorizing, with attitude. (That's her new funny face, which she practices in the mirror.)

Sprinkling the topping on apple pies, in her tower.

Adessa:
In the spirit of this being Adessa's baby book as well as family and friend update place, I'm going to record milestones and more in this post. She's 20 1/2 months. She can now run and jump with both feet coming off of the ground at the same time. She says phrases like "Where Mommy go?" "There it is." and lots and lots of words. I think we've over-used some adjectives,as the other day she described someone's (admittedly very attractive) mantel clock as "beautiful". She likes to help out, which is nice, on her terms 8). She will fetch things, wipe down her high chair tray, mini-sweep with her mini-broom, (not actually very helpful when I'm actually trying to sweep, but cute). She loves to put things away: she'll hang up her sweaters, put food back in the fridge or cupboards, put away laundry, and put my shoes in my closet. These would be very helpful, though for most of them she likes to do it while being held, which is getting harder on my back. We got a "Kitchen Tower" contraption which allows Adessa to be safely at counter level. We've already experienced some very happy cheese grating, baking, toast-making, dish washing, and counter-wiping. She has ventured into her own bed and sleeps there for some naps and some nights until the wee hours. She plays, actually interacting, with her friends. She has for the last few weeks been incredibly weepy and demanding. She's wanting to be held all the time, crying about any hesitation in getting her way, frustrated easily, and hard to predict. We are all working on patience and distraction and trusting that it will pass. She loves her music class, and has started paying attention to what the teacher is doing and following some directions, which is adorable and fun to see. She likes letters, and whenever there's a sign or book or anything printed, she starts singing the ABC song.

Baby:
The new baby (yet to be named) comes in about two months, which means I have just two more months of being able to focus all my mommy attention on Adessa, and get some preparative things done. I am feeling more tired and achey, and I have less lap for her to sit on. Sometimes I think the girls are kicking each other through my belly; they have practically already touched when Adessa's elbow meets with some poking out baby part in a thin-skinned section of my expanding stomach. Sometimes it's painful. I haven't yet "prepared" for the birth as much as I did for Adessa, but I'm hoping to resume practicing my breathing and focusing, and that it will be easier going into labor knowing what to expect.

Me:
I found my long lost library card. And figured out how to search for and request books online. My eyes are too big for my... brain? as now I have a zillion books to read, and more coming in all the time. I've loved it, though! It started with a survival kick, "The Unthinkable: Who Survives when Disaster Strikes, and Why." Awesome. "Deep Survival" was also good, and Malcolm Gladwell's kind of related book "Blink." Now it's "The Gift of Fear." by Gavin de Becker. So intruiging. I highly recommend them, all applicable to our lives and what I mostly learned was: trust your intuition. And participate in safety drills and read all safety instructions! When something crazy happens, we fall back on the essence of whatever training we have had, and can't be relied upon to think rationally. Emergency services won't be there for a while, so act. Put the oxygen mask on yourself, first, then people near you! 8) I think all this is notable because I haven't been this stimulated by a subject for a long time, besides labor and baby and kid books, and I like seeing the overlap of my new learning throughout the different books. For those of you who thought I was a know-it-all, random fact dropper to talk to before, get ready for more.