Today is Valentine’s Day and I am officially 17 weeks pregnant with Baby Downs #2. We are really excited. I’m more excited now that I am feeling better. The first few months were miserable (much worse than with Blair) and I am finally feeling better the past few weeks. I am exercising more and I am hungry all the time – which is nice because before there wasn’t anything I wanted to eat. We still aren’t sure whether we are going to find out the gender of the baby. We didn’t with Blair and I really liked it. Trevor not so much. I did promise him that we could find out for subsequent children, but then changed my mind (I figure since I am the one carrying and delivering these babies, I have that right). So we’ll see – we have three more weeks before the ultrasound and will think it over some more.
Blair is almost 19 months old now and we are having so much fun watching her grow. It’s so amazing watching her learn and discover new things. Everyday it’s something different. She is talking a ton and has a pretty large vocabulary. The other day we were at the park and she was climbing some stairs to get to the slide. I asked her if she needed help and she said “No mommy. I got it.” I’m amazed that I have conversations with her where she actually participates in back and forth dialogue using full sentences. She’s also a parrot and will repeat anything and everything she hears, so we have to be extra careful about what we say around her now. Blair really loves to read books and I often find her sitting in her room, “reading” to her stuffed animals. We could read books all day and she’d be in heaven. She also loves to play outside and go for walks with Teddy. We’re still doing swimming classes and she’s getting much better. She can go underwater for a little more than three seconds now. She can also sit on the edge of the pool, “fall” in face first and then turn around and pull herself up to hold on to the edge of the pool. I’m glad she is so comfortable in the water and hope we can continue with lessons. The other thing she is into right now is singing. Anytime we are in the car, she makes me sing to her – nonstop. I barely finish one song before she says “Again, again!” Consequently, she can now sing (sort of) Ring Around the Rosy, Happy Birthday, and a couple others. Trevor and Blair have lots of daddy-daughter time and it is so special for them both. Trevor really loves his alone time with Blair and I think it’s so cute. I really think he doesn’t want me tagging along most times because he just loves his one on one time with B. They love to go to the pet store together and look at all the animals. We are both so in love with Blair and marvel every day at what an amazing little girl we have.
Trevor is still working at Elevar Equity, the private equity firm he has been with for the past couple years. His office recently relocated to a building much closer to home and cut his commute time in half. Blair and I often meet up with him for lunch. He travels to India once a year; one of these days I might tag along with him. I am enjoying being a stay at home mom, though I do occasionally miss my old job. Being home with Blair is way harder than I ever thought it would be and definitely harder than any job I ever had before. Luckily it’s also way more rewarding, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
Teddy is still the most lovable dog in the world - except on the days when he gets bored and digs up our flower beds. He is eleven years old now and is doing pretty well physically. He has some arthritis and can't walk nearly as far as he used to, but for an eleven year old dog who weighs a healthy 120 lbs, he's doing well (I wasn't being sarcastic there - he's just big, not fat). Blair LOVES Teddy....Teddy tolerates Blair. He is so gentle with her though, which I appreciate. Teddy definitely gets less attention now that Blair has entered our lives, but luckily he has made friends with the neighbors and spends a good portion of his day next door hanging out with them. They love him and spoil him with attention, treats and toys. In his old age Teddy likes to wake up and be let out around 5 a.m., which means we are usually awoken at that hour with some seriously nasty hot dog breath in our faces. He doesn't even need to go to the bathroom - he just wants a change of scenery and goes back to sleep on his bed outside. I am so glad that Blair is able to grow up knowing Teddy because he is such an awesome dog and really is part of our family.
I think that’s it for our first post. Hopefully the next one will be more exciting but don’t count on it! Here are a few more pics of what we've been up to:
Reading one of her books to bear (she also had a nice shiner in this pic).
Blair and her buddy Teddy.
Pigtails, Puma warmups, and Elmo slippers - what more do you need?
Making - and eating - sugar cookies with Daddy.
Central Park, NYC in January - one of the only pics we took because it was really, really cold and we didn't like standing still for too long.
She doesn't really get it yet, but I like to think she's excited to be a big sister.
Blair and her BFF Sydney coloring while wearing their cute little tutus. I don't dress Blair this way on a daily basis but they had a tutu themed birthday party to go to.
