I Feel Transformed!

On the absolutely beautiful, really cool quilt Ashley made us
Etta went 7 hours and 15 minutes between feedings last night! Hallelujah! I hope this is the start of a larger trend. For the last week or so she'd been regressing to only 3 or 4 hours between feedings at night and it had been wearing me down!

I took her to book club last night and my friend who has a baby a week older than Etta also brought her daughter. I couldn't believe how much bigger and advanced her baby seemed than Etta! We were talking about how you can't help comparing your children, which of course I do, but I usually think my children are vastly superior;) I think because Margeaux (the other baby) had so much hair and was so much bigger, she seemed even older than she was. Everyone said Etta was so tiny, but to me she looks so big because I focus on how she's growing so much every day! Etta was perfectly behaved and really enjoyed her first girl's night out. I faced her out towards everybody and everyone told me she would turn to look at whoever was talking. Looks like I might have another outgoing little girl on my hands!

Yesterday afternoon, Stella and I lounged in the grass under the oak tree and cuddled and were silly. It was SO much fun! I have to remember to take those moments and just enjoy being a parent. There was a really nice breeze and it really was hard to believe that it was summer. That's definitely the part of our yard I think we'll be spending the most time in as it gets hotter and hotter. We'll probably even set up the outside stuff for our birthday party Saturday there because we're starting when it will still be hot outside. I'm thinking a bunch of blankets set out for a picnic while the kiddos run wild. I also took no pictures yesterday afternoon because I was just enjoying my time out there. That's rare for me.

Speaking of pictures, I think I realized a reason why people have so many pictures of their first child and far less of their subsequent children: when you have only one, you spend a large portion of your day just sitting around staring at them. So taking pictures gives you something to do. And it's creative and fun. Also, you feel like you don't want to miss documenting one second of their development. I'm busy with Stella too now, of course, but I also spend a lot more time just enjoying Etta and what she's doing, rather than grabbing the camera to record every moment. I get regular pictures of her, but there's no reason to take a whole "roll" every day! Actually I just tried to find a picture of Stella for this post and realized I've only taken one of her since May 25th. Now I feel a little guilty. Guess I'd better step up the picture taking of her at least!

Stella shocked me yesterday. We were laying out in the backyard and I was telling her about the Wildlife Park outside San Antonio and how we should go, that her Daddy and I had gone, etc. And she said, "Was I in your tummy then?" and I said no. Luckily she did not ask her usual question which is, "where was I then?" which is always difficult to answer. She's not ready for the details yet and we don't believe in some giant Cherub factory in the sky, so it's hard to say anything. But what she asked yesterday made that question seem easy-peasy. She asked, "How did I get in your tummy?" WOAH! I was not prepared for that. I said, "um, give Mommy a second." And then I said, "when a Mommy and Daddy love each other very much, they decide to have a baby." She wasn't falling for it, she said, "but how did I get IN your tummy?" Uh, Uh, stalling, stalling. "Daddy put you in there." And then she asks, "How?" Crikes, kid you're only 3! So I remember what I was supposed to say in the first place (at least according to the books) "how do you think he put you in there?" And she pointed to her belly button. PHEW! Then she pointed to my bellybutton and tickled me and the topic was changed. I neither confirmed nor denied that she was inserted via belly button. But I think I'd better read up on how I'm supposed to answer these questions and fast. Kids today grow up too quickly!

More cute Stellaisms: We were driving down South 1st Sunday in search of snowcones and there was a guy at S. 1st and Barton Springs just standing there wearing a G-string! He was pushing his bike (of course you wouldn't want to ride it because then you couldn't see the goods, duh!) We were flabbergasted and much amused. Even in Austin, we're used to only seeing Leslie wearing that little clothing. At least outside of Hippie Hollow. It looked like this guy was in shape enough to wear what he was wearing (we did only see his backside) and I guess he was just creatively trying to beat the heat. He also obviously enjoyed all the attention and was waving to passerby. We'd been sitting there for a few minutes, Tim and I talking at length about him, when Stella said, "He's probably wearing sunscreen." OMG, it cracked me up! Glad my repeated messages about sun protection are sinking in!