March

March has been a busy month at work and school, but relatively calm at home. Fiona’s class took a field trip to a teaching zoo. They saw some interesting animals like this giant tortoise that Fiona informed me was “ginormous”.

She also got to see a coati, an animal I’ve seen in the wild in Costa Rica (it was less than three feet away), some monkeys and lizards, and other stuff, and rocks:

And the ever elusive dinner-making husband:

The rarest animal of all!

Fi also got to see a fire engine and hold the hose at school. Her school does so many wonderful things. April’s focus will be on spring, and I hear they will be growing caterpillars and watching them turn into butterflies, as well as experiencing a science lab for the first time.

Fi makes picnics for us and brings us food from her kitchen. Sometimes, Baby needs to drink water in the sink:

 

She likes to sit on the swing sideways:

Here is Fi in the BOB after a run recently:

I’d like to compare it to a photo of her from December 2010, when we first got the BOB, and February 2012, a little over a year ago:

 

I can actually see she’s grown. She grows so slowly that I don’t really notice until she can suddenly reach something that she couldn’t before, so her clothes seem short, or I look at old photos in which she wearing the same thing she is now, but the fit is very different, like these photos:

Never mind that the jacket fits a year later, she actually grew!

I got the letter for Fi’s NICU Developmental Follow Up Clinic this week. I thought they forgot about us and I wasn’t calling to remind them because the evaluation is not free (thanks Aetna) and because I am not in a rush to take Fi to the basement of the hospital to be evaluated. I know she is doing everything she should be doing at her age, I don’t need someone else to tell me. The appointment is in two weeks. John thinks we should do it so they, and especially the neonatologist, can see how cute Fi is, but I think Fi is going to clam up when we get there, as is her typical M.O.

Some things Fi is doing, beside “reading” to us, is writing and recognizing words. John wrote “mommy” on the wall and asked Fi what it said. She knew it right away. She also recognizes her name in writing and the word “Daddy”. One day, she was writing something and then said “Mommy! Mommy! I wrote you!” I looked to see what she did and indeed she wrote an M. Today, she was able to connect the zipper on my hoodie and zip it. She can climb vertical monkey bars, jump, dresses herself entirely independently, including color coordinating outfits, puts on her own socks and shoes, sets the table for dinner, cleans up, and knows how to handle telemarketers.

So, I don’t need someone who hasn’t seen her in a year to tell me she is or isn’t developmentally on track. On the other hand, it would be nice to have her weighed and measured and to have our opinions of her validated by professionals, as long as Fi actually does some of the things I know she can do.

In other news, I have no reproductive news to report. We took a break from trying and I took advantage of the time to exercise and focus on work and school more. I’ve been swimming a couple of times a week and running whenever I can. My mile is back under 10 minutes finally (it was closer to 8 before I got pregnant with Fi) and I can fit into all of my pre-pregnancy clothes, including some pants I thought I would never wear again. For the last four months, I’ve felt physically good. I’m back to my pre-Fi weight, my stomach is flat(ter) and I can make out the outlines of muscles in my shoulder, arms, and abdomen. I feel a lot less flabby. It’s been really good. I realized that this was the first time since November of 2009 (when I got pregnant with Fi) that I wasn’t sharing my body with anyone. I wasn’t nursing, anything I ate or drank affected only me. I miss nursing still, but I love the feeling when I’m running as hard as I can that at any moment, with the next step, I will lift off and fly. Good new running music helps too.

So no, as far as I know, I am not pregnant. I hope to be again someday and I appreciate the silence on that topic. I promise that when there is news to tell, I will tell it gladly.

Until then, I will continue with my research (coming along swimmingly), teaching (rocking some classes, not so much others), drinking ridiculous quantities of jasmine green tea, sleeping on my stomach, getting up in the middle of the night when Fi has a random fever (like last night), and swimming and running, and wearing my non-stretchy, skinny cut, size 2 black corduroy pants that I wore with boots to a Specials concert recently. Oh, and going to concerts, and beer (well, I hardly drink, but having one once in a while is quite nice).

Happy Passover to those who are celebrating it right now and Happy Easter to those who celebrate it. I’ve been bread free since Monday night and I can’t wait to dye those eggs I boiled today.  Ah, the benefits of a mixed faith household! Le chaim!