January 4

Daisy is 20 months old today! That means she's closer to two years old than anything, and I find myself shocked that she's actually that old. At the same time, she's had a recent explosion of language that is so much fun! She's speaking in more sentences. Today's examples:

Mommy do it.

I like that shirt. (Yes! She uses first-person already, which is awesome!)

Mommy crazy! (In response to my comment: "Your hair is crazy!" Though her statement is generally true...)

Daisy turn.

Daddy at work.

Daddy home!

Where Caleb go?

Scarf back on.

Hair down! Hair down!

She's still nursing twice a day, though I'm really, *really* hoping that she decides to quit sometime soon. Her doctor told me that 55% of babies will self-wean around their mother's 13th or 14th week of pregnancy due to changes in the milk. We're nearing 14 weeks, so I'm hoping that one of these days she'll just decide she's done. That's how it went with Caleb, but he wasn't as old as Daisy, or as *ahem* determined as she is. I certainly don't mind nursing her; we had our struggles a few months ago, but we've reconciled our differences and she's no longer challenging. But I also don't intend to nurse both Daisy and the new baby at the same time, so we've got about six months to end our situation as peacefully as possible.

Here's the birthday girl, rocking my scarf. 

I know it's out of focus, but her little smile is so sweet...

And then there's this boy, walking his little toy horse along the road. We all went to see my midwife today; I was nervous about taking the kids, but they were fine. I told Caleb that our friend was going to check on the baby growing in my belly, and he got worried. "Is the baby going to fall out?" No, Caleb. The baby will not fall out. As we got out of the car for our visit, Caleb asked, "Is your belly big now?" No, Caleb. It's not very big yet, but it's getting bigger every day! 

We got to hear Baby's heartbeat for the first time, which was really exciting. It was strong and fast - 148 beats per minute. Caleb acted uninterested at the time, but at dinner when I asked him to tell Chris about our visit, he was pretty excited. Caleb told Daddy that we heard the Baby's heartbeat, and Chris asked what it sounded like. Caleb thought for a minute, then shouted, "It was really fast!" 

I'm still having a hard time imagining what life will be like with three...