Some random thoughts.

I've been pleasantly surprised by how nice people have been to me about my pregnancy. I had been afraid people would make jokes or obnoxious comments about the Christmas due date or about how close in age the kiddos will be, but so far people I know have been very polite and I've had several friends offer to watch M2 if I ever need a break to get some rest or have some me time. One friend who had a baby earlier in the summer commented that she doesn't know how I do it, being pregnant and chasing around M2. I had to respond, "It's definitely different than the first time being pregnant, but you just do what you have to do." Not that I think I'm any kind of super mom, I'm just plugging along the best I can. I do have moments where I am overwhelmed and also scared for what the future holds, but I'm also looking forward to the good stuff that's ahead. It'll be an intense couple years but then we'll emerge from the baby/diapers phase and move on (though we may decide in a few years we want one more kid...we'll see.)

The other day I was at the mall and I stopped in at Motherhood Maternity to pick up a couple long sleeved t-shirts. The clerk who rang me up looked at my stroller with M2, and looked at my stomach and asked how old she was and when was I due. When I gave her the dates, she exclaimed, "Wow, really popping them out back to back!" I kept my mouth shut, but I thought, damn, that's a rude thing to say. And coming from someone working in a maternity store she should know better than to say things like that! Oh well.

M2 is changing so much, it's definitely apparent she is becoming a toddler. She's walking all over the place now, and she's taken to hitting (not good. She especially likes to hit my stomach. Perhaps she knows that competition is on the way?) She throws fits when we take things away from her, and she has a stuffed cat that she adores and carries around with her everywhere she goes. She is eating tons of solids, she eats 3-4 meals a day, along with 2 snacks. She decided a few weeks ago that she doesn't want to drink milk during the day anymore, so I let her have a little juice mixed with water in her sippy cup to drink throughout the day (she'll drink an 8 oz bottle of milk upon waking up, and another 4-6 oz of milk before bed). She can say several words: mama, dada, baba, dog, cat, uh-oh, and up. I've been working on teaching her more animals and animal sounds.