The last hurrah

Annie and I made a pilgrimage to Connecticut to do our last plane ride as only child and mom. We visited Nana and GrandBob and Oma and PapaJoe, as well as our friends Denise and Trout. We also got to see our good friend Sarah from high school (mine, not Annie's ... she's smart, but not that smart) and found some fun at the Bridgewater Country Fair (as exhibited by the pineapple on a stick), which I partook in pretty much every year of my childhood. It was a lot of fun for one short week. Now that we're back, Annie's starting her Monday, Wednesday, Friday of preschool and yesterday was her first day. She did awesome. I was a little nervous because we put her in a "threes" class, when she's really not three for another couple months. But she seemed to do fine and got a smiley face on her daily report, so we're relieved. She can also read! Well, not really, but she's read this book enough that she makes a pretty good case. Here's her reading in her favorite reading spot as of late, pull up a bath mat, Nana:

In other news, I'm huge. Well, not huge, but I feel a lot larger with this pregnancy than I did with Annie's. This may or may not be true, but I'm scared for the last two months of this ride. I have another ultrasound in a couple weeks to checkup on a fibroid that has a slight possibility of interfering with something (but I think it's just another excuse for the dr.'s office to bill our insurance for another ultrasound). And, maybe due to the hugeness, I'm exhausted. I have spurts of nesting energy but mostly I would trade my right arm to be a good napper. I guess I know where Annie gets her resistance to day-time sleeping. Annie's recent love of the nap though gives me hope.

Annie in Connecticut 8-09

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Our new abode

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Just don't call her frosty

Amid all the drama surrounding Annie's various transitions to big-kidom, there are some other less dramatic updates to report. Annie has introduced us to her friend Snowman. Snowman is a girl, 2 1/2 and white. We're not sure if she is actually a snowman or if she's a person. We've been told she does not have a carrot for a nose, so it's still up for debate. There's also a Papa Snowman and a Mama Snowman, but they only make cameo appearances in Annie and Snowman's escapades. She'll often say to me, "Snowman's here, Mama!" and we're always glad to have her. Annie's favorite activity lately is talking to Snowman on the phone, as seen here. And apparently, Snowman has really bad luck and/or is very clumsy because she's always in the hospital for a broken leg. (We have two books that have the characters with broken legs: Maisy Goes to the Hospital and Curious George Gets a Job, so I'm thinking that's where this is coming from.) And, the malady isn't limited to Snowman; if Annie is particularly cranky and not getting enough attention, she'll come whining to me, saying "Mamaaaa, I have to go to the hospitaalllll; I broke my leeeeggg." She's becoming quite the drama queen. If only she'd use her power for good and not illness.

Big girls apparently DO cry

We have good news and bad news. The good news, Jay and I found a babysitter, who is awesome and whom Annie adores. The bad news: Annie has all of a sudden realized that everything in her life is now different and started freaking out at bedtime, which makes using said babysitter for nights out (like that pictured above at an MS benefit; and yes, that is me being a pirate) increasingly troublesome. We returned from our return to grown-up land to find that Annie had indeed not gone to bed, but instead cried for me and screamed the second our sitter left her room. Now, Annie has had trouble falling asleep before, but it's usually her talking and singing in her crib happily that delays her sleep, not screaming, pathetic whaling. Also, Annie had gone to bed fine for the sitter the last time we had used her. After that, it was all down hill. We bought mattresses that weekend, and thinking they'd be delivered that Monday, we moved Annie to her crib mattress on the floor for Sunday night. Got a call. Nope, mattresses won't arrive until Friday. Long story short, Annie had to spend a whole week on a crib mattress which went fine up until that Wednesday. Then, the dark cloud descended on the Ferrara household and many a tear were shed in the process, mine included.

FINALLY, I am happy to say, after getting her mattress (Friday) AND her bedframe (yesterday), she is finally starting to come to terms with her big girl status, albeit reluctnantly and with much back rubbing and on and off night waking. I was silly in thinking that once I got her to sleep through the night as an infant, my work in the sleep department would be done. I would have given her the crib back, but it's my crib from when I was a baby and in need of some repair before we put bambino number 2 in it, so it's currently in a few pieces on the floor of what will be the baby's room. It's probably good that we didn't have that option and stuck to our guns. It's been a tough week, but I think the clouds are parting and the flood of tears is receding (along with the rainwater in downtown Louisville, which did not get to us, thank goodness... that would be ALL I needed. What next? Locusts!?). Annie still says she doesn't like her big girl bed, but she is now napping and sleeping in it, so it's clearly a love-hate relationship. Hopefully, soon, it will be more love than hate.

On a lighter note. Now that all of our furniture is in place, I can finally take some pictures of the abode and post them soon. I'm just waiting until the cleaning lady comes on Saturday (Yes! A cleaning lady!) to make the place presentable. Stay tuned.