Updates

Finally out of my first trimester! Man, was this one tough! Lots more nausea, fatigue, out of control emotions. Thank you to modern medicine for the gift of Zofran and for my doctor's updated list of "safe" medications. None of which I needed with Harper. Which leaves me convinced I'm having a boy. We will find out the day after Christmas!

Now that I am feeling more alert, we've begun the search for a kindergarten for Harper. Since we've chosen to live urban there are fewer free options. But we've been excited about some of the special programs we've seen so far. We toured a French immersion charter school on Monday. Though I'm not sure the exact benefit of a 6-year-old speaking fluent French (as opposed to say, Spanish), I'm pretty excited about the long-term academic scores of the students and the cool, international teaching staff!

Speaking of Harper, I'm not looking forward to the doubling of my parental anxiety with kid #2. Yesterday, in an effort to make mommy and daddy proud of her being such a big girl, Harper went outside and crossed the street. By herself. Without telling us. It's one of those moments you hear about where you turn your back for one minute and your child is gone. Josh and I both looked out the front door and there she was, standing across the street in the neighbor's yard. I was so thankful that she and I had practiced looking both ways and crossing at that very place, over and over. But she also knows she isn't allowed outside unsupervised. Unfortunately, when Josh and I stepped outside and yelled "Harper!", she was so scared that she ran back across the street without looking where she was going. Thank god nothing happened but chalk that up as our first "heart stopping" moment.

But in better news, this...

This was in the entertainment aisle of a store and Harper insisted I get a picture. We were looking for some music for her CD player (yes, we still listen to music the old fashioned way), and I found an old Madonna album in the $5 bin. So, I'm feeling more sympathy for my Dad who didn't allow Madonna in the house when I was a kid. While it seems so innocuous now, what with all the smut on the radio, I don't suppose I actually want my daughter at school singing "Like a Virgin." So, I get it Dad. I get it. Luckily, she's more a fan of "Material Girl" which, if I remember correctly, was a heavy rotation favorite on the playroom jukebox of a certain Katy, Texas household. Memories! To balance that out, we also found a Monkees album. I'm finding that right now, Harper pretty much likes anything that I insist is a "really good song." She won't know how terrible my music preferences are until much later.