Visit with Grammie and Pa

Bryan's parents came to visit last week. We all stayed at my mom's house and enjoyed the beach over the holiday weekend. Jill was so happy to see her Grammie and Pa! They sang and played together and with Nana, Grammy, Pa, Bryan, and me in the house, Jill pretty much got constant attention.

Grammie brought Jill a new book about being a big sister. Jill loves it and has spent about 30 minutes every day reading it. The first day we pointed out the big sister and the baby in the story and said, "Just like Jill and baby Peter!" Jill went along with that for a while talking about the baby in the story, "Baby's crying! Baby's got blankie!" until something clicked and she seemed to figure out that we were trying to tell her something. She pointed to the baby and said, "That's Jill." We said, "No, that's baby Peter. That's Jill, the big sister!" Jill pointed back to the baby insisting, "That's Jill. No baby Peter!" Uh oh.

Last night Grammie taught Jill a new song. I'll write it down here so I don't forget it.

Little birdy with the yellow bill
Hopped up on my window sill
Cocked his shiny eye and said,
"Aren't you ashamed you sleepy head?
Come on, come on, get out of bed
It's time to go to school!"

The song has gestures that go with every line and Jill was so cute following along with Grammie. Whenever Grammie stopped singing, Jill would say, "Grammie sing it?" The one time time Patty didn't respond immediately Jill pointed at Patty and yelled, "GRAMMY SING IT!!" She sounded like the boy in Wedding Crashers who yelled at a balloon-animal making Vince Vaughn, "Make me a bicycle, clown!" She was so fresh, we all tried to keep from laughing at her.

I expected a major melt down from Jill today when 3/5 of her entourage left the house--Rich and Patty for the airport, and Bryan for work. But we woke her up in time to see Rich and Patty off and that seemed to really help.

In fact, today was a great day. Jill was such a pal. She watched a little Sesame St while I made calls to MetLife about my maternity leave and then we went to the beach with Nana. It was really hot and muggy today but the beach was gorgeous. I brought a plastic boat for Jill and she chased it back and forth in the waves until a very nice 4 year old girl came and played with her. The little girl wanted to sail the boat, but Jill wanted to bury it in the sand so they worked on that together for about an hour. All the while I sat facing them with my chair in the water and it was so refreshing!

Jill even behaved when it was time to leave. She walked very nicely in the sand to her stroller. One time last week I had to carry her kicking and screaming back to the house while stunned beach goers looked on. Hopefully we'll have more days like this and we can get in maximum beach time until Peter arrives.

About Peter, I'm 36.5 weeks pregnant. Rich and Patty were rock stars this week helping Bryan paint his room. It is such a relief to have that done. Thanks, Rich and Patty!!! That in combination with the haircut and leg wax I got last week, and my general discomfort level, mean I am so ready to have this baby! My feet are swollen, my back hurts, and I am maxing out the maternity swimsuit I bought for Florida in April.

While I'm running out of room in my swimsuit, Peter seems to be running out of room in utero. His once powerful kicks have turned into big slow rolls and pushes. When I sit and watch my belly at night I see one side cave in while the other pokes out--back and forth. These may seem like strange things to note for a second time mom, but I've never been this pregnant before! It's exciting to be so close to the end, I didn't get the chance to wait for labor to start last time. I officially have a little less than four weeks to go. Please all say prayers for safe delivery of a healthy baby!

One final note about Jill, every morning when she gets up she asks, "How'd you sleep, mommy?" I say, "I slept well, how did you sleep?" Jill says, "I slept really really well." It's so cute!