Today is Thursday

Well today is Thursday. I've been thinking it was Thursday all week, reminding myself of the OB appt I have tomorrow and the fact that I needed to be here at 9am today instead of 10am. I wake up around 7:30, give Raziel a bottle, and go to check on Alina. She'd made a mess already.... she ate the apple I left for her last night after we went to bed and had helped herself to mini-wheats which effectively made a crumbly mess in her room but a quick sweep resolved that.

She decided to play in her room some more so I went back to bed for a bit until she came into our room around 8 saying something about her hands being yucky. I asked her what it was and she said it was poop and it was from her butt. So that ended my sleeping in. We washed hands, doorknobs and clothing. She hadn't made that big of a mess -- she actually stuck her fingers in her diaper and realized she was messy and came to inform me without touching much - if anything.

Dressed both kids, I'm about to hop into the shower at 8:15 when I realize suddenly that I should have left at 7:30 this morning and not 8:30 becuase I had to be at work early. My wonderful, loving, amazing husband not only took the kids and was a bit late to work himself so I wouldn't be late, but he also took the time to start my car before he left and he left it running so it would warm up while I was getting ready.

Between this disasterous morning, it's really sunk in how smart Alina is and how much she understand about life. Alina came into my room (I don't really know when, it was before I realized I was late) and sat in my lap and asked if Judah was coming today. I told her probably not today, but soon. She told me that she loved Judah and was ready for him to get here. I told her it wouldn't be too much longer. Daddy came in and joined the conversation, and Alina proceeded to tell us how she and Judah were going to play together and paint together, and that Judah would paint a picture of her. Brent told her that he would do that eventually, but when Judah first comes, he'll be really little and won't do much but lay there. Alina didn't quite grasp this and insisted that Judah would be ready to play whenever he showed up. Trying to clarify further, Brent said "no, honey, the baby is going to be a new baby. A really little one, like your baby dolls." Alina looks at me and then Brent and asks "Mommy's having Dante?" Confused, Brent and I exchange looks and say "no, Mommy's having Judah (thinking she just was interchanging names again.) She thinks for a second and then asks "Mommy's having another Judah?" It was then that it occured to us that Alina did not think of Judah as a "new" baby because he was already an accepted part of the family and that new would imply a person not in the family yet. It astonished me that my 3 year old graps so firmly that this baby in mommy's tummy is a valued member of the family and that she already loves him, and that it's been this way long enough that Judah is not "new."

If only the country as a whole could grasp that.

She's really ready for him to be here -- moreso than me probably! Last night Alina picked out one of her small (beanie babie size) teddy bears and brought it to Judah's bassinett asking if she could give it to him as a present. This morning while she was riding with Brent, she was singing songs and asking Brent if he thought Judah would like each song. She said she was practicing to sing to him. It touches me how sweet and loving she is and the baby hasn't even arrived yet.