Dots and Spots

When I was growing up I had a very hard time with "dots". Dots were uncomfortable spots on my clothes that would annoy me - like a scratchy tag or the seam on the toe of my sock that would squish into my foot when I put my shoe on (the worst offender). I was notorious for throwing tantrums at the drop of a hat if I had a spot, even stopping in the middle of crossing the street to take my shoe off and fix the spot. For the most part my parents thought it was funny (and have pictures of the tantrums to prove it), but to be honest it really drove me crazy. I even went through a naked phase because the dots bothered me so much. My aunt and cousins in Orem know first hand about this phase - they were babysitting me while my parents were on vacation and I insisted on playing outside....naked. My aunt let me because she figured I'd get embarrassed after a couple minutes and come back in, but nope, I stayed out there all day and had a sun-burned butt to show for it.

As I got older I realized there were lots of other weird OCD things that I have. Some of them I have grown out of or overcome (I can sometimes walk on grates and/or cracks on the sidewalk...sometimes there is no way around it in Seattle), and some of them have actually gotten worse as I've gotten older (uneven blinds will be the death of me), but I always swore that when I had kids I would always take their "dots" seriously, and I would make sure my hubby did, too.

Harper does not have dots...she has "spots". And I swear I did NOT teach her!! About a year ago she started talking about spots, and coincidentally, they were usually on her feet. I am always very careful about how I put on her shoes, and if she says she has a spot I take them off and try again. I have also given Tom strict instructions, and he is very patient and loving about it. Probably because I still talk about how traumatic it was when no one would help me with my dots and just laugh at me.

Anyway, last Sunday was kind of a rough day. Harper has been having a hard time going to sleep at night, which makes her more prone to tantrums during the day. It is odd for me to deal with because she has never been one to throw tantrums or not sleep. I like to think I do a pretty good job of staying patient and helping her work through whatever issues she's having, but Sunday I was exhausted and really couldn't handle it. Tom had left to go to church meetings, but I called him and asked if he could come home and help me. I assumed he was going to just stay home and help out, but he decided to take Harper to church w/ him and give me some time alone at home. I thought that was really sweet of him because 1) Harper LOVES church and perked up as soon as I said she was going to church w/ Daddy, and 2) I really wanted some time alone.

When Tom got home I had Harper almost ready, she just needed to get her shoes on. He was already running late, so I was trying to hurry as fast as I could, but Harper said she had a spot. I tried to fix it a couple of times, but each time I put her shoe on the spot was still there.

And here is how I know I married the best man ever:

Tom picked up Harper and patiently asked her where the spot was. He took off her shoe, examined the tights and asked me if there were any other tights she could wear. Her other pair had dirt all over them, so he took off her tights, got a pair of scissors, and started cutting back the seam as much as he could so the spot wouldn't be so big. By now he was probably going to miss most of his meetings, but he took his time and kept telling Harper he would fix the spot. Finally he got her tights back on, put her shoes on and asked her if it was ok. Harper walked around for a second, nodded, and off to church they went.

And THAT is the proper way to deal with spots and dots.

Nora Evelyn

Almost three weeks ago on Friday, February 13th (my birthday!) I gave birth to Nora Evelyn. My actual due date was just two days ago, so she was a bit early, but everything went well and she was (and is) absolutely perfect. It was kind of a crazy experience doing it au naturale (no epidural), and minutes after I gave birth I made Tom promise me that he wouldn't let me do it again. He kept saying "But you did it! You did such a good job!", to which I yelled "NO, PROMISE ME!!" But honestly I felt great five minutes later, it was such an easy recovery.

Having two kids is really not as hard as I thought it was going to be, but there is definitely a rather lage lack of sleep. With one baby you can just sleep whenever she sleeps, but with a toddler and a baby that's not really possible...although I will admit to turning on Sleeping Beauty for Harper and falling asleep on the couch more then once.

Harper is such a sweet big sister, and I swear she can already communicate with Nora. She is always telling me what Nora wants: "Baby hungry," or "Baby sleepy," and just this morning she told me "Nora poopy", and indeed she was! When Nora cries Harper runs to her side to calm her - sometimes with "ssshhhh's", sometimes with tickles. She also love "taking naps" with Nora (I don't actually let them sleep together, but Harper likes to lay in her bed and then asks me to put Nora next to her to "take nap"), and even better, taking baths with her.

It is funny because I really thought I only wanted two children, but having Nora makes me realize I want another one....some day :)