Updates and ramblings...

Things happen so fast these days that I just can't keep up with it all!  Jenna is growing like a weed, JP and I are slammed, as:
  • JP is now working three jobs (training at BodyTech early in the morning, counseling at Palmetto Health during the day, and now working in Needs Assessment at Three Rivers on evenings and weekends)
  • I am working two (RPP and teaching a class in the MSW program at USC, which is time intensive for now since it is my first class)
  • In addition to growing and enriching our marriage (Imago therapy - it's amazing...ask me if you want to know more)
  • Raising Jenna
  • Meetings and service
  • Trying to spend time with friends and family (sadly lacking, I have to admit)
  • And lately we have been on the road a good bit (headed to the beach for a wedding this weekend, headed to Asheville for training next week and Spartanburg for next weekend) 
And in the midst of all of this, I decided to learn how to make tutu's and tutu dresses so I could make Jenna's Halloween costume (which I can't find a picture of right now) and Jenna's flower girl dress for Ashley's wedding this weekend:

 
Actually, I was pretty damned proud of myself for that one, if I am being honest!  However, as with all first time projects, you learn things the hard way.  In this case, I realized AFTER I hot glued the ribbon on the dress (so it would stay in place) that this wouldn't leave any elasticity so that I can get Jenna IN the dress.  *Sigh*  Fortunately, now that the glue is cool, I will likely be able to peel the ribbon from the tulle for part of the waist - enough to get Jenna in on the wedding day and glue it on her for the ceremony.  Lol.
 
Let's see...what else do we have going on???  Lol.  Seriously, Jenna is growing like a weed.  As you can see from the last post, she managed to learn how to count in the DL, as we had no idea until she spontaneously started doing it the other day.  I have been working hard on the alphabet song with her, as has her teacher, Ms. Kim, so I bet she is holding back on us with that one, too.  :) 
 
She has a sense of time and schedule now.  When we wake up in the morning, she always says, "Daddy work!"  I told her this morning that Daddy would be picking her up from school, and all the way to school she was saying, "I get see Daddy! I get see Daddy!"  They said at school that she will talk about it all day if Nana is coming to pick her up.  This past Saturday, we got up and while having breakfast she kept saying, "I go see Nana", which she normally does on Saturday morning, and on the way to the Dry Run, she kept saying, "We go see Ash-Ash", which is what she says when we go to the chiropractor, which we also do on Saturday mornings. 
 
Another exciting development is the start of potty training.  We have been formulating a plan, but haven't really started - until today.  We had a little potty and she is curious about it.  She shows all the signs of being ready - she is interested in the little and the big potty, she tells you when she has a dirty diaper (she says, "I go POOP!" lol), and she is stating dry all night and for extended periods of time during the day.  I have been reading up and getting plan together, and this morning, I just decided to put her convertible seat on the big potty and put her on it to see what happened.  She sat there for a few minutes, smiling and being excited about sitting on the big potty (she plays with the little potty, but acts a bit anxious when I have tried to put her on it without a diaper), when all of the sudden I heard tickling in the toilet bowl.  Score!  We had our first pee int he big potty!  I was so proud of her.  She loved that she finally got a chance to use toilet paper - lots of toilet paper - although, I had to demonstrate what she does when she is done wiping, as she promptly tried to put it in her mouth.  As kids do, right? Lol.
 
Another thing she is doing right now that blows me away, but she only does it spontaneously, is singsonging parts of her books we read, especially the Dr. Suess books.  She will finish pages in a singsong fashion while I am reading, but if I try to prompt her, she won't say it.  She also knows when I am saying what is not on a particular page.  It only takes reading Dr. Suess the first 50 times to have them all memorized, right? :)  So I let her thumb through the books at her pace - which is generally to skip 4 pages, go back 2, skip 5 pages, go back 3 - and recite the words to her - usually in singsong fashion.  Sometimes she will look at the page, realize that I am saying the part that doesn't go with that page, and look at me like I have lost my mind.  Then I say what is on that page and all is orderly in her universe again.
 
We no longer use a paci.  That wasn't as painful as I thought it was going to be, although I miss it on road trips, as she can get going when she is ready to be out of that car seat!  She loves her Bubby, though, and sleeps with it every night.  I can see a progression of dependence on Bubby, and we could also see one on the paci, which is why we made the decision to go ahead and get rid of it.
 
A final funny can be illustrated through two examples:
1. The other night, JP tried to give Jenna a kiss, and she said, "No Daddy!" He leaned in and said in a funny voice, "Giiiiiiiiiiiiive me a kiiiiiiiiiiiis!" She put her finger up and pointed at him and said, "Not nice, Daddy!"  We laughed hard at that one.  Guess we'll have to break her of pointing her finger at people later...
2.  I got a text from my Dad the other night that said this: "I told Jenna it was time to go night-night.  She said 'NO' - I said 'YES' then she said 'NOT NICE POP-POP! Too funny."  Followed up by: "I'm pretty sure that when I insisted it was time for bed, she said sh*t."
 
Ok.  The s-bomb is not funny, but he did follow-up with another text saying that he was joking, but the not nice thing has us rolling, as she says it anytime something happens she doesn't like, such as going to bed, redirecting her for something, and so on. 
 
Things may be busy, but it's still those little moments that make it all come together.  Little moments where JP and I, in the midst of all of the hustle and bustle, laugh like crazy or have one of those "we are the same brand of crazy" moments.  Little moments where Jenna catches us off guard with something insanely cute or sweet, like when she looks at you and says, "I want big hug!" and then gives you the biggest bear hug a 19 month old could possible muster.  I've said it before, but I just can't recall what life was like without her in it.  It's like a piece of the circle was missing and she made it complete without us even knowing it.  That would be God's order of things.  Perfect, and the perfection of it seen in hindsight, building more trust of the plan for the future.  How indescribably wonderful it is. :) 


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