Mama's Day

To be perfectly honest, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Actually, I awoke at the ungodly hour of 5:00 AM to Avi's sweet chatter, which swiftly turned into an urgent, "Mommy, where ARE you?" And try as I did to convince him it was still la noche and everyone was sleeping, he remained stolid in his convictions, "I wanna go upstairs. Maybe you can take me? Maybe Aba can?" Alas, Aba was breathing steadily and my mom was asleep upstairs, so I hooked him up with my laptop and PBS kids in his room, which bought me about 15 minutes more in bed. My head was pounding and my baby girl was swimming deeper down into my belly, which felt exciting, but I also felt like I had a hangover.

Then Leeor got up and sent me back to bed. He made a lovely breakfast for Grandma and Avi while I crashed and then he biked down to our favorite local bakery for my beloved sticky bun with nuts. I ate it greedily while my mom kept Avi busy (so I didn't have to share, of course).

Poor Avi has been pretty sick, and also clingy to me. Saba and Safta came Friday night and we had a nice movie date, but then he uncommonly awoke around 12:30 as we arrived home and it took awhile to soothe him back to sleep. When Grandma arrived Saturday afternoon Avi asked me anxiously, "Are you going out? Is Aba?" and though we reassured him we'd all stay home together, he remained skeptical. He is so sweet, so sensitive, and knows all too well we are on the brink of big change.

Our share-care family had their baby on Thursday night--welcome, baby Annaliese! But Avi insisted that she hadn't yet arrived when asked about it. Today he asked me if their baby was "out." I said yes and was met with thoughtful silence, followed by a long conversation about babies, dogs, and "big kids" like him. My end consisted of a lot of supportive affirmatives.

He and Leeor disappeared this afternoon only to return bearing a beautiful necklace for me. Avi was somewhat disappointed after he helped me open the package. Somehow he had decided my present was a tiger and wondered "where is mommy's tiger," disappointedly because he had planned on playing with it.

I love my family so much. I feel this baby girl moving downward and love the contractions as they come sporadically. She will arrive so soon.

Avi and I napped in my bed this afternoon and then I slipped out before he awoke, determined to clean his room. It was as if the nesting gods smiled upon me in my frenzied need for all things to be clean and organized, and I was alternately disgusted by dust bunnies and then pleased with my efficiency. Leeor implored me to take it easy but I just couldn't help myself. Then, as I finally sorted through some baby girl clothes my dear friend sent (like, forever ago, and I just hadn't gotten to the project yet), I heard a familiar set of footsteps slowly making their way upstairs. There had been no voice to precede it, just the sweetest appearance of my little boy, hair sweaty and tousled, cheeks flushed and breath sticky with sleep. "I came up all by myself," he said as Leeor and I exuberantly threw ourselves at him. Leeor asked how it was to wake up in our bed. "Your bed is taller," he remarked casually before wandering into the kitchen for a snack.