Maggie had her 3rd birthday a couple weeks back. It was a transition of a few days for her.

She had a family party (she got her requested mac&cheese, olives, and broccoli) two days in advance,

then spent the day of in her car seat on our roadtrip to Utah,

and proceeded to spend several days insisting that she was still two. I’d say “You’re three now, you already had your birthday.” She’d reply “NO! Nuhnuhnuhnuh no. Not yet. I had a party and SOON I’ll be three.” We tried to sing Happy Birthday to her and she screamed “Not YET!” We had cupcakes for her and she said “just a little longer.” My parents called on the evening of her birthday and she cried and screamed and wouldn’t be consoled when they started to sing to her.

Finally, about a week later, we got a second set of cupcakes and she consented to finally let us sing to her and she blew out the candles and reconciled herself (mostly) to the idea of being three. Now she agrees that she’s three most days.

I love Maggie.  I’m grateful for her every day.

So, what’s been going on here?  Hmmmm…

Thanksgiving in Arizona with my parents and some of my siblings was divine.  We had all sorts of good food, including a cheesecake flan made by my very own Chef Colin.  My brother, Uncle Nephi, was a hit with Degen and Maggie as expected.  They just can’t stop talking about him and how wonderful he is.  We did some yard work together, which really means everyone else did yard work while I sat in the sun and kept them company.  I tried to lift a shovel of dirt once and immediately thought better of it with my very large belly and confused sense of balance (not to mention my healing sprained knee and very loose ligaments).  I got to see my sisters Ruth and Eliza pass their road tests and receive their driver licenses on the same day!  Yay Liza and Ruthie!  The test proctor was impressed with both of them and their driving skills.  We cooked and talked and my mom adjusted all of our backs (she’s a DO so she can do that stuff) and went to the park and the kids played with Grandma and Grandpa and their aunts and uncle.  It was really ideal, except that a couple of my sisters were missing (on the other side of the country for Thanksgiving this year). My mom cut Maggie’s hair for the first time (with bangs so she can see without pigtails) and trimmed Degen’s to a presentable length, then Mom and I went to a nearby salon and had our hair cut too.  I really love spending time with my mom, even when she has to study for her next qulifying exam part of the time.

Just before Thanksgiving I was officially diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and just after Thanksgiving I was put on a low dose of insulin overnight to take care of that stubborn fasting number, just like when I was pregnant with Maggie.  My current OB, Dr. Klekman in Santa Rosa, is wonderful and is very laid back about the whole thing while also vigilantly watching and listening for any possible problems.  The diabetes educator I’ve been assigned to, Astrid Ortega, is also friendly and relaxed, even when my kids are running around her office in circles.  I do have to have weekly consults with her, weekly appointments with Dr. K, weekly nonstress tests, an ultrasound at 36 weeks to check the baby’s size, and they want me to induce at 39 weeks if the baby doesn’t arrive before then.  They only have me testing my blood sugar four times a day (compared to seven plus when I was pregnant with Maggie) this time and I don’t have to check my ketones in the morning like I had to last time around.  It’s really helped me this time around to have relaxed providers who explain things slowly and listen to me when I have concerns.  It also helped to have some past experience to compare it to so I had some idea of what was coming.

Monday was Colin’s birthday.  Happy Birthday Colin!  We spent it, just the two of us, in Los Angeles at a training for a new product Colin was researching for his company.  It was the first time we’d been (relatively) childless overnight since Degen was born, so it was fun for me to have a little break from my “job.”  It really was amazing to have a room to myself and several meals in a row with no squeals of “Mommy Mommy Mommy!” requesting a refill of plate or cup.  Thanks so much to Sonja and Dick for the time off!

Wednesday was my sister Abby’s birthday.  Happy Birthday Abby!  We celebrated Colin’s birthday with his parents, sister Kim, and her boyfriend that evening.  I gave him 2G of RAM for his laptop, which he’s apparently very happy about but accidentally found out about in advance because I wasn’t sneaky enough to delete it from the history of my browser.  So, no surprise, but a good gift anyway.  Kim and Colin’s parents surprised us with an awesome gift–an overnight stay in Kim’s downtown San Francisco apartment after Christmas (hopefully before baby), complete with local restaurant reservations, spa treatments, babysitting, and touristy touring recommendations.  And I thought our LA trip was a vacation!  Definitely a surprise, and a very cool gift.  No, I wasn’t bothered that his birthday present was pretty much half for me (and neither was Colin, as far as I could tell).  Who needs Christmas presents when your husband gets birthday gifts like that?

Maggie chipped a tooth this week, so I’ve got to get her to a dentist to check and see if we can/should do anything about it in the near future.  We’ve got to finish off the Christmas shopping and do some seriousgift wrapping.  And I need to have the car serviced right away (of course the regular maintenance would fall on this month).  And our renters of our house in Utah gave notice, so we’ve got to find a new family to live there, preferably starting in January.  And I really should get appointments for teeth cleaning and doctor checkups and eye glasses for everyone in the family before the end of the year.  I don’t even know if that’s possible, but if it were it’d be ideal.

It’s always busy around here, even when I have no energy.  Actually, I’m usually okay as long as I don’t have to stand up for long or carry anything and I get a nap in the afternoon.  Any guesses on how often those three things coincide?

I finished reading a book and started a couple more on potty training, or "toilet training," as some experts like to call it. I've also discussed it with my mother and done some internet research, including looking at reviews of training products on Amazon. It looks like kids won't be trained if they aren't ready, and if your efforts fail for a week or so you should give it a rest and come back in a few weeks or months. It also sounds like there are some preparatory steps that have to be taken to make the process easier on everyone. And it seems that daytime training and nighttime training are totally different beasts. My goal in all of this is to stay as relaxed as possible and to not worry about "getting it done" so that I don't freak Degen out. So, we're now working on the preliminary steps. Today I taught him to flush the toilet, hoping that if I teach him about the sound it won't scare him when he has to use it. I helped him try on his "big boy underwear" today for the second time and congratulated him for keeping them dry for about an hour before changing him into his diaper for his nap this afternoon. We practiced putting them on and taking them off, which is going to take more work before he masters the process. But he seemed to like the idea of wearing them, which is a good sign. I think I'm going to get a toilet adapter seat and a step stool instead of a little potty to start with and see how that goes, hoping to eliminate some of the cleanup and one extra step.

As far as birthdays go, the common wisdom seems to be to invite as many guests as your kid is old, in this case his age and the number of guests will be two. The accepted practice sounds like dong 1 to 1 1/2 hours for a party at this age, and to invite the parents to join you (if only for assistance with crowd control).

The order of the party goes as follows: opening activity (to introduce kids to each other and warm up as they arrive), craft or activity (maybe music or throwing things or something simple at this age), food, presents, goodbye activity. A theme seems to keep things simple, interesting, and cohesive. I'm thinking circus, dinosaur, farmer, firefighter, or superhero might be appropriate this time. I'd like to make a neat cake and have lots of fun stuff to send home with the kids. Place mats, "costumes" (a mask, cape, hat, etc), and whatever craft we make seem like a good start, plus some little treat. I'm thinking a Saturday morning before naptime would be a good time for the party.

Another tradition I'm thinking of starting is a "birthday book"–just a simple little scrapbook with an outline of the hand and/or foot, some vital statistics like height and weight, likes and dislikes, and maybe a photo for each birthday. And I'd like to make a video and take pictures at the party/on his birthday.