my baby

On the eve of my due date I'm reflecting on how far my first baby has come.

Rachel, our little lamb, never really was much of a lamb. She's always had the personality of a lion. She has a huge appetite, she's loud, and she's quite precocious.

She is still very much in love with her "Bobby". She carries it around like Linus, sleeps with it every night, and can be very stingy with her silky.

She's really into pretend play and loves to cook in her kitchen, play with her babies, and tell stories. She sings all the time. Did I mention that she's loud?

Rachel loves adventures. We go out for coffee nearly every Sunday morning and she calls that a coffe adventure. The baristas at Starbucks know her and her usual order. They're even happy to give her a sticker when she uses the bathroom there. Lucky girl. She likes to go to Barnes & Noble, the park, and loves going for walks and collecting sticks, pinecones, and rocks.

Rachel likes to pick out her own clothes. I usually try to give her two choices but sometimes she insists on doing it all by herself. We are definitely living in the time of "I can do it myself!" This can be a good thing with a new baby on the way.

She would spend all day outside. She loves water and sand play and would choose to do either over just about anything. We've spent much of this summer at the park playing in the sand or in the yard with the sprinkler on. Rachel has also been very interested in my garden this year and helps me harvest our veggies. Sometimes without permission.

This is one of the last documented naps in Rachel's history. She'll maybe accidentally take a nap once every month or two. We had a very hard time getting her to settle down for naptime, quiet reading time, or resting time. Whatever we called it, whenever or wherever we tried it, she was not interested and protested intensely. The only upside of her not napping is that she goes to sleep between 5:30 and 6 at night.

We've been trying out little incentives for using the potty but training doesn't seem to be going any better or worse because of it. I think we just need to wait it out and maybe it will just happen after the baby is born. It's getting a little old but I don't imagine I'll be changing the diaper on a 10 year old. This won't last forever and I can keep it in perspective.

Rachel is very excited for Sister to come and talks to her a lot. She wants to see Baby's room, test out the silky on Baby's blanket, and she is happy to set aside clothes that don't fit anymore for Baby. The last few times I've gone to the gym I've found her in the Ywatch baby room when I come to pick her up. She is very interested in babies. I have a feeling the novelty will wear off soon after Baby comes home with us.

My baby isn't a baby anymore. She's big, vocal, and opinionated. She is going to be a big sister. I love my girl.