If this was a test, I may have failed.

Today as I rushed to get David to his nursery school at the church in enough time to actually be on time to my half-shift at the ED, I may have messed up.
As I entered the church courtyard I noticed a nicely-dressed lady sitting on a bench beneath a tree adjacent to the sanctuary wall. I glanced her way as I passed by with David on my hip- and noticed she was (softly) crying. Upon entering the church, I mentioned the crying lady to the receptionist/greeter that is stationed at a desk in the Lilycrop room (the room you first enter upon going into the church), told her what I'd seen and asked if she knew who the lady was. She went toward the door, so I took David to his baby room.
On my way out, I asked the greeter-lady if the crying-lady was alright. She told me she hadn't recognized her from the back and didn't want to intrude and so hadn't actually gone outside to talk to her... and when I went outside to check on her, she was gone.
My thought-process at the time of first noticing her was that perhaps she had just been inside the church, maybe talking with the priest or somesuch about something sad, and had to collect herself before she left. However, I'm really wishing that I'd stopped to ask her if I could help on my way into the church rather than trying to figure out what was going on first before approaching her. And now I'll never know if she just needed a moment to herself, or needed help.
What if this was God testing me?
I think I need to slow down. In all aspects of my life. I seem to rush around a lot. I rush to work, rush to try and see as many patients as I can during the shift, and then rush to get home to David, Magnolia & Chris. I rush through housework trying to get as much in as I can before David to begins to fuss or Magnolia needs help with something. I can't seem to focus on one activity for more than a bit before I'm thinking of something else that I need to be doing. Is this just part of life with more than one child, or pathology?
I've started swimming laps again some mornings (the Florida Gym pool is finally refurbished- and open from 7-8am!). That helps deflect some of my rush-rush mentality. Usually, except when I realized last Thursday that I'd completely spaced David's 6 month check-up until I was already 15 minutes late for it and on my way to take Nolia to school- so we made a protracted detour to Dr. Grooms' office (thank you, Dr. Grooms!- she was very understanding and squeezed us in). After that, all positive effects of the morning swim were swept away in another bout of rushing around.

P.S.

I forgot to mention that yesterday I discovered that David is getting his SECOND TOOTH! Another bottom front tooth. V. sweet (until he bites me- then, not so cute).

Conversations with Nolia

This afternoon we went over to the Steins for a pool playdate and stayed for a pizza supper. We brought a few hand-me-downs for Lucy, including a skirt. She wanted to wear it right away and when Magnolia saw her in it, she instructed "Twirl, Lucy, twirl. Ooooh, lovely!". Very cute.
Heidi was watching David for a bit, and sat him on their wooden floor so she could help Nolia get dressed. Nolia, ever the vigilant big sister, nicely asked Heidi to "put something under him so he won't fall over and hit his head".
And tonight as I was tucking her into bed, she started to suck her thumb. I asked her not to do that (yes, we're still fighting this particular battle) and she told me "but it tastes good". "What does it taste like?", I asked her. "Like strawberries with jam on top," she answered.
She's also very concerned about the order of the upcoming holidays. "Halloween, then Christmas. But first is my birthday!".

Sitting up!

The milestones are stacking up.
David can now sit up on his own- he ends up leaning a bit on a hand (usually his left), but he can get up there all on his own. Growing boy!

We met our friend Sonja and Nolia's little friend Lena (Sonja's daughter) at 43rd Str. Deli this morning. On the way home Chris gave me a little smooch in the car and Magnolia informed us that "if you kiss, that means getting married".

In a bit we'll drive out to the lake for baby Jake's first birthday party. Can't believe he's a year old already!

How weird am I?

Alright, I know this is probably a bit odd, but I'm currently mourning that David has passed from producing breast-fed poops to I'm-eating-solid-food-now poops. He's had his first fully-solid, stinky poops over the past couple of days. *sigh* Just another sign that he is growing up- and much too fast. I can't believe he is already 6 months old. Or, for that matter, that Magnolia is nearly 4 years old. We started him on solids a few weeks ago (as he was lurching towards whatever we were eating and watching us very intently during mealtimes). So far his diet has expanded to include rice cereal, oat cereal, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, bananas, and apples.

He can stay in a seated position for a long time- and catch himself if he starts to fall (still can't get into a seated position without help, though). And he's traversing across entire rooms on his belly. And doing baby calisthenics by supporting himself on his hands a toes (or hands and knees). Magnolia is his constant entertainment- he chuckles nearly every time he sees her coming. So adorable.

We had a little mini-vacation in Orlando earlier this week. Magnolia's favorite place on Earth, Seuss Landing and the Royal Pacific resort- fondly known by her as "the big pool". Fun was had by all and David even got to go on a couple rides (Caro-Seuss-el and the Fish Ride). Nice to get away for a bit. And ever-organized me didn't realize that I had actually remembered the camera battery until the very last afternoon we were there. So the only pictures of our trip are a few of the kiddies around the pool...