Now I know that a sharper sense of smell is a common pregnancy symptom, but what about a sharper sense of hearing? I swear up and down that I am hearing things that I didn’t before. All kinds of electronics have been humming or squealing in a really high-pitched range and it’s driving me kind of crazy. There’s a floor lamp in the bedroom that I don’t turn on anymore (and when Den does it makes me twitch). The fan in my laptop, after I cleaned it out really well, started making a very very faint high-pitched whirr. And last night after I turned off my laptop for the night I had to unplug the charger because it was making a high-pitched buzzing noise. Ugh! In the quiet evenings after Kate is in bed I have taken to putting on headphones and listening to music just to drown out these weird noises. I already could hear a lot higher pitched than my (older) husband, and now it seems to have gone into hyperdrive.

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The fact that this was a “traditionally conceived” pregnancy is still throwing me for a loop. I was having a good afternoon today, walking to the shuttle bus on campus and feeling grateful for the sunshine and my belly and feeling good. I started thinking, At least I do pregnancy well, even if I don’t do getting pregnant well, and had to stop myself, mentally scratch my head, and realized I can’t exactly say that anymore. Granted no one knows why I got pregnant this time, and I still say the soy tipped the balance of something, but regardless here I am, pregnant on my own. I’m still not used to that, not after so many years of infertility treatments.

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Kate is loving the warm weather, as we can now go just sit outside. Well I sit, she explores and digs. I pulled out her toddler slide (and washed it down), she enjoys that. But most of all this year she’s just really enjoying wandering and looking and touching – something she wouldn’t do last year. I don’t know why, maybe it was overwhelming, but last year when I really just wanted to lay on my blanket or work in the garden for a few minutes or heck just occupy her for a few minutes all she did was walk over to the door to the house and stand there. She’d play in her water table and on the slide, but then back to the door she’d go. This year? Oh no. This year there are leaves on the ground to be stomped through, there is dirt to be pawed at and shoveled, there are sticks to be carried around. Everything is interesting to her, and I love it! Our backyard is fully fenced, which is a great thing, I am obviously there supervising but I can go inside to grab something without worrying she’s going to wander off. The worst she does is wander into our wooded area. We only have an acre, so it’s not like she’s going to disappear.

Considering her newfound enjoyment of digging in dirt I considered getting a sandbox for her, but then a bunch of friends mentioned that dirt is far more interesting for kids as it contains rocks, plants, grass, etc. Well it’s certainly easier for me. So I turned over the dirt in one box of my veggie garden (since it was packed pretty tight and had weeds and grass growing), set up a couple of pots, handed her a little plastic shovel, and told her to enjoy! She really loves going in there and moving the dirt from place to place, feeling it in her hands, dumping it on her shoes (sigh – good thing I bought her shoes for getting dirty!). It’s quite amazing how long she can be kept occupied just sitting there. Since it’s been so nice out I have been bringing my folding chair out along with a binder or notebook and a small task like sketching out my garden plans or writing and addressing some birthday cards. I have a bag I use to bring a water bottle and snack with us, along with the notebook and phone and whatever else I need. Simple, but handy! (Kitchen and office is upstairs, so I can’t really just dart inside for something.)

She is also very excited by the dogs – and the dogs are thrilled that we are spending time outside with them! The dogs are mainly indoor dogs, but we find our shepherd is too big and quirky to be in a small enclosed space with Kate without constant monitoring. Outside where the dogs can run around and then come check on Kate everyone seems much more relaxed. I’m right there the whole time, but I’m very pleased with how well behaved the dogs are with her. The worst thing I’ve run into is that Zeeke has an obsession for licking ears, which Kate does not appreciate, so I’m constantly telling him to knock it off. Also the fact that Zeeke is still big enough and not aware enough that sometimes he turns around without realizing where his body is and knocks her over unintentionally. I really wish he could keep tabs on his own body – inside he trips on toys constantly. Kate is respectful of the dogs and approaches them carefully, but she’s not afraid of them at all. When she gets knocked over she just lets out a “Aaagghhh!” whine and gets back up. The cutest thing, though, is when the dogs are running and exploring the far corners of the yard she’ll stand there and call out, “Zeeke? Zeeke??” (I believe she thinks that is how you call both dogs, as I have seen her do that when just Zoe was off in the yard and Zeeke was actually right beside her. I blame myself for that one… I swear I yell Zeeke’s name every 2 minutes for one reason or another.)

We also have been going for brief walks in the neighborhood. She enjoys the stroller and I could do that more if I wanted to…. but I don’t particularly want to! Too much work for me. So instead she holds my hand across the street and then she walks along beside me, pointing at sticks and leaves and rocks, as we very very slowly meander down the street. In this instance her being slow is nice, because it’s not like I’m out power walking. On the other hand when we’re headed back to the house it can get a little frustrating when I am trying to keep her moving. Not that she’s tired – she just wants to squat and play with the pinecones she found. I try not to get too far from the house!

I really love spring – I think it’s my favorite season. I love when everything starts budding and blooming and I love the return of the sunshine and warmth. I love sitting outside for a while in the sun with a light breeze, without really worrying about getting burned in 10 seconds. But I realized I really love the climate here in the north east. I really do enjoy winter and summer for different reasons – I enjoy the snow, I enjoy the swimming. I love the fact that we get such lovely defined seasons here. And I appreciate that it doesn’t just rain all the time like the west coast!