a breakthrough?

If you're here to follow IVF progress and would rather not read about a near toddler, please redirect yourself here. Thanks!

Tonight, for the first time since early January, Charlotte went to bed without protest! Not only that, she actually leaned out of my arms toward her crib as we stood beside it saying "Goodnight!" to all her toys. It was about 45 minutes past her usual bedtime, and she'd just taken a bath, AND she had a messed up nap schedule today, so I'm sure she was completely exhausted. I hope this marks the end of the "I don't wanna sleep!" phase.

In other news, her vocabulary continues to expand. The other day, we were "walking" down the hall when I asked her to help me put her toys away. She let go of my hands (she's not walking solo yet), sat down, and signed "help." Then she reached up for my hands so we could walk some more as though nothing remarkable had happened. She'd only just been introduced to the sign that morning, and I didn't know it had sunk in. Amazing. She also learned BOY, GIRL, and COOKIE that day.

That's all I have in me right now. I'll write a more involved 13-month post soon. G'night!

it's all good

Anyone stopping by from CycleSista who doesn't want to read about life with an almost-toddler, but who is interested in hearing about an IVF cycle that's just getting under way, please go to this page. Thanks!

Everything has fallen nicely into place for our IVF cycle. My body jumped immediately back into my usual rhythm and today is CD7. Lupron will begin on CD22, assuming the CD21 BW results are acceptable. C had blood drawn for the requisite STD testing, and I had a mammo on Tuesday. My last pap was less than a year ago, so that requirement is filled as well. These steps all felt like major roadblocks last time, but now that I'm familiar with them, and the RE's office informed me of them all at once instead of peppering me with them one at a time just as I thought I'd finished jumping through all the hoops... Let's just say that I feel calm and prepared this time.

In other news, we celebrated Charlotte's first birthday with our closest family and friends last Sunday. I rented an indoor soccer field and bought 75 beach balls, which turned out to be all that 24 kids needed to have a good time for an hour. Then we had cake, and that was it. Party over. I baked all week and stressed about whether or not there's be enough cake for everyone, but we ended up begging people to take some home. Here are some highlights...

Charlotte seemed to enjoy wearing the tutu I made for her. Here she is, crawling around the soccer field after the big kids.

Charlotte decided that she really likes cake.

One of the big cakes. We had a ladybug theme (my MIL had a thing for ladybugs). I made three big cakes, plus one small one for Charlotte to tear into. I'm proud of how everything turned out, but have to admit it was very easy to do. If you want to know how, just ask. Same goes for the tutu- very easy, and with adorable results.

We're still struggling with sleep as Charlotte is content to fall asleep in my arms or lap, but insists it's the end of the world when I put her in the crib. It's not the crib that she hates, though, because she's perfectly happy to play in it for a while upon waking. She's not walking yet, but has come very close and can raise herself to standing without walls or toys or anything else to push up from. New words in the last week or so include SHARE, GRASS, ON, OFF, LEAF, TREE, DAY, and Grandpa (which I think she's been signing for months, but now it's exactly as demonstrated in the videos). She's trying to sound out words all the time, too, and has spoken "all done" more than once but isn't consistent with it yet. She signs "POTTY" when her diaper is poopy now, too. I'm so in awe and in love with this little person!

another cycle, another blog...

I kind of goofed, and I hope anyone landing here from CycleSista can forgive me. I did not mean to link to this blog, which has become more of a parenting/watching my daughter grow page than an IF story. I started a new blog to chronicle the nuts and bolts of our efforts to turn Charlotte into a big sister. The commentary for that may end up here, or it may land on the new blog. I just don't know where would be more appropriate. I have made some "friends (if I may call you that, dear people who have been following and commenting for a while now)," and don't want to leave them in the dark about what's going on. At the same time, I don't want newcomers having to read parenting stories while facing their own IF struggles. I guess that I will, while cycling, include a link to the new blog at the beginning of each post here. Visitors who don't want to read about my life as a mom can skip to the other page without having to read any further than the first sentence. Still here?

current vocabulary

I need to make a list to document this, since I haven't written it down anywhere else. Charlotte's current signing vocabulary includes: DOG CAT BIRD FISH BEAR EAT DRINK APPLE MILK BANANA CRACKER MORE ALL-DONE PLEASE THANK-YOU HOT COLD UP DOWN MOMMY DADDY HAPPY SAD SLEEP OWIE/HURT TRAIN CAR BUS BOAT RAIN SNOW WIND CLOUD YES (nods her head, not the ASL sign) NO (shakes her head, not ASL) BOOK WASH-HANDS BRUSH TEETH SHOES SOCKS POTTY FRIEND She may not fully understand some of them, like friend, but some she uses all by herself to tell us something. For example, today we were in a store. She had her jacket on, and the store was pretty warm. Charlotte started signing "HOT," all by herself, not in answer to a question. I was amazed. And at dinner tonight, I offered her more soup and she responded with "sssssooooo (her way of saying soup)" and the sign for happy. Soup makes her happy, I guess. Blogger keeps removing all my formatting. Sorry about the lengthy run-on list.

another blog... Project Sibling

I've created another blog to track the progress on Project Sibling. There will be spillover and overlap, I'm sure. Oddly enough, when I looked on CycleSista, I found several other bloggers just beginning a first IVF cycle for baby #2. I feel like part of a generation, as opposed to a solo oddball. Anyhow, I suspect the new blog will be just for stats and numbers and dosages and such. Right now, I'm waiting for AF so we can launch into the cycle for real. I still expect it in about a week, but I think clomid added a couple of days to my cycle back when I took it before, so AF may be slightly delayed for that reason. We'll see. I'm a lot more laid back, relaxed, and calm about this cycle... for now. I attribute that more to experience than to already having a baby in my life. I know what to expect, for the most part, and should not be blindsided by anything this time around.