Sigh

So those of you who have had children come in contact with your computer know that children never leave computers exactly the way they found them.

Jill, while I was getting dressed this morning, somehow changed the way colors look on my computer. I'm hoping if I go to system preferences, I can figure out what she did.

Sometimes it takes me a long time to figure out what she did. A few, I've never solved.

I do often wonder to myself, "Why does that hot key even exist?! Who could ever intentionally want to do that?!"

Cosmo, our cat, also contributes to the mayhem. Since we have a Mac, we usually just put the computer to sleep rather than shut it down. So when Cosmo runs across the keyboard or moves the mouse, he wakes it up. He then sometimes lies down on the keyboard. Sigh. Again. Why do those hot keys even exist?

Done with complaining. I am blessed to have a computer, a daughter, and a cat. Oddly vibrant colors are a small price to pay for those blessings.

Fall came on September 21, which I believe is the fall equinox. I didn't really believe it though. We had been having lots of weather still in the 90s. Summer seemed to be here to stay.

There were some indicators though. Our tulip tree has been dropping leaves for about the past three weeks, or so. But again, fallen leaves still don't spell fall when you can't step outside without sweating.

However, this week, fall has finally made its appearance. Or perhaps autumn did. I've never been sure why this season had two names. Seems unnecessary to me. Probably because of all the different cultures that came to the US back in the day. Perhaps one said fall and the other said autumn, and we get to have both now. Don't quote me on that though as it is just a guess.

Life is progressing well. As expected, I am enjoying the second trimester MUCH more than I did the first. We're past the halfway mark now, and we were able to learn through an ultrasound that we are expecting a Daniel Wells Collett, not an Alice Rose Collett. I am slightly intimidated by the idea of raising a boy, but then again, I didn't know what to do with a girl before I had one. I'm sure I'll figure it out. And there are plenty of people to help me along the way and give me advice. :)

Jill has a new "action" these days. When you tell her to close her eyes, she just furrows her brows. It is as if she wants to close her eyes, but she doesn't want to not be able to see. It's pretty cute. I have it on video, so I'll get around eventually to putting that up on my youtube channel.

She has two other new habits as well. She puckers her lips into a sort of duck or monkey impression all the time. When she's feisty, when she's happy, when she's sad, etc. It really is almost all the time. She also holds her belly button when she is tired or insecure or whenever she feels like it. She loves her belly button. She feels no shame in attempting to touch other people's belly buttons either. Sigh. We're working on that one. Last week, she walked up to the grandson of a friend of mine and lifted up his shirt to get to his belly button. The shocked four year old quickly pulled his shirt down. Tee hee. Oh Jill Bean . . .

Oh yes, and when something surprises her, she says "whoa." It's awfully cute. When I turn on the disposal, when Grandma make the golf cart move, when she falls—the response to everything is "whoa." I think it's a pretty good response.

I can feel Daniel Wells moving all the time. I actually have for over a month now. It is amazing how much earlier I can feel him than I could feel Jill. I think part of it is because I know what it feels like now, so I don't have to guess or wonder if the sensation is something else. It's definitely him! I have been trying to explain to Jill about the baby brother in my womb, but I'm not sure how much she is comprehending at this point. My mother-in-law shared a story with me about one of Jeff's brothers. At a doctor's visit for one of her pregnancies, her son heard his new brother's heartbeat. Her son then asked the doctor to put the machine on his belly, because he apparently had a dinosaur in his tummy. Cute! :)