Sneak Peak

We got an early sneak peak at little Frueh #2 today and were reassured that all is well in his/her watery home. We had a little bit of a scare earlier this week when I started bleeding unexpectedly, but when we went in to see the midwife, she found our little bean's heartbeat right away. We went in for an ultrasound just to check everything out. They did find what is called a subchorionic hematoma (SCH), which sounds really scary, but really it's just a gathering of blood between the placenta and the wall of the uterus. It should either bleed out by 20 weeks or simply be reabsorbed into my body. The risk to the baby with a SCH is very low (1-3%) and that is only with the largest clots. Thankfully, mine is fairly small so everything should be just fine. As our midwife said, it's just our little boy giving us trouble early on. Of course we have no idea if the baby is a boy or a girl (and we have no intention of finding out), but the midwife said that, in her experience, boys tend to give their mamas the most trouble. We'll just have to wait and see if she's right :-)

This was our first peak at our little bean. The first thing the technician did was zero-in on his/her little heart to set our minds at ease. The fetal heartrate, which is pictured at the bottom was a galloping 171 beats per minute. If the old-wives tale has it right, that could be an indication of a girl. The infamous "they" say that any heartrate over 150 is a sign of a girl. That definitely held true with little Miss Molly. She was over 150 from the very beginning. So, does she have a sister in store? Or a brother with a very fast heartrate? Guess, we'll find out in February.

At 11 weeks, Baby Frueh #2 is almost 2 inches long and about the size of a fig. His/her body and organ systems are already fully formed. The beginnings of fingernails are starting to form on those tiny hands and, as you might be able to tell from this picture, those little toothpick legs are already kicking up a storm! Seeing the baby moving in person was pretty amazing because he/she is still so tiny, but we saw those little legs kicking away for sure.

This is my favorite shot. It's the baby's little tushie with his/her legs splayed out in front of him. A friend of mine said it reminds her of the Peanuts cartoons where one of the characters falls over backwards and all you see are their legs and their rear. I agree! And don't think about making a gender judgement on this shot either. Even to the trained eye of an ultrasound tech, 11 weeks is much too early to make a gender determination. Since we're keeping the gender a surprise, I'm actually kind of glad we had our ultrasound early so there's no temptation to peek and there's no chance of the tech letting it slip.

So, once again, we're praising the Lord tonight for His faithfulness, mercy and blessings. Through this short, but scary ordeal, I've been so thankful for the comfort and peace of mind He's given me. I'm grateful that I can rest assured that our little one is resting in His hands and that He is always working all things together for our good.

Beach Baby, Part 2

As promised, I have more beach pictures to share. Between our camera and pictures taken by Eric's parents, we have almost 300 pictures from the week, so it was hard to narrow down. Between Part 1 and Part 2 of this post, I've included our very favorites. (I didn't think you really wanted to flip through all 300 pictures :) The lawn of our rental house was beautifully landscaped. Between the flowers lining the driveway and the tropical trees surrounding the pool, our little "nature girl" had some fun exploring.

Food was another wonderful part of the week with lots of new tastes to explore. I think Molly was going through a growth spurt because she was a bottomless pit all week. We even took her out to breakfast one morning. Eric and I both left the restaurant a little big hungry because Molly ate half our breakfasts...pancakes, eggs, homefries, toast, fruit...I think she would've kept eating if we let her! In this particular picture, I believe she's savoring a sweet juicy blueberry. Yummy!
Not all the new food experiences were as healthy as Mommy would have liked. I walked into the kitchen one day to THIS...Eric sharing his fudgesicle with Molly. Needless to say, she loved it. I guess anything goes when you're on vacation.

Our little water baby enjoyed splashing in the pool. She had a pretty good time driving her little pink beetle-bug floatie, but honestly, she had the most fun just sitting in our arms splashing around.

It was pretty cool and rainy one day, so we went to check out Fort Macon with Eric's brother Jonathan. It was used as both a Union AND Confederate fort during the Civil War and was used in several other American wars, including WWII. Eric and I are both big history buffs, so we found it very interesting.

I think at this point, we'd taken about 5 pictures in front of the cannons. I love this one because I can just imagine Molly saying, "Geez Mom, enough with the pictures already" and trying to bury her head :) Even though our little soldier was born in the South, she has Northern blood in her veins. So the Union cap it was.

We dug Molly a little hole on the beach to splash around in, which she really enjoyed, but I think she liked playing with my sunglasses even better.

I just LOVE this picture of our little girl with her Daddy!

The waves were really rough almost the entire week we were there. There were quite a few evening storms that really stirred things up. It didn't make for the easiest beach experience for a little one, but it sure was awesome to watch them crashing on the beach. The hardest part was trying to wash all the sand off of Molly without scaring her half to death. The waves were also unpredictable. You'd think you were sitting in the calm surf zone and then, all of a sudden, a huge rogue wave would come and wash half-way up the beach. One of them really caught Molly by surprise as you can see in this little video. Poor baby!



And, I'll just leave you with a few more cute shots of this adorable little beach baby covered in sand. I just can't get enough of that squishy little ruffled bum!!!!

Beach Baby, Part 1

We've been home from the beach for over a week now and I'm finally getting around to writing a blog post about it. I think I needed to detox from the vacation, sort-of take a vacation after my vacation, if you know what I mean. I guess that's how vacations will be for the next several years...a lot of fun, but also a LOT of work. Now that I've had a week to reflect on the trip, I'd say it was a definite success, but I think Eric and I both now have some different expectations of what a successful vacation is. I've divided this post into 2 parts. Since I'm in a writing mood, I'll start by reflecting on my thoughts about the trip. Part 2 will include many more pictures.

We spent the week in this beautiful house in Emerald Isle with Eric's family and extended family, which included his parents, siblings, aunt, uncle, cousins, and respective spouses...13 people total plus 2 very adorable babies. Molly had a playmate all week in her second-cousin, Lillian, who is only a few weeks younger than her.

They had to scope each other out a bit first, but in no time they were playing away like old friends.Not exactly sure what Molly's doing here, but I think she's sharing a very important piece of information with Lillian.Two 11-month olds are certainly capable of creating quite a mess in a very short period of time!Lillian LOVED Molly. She kept trying to kiss her and hold her hand. Molly wasn't too sure at first, but at this particular time, they held hands for quite a while. So cute!

We spent the week playing on the beach, splashing in the pool, walking, biking, and driving around the island, playing games, watching movies, engaging in great conversation, and eating some fabulous food. We've done this same exact trip before with the same group of people, but having a baby definitely changes the way you do things. For example:

• Saying "We only live 3 hours from the beach" used to make us feel so lucky. What we learned this trip is that Molly does NOT like to travel in the car during the daytime and those 3 hours seemed MIGHTY long. We normally travel in the middle of the night while she's sleeping and it looks like we'll continue to do just that. Lesson learned.
• "Going to spend some time on the beach" used to mean packing the cooler and heading down for the day. You'd spend 4 or 5 hours swimming, boogie-boarding, sun-bathing, reading, or playing in the sand. Now it means spending 20 minutes covering every inch of Molly's body in sunscreen, fighting her to put her swimsuit on, packing a bag of diapers-wipes-snacks-water-extra sunscreen-camera-etc., and heading down to the beach for an hour, possibly two. You'll spend that hour or two trying to keep her from eating sand, washing her face off when she does inevitably eat sand, and getting yourself covered in sand as she crawls all over you with her wet sandy hands.

(FACE PLANT!)

(Cleaning up the sandy face plant.)

But it was all totally worth it to see her staring wide-eyed at the ocean for the first time, to see her splashing in her watering hole and smacking her lips when she tasted the salt in her mouth, to see her adorable little sand-covered ruffle-butt crawling all over the beach. I know she won't remember the experience, but it's now a part of her, if that makes sense.

• "Beach time" used to mean "Go to bed when you want, get up when you want because it doesn't matter." Well, with Molly sharing a room with us, her "beach time" meant that she was ready to get up whenever it was bright enough in the room for her to see Mommy and Daddy in bed beside her, usually 5:30 or 6am. Although this made for some early mornings and sleepy afternoons, it was kind of nice to be up when the house was still mostly quiet. We could eat a leisurely breakfast, drink tea on the deck before it got too hot, go for walks in the neighborhood, and, since Molly was ready for a nap by 8:30, we were relaxing in the pool by 9am.

  

Probably the most challenging aspect of the trip was working through Molly's newest development, "stranger anxiety" (or separation anxiety or mommy-attachment, whatever you'd like to call it). She's accustomed to spending most of her time at home with her Mommy and Daddy where everything is familiar and there are predictable routines in the day. Of course we take her out to church, restaurants, shopping, etc. and we've seen glimpses of stranger anxiety, mostly displayed as suspicious looks at strangers. But, the beach trip was a big challenge for her. She was in a strange house with lots of people she hardly remembered and was NOT a big fan of any of it. She's especially afraid of men, so her poor Pop and her Uncles Jonathan and Stephen bore the brunt of the screaming rejection.

Sly Pop sneaked into this picture with his little Molly. No screaming and she was none the wiser.

At first, the only people who could hold her without her screaming were me and Eric. I was proud of her though. As the week went by, she was eating most of her meals with her GG, which quickly became a spectator event. She was letting other people play with her. She even took a couple meals from her Pop! By the end of the week, she even spent an afternoon at the house with her GG and Pop while Eric and I went to the beach! I wish everyone could've seen more of the happy, silly, playful Molly that we know here at home. But, I understand that it's just a phase and this is just her time to go through it. This too shall pass.

Towards the end of the week, Molly was getting along wonderfully with her GG. We were able to capture this moment of pure joy even with her Pop snapping the photo!

All in all, it was a great week spent with a fantastic group of people. Everyone in the family was so helpful and encouraging all week. No one complained about her fussiness and they all worked extra hard to win her over. You couldn't ask for a better family to be welcomed into and I feel blessed that Molly has the opportunity to grow up in it. Eventually, she WILL like all of her family members...I promise!

Newest Frueh

We just returned yesterday from a wonderful week in Emerald Isle with the Frueh and Smith families. There will be MUCH more to come on that later after we have a chance to unpack, upload the last of our pictures, and get our house back in order after taking nearly everything we own to the beach. It's amazing how much you have to pack for a person as tiny as Molly.

In the meantime, I wanted to share our latest family photo with you. If you look really closely, you may be able to spot the newest member of the Frueh family. He's about an inch tall with a big head, but teeny-tiny arms just barely long enough to meet in front of his chest and little stubby legs with webbed feet. Need a clue? Here, maybe this will help:

That's right! Baby Frueh #2 is due to make his/her debut in February 2011! We're very excited that Molly is going to have a little brother or sister so close in age (they'll be 18 months apart). We're also excited to start this fun and crazy pregnancy/newborn journey once again. Now that Molly's mobile and active and communicative, I was beginning to miss having an itty-bitty infant to snuggle in my arms.

We'll be sure to keep you posted on developments with the newest Baby Frueh and there will be plenty more beach pictures and stories to come...just as soon as I take a nap...and get something to eat...and, oh yeah, unpack from the beach...

11 Months Old!

I feel like I was just writing Molly's 10 month post, but here we are at 11 months old. She is currently 16 lb. 1 oz. and 26.5 inches long (3rd and 5th percentiles, respectively). Her doctor reassured us that we have nothing to worry about, though. She's probably just destined to be a petite little chica, fitting perfectly into the Frank branch of my family tree. But being pint-sized hasn't stopped her from becoming a real spit-fire who loves to get into EVERYTHING. Don't believe me? Check out the evidence:

She loves to crawl, cruise, and climb her way all around the house, exploring every nook and cranny. Sometimes that gets her stuck in some pretty tight places that she needs a little help getting out of.

She looks like a criminal waiting to post bail.

One day, I turned my back on her for a few minutes to get her lunch ready and when I turned back around, she had completely disappeared. After checking her usual hangouts (bathroom, nursery, office) I found her crawling BEHIND the couch in this itty-bitty, skinny space, trying to see out of the window. I helped her out a little bit by pulling out the couch so she could stand up. Adventurous one, aye?

The bathroom is probably Molly's favorite room in the house, mostly because there's a LOT to get into. Since she is my shadow and follows me all over the house, that includes the bathroom at least a few times a day. And the first thing she always goes for is the toilet paper. She's very quick and can have a decent pile on the floor before I have a chance to stop her.

Caught red-handed.

Another one of Molly's new favorite activities is opening and closing doors. She'll crawl to every door in the house and spend at least a few minutes opening and closing each one, although she gets a little frustrated when she pushes it far enough to latch and finds herself stuck once again. I think we'll be in real trouble when she's tall enough to reach the door knobs and locks.

Another new development this month is eating chunky food and table food, especially now that she has FIVE(!) teeth (3 top and 2 bottom). Molly loves to feed herself chunks of bananas, soft pieces of fruit, Cheerios, and strips of toast with tahini spread. Another favorite activity is begging like a little puppy when Mommy or Daddy is trying to eat a meal or snack. I've been trying to eat more baby-friendly food (cheese, bread, soft fruits and vegetables, cereal, etc.) just so I can give her pieces of table food while I'm eating. Otherwise, I'd never make it through a meal or snack.

As you can tell from my last post, reading is a big part of our day. Molly loves all of her books and spends a lot of time flipping through them, even when we're not reading together. One of her favorite reading spots is by the stained glass window where the sun streams in during the afternoon. These are some of my favorite pictures of her, enjoying her "Personal Penguin" book. Isn't she just adorable?

We have many exciting blog posts coming up (our beach trip, 1st birthday party, etc.) so stay tuned for more Frueh family fun in the next few weeks and months.

Our Little Bookworm

Molly has always been a lover of books. We started reading to her in utero months before she ever even laid eyes on a book, and in our arms from the day she was born. Daddy's choices included works such as The Right Stuff and Treasure Island. I usually mix in some lighter fare ;-)

Here's an oldie: a not-quite-3-month old Molly reading Treasure Island with her Daddy.

Lately, reading has been a huge staple in our day simply because she loves it so much. It amazes me how long her attention-span is when it comes to reading, especially when her interest in the average toy lasts for all of 30 seconds. When it comes to books though, she'll sit forever flipping the pages back and forth, back and forth (she LOVES to flip pages). Generally, we'll read a book through front-to-back, and then Molly will go through at least 2-3 more times, flipping back-to-front, or cherry-picking favorite pages to look at. She isn't quite into pointing yet, but she is very into "beating" the pages. When she finds a favorite page or picture, she likes to slap it vigorously with both hands simultaneously while the teacher in me patiently describes the object and repeats its name, usually in a totally dorky sing-song voice. For example, her Peter Rabbit touch-and-feel book has a picture of Benjamin Bunny in a real felt coat. She loves to beat on the poor bunny repeatedly while I sing "Benjamin Bunny, Benjamin Bunny" over and over again.

I'm partial to my old childhood favorites, but Molly is very particular and has picked a few new favorites of her own. Here are Molly's current recommendations for the under-3 crowd:

Peter Rabbit, of course. This was an Easter gift from Aunt Jessica and is a daily read because of all the fun textures: Benjamin Bunny's felt jacket, crinkly leaves in Mr. MacGregor's garden, Jemima Puddleduck's fuzzy baby ducklings, and many more. It has really thick, easy-to-turn boardbook pages, a definite plus for Miss Molly's tiny fingers.

This is usually the first book Molly reaches for on the shelf. It's filled with 100 brightly colored photos of everyday objects sorted into categorical pages (Colors, Things-that-Go, Food, Home, Bathtime, Emotions, Wild Animals, Pets, etc.) and labeled with their names. Molly will literally sit for 10 minutes or more (a long stretch in baby-time!) just flipping the pages, "beating" on pictures while I name them for her. Her favorites are the train (because I always make the choo-choo sound), the grass, the fish, and the owl (also probably because I always make a hooting sound). Parenthood really does make you do things you never imagined!

This adorable book is based on the lyrics of a song by Davy Jones and the Monkees, in which a precious penguin befriends an unsuspecting hippo. Super cute. Molly also likes to dance to the song, which I downloaded to my computer to play along with the book.

This is a Molly AND Mommy favorite. It is part of the "touch-the-art" series, which I think is SO cool. You can feel the peachfuzz on Cezanne's Still Life with Cherries and Peaches. You can untie the hairbow on Renoir's A Girl with a Watering Can. Molly's personal favorite is trying to pick the lily flowers on Monet's Water-Lily Pond. I have to restrain myself from rushing out and buying the rest of the books in this series including Feed Matisse's Fish and Pop Warhol's Top.

So, if you have a little bibliophile on your hands, check these out. Molly has personally given them her seal of approval.