pregomo

Well, for those of you faraway friends and fam who have been asking, here is my reluctant posting of myself at 7 months pregnant. I'm 33 weeks today. That means 4 weeks until this little one is 'fully baked' and about 7 weeks until he/she is due mid-May.

Apparently I'm not the only one who feels this pregnancy has been a speedy one. At my last visit to my midwife, even she felt the months had flown by and she wasn't ready to schedule my next appointment with the secondary midwife as she normally would, so I'm seeing her again next week. All is well each time I go. And this little one is at least as interested in tap dancing as Maia ever was. Active little thing.... especially at bedtime when it's time to doze off. That's when the real playtime begins.

By the way, the lovely colour behind my head is not a new hair piece. The photo was taken at the Bird Conservatory on Easter Monday, just as a large ibis flew behind me. Nice timing, Timmer!

conversations with Maia this week

Maia with her new cousin Regan at Easter.

Maia observed one of her aunties changing the diaper of a boy for the first time this week. After careful observation, she observed, "That's his pee-er." Who can argue with that?

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Maia also watched intently as another auntie was breastfeeding a new cousin. She obviously has no memory of doing this herself, as it all seemed brand new to her. Before anyone could stop her, she had run to Opa, grabbed his hand and began guiding him to the big event.

Maia: Opa! Come see! Come see her chest!

Obviously, Opa was a little distracted as he was being drawn to the scene.

Opa: What? You want to play chess?

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Maia: Chirp chirp chirp. Chirp chirp chirp.

Monica: What kind of bird are you?

Maia: Chirp chirp chirp. Chirp chirp chirp.

Monica: Are you a chickadee?... Are you a cardinal? Are you ....a sparrow?

Maia: No, mommy. I'm not a Cheerio.

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Maia: Can I have a knife?

Tim: Not yet. You can have a knife when you're bigger.

Maia: (Pause) I'm bigger now.

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Maia seems to want to make complex sentences, but doesn't always have the vocabulary (let alone the complex thoughts) in place to say what she really wants to say. However, this doesn't stop her from creating long explanations with "because" or a conjunction in just about every sentence. Here are a few examples from this week:

If you want to play with me, then you have to finish your soup, because it's not nighttime yet.

When the dolly fell down, she fell down because the toilet is deep and I can go pee by myself.

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Monica to Tim: Have you noticed that she wants to explain things in detail but she doesn't quite have the vocabularly she needs to put it all into words?

Tim: Maia, can you say vocabulary?

Maia: I can't say that right now. My mouth is full of food.

a grand week

It seems that after a quieter season for my music, things suddenly poured this week. I played an evening in Clinton with my friend Marianne, where we weave some of my songs into her story of despair and hope -- ultimately a story of God's faithfulness and presence in a darker time in her life. It was the third time we've done that together and it was really well received again. It is pure joy to be on a 'team' with Marianne: to be of one heart for healing and wholeness for people, available to those who want to talk or pray. I tend to be on my own a lot when it comes to pursuing my calling, so there's something beautiful about being one of two, and with such a sincere and encouraging woman to boot. One of these days I'll have to post a picture of Marianne....

I also played at the World Day of Prayer this week, where I roped a couple of friends into singing three part harmony on an African song a cappella with my hand drum... good sports they were! I didn't get to catch what was supposed to be a fantastic concert with the lovely Emm Gryner in Bayfield on Saturday when the storm hit. Emm was generous enough to come and share her story and answer questions for the Noted! women in January, and it would have been great to hear her play live. And today I played and sang for a lovely group of older folk at the seniors dinner that happens weekly in town. My dear friend Sarah joined me to sing harmony and a solo of her own -- a great Jane Siberry piece she recorded for the Noted! project. And that was no small feat, since she ditched her truck on the way to Zurich to rehearse with me this morning (rolled it right on its side). After making sure she was okay, getting the truck towed for some small repairs and completing a police report, she had the officer drive her to the luncheon where we were singing. And then lended her beautiful voice to us all. Sarah, you're my hero for today.

It's a tough call, but I think my musical highlight of the week was recording some piano tracks with Glen at a church in Exeter that has great acoustics and a grand piano. Digital pianos and old acoustic pianos have their place, but there's something far more inviting and authentic about the sound of a grand piano that I really wanted to include for at least a few tracks on the album that Glen and I have been working away at. This kind of live recording came with a few extra challenges. In the middle of some of my best takes, the snow would slide off the roof or a transport would drive by the church, and we'd have to start again. Pretty amusing! In the end, I think we managed to get three good tracks that I can be happy with, which is what I had hoped for. I snapped a few shots of the church where we recorded, included the one above. Look closely and you can see two microphones positioned at the piano. A pretty inspiring place to play, I must say!

With the exception of the Noted! CD release concert on May 8 (tickets have just gone on sale at Ernie King Music in Goderich), I'm on the verge of a music maternity leave. As much as I love these opportunities, I'll be happy to hang my musician hat and just wear my mom hat for a while.

things maia said this week

At the dinner table, this has been a typical prayer of late:

Thank you for the food. Thank you for Oma and Opa. Thank you for mommy. Thank you for daddy. Thank you for puppy. Thank you for the tigers. Thank you for my shoes. Amen.

At the breakfast table:

This is crunchy cereal... I like that... it's yummy.

Then, randomly, to follow that:

I ask you a question. Did the little penguin fall down and bump his big head?

While eating an apple in the next room, and coughing a little as she chewed on the apple peel, she yelled this to put us at ease:

It's okay. I'm just choking!

Maia has also begun to read books 'by self!'. Today, she picked up the mostly empty notebook I use to track business mileage, and proceeded to read:

This is a book about Diego. (flip page)

Dora and Diego are our friends. (flip page)

Dora and Diego did it. (flip page)

Dora and Diego did it. (flip page)

Diego and Dora did it. (flip page)

Dora and Diego did it. (flip page)

Dora did it and Diego did it too. (flip page)

Dora and Diego did it. (flip page)

Once there was a mother. (flip page)

The end!

Sunday School at our house church has begun to make quite an impression on Miss Maia as well. This week she has begun to randomly yell out:

Jesus loves Maia so much and so much and SO MUCH!

Today she repeated that same sentence, and added with conviction:

The bible tells me so.

If you ask Maia whether the new baby will be a boy or a girl, she will invariably answer:

A boy.

But if you ask her if it will be a brother or a sister, she will invariably answer:

A sister.

A boy sister. Poor kid.

clapping shoes

I can't recall what got her started, but Maia has developed a keen interest in dancing... especially tap dancing. Without exception, she makes a daily inquiry to see "clapping shoes" when I'm sitting at the computer. Translation? YouTube videos of people tap dancing. And not just anyone tap dancing. They've got to be good, or she'll quickly state, "Not that one." She seems to have a particular bent for Irish or Celtic performers like Riverdance and Leahy. Good little Doherty.

Here is one of her absolute faves if you are keen to see what I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7ahc6vKabo

I can't tell you how entertaining it is when she straps on her own "clapping shoes" and imitates. (By the way, no matter how many times I refer to them as tap shoes, she still refers to them as clapping shoes. Rather endearing.)



I think it's time to see if there are dancing classes for three year olds being offered locally this fall....