Today my baby turned two! Its hard to believe how quickly time can pass. Since I've been tearing up every time I even think of this day, I had expected it to be rough. I was surprised to discover that I am not overly sad, though. I thought about it most of the day, and this evening I realized why. I am not sad because I have no regrets. We have done the very best we could with Luna, and I think we have thoroughly enjoyed the baby years with her. She's turned into an amazing little person, and I am so incredibly proud to be her mama! I am too busy looking forward to watching her continue to grow and change to be sad about the days that are past.
We didn't do much today. I decorated the house, of course, because its hardly a birthday without decorations! We had special birthday pancakes and a special birthday lunch. We talked to my family via Skype, and in the afternoon G's mom came over for pie. Luna played with her Oma most of the afternoon. There were plenty of birthday presents to enjoy, starting last week when the box from Grandma arrived, continuing a few days ago when we gave her the outdoor climber/slide from us, and through today when she opened a few small things from us, tons of cards from the family back home, a package from her Auntie M and Uncle T, and a slew of nice gifts from her Oma. She's spoiled, I've accepted that. :)
Its been awhile since I posted... again. Here are the highlights, in no particular order:
1. I hurt my back. It kept hurting and hurting, so I finally had x-rays. They discovered it wasn't hurting because of the injury, exactly, but because the injury caused a flare-up of a pre-existing condition. I have something called osteoarthritis of the spine or degenerative disc disease. Its a degenerative condition, and without treatment can become quite debilitating. I am currently taking painkillers, but am trying to get into a physical therapy program to teach me exercises that can slow down the progression and make the disorder manageable (HUGE waiting list, grr!). I've been pretty miserable the past six weeks, and very physically limited. But I'll live, its nothing THAT serious. It will just take some time to learn to manage it.
2. I started level 1.2 of Dutch in January, and its going quite well so far, thank you. I continue to go twice a week. Many of my classmates from level one are in my class, but we have a new teacher. My understanding of the language has improved dramatically, and I can read relatively well. I still need to practice speaking more. Ugh.
3. We've been looking at schools for Luna. Yes, really! She starts school in November!! I had thought she'd start in September, but since she won't be two and a half until the end of that month, she has to wait until after the first vacation to begin. We've looked at two schools so far, and have two more to see. So far, the front runner is a Catholic school, much to our surprise. We hadn't intended to send her to a Catholic school, since we're, well, not Catholic. But its just a nicer school by far. We'll see how the next two compare. Luna has enjoyed the school visits, too! She loved playing with all the new toys!
Spring gave us a sneak preview last week, but its back to cold and grey these last couple of days. Luna has been quite a bit healthier, but she was sick yesterday (and still a bit today). Hopefully just a little inconsequential virus. The pediatrician has referred her to an ENT to explore the possibility of tubes in her ears, but to be honest, we're hoping we can put it off for awhile. So keep your fingers crossed she stays healthy! We need to take her for her first dentist visit soon, that will be fun!! :O Luna is chattering away in both English and in Dutch, learning new words so fast that we can't keep up and parroting anything and everything she hears. She has grown into a little girl seemingly overnight. Where has the time gone??
