Here's a picture of Beth today. 18 months old and I finally scraped up enough hair to make a tiny little ponytail. You can hardly even see it in this picture, but it's there. Before she was born I was hoping she would get Eric's big brown eyes and thick, wavy hair. I got half my wish--those beautiful eyes. But sorry, kiddo, you got stuck with your mommy's thin, fine hair. So a few little wisps is all she's got.

This pic was taken before The Fall. We were outside this afternoon and she was having a blast. Running around, chasing the kitty, jumping in piles of dry leaves. She was also picking up things off the ground that interested her. Such as rocks. Plain little pieces of gravel, but fascinating to an 18 month old, I guess. So when she decided to go down the back steps, she couldn't hold on to the handrail as she normally does. She had a rock clutched in each fist. And when she started to trip, she couldn't catch herself with her hands, either. She still had her hands wrapped around those rocks. She didn't let go until I carried her inside, bleeding and crying, and pryed them out of her hands.

(Quite some time later, after everything was all better, I gave them to her again and she played with them for quite awhile until she dropped them behind the couch. I told her they're gone and we can't get them back, because I didn't feel like moving the couch, but she probably remembers seeing me move it to get something else that fell behind there this morning. What was it that I needed bad enough to move the couch for? I can't even remember.)

She got big nasty scrapes on her forehead and nose. The worst owies she's had so far, I think. I washed all the dirt out of them and put Neosporin on them and she'll heal just fine, I'm sure. It's just so sad to see the big bloody wounds on her sweet little face.

So I haven't blogged about my upcoming second child very much. Mainly because there's nothing to report. I am one of those fortunate people who have virtually no pregnancy symptoms, especially now that I am in the second trimester and the extreme tiredness is gone. I was reading "What to Expect when you're Expecting" today, about things I should be feeling in the fifth month, and the only symptom I have is lower abdominal pain. (Which the book says is from the ligaments stretching to accomodate my expanding uterus.)

Little Lucy is still in there, though, kicking more and more. Eric was even able to feel her making her presence known the other day. A few more months and we'll meet her in person.

It's funny how much less often I think about this pregnancy than I did my first one. I guess because I'm so busy dealing with the kid I currently have, I just don't sit around and ponder it as much. Also, since it's the second time around, I don't have as many questions as I did the first time, I guess. Before, I was reading my pregnancy books constantly, checking to find out how big the baby was, what new parts it was developing each week. I feel a little guily, almost, like I'm not giving the new baby as much consideration as I did Beth. I'm short-changing my second-born already! But it can't be helped. I know I really don't love her less. Maybe I'm just less obsessive. And maybe that's a good thing.