Filling in the Gaps

Three stories I want to write about from the past.

The First:  Pregnancy Lunch
When I was in my first trimester with Madeline, I did NOT feel good.  I was so exhausted I could barely function, and though I never actually threw up, I felt nauseous and miserable most days.  On one particular day, I was outside with Riley and used all the energy I had in me to go for a slow, short walk around the block.  When we came back inside, Riley went upstairs to play and I passed out asleep in the Papasan chair.  I came to with Riley jiggling my arm saying he was hungry and asking if he could have lunch.  At this point, I had gone WAY too long without eating...like, maybe a whole hour or something extreme like that.  :)  I barely got myself into the kitchen and was trying to eat something in order to feel better.  Meanwhile, Riley fixed himself his own lunch.  When he came to the table I saw that he had a large cold bagel topped with butter and a few pickles on the side.  That is not a lunch.  But I didn't have the energy to care.  He ate it up like it was the best thing ever.  As he started to leave the table I mumbled, "Riley.  Don't you want something else?  An apple?  Some yogurt?"  He simply replied, "Nope!  I'm good," and trotted away.

The Second:  Sweet Dreams
As I was tucking Riley into bed one night when he was about 4-1/2, he started searching all around his bed and he kept saying, "Where's my umbuhli?"  Your what?!?  "My umbuhli."  He kept saying the same thing over and over again.  I had no idea what he was looking for, nor what he wanted.  That night passed.  The next night the same thing happens.  We again start looking around and Riley spots his Leap Frog book about Scout.  It is a book that you can use with a Tag Reader or just listen to music with.  Riley shouts, "My Umbuhli!"  Your what?!?  I said, "Riley, why did you call this your Umbuhli?" He pushed the button on the book and it said, "Five minutes of lullabies."  "See," he said, "my umbuhli!"

The Third:  Seeing Red
Throughout my pregnancy with Madeline, Noah asked all sorts of questions about babies.  He wanted to learn about how she was growing, whether she could see or hear while in my belly, why she had hiccups, etc.  He also got a kick out of hearing stories about himself as a baby.  During one discussion I mentioned to him that when babies are first born, they can't really see that far, and they like to look at black, white, or red.  He brought that concept up several times, but I didn't really think too much about it.  When Madeline was born, my mom was here with the boys.  They came to see her that day right after school.  When they showed up, everyone was wearing red shirts.  My mom said Noah was adamant that the three of them wear a red shirt because he knew babies loved red.  How sweet is that...