Way Back Whensday

I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I've done this.



This was taken at the beginning of March in 2008. It was really the first time A pet Mitten, and he pretty much hasn't stopped. Now, he loves to give her a hug and a kiss before going to bed, but the highlight of his day is when he is actually able to pet Catcher.

I told this story to someone yesterday, so it seems fitting to put it here again...

Despite trying every wives' tale out there to start labor, nothing at all got it going. What did, however, was Mitten having an accident. We think she fell out of the bathroom window, hitting her hind areas on the toilet on the way down. We noticed her having a serious limp on Friday afternoon, and when it hadn't gotten better by Saturday, we took her to the emergency vet. Things did not look good for our little Mitten Kitten. We left her there for observation overnight, and I went home and cried my eyes out. This is what started my labor on Sunday morning.

We asked the hospital to keep Mitten for us, since we were dealing with the birth of A and I was in the hospital that whole week. On Wednesday, we were told she would have to be locked up so she wouldn't jump or ruin carpets, and that we would have to manually extract her bladder and bowel movements. With a brand new baby, we figured this was something we would be unable to do, and that her quality of life would be terrible, considering being in the window is one of her favorite things to do. Wednesday night, we made the decision.

On Thursday, we got the call that she was up and walking around, and that she was using the litter box! Although she still limps and cannot control her tail, she is doing wonderfully--she is still able to get herself into windows (especially with the recent addition of a bay window).

So, I say that Mitten and A are linked because they gave each other life. If Mitten hadn't gotten hurt, who knows if/when A would have finally decided to come out, and if I hadn't been in the hospital with A, who knows how long we would have allowed Mitten to stay in the hospital.

She is so unbelievably patient with him, andI really can't believe that she lets him actually give her hugs and kisses.

Sweetie

And, before this turns into an all pregnancy, all the time blog, here's little man before school this morning. He knew my routine was different today, and just wanted to play, watch Dumbo, and cuddle. I wish I could've said yes!

Comparing pregnancies

The other day, M asked me how this pregnancy compares to my pregnancy with A.


First of all, I'm better at taking these belly pictures. And my hair is longer.

Right now, I'm fighting a cold, and I even decided to take a sick day today. It's my first sick day, other than for my doctor's appointment a few weeks ago. With A, I caught everything that came through my school, and even had bronchitis in January. This really surprises me, since I know have a child in daycare and so am exposed to far more ickies.

The first notable difference was in my morning sickness. With A, I would be sick three times a day, but fine for the rest of the day. This time, I was nauseous all day but was actually sick maybe one time a day.

Obviously, I showed a bit earlier this time around, but I feel like I'm actually smaller than I remember being with A.

My rear end has grown this time around; early this pregnancy, I was trying to wear regular jeans with the button open, but couldn't get them up past my hips and tush. Didn't have that problem with A.

I don't really recall having big time cravings with A, but rather I had aversions, especially early in pregnancy. This time, I've definitely had cravings, especially for Italian and Mexican food. Oh, and lobster and pork roll.

I've definitely been MUCH more tired this pregnancy. Lately, I've taken to falling asleep on the couch while cuddling with A, and staying asleep until around 8, then going to bed and sleeping all night. There are other explanations besides pregnancy, since life is so very different than it was in 2007--not only do I now have a toddler, but my teaching responsibilities are much greater and I teach substantially more students than I did then.

That's all I can think of right now!

33 week belly

Swimming...

Two weeks ago, M came along to swimming class to take some pictures (which I don't think I've uploaded yet...). We couldn't go last week, but made our triumphant return this week. A continues to only jump in if he is holding my thumbs. I did have him jump in so that he went under, since he screams and yells when I dunk him, only to have no screams and no yells... hmmmm....
In addition, he screamed and yelled when I let go of him when he was swimming with the noodle when M came... today, he ASKED to do it himself, and he did GREAT! He was really proud of himself, but also tired of it quicker than if I had been holding him (and doing the work...hmmm....)

We came home and are both all tuckered out. I haven't been able to do too much since getting home, and A has been asleep since we got home.

El Bambino must've been enjoying the water, because limbs were flying out everywhere... OUCH!

Tour and the ob...

We went for our hospital tour on Saturday, and it was wonderful. I really like the hospital; it's so much smaller than RWJ and has a much homier feel. In addition, one of my big concerns was the issue of NJ hospitals not allowing anyone under 18 due to H1N1... they never did that, so don't anticipate doing that this spring! YAY!

It looks like it's about 45 minutes from home, and we've found lots of alternate routes should the time come at rush hour.

Yesterday, we had to go back to the hospital for an appointment with an ob. Since a midwife will be delivering the baby, it is necessary to have a backup OB in case there are complications or if an emergency c section is required. I had to meet with their backup OB, and of course, scheduling made it so I had to see the doctor my midwives had advised me not to see. We had a little bit of difficulty finding the place we were supposed to go, and I was very happy when, upon landing in the maternity ward, a nurse actually walked us to where we needed to go. Already quite a different atmosphere than RWJ.

First, we had an ultrasound, which was A's very first time seeing his baby bro/sis. He was excited to see the "fireworks"--I guess on their screen, things were all lit up to show the tech various things. No face shot, though.

Then we met with Doctor Snooze, who not only gave us a history of c-section, VBAC, and malpractice, but also talked in the most monotone voice you've ever heard. He indicated that according to the ultrasound, baby is at about the 50th percentile, so SHOULD be smaller than A. That said, he has none of my old records and can't track growth from the previous ultrasounds. Whatever, Doctor Snooze. Anyway, somewhere in between my drooping eyes and M's "Oh My GOD," he told us that we're looking at potentially a 5% rupture possibility. Pretty damn good odds, as far as I'm concerned.

Today, we have all been home due to another 9" of snow. A helped M shovel, and returned telling me about seeing the mail truck and helping Daddy. Poor M, who was supposed to be on vacation this week, has severely had his plan for the week interrupted due to these two days of snow. But, we've had a great time together, and wahoo for a 4 day weekend!

Cha Cha Cha

Long time, no post. I, for one, feel enormous and am starting to wonder how wise it was to continue working till April.




This morning, A and I had a very interesting conversation. While eating our breakfasts, he turned to me and said, "Are you going to Delaware?" I looked at him with a totally flabbergasted expression, because, although he's been to The Diamond State a few times, where on earth did he come up with Delaware??? He asked again, so I said, "No, not any time soon. Are YOU going to Delaware?" His reply? "Yup. I'm taking a choo choo train. Mommy and Daddy too big to go."

Soon after, he started the chant that I got to him to repeat in the video above.

The conversations of 2 year olds.

There is a little boy, one week older than A, who is at daycare before we are. A is always excited to see him (they've been in class together since A started), and greets him. This morning, M said, "Hi, A! Do you have boogers?" I kid you not. A's response? "No, no boogers."

Speaking of the ramblings of 2 year olds, we went to the 3rd birthday party of one of the kids in A's class--A is one of the youngest in the group. I was really uncomfortable with the idea, but this is a kid A talks about ALL. THE. TIME. so we went. I was so thrilled when we pulled up and I recognized several cars--it was an all daycare party! YAY! A had a ton of fun playing at J's house, and has pretty much not stopped talking about it.

Speaking of being uncomfortable.... my achin'...everything. Last night, I was laying on the couch and felt really uncomfortable. I moved my shirt and saw this enormous weird looking bulge on the right side. Everything seems to be on the right side!

Did I mention the last midwife appointment? A went with me again, and was much more easy going about being there. He played with her measuring tape the entire time. She told me the baby is already head down. She asked if I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions, and I said, no I don't think so. She then talked about how they are generally felt more by second timers than first. As she was examining the belly, she said, "Oh! There's a B-H now!" I said, "I thought that was just movement. Huh!" and ever since, it seems I have about 10 of them a day. As far as the belly goes, it's measuring about a week ahead of EDD, which corresponds with the due date based on cycle length, but she said these measurements are typically 1 or 2 weeks in either direction (so, what's the point, I wonder?) It was much nicer drinking orange juice at a regular appointment than drinking the nasty orange drink at a lab.

A continues to love going to Devils games with Daddy and Bepah. Sadly, fencing has come into conflict with our plans next week to go to a Flyers game. This makes me sad. It's a great bargaining technique, since he'll do pretty much anything to get to go to a Devil's game!

Sick Boot

As I was getting ready to leave work yesterday, I got a phone call from daycare. This, I thought, is never a good sign. Sure enough, A had gotten sick. When I picked him up, he had thrown up 3 times since waking from his nap (so that was probably within 2 hours). As soon as I put him in the carseat, again... and then probably 3 or 4 more times when we got home. Luckily for us all, he went to sleep for the night with no problems.

He stayed home today with M. He's better, but still was sick one time and the diapers have apparently not been pleasant.

The good news is that he is in pretty good spirits after having that extra time to rest and relax. He's playing with his toys and acting pretty normal...except for his not really eating or drinking much of anything.

We haven't yet decided if he's going to stay home for another day or not...

Belly crisis

Today's belly shot was pretty difficult--the results were either blurry or I am holding my head too high and look weird.

The belly is going straight out, although I do think it's a little bit wider than it was with A. I had a mini hormonal crisis last night, as we were getting ready to go out (!!) and I could find absolutely nothing to wear. Everything makes me feel so frumpy and yuck.

Anyway, speaking of our night out, Bepah and C came over last night to hang out with A while we met up with some friends. We had a great time, and A was introduced to a new movie "The Dinosaur movie," aka Ice Age. Probably not really toddler appropriate, but he seems to really enjoy it. So, A has had a rough weekend, sleep wise. The Boys went to a Devils game on Friday, and A didn't take much of a nap until they were nearly home so he didn't get to sleep until nearly 11pm. He was quite a crank on Saturday... I don't think he got a very good nap yesterday either. Then he stayed up an hour late watching Ice Age, and his nap was cut short today when Daddy came home. Luckily, he's in a great mood nonetheless today, but we got some great cuddle time this morning:

And finally, we had a great time at swimming class today!

For your listening pleasure

Last night, we went out to dinner with Aunt J and Uncle T. On the ride home, A was adamant that it was NOT bedtime, so M and A sang songs the whole way home. Their rendition of this ditty was too funny; I'm glad I caught it on video.

Phonics for a 2 year old? Not so much.

A loves to point out the R's (R for Rutgers, as he likes to exclaim!) on our drive. So, today I decided to ask, "can you think of any other words that start with Rrrrr?" I'm not sure what his first response was, but I asked, "Did you say 'chicken'?" and he said yes. "Ok, what about 'red'? Does that start with Rrrr?" "Noo!" "Are you sure? I think it's Rrrred!" "No, Mommy, it's Rrrrwhite!"

Hm...

Nonetheless, we still went through some R words, and as I'm going I'm realizing that R probably wasn't the best sound to start with.

He then asked if he could go to the beach, because he wants to build sandcastles with Grampy.

Swimming

I didn't realize there wasn't swimming last Sunday, due to the end of the session, so I took A as a payback on Friday after school. It was so much fun to just have fun in the pool. He was very happy just jumping in again and again. He was jumping in without holding my hands, which was a big step forward.

Today we went to swimming class for the first time in the new session. I spoke with the teacher about moving him to the next level, since I noticed a class for 3 year olds that DOESN'T involve the parents (which, of course, only meets while I am at work). She said since he still is pretty clingy to me in the pool, he probably isn't ready for it. That will be something that might just be perfect for him when I am on leave, though.

Today, he was still happy to jump into the pool, but he refused to do it if he wasn't holding onto my hands. Not sure what the difference was, but it was there.

Despite being probably the youngest kid in the class, he's the one who participates the most and sings all the songs. Maybe it's because he's been taking these classes and doing these songs for so long now, but the other kids don't really sing along at all and some of them were downright shy about doing some of the activities.

Take a guess.

New baby pool! Think you know when or whether it will be pink or blue?

First midwife visit

I went to my first visit with the midwife on Thursday. Such a different experience from going to my traditional ob. Due to the distance of the appointment and M's having a fencing meet, I had to bring A along with me. Although the extra running around was a little stressful, we both had a great time together. He was able to check out the equipment, measure my tummy, and help find the baby's heartbeat. In addition, they had all kinds of neato toys he could play with during the appointment. Everything is looking great for both Mommy and Baby.

In 2 weeks, I have to go in for the glucose test, which is universally known as disgusting. This time around, it won't be so disgusting for me, since I can drink orange juice instead of the disgusting drink, and don't have to go to a lab center to do it either. YAY!

At this appointment, the midwives had my report from my c section, and it turns out I have a single layer closure, as opposed to a double layer. This raises my risks from 1% to 2%--double, but the midwife says still not a very high risk. She claims that I am a good candidate to try for VBAC, though, "because I am a woman," which is reassuring. This practice really tries to get those VBAC rates up.

A is starting to get used to the idea of a brother or sister, although I don't know how much he knows what that means. He has felt the baby moving in my tummy, and often gives my tummy kisses. It's very sweet, and I know he's going to be such a great helper and this baby will be lucky to have such a great big brother!!

My son, the charmer.

A is well loved at daycare. It doesn't seem like he's really a troublemaker, so they like him. They call him so cute and so sweet, and I've gotten him in the habit of saying goodbye to his friends and giving his teachers a hug. Even the teachers he no longer (and in some cases, never!) has get hugs as he leaves. So, they love him.

Today, he was going around saying bye to his friends and one of the people he wanted to say bye to was Reagan, a very pretty and much taller, girl. He went over and gave his lean in face hug but she was saying bye to someone else who was leaving. She then came over to him, gave him a hug AND a kiss!! A big ole smooch!

Vacation

I was just having a conversation with A about Lightning McQueen going to California. I asked him if he wanted to go to California, said I would love to go because we could be warm and play on the beach. We then started talking about how much we like the beach and how much we want to go swimming. I started talking about how nice a vacation would be, but alas, Mommy and Daddy don't have any money.

A said, "I have money!"
I said, "Where is your money?"
A said, "On my bed!" (he plays with it putting it in his bank while I get ready in the morning, and it never got cleaned up from Friday--and it's on the extra bed in his room)
I said, "Well, that's not quite enough for us to go on vacation, but that's very generous of you to offer your money for us to go on vacation!"

Belly Belly

25 weeks, 2010


25 weeks, 2007


Things aren't fitting already. I've had to retire a few pairs of work pants (in my defense, they don't have the stretchy belly; just an elastic waistband).

I also had a follow up ultrasound on Friday. This was to check the cyst in the brain. The ultrasound doctor (same who saw us at 20 weeks) was surprised I was in so soon, saying that these usually aren't resolved so fast and they usually wait until closer to 30 weeks. Nonetheless, everything is resolved and things look good.



Unfortunately, it looks like we won't be having a fetal EKG this time around. They have switched these from the maternal/fetal medicine department (where I had it with A and where I have my ultrasounds) to cardiology. Cardiology would ONLY schedule my appointment for 10:30. Very helpful.

As I uploaded that ultrasound picture, A pointed to it and said, "That's my baby brother or sister!"

December 27/28 with the D's

J & T stayed the night with us on Sunday so we could get a nice early start for our trip to the big city on Monday morning. We took the train in, went to Rockefeller Center, the World of Disney, went to lunch at the Mean Jester, went back to FAO Schwartz (ran into a friend there; amazing! I knew we should have gone to Serendipity!), then tried to hit the M&M's store without success (we had to take that last train before rush hour). Along the way, we stopped by Columbus Circle.

A had a great time, despite the wind and cold. He loved the Disney store, and probably could have spent another hour or two in FAO Schwartz (way too crowded, alas).

On our way into town, we took a double decker train--a first for all of us. It was really neat, and A was enthralled by it too.

Here's the slideshow!

December 26 with the Z's

A little bit of a different slideshow; hope you enjoy!

Photos, Christmas Day

Christmas

Christmas was a huge success around here. A was so well behaved in church (hooray for finally finding an 8am Mass!!), several people approached me to tell me how well behaved he was. YAY!

As for the day itself, we had a lot of fun with all the family, food, and presents. Although A was very excited to open presents, we were pleasantly surprised that he wanted to play with each one (although he definitely has his favorites) rather than just going through the process of opening packages, amassing more toys. He was very excited to see all his grandparents, and Mom Mom too.

The day after Christmas, we went to the Z's house for more celebrating. A and R were so happy to play with one another, and they even went to sleep in the same bed. Awwww.

The day after that, Aunt J and Uncle T came to visit so we could all go into NYC for the day on Monday. He was so happy to see them too! We went out to dinner, and A got to eat quesadillas. He loved them, and loved eating like a big boy too.

We had a great, although very windy, day in Manhattan. We walked around (and around, since we backtracked at least twice), saw some things, and ate some food. Of course, A was so happy to take the train--as soon as he saw one, he said he wanted to sit on it. He fell asleep as we walked around, and woke up around the time we were all eating lunch. For some reason, he refuses to wear gloves, and I really wished we had brought some blankets or had a Bundle Me. Alas, we didn't, and things turned out ok...

Happy holidays, and Happy New Year too!

Belly

Sans makeup.



For giggles, 25 weeks with A:

Snow!

Last night, we had our first real snow of the season. We just got in from outside. I'm so proud of A's snow outfit, since not only does it all match (except the gloves--the matching ones are WAY too big) despite being bought at all different times, but I got everything on deep discount (clearance or sale on top of coupon) or consignment. Sweet!

My son, who has thus far refused his gloves and hat (saying, "No hat, I wear hood"), wore his hat and gloves. Mommy and Daddy have started to get smart, and started last night with "Do you want to play in the snow tomorrow? Well then you have to wear your hat and gloves!" He was actually EXCITED to put them on today, same for his snow pants, which I couldn't even get on him to try on previously.

He liked the snow, and wanted to build a snowman...unfortunately, this snow isn't right for it, but was not at all a fan of the snowblower. He wanted to go by Daddy, but didn't like the snow being thrown. Speaking of which, our snowblower wouldn't start this morning, but luckily our neighbor is wonderful and loaned us his. I had picked up some kids' gardening tools from freecycle, and had the brilliant brainstorm of giving them to A to play with--a big hit. He helped me shovel the walkway with his shovel!

I tried to get A on my old Flexible Flyer, but the sled was just too heavy for this light snow. Maybe it will work when he is bigger and we can take him to the big sledding hill over at Rutgers where it will be packed more...

He didn't last a really long time, though, which was good because it was right about the same time my cheap snow boots had gotten my toes good and numb, but not TOO numb.



Pictures coming soon!

Swimming!

At swimming class yesterday, we reached a few new milestones. First, A got to pick the songs we sang. He was very interested in singing certain songs, and told the teacher so. Next, he is now a BIG fan of JUMPING into the pool. He's still timid about doing it, especially from a standing position, but said YEAH! every time I asked if he wanted to jump in. It's funny when I think back on how upset he would get when he would get splashed, and now he just giggles. Next, the teacher had everyone go for a "big swim," where the kids take either a noodle or a barbell to kick the length of the pool. Since he wears a bubble, I decided to let go and see what happened. Sure enough, A kept on going, but got mad at me when I tried to show him how to kick from the hips rather than from the legs.

Thunk thunk...

I'm getting kicked from the inside. It's especially interesting when one child is kicking me from inside and the other is going to town outside. I'm not yet at the point where you can see my belly ripple, but definitely at the feel the thunking from the outside point.

We had the ultrasound on Friday, and things went pretty well. The tech said, "look at how CUTE your baby is!!" to which I replied, "how cute for an ALIEN?" Mean Mommy.

They did find a little thing of concern in baby's brain; that's right, freak out Mommy spot of all places to pick. I can't even remember what it's called, but there's a part of the brain responsible for producing fluid that sometimes creates a...pocket of fluid. She reassured me that, due to the 12 week nuchal test, our chances of Downs is something like 1:10,000 but it does require another ultrasound in a few months to ensure it's been resolved. Add this to the fetal EKG we'll have in 2-3 weeks, and this baby will be at 4 ultrasounds.

We, unfortunately, did not reach a decision on names before M found out gender, so now the slope is a little trickier. Is an alliterative name too... superhero? What about "matching" names... how would the two of you reading this know if I was talking about A or A?

This weekend, we went to an annual Christmas party, and how much of a change A has had since we started taking him. At four months, we stayed for about 20 minutes before his screaming meant we had to go home. At 1 year four months, he slept just dandy in a pack n play in a bedroom, and at 2 years four months, he slept right on a regular bed, without any rails. This year, he was a hit and really enjoyed gambling and drinking...err, playing with the gambling games (craps dice and roulette were favorites...just like Mommy!) and sipping his juice. As always, he was thrilled to see Grampy and Grammi and Olivia. The highlight of his weekend, however, was his new toy; S & J gave him a firetruck. He loves this thing!!




I'm debating what to do about the big guy in the red suit this year. A freaks at the mention of his name, yet loves looking at images of Santa. So many people I know with kids his age had a lot of success with it this year, despite horrific experiences last.

I'm in love.

Spent some time today with M's extended family, and Bepah bought lunch at a kosher deli. In the spread he got was a jar of three types of pickles--Kirby (ew), "semi sour," and "sour." I was in love with the vinegary, garlicky sour pickle. It was wonderful.

Sick

I've been fighting off something for almost a week now (sore throat, constant sneezing, etc) but it seems to have hit me full force today. Having spent much of the morning sleeping, the only remedy we could find that seemed ok was Tylenol Cold (nighttime), which I'm not even positive is ok. So, this stuff just knocked me out, and here it is, 11:00, and I've achieved nothing on my list.

So, this is how I get to spend our time off/weekend. I can never figure out whether it's better to be sick during the week (which can be so awful, not getting the chance to sleep in and really recover, being exposed to even more germs) or to be sick on a weekend/day off (extra sleep, no real stress/pressure, but then, it's your OWN time).

At least I feel less sinus pressure and less headachy. I also think that once the sleep medicine wears off, maybe I'll be able to get something done.

Please vote for A!

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THANKS!

Hi,

I just entered my child in the "Parenting - Baby and Child Model Search contest" and we need your vote to help us win!

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Please vote for A!

Hi,

I just entered my child in the "Parenting - Baby and Child Model Search contest" and we need your vote to help us win!

You can view my entry and vote for me here!

Thanks and wish me luck!

Commonly used words

Wordle.net is responsible for this nifty little thing. It's funny how it's changed when I made it last, in January 2009!

Stuff

A is very much influenced by what he sees and does at school. Today, he picked up a marker and starting making shooting noises. M said he saw this happen on the playground; a boy who is a little bit older did it, was scolded by the teacher, but it seems as though A has learned it too.

Then there's the famous "Don't talk to me," which A said to me one morning with a growl. He then said, "Don't say that word!" (I have no idea what the word was!)

As for #2, movement is getting stronger, and this week, can be felt on the OUTSIDE (occasionally).

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

Imagination, stories, and other tales

A has come to love the movie Cars so much (he tells us it's his favorite), it has worked its way into his imaginative play. If you aren't familiar with the movie, this is Lightning McQueen:



And this is the truck who takes him where he needs to go, Mack:



A has a Matchbox race car that is blue and red that he calls Lightning McQueen.

And, he is hauled around by "Mack," last year's Hess truck:




Not sure why, but I started singing "Yellow Submarine" to A this morning while changing his diaper. He then asked to hear the Submarine Song, and has been asking for it all day.

We then read Maurice Sendak's In the Night Kitchen. There's a section in which they chant, "Milk in the Batter, Milk in the Batter!" and so A was looking through the book chanting "Milk in the Batter, Milk in the Batter! Yellow Submarine!!"

Another story

The other day, A said to me, "...all night long!" So, I started singing Lionel Richie.




He responded with, "Mommy, sing! Sing Lightning McQueen song!"
Ok. So, I sing this, which is the "Lightning McQueen Song"...


At the chorus, I realized the lyric is, "If you're going my way, I wanna drive it all night long."

Ah, my son and his obsession.
Strangely enough, we've reached a point where he no longer wants to wear his Cars hat. After wearing his yellow hat or his Cars hat every day for weeks, he no longer wants to wear it even when I offer... like yesterday, which was a TERRIBLE hair day. Alas.

Funny guy

A few funny stories this week.

Up first, my 2 year old locked me out of the house yesterday. I was in the garage, putting my school stuff in the car. He came out with me, then went back in. Despite my saying, "Don't close the door, A," he did. I then heard him lock the deadbolt, which I didn't even think he could reach. Turns out he can. It also turns out the rest of the house was locked, and my keys were in the house. We also have no key to unlock that door. SOMEHOW, I got him to unlock the deadbolt, and wasn't even late to work.

Also yesterday, my son decided to wake when I was about halfway through my shower... and after Daddy had left for the day. He came into the bathroom, cried when I told him Daddy had left for work, and left the room. I called to him to come back in and play with his (bath) toys, to no avail. I quickly finished up my shower and went to find him... I discovered A on the stairs. With a banana in his hand. Apparently, coming back UP. He had gone downstairs, pulled his stool over to the banana spot, pulled a banana off the bunch, and then came back upstairs.

I had another funny story, but at this time can't remember it.

The Aquarium!

We went to the aquarium in Camden today with Grampy and Grammi. After taking 333 pictures, here are the best of what I got...





And, since that posted so small, click here to see the slideshow larger.

Pumpkin Picking Pictures

Our pumpkin picking pictures. I didn't take out the bad ones, it was hard enough adding all of these to photobucket.

A bit delayed

A little late, but here's the ultra sound picture at 12 weeks on October 8, 2009!

We were just on our way home from voting when A started to say, "Go Mets!" then turned it into this:

SME

My friend from college took several pictures of A. You can see her story about how much of a ham he was on her blog, but here's the picture she shared! Go here for her blog!

Imagination.

It seems our son has discovered imaginative play. Today, he was reenacting the Cars movie, using his Hess truck (Mac) and red race car (Lightning McQueen). He even wanted to take "Mac" with us for our errands. He was playing with something this afternoon and said, "Bye bye, Thomas!"

Yesterday, we did not go trick or treating at all. Instead, we played in the rain and mud at the University of Delaware's homecoming game. The team lost. The band rocked. The alumni band was REALLY BIG!! A had a great time, and was the PERFECT CHILD ALL DAY (once we left the house, that is). He took about a 30 minute nap on the car ride home, and ultimately fell asleep during post game sometime. He was a little charmer, and did a great job yelling "Go Hens!" and "Blooooooooo Hens!" He had a great time pointing out that "they're running!" too.


In the parking lot after the game, the drum line came over to where we were and A got to see them drum. He was in awe, fascinated, and terrified, all at the same time.


A's first tailgate experience!




Having a blast in the drizzle and with the railing... more of these to follow.




The Band.


Some did not make it to postgame.



Running on a great big football field! (This is back to before the game)



Anticipation.... (Actually, I think he's talking with Aunt Jen here). Due to the way we were seated, A refused to allow our customary family photo.



A Puddle! Oh, boy!!



Ham!



From the field; In my Life!



Another puddle, OH BOY!




No longer at all shy with Mr. Puddle.






Maybe I do, maybe I don't, need to say that my son was wet from the bottoms of his feet to at least his knees. He, of course, had not a care in the world and would have happily left his socks, shoes, and jeans on. We nonetheless stripped him down to his diaper and took him promptly to Kmart for some quick new clothes.

In all, a fun day at the game was had by all!

Pumpkin Picking

Yesterday, A and I went to a farm in Hillsborough to pick pumpkins. We took a tractor ride, ran around in a hay maze, and even saw someone in a hot air balloon... as well as picked out pumpkins!

As far as pictures... they're available, but blogger is giving me issues... another time.

Funny morning

This morning, A came out of his room, and is typical, threw a tantrum on the hall floor. Needing to get myself ready, I let him go to town and continued doing my thing. I heard silence, and so went into the hall to find him admiring the old space heater we have in the hall. He asked me something about it--can't remember what--and went about his merry way. I came back a few minutes later to find he had switched that space heater with the one in his room... silly.

He then came into the bedroom, and asked to put his blanket on the bed. I helped him do that, and then he asked to go up on the bed. He had already asked for his "football game," so I put A, along with the football, on the bed. He then curled up, football cuddled, with his head on the kiki and the thumb in the mouth, to be bop to the classic rock station on the clock radio.

Meanwhile, I just came home from the world's longest doctor's appointment (3:45 appointment, walked out the door at 5:20, saw the doctor for all of 10 minutes). Things look good, not that they really look at anything at these appointments, but heard the heartbeat! It is good, and 147 bpm!

Picture People, take 2...

We went to Picture People again yesterday, this time with A alone. This time, we brought a LOT a LOT a LOT of props. What a difference... and wait till you see the best (and yet worst) prop I found.

We had a really tough time picking this time, but did manage to bring it down to 3!

Here ya go!

As an aside, I'd LOVE to tell you we posed A with that stool, but we didn't. He saw it, he grabbed and dragged it, and he even posed himself with his foot on the stool.

Morning fun.

This morning, A decided he wanted waffles for breakfast. I don't usually feed him breakfast, so this was a surprise. He ate them as I watched CNN, and Mitten joined in the fun.

At some point, A started saying, "Go ahead, Mitten," although I forget what he wanted her to go ahead. I couldn't get him to say it again, of course, once I got the phone pointed and ready, but I figured it was cute and I haven't posted anything interesting in awhile.

What's new

Not a whole lot is new around here... A continues to wake up sometime before 6. It seems that M's telling him a few nights ago to "Get back to sleep!" worked as far as the middle of the night wakings, but he hears M getting ready and gets up and at em. Yesterday, this resulted in a VERY sleepy boy waking as Daddy came out of the shower (that's right... before 5:30am), watching Cars, screaming when Mommy tried to turn OFF Cars, and a difficult time parting from Kiki and his thumb at school.

As far as new CAN DOs, he can now identify letters. He has letter sheets, and has started pointing out letters of his choice as well as what we ask him to identify too. The sheets also have numbers, which sometimes trip him up, but overall we're pretty impressed anyway!

He seems to come out with a new phrase every day, the latest is asking which of our cars is broken.

As for the OTHER one,

Welcome to the second trimester! This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb. Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him -- a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb. In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches -- about the size of a lemon -- and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces.

Pictures

We went to Picture People the other day, and took Best Bud with us. Here's the results of a not very successful photo shoot:
Link

Funny

My guy is funny these days. Some mornings are VERY difficult, as he screams and thrashes as I try to dress him or put on his coat. However, the other morning, he was simply a joy, and had me cracking up.

First, I'm changing his diaper when he said "Cream on it." Thinking he meant milk or something, I asked what do you mean, to which he replied, "Cream on my butt."

Then, he was in my bathroom with me as I put on my makeup, and grabbed the blusher brush... he used it to brush his hair. "No, Alex, it goes like this:..." and I put on my blush, complete with a little "dee dee dee" as I brushed. I put down my brush, and he did the same on his face, complete with a little "dee dee dee" as he brushed.

A's first hockey game

We, along with Bepah and Colleen, took A to his first hockey game last night. We saw the Flyers WIN (YEAH!) over the Devils.


Cell phone self portrait.





Someone somewhere gave A a balloon hat. He looked funny in it, but wasn't very enthusiastic.


A did so so well at the game, despite the bedtime start time! He was so enthusiastic about the game, all the lights, the action, etc, etc etc.

He kept yelling, "Run!" and "Go Mets!"

I have to say, it's way more fun to be a Flyers fan at a Devils game than a Devils fan at a Devils game. M and Bepah walked around in their jerseys and no one said a word to them, but everywhere I went, people cheered at me and my jersey. Even a Newark cop said, "You're raising him a Flyers fan, right??"

After every period, we took A for a walk to stretch and get a change of scene. At one point, we walked around the arena and some guy walking the other way put his hand on A's head. Weird, right?

We were super lucky in that the two seats next to us were empty for most of the game, so A got his own seat. That made him really happy and made it much easier for us.

All in all, a great night. It's reassuring to know A enjoyed it so much that we can bring him back again...even for a 7pm start time!