34 Weeks

On Friday, I was officially 34 weeks along. It's been a fairly easy and predictable pregnancy, I feel like all the minor discomforts are just that...minor...considering that we are going to hopefully have another healthy beautiful baby boy in 6 short weeks. So, as uncomfortable as I am now, with dull aches and pains, shortness of breath, and my energy level going down again, I don't really feel like I can or should complain. God has blessed us with so much, it's hard to look at these last few weeks with any negativity.

I don't know how truly READY Mike and I are for another baby to take over our lives, though! We seem pretty laid back about everything this time around, I hope that our attitude only means that we're confident! The baby's room is not quite ready, but we have finished moving Tyler out and into his new "big boy" room with all the trimmings and fixings. He seems to love it! Mike did most of the painting, I mostly helped with the cutting in and the closet. We just got back a bunch of newborn and 0 - 3 month clothes of Tyler's that we loaned to my cousin, and I've been stocking up on diapers when I catch them on sale. The only thing I haven't done is pack my hospital bag! I'm planning to take 8 weeks off after the baby's born, and Tyler will continue to attend daycare, though just part time while I'm home. I think my Mom will be coming for a week, and Mike will be able to take a week off of work, too.

I already love the holidays, the time between Halloween and New Year's Day is so festive, but I think this Christmas will feel extra special, because our family will have grown and changed so much since the previous Christmas!

Saturday was Mike's and my 5-year wedding anniversary. We had decided not to get each other any gifts, in anticipation of having many more added costs in the next few months for the baby, but I tasked Mike with planning our evening out :) We celebrated on Friday night, and Mike's brother watched Tyler for us so we could go out. We had a great dinner and a really wonderful time together. I had been anticipating our date all week, and I was really excited at the idea of a true romantic date! I wrote a freaking novel in a card that I gave Mike, and we ended up exchanging gifts that evening anyway. They didn't exactly go with the traditional 5-year anniversary gift of wood, but we'll at least use them! It was a really fun evening, and everything went perfectly! Happy 5 years, Mike, my sweet! I'm looking forward to many, many more years together :)

Thoughtful

This afternoon, when Tyler and I got home after I picked him up from daycare, I was collecting all my things from the car after I had gotten him out of his carseat. I had my purse, lunchbag, the mail, a magazine, and three of Tyler's sweatshirts that had been left in the car earlier in the week in my arms. Tyler saw this, and said,"Mommy, I'll get your drink." So, he climbed in the front seat and got my water bottle out of the center console for me. Then he said,"You have lots of things in your hand, I'll hold your water." So sweet!!!

Mommy is a Princess

I was showing Tyler some old pictures, including ones from my sister's wedding 4 years ago. One picture was of just me and my sister, I was wearing my bridesmaid dress and she was in her wedding dress. Tyler pointed to me and said, "Mommy, you're a princess?" How freaking cute is that?? How wonderful is it that my son thinks I could have been a princess? God, I love that kid!

32 Months Old

Tyler, you are 32 months old today! It's hard to believe that you'll be 3 soon, because I can still so clearly remember when you were so small that you fit in the crook of my arm. Fortunately, you still like to snuggle with your Mommy. I know that can't last much longer, but I will relish the feeling of it as long as you'll let me. You are a talkative and outgoing little guy, now! You take almost no time to warm up to new children, and even strangers (which is fine when you're with us, but we need to start teaching you how to be safe!). You started in a new day-care (we call it school for you) earlier this month and made new friends on the first day! All the kids are your age and your new school is close to home, so we hope you'll get to see your friends outside of school, too. Maybe some of your friends will end up in your Kindergarten class :)

The first week you were there, your teacher talked to me and told me how smart you are! Daddy can pick you up from school sometimes, and he noticed that many children in your class don't speak as clearly or as much as you do. You pronounce "L", "R", and "S" very clearly, and can make "F" sounds for some words (but not for others…you will say "five" but not "four". When you say "four" it sounds like "dour").

You know to respect other children, even when they may not seem to respect you! Your little cousin hit you with a hard toy, but instead of hitting him back, you told him, "Stop it, I don't like that!" Maybe you also understood that he was smaller than you and didn't know any better?

You know so MANY words! Daddy and I are amazed every day when you use a new word (like "nervous" and "collapse"), and you use them correctly!! You have some phrases that you like to say often, also: You love telling us that things are "So silly!!" and you always laugh while you say it dramatically; when you want to tell us about your day, but can't remember everything, you say, "I want you to talk to me," when you want us to ask you questions about the things you did; and when you're hungry, you'll tell us, "My tummy's not full yet!"

Lately, you like to pretend there are "big, bad fish" everywhere! We know it stemmed from a book ("The Little Tadpole") that has a big, bad fish in it, but you seem to think they're everywhere now and that you need to get rid of them. You also like to pretend you, Mommy, or Daddy are stuck in mud so that we have to get a pretend rope and pull out whoever is stuck.

Your favorite toys are still your cars and trains. They go everywhere with us. Luckily, you LOVE reading books, too. I'll often find you in your room with a pile of books around you if you've been left alone for a few minutes.

You're also interested in many toys that are more advanced than your age. Lincoln Logs are fun, because Mommy and Daddy build you houses that your cars or little Lincoln Log people can go in and out of. You have a marble run that configures into many different designs, and you love putting the marbles through the system.

You also have your Mommy & Daddy's stubbornness (hard-headedness!). When you don't want to do something (like go to sleep) and we want you to, it's a battle of wills that lasts forever! Well, that's what it feels like to Mommy, sometimes! Hopefully, that stubbornness will help you in a positive way as an adult :)

Well, my almost-three-year-old sweet Tyler, you are the pride and joy of your Mommy and Daddy. You continue to amaze us every day just by being you. You are learning so much and can express yourself so well and we enjoy having conversations with you and singing songs with you (you even taught Mommy and Daddy the "Apple Song" that you learned at school:

Five little apples smiling at me!
I shook that tree as hard as I could,
Down came the apples.
Umm, they were good!)

So adorable! We can't wait to see what you'll show us next!

Love,

Mommy

Leave Me Alone!

We were trying to get Tyler to bed last night, he kept getting up and refused to stay in bed. So, Mike told him to sit in timeout until he was ready to get in his own bed. After some crying and whining, Tyler quieted down. Mike checked on him after he'd been quiet a minute or two and asked if he was ready to get in bed. Tyler said,"No, Daddy. Leave me alone!" I don't know where he got it from, but I guess it's a step up from "I don't want you!" which is what he usually says. I had been telling Tyler that he shouldn't say that ("I don't want you") because it's mean and hurts our feelings. Maybe he really listened and figured out something else to say instead?

Nervous?

Tyler was looking through a Thomas the Train book, which had Cranky the Crane shown on one page. The crane was holding a net full of watermelons and had a worried look on its face. I asked Tyler what was wrong with Cranky the Crane. Tyler replied, "He's nervous."
"Nervous? What is he nervous about?" I ask, thinking that Tyler must not really know what the word nervous means.
"He might drop the watermelons."
Crap! Okay, so maybe my 2-year-old knows what the word nervous means, after all!

26 Weeks

A little bragging

So, I picked up Tyler yesterday afternoon, after his first day at his new daycare. He was rather hungry...he usually says"My tummy's not full, Mommy!" which is the cutest thing to hear, but is quickly followed by whining and some crying. It's the first thing he said to me when I picked him up this afternoon. I luckily had a banana with me, and he was momentarily appeased for our short drive home. Mental note, must still bring snacks when I pick up Tyler.

When we got home, he told me he didn't like his new daycare and wanted to go back and see his friends at his old one. I asked him if he wanted to talk about his day, but he was still too hungry to want to talk! He drank a cup of milk and ate some applesauce, then was finally able to concentrate and talk to me. I wonder what he ate at school.

Anyway, Tyler quickly cheered up when we started reading books to him. He didn't seem to want to talk about his first day at his new daycare. I hope tomorrow will be better! This big change has made me realize that he's growing up right in front of me. Although he still loves trains, trucks, and cars, he plays with them so differently than he did when we first introduced him to them. There are storylines he follows...most are very similar to the Cars movie scenes (a movie he STILL loves) and names that he gives to each car he plays with. During the Olympics, he always named a car "USA" and other cars represented other countries. Afterwards, one car was "USA" and another was "Michael Phelps", THEN he named the rest of the cars other countries! Just this evening, he was playing in the bathtub with 3 cars, and he made one car hit another. The third car scolded the culprit car and put it in "timeout" with no toys so it could think about what it did! That car then had to apologize to the first car and then had to sit down and talk with the "mommy" car about what it did and why it was wrong to hit other cars.

Tyler has a soft side, too. If he thinks that he accidentally hurt you, he tries to kiss you where you hurt and says,"I sorry...I not mean to do that." He usually asks if you're okay if he thinks you're sad or upset!

Mike bought Tyler a little set of mini puzzles. Each puzzle is a picture that has a certain amount of one object shown, with the number on one side and the shape on the other. For instance, one card has a "5" and shows five party hats, and then has a picture of a triangle. The "5", the hats, and the triangle are each on different puzzle pieces. Tyler can put all of them together! He knows that a hexagon has 6 sides and doesn't need to separately count up to three objects before telling you how many there are (he can just look at them and tell you if there are 1, 2, or 3 cars, blocks, etc. in front of him)!

Big Day

What I thought was going to be a big deal turned out not being anything.  Today was Tyler’s first day at his new daycare/pre-school.  I don’t know if I should credit his personality, my preparing him for weeks that this day was coming, or just the fact that he’s a 2-year-old and can adjust to his environment for the easy drop-off we had this morning.  Anyway, like I was saying, what I thought was going to be a big deal turned out to be like any other day.  Tyler was previously attending a great in-home daycare near my office.  He’s been going there since he was 3 months old, when I returned to work from maternity leave.  He’s learned a lot and developed his personality from that environment (and we hope to be able to put his little brother there when the time comes, as well).  But, that in-home daycare is just for infants and toddlers, and we wanted to move Tyler to a daycare/pre-school closer to our house for a few reasons: 1) He’ll be playing with kids who he may end up going to kindergarten and elementary school with; 2) It will be close to home when I’m on maternity leave and Tyler can still attend part-time; 3) Mike (or our sister-in-law, in an emergency) can pick up Tyler if I can’t.  Tyler’s in a class with kids his own age, so they’ll help potty-train him, too!  I was anxious about dropping him off, but he went right in and made some friends before I finished talking to his teachers!  I gave him a big hug and kiss and he was off.  I don’t think he even noticed that I left.  I had a whole arsenal of things planned to do, in case he got upset or scared, but I didn’t have to do anything out of the ordinary.  As proud as I am of him and how quickly he became comfortable, it’s another sign of him growing up that I don’t think I was prepared to handle.  What am I going to do on his first day of kindergarten???!!  I don’t think that I’m normally an emotional person, but these pregnancy hormones are really kicking in, and all I wanted to do this morning is cry.  Tyler and I won’t have our talks in the car during our commute anymore.  I’m losing a whole hour per day of dedicated Tyler and Mommy time.  I knew that this day eventually had to come.  He couldn’t stay at his old daycare for much longer, anyway.  I wish I just had a little more time…but, don’t we all? 

Getting Uncomfortable

I had a check-up with my OB on Friday, and everything looks good...according to her! Although I'm only 25 weeks along, I feel like I did when I was 8 months pregnant with Tyler. I get surprised reactions when people see me and then find out I'm not due until mid-December. "Oh!" they usually say. But, the way they say it sounds more like, "Oh! I thought you were due mid-September!"

Honestly, though, I don't really care about how big I look or how far along I look. I care that I'm becoming more uncomfortable more often. I know I won't be able to bend over for much longer, and the weight of my boobs is slowly pulling me down into a posture associated with women much older than me who have osteoperosis and great-grandchildren.

On the positive side, our little guy is doing really well and is very active. I play music for him through my iPod and headphones on my belly every afternoon while I'm at work. He seems to enjoy that...He usually dances when he hears the music :)

Adventures in Potty Training

While trying to potty-train Tyler, we put his potty in the living room, so it would be easier for him to get to and he could sit on it while still reading his books and not be in the bathroom by himself. We have to constantly remind him to make sure his penis is pointed down into the potty. On Saturday, he was especially energetic and kept playing with himself while sitting on his potty. I told him to point his penis down into the potty and he responded with, "I can't, Mommy! It's too big!" Mike said, "That's not a bad thing!"

It's a...

BOY!! We're having a boy!! Here's Tyler telling everyone :)

Myrtle Beach

We went to Myrtle Beach, SC the other week for a vacation with my sister, her family, and my parents. The kids had a really great time, and it was nice to be able to just hang out and relax for a whole week! Tyler couldn't get enough of his cousin, Hannah. He would wake up each morning and ask me where she was. All he wanted to do was hang out with her...so freaking adorable! Here are some pictures from our fun week:

First, we went to Ripley's Aquarium:

There was a cool exhibit that allowed you to walk "through" the aquarium. We saw sharks, turtles, and lots of fish. Tyler's favorite part, of course, was seeing the sharks:

Our only family photo from the vacation:

There was a pool just outside our condo entrance, which we made good use of :) Tyler loves the water, now!

Here's my sister and her daughter, Hannah:
There was a putting green right behind our condo unit, too:

This is one of my favorite pictures from the week, Tyler and Hannah took a break from reading to say "Cheese!" for me:

We went to a paint-your-own-pottery place and made a few pieces. Tyler colored a tile, Mike and Tyler painted a plate together, and I made a cool Virginia Tech trivet. My sister and her husband also made a plate, a serving dish, and Hannah made a tile. The woman who ran it was really nice and even offerred to take this picture for us:

We went to the beach on a couple of mornings, too. The South Carolina beaches are apparently all free! The one we went to was in a national park, was very clean, and not crowded at all. We had a lot of fun doing our normal "dig a big hole and build a wall around it so water doesn't get in" ritual for playing in the sand.

Here are myself, my mom, Tyler, Hannah, and my sister chilling out on the beach:

We're there already??

The other night, I was giving Tyler a bath and he started playing with his penis. He was pushing it in and making it "all gone", then flicked it up and down with his hand! Eeek...anyway, I told him to stop playing with his penis because it looked like what he was doing would hurt. He said,"Tyler has a little penis," emphasizing the word "little" by saying it in a high-pitched voice. I agreed with him (he likes being little and Mommy and Daddy being big). Then he said,"Daddy has a BIG penis!" also emphasizing the word "big" by saying it in a deep and loud voice...as deep and loud as a 2-year-old voice can be. Again, I agreed with him (go Mike). Another several seconds pass, and I am eager to get him out of the tub and dry him off so he can get to bed. So, I tried to encourage him to hurry up and get out. Tyler yelled at me, very annoyed,"I don't WANT to get out! I'm playing with my penis!!"

Thunder and...

Tyler still LOVES the Disney movie Cars (where the main Car character is named Lightning McQueen). Lately, we've been having lots of rain and thunderstorms, and Tyler has a book about the weather that tells him lightning usually occurs during thunderstorms. Now, every time he hears thunder and notices that the sky is getting dark, he'll tell us it's stormy and we better get inside. He also tells us there will be thunder and McQueen :)

Five Little Monkeys

Tyler loves the song/story about the Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. He will say it over and over, starting at 5 and counting down to 1, then all over again. Here he is at breakfast, telling us all about the monkeys:



Happy Independence Day!!!

16 weeks

Feeling okay...getting a little bigger:

From BabyCenter.com, this is what's going on at 16 weeks:
Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

Bad Dreams...the beginning

Tyler woke up in the middle of the night last night crying and calling "I want my mommy!" I woke up and went to his room to check on him, and he was just crying and holding his blanket. I asked him if he had a bad dream and he said,"Mommy go away?" I told him of course I wasn't going away and that he just had a bad dream. So, I covered him back up with his blanket and rubbed his back and he fell back asleep pretty quickly.

In the morning, Tyler woke up in a pretty good mood, greeting me and then going to play with his trains. While I was getting him changed and dressed later, Mike walked in his room to say good morning. Unprompted, Tyler told him, "I had bad dream Mommy went bye bye." I couldn't believe he remembered it! I thought it was some fleeting thing, since he had gone back to sleep so quickly. Anyway, I told him that I would never, ever go away and I'd always be here for him. He responded with climbing on me and giving me a big grappling hug around my neck.

ABC's

I just love hearing Tyler's voice! I don't think that I ever get annoyed with him asking me something over and over...I really do enjoy hearing him talk and sing. This is a cute video of Ty in the bathtub singing the ABC song:

Scary Monsters (part 2)

For a while now, Tyler has been telling me there are "scary monsters" behind the trees (ALL the trees). Well, I started asking him what they looked like and at first he would say they were green with long legs or big noses, etc. Now he says they all look like boats! This morning there was a scary boat monster apparently behind a tree we passed on our way to daycare, and I asked Ty what the monster was doing. He said the monster was playing with trains. So we invited the monster over to our house to play trains later.