We took R to our most recent appointment at the birth center, which was not something we were really planning on doing, but in retrospect, it was an *AWESOME* idea, especially now that the pregnancy is well-established.
She loved looking at the pictures on the wall-- there are several posters of the pregnant lady cut in half-- you know, the kind where you can see how big the baby is at different points in the pregnancy, as well as how squished all of the internal organs are (it's really striking, the difference pre-pregnancy and at 8-9 months pregnant). Several times she informed the midwife that there was a baby up there.
But the best part was when the midwife listened to the baby's heartbeat through the doppler. It crackled a lot at first as she was trying to get the right spot. The baby was moving around a lot and as soon as we heard the heartbeat, it would pull away again and we would hear the static. Whenever we heard a little bit of the heartbeat we would tell R, "do you hear the baby?" "That's the baby's heart beating!" etc.
Well, in the car on the way home from the office, we were talking with R about meeting the midwife and listening to the baby. She called the doppler the midwife's "secret." We asked her what the baby's heartbeat sounded like and she goes "kkkrrrrcchhh!" A fairly good imitation of the crackly static sound the monitor made for the most part. Since then on more than one occasion we have heard her say things like, "baby goes kkkrrrrcchhh!" Quite funny.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Phone Calls
R found my cell phone this morning and proceeded to make this exact phone call to Grammie & Grampie, Uncle A and Aunt M, and GiGi and PopPop:
Hello? (pause)
Are you at home? (pause)
Mommy! say hello to X and Y! Mommy!
(Mommy says hello X and Y.)
(R presses random button on phone.)
Bye bye!
Hello? (pause)
Are you at home? (pause)
Mommy! say hello to X and Y! Mommy!
(Mommy says hello X and Y.)
(R presses random button on phone.)
Bye bye!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Belly Pictures--beginning of Month 8
33 weeks (just starting month 8) with baby #2
32 weeks (just ending month 7) with baby #1
and, for more fun comparison, here's my last belly pic, from about 5 weeks ago.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
I think R has super-hearing
I know we live in a ranch house, and the bedrooms aren't very far away from the living area, but get this...
Over the last week or so as we've been putting R to bed, J has been overhearing her describe the events of the evening from her room. For example, a couple days ago he got a bowl of cereal after laying her down. He said as soon as he took the first bite he heard her say, "SOMEBODY'S eating cereal!"
Last week, I peed and she took it upon herself to narrate the experience: "SOMEBODY'S going potty. Probably Mommy. Mommy's going pee-pee. (Pause). Somebody's flushing!"
Is there nothing we can get away with after bedtime?
Over the last week or so as we've been putting R to bed, J has been overhearing her describe the events of the evening from her room. For example, a couple days ago he got a bowl of cereal after laying her down. He said as soon as he took the first bite he heard her say, "SOMEBODY'S eating cereal!"
Last week, I peed and she took it upon herself to narrate the experience: "SOMEBODY'S going potty. Probably Mommy. Mommy's going pee-pee. (Pause). Somebody's flushing!"
Is there nothing we can get away with after bedtime?
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Things I Have Learned Since Having a Child
My friend Amy (who also comments here as ConceptALT) recently posted a blog entry titled "Some Things I've Learned in the First Year of Parenting" and it made me think about what I might write on such a list.
This is an incomplete list but here are a few things that have stuck with me.
1) Despite what preconceptions you may have had prior to having kids, all children are individuals and no one strategy, perception, style, or approach will work for all kids. This is a cliche, I know, and gets talked about ad nauseaum when dealing with popular parenting debates. But what I really mean here is this. There are lots of good general principles about raising kids out there. They are all good things to keep in mind as you look at your own child. But nothing that happens to your child is guaranteed to happen to another child. The way your kid reacts to something is not necessarily going to mimic what someone else's kid did. Take all advice with a grain of salt and follow your own instincts with your child.
2) Your kid will always come up with ways to surprise you.
3) Change doesn't have to be as scary as one might think. A lot of the changes we thought would be really traumatic and difficult for R to handle were much easier than the anticipation that went into them.
4) Going on vacation will never be the same again-- in both good and bad ways. The good is that it's really really fun to do special and different things on vacation and watch your child react to them. The bad is that unless you have really awesome childcare, or you go on vacation without your child, it's not really "vacation" of the sort that you may have become accustomed to in your pre-baby years.
5) I am not necessarily as bad at routines as I thought I was.
This is an incomplete list but here are a few things that have stuck with me.
1) Despite what preconceptions you may have had prior to having kids, all children are individuals and no one strategy, perception, style, or approach will work for all kids. This is a cliche, I know, and gets talked about ad nauseaum when dealing with popular parenting debates. But what I really mean here is this. There are lots of good general principles about raising kids out there. They are all good things to keep in mind as you look at your own child. But nothing that happens to your child is guaranteed to happen to another child. The way your kid reacts to something is not necessarily going to mimic what someone else's kid did. Take all advice with a grain of salt and follow your own instincts with your child.
2) Your kid will always come up with ways to surprise you.
3) Change doesn't have to be as scary as one might think. A lot of the changes we thought would be really traumatic and difficult for R to handle were much easier than the anticipation that went into them.
4) Going on vacation will never be the same again-- in both good and bad ways. The good is that it's really really fun to do special and different things on vacation and watch your child react to them. The bad is that unless you have really awesome childcare, or you go on vacation without your child, it's not really "vacation" of the sort that you may have become accustomed to in your pre-baby years.
5) I am not necessarily as bad at routines as I thought I was.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Musical Inclinations
At dinner tonight we were trying to keep R entertained while we finished up eating, and J sang to her "Where is Thumbkin?" which goes essentially like this:
Where is Thumbkin? Where is Thumbkin?
Here I am! Here I am!
How are you today, sir? Very well, I thank you.
Run away. Run away.
After he finished that song, she started singing, "Where is Jacques? Where is Jacques?" and I was like, where did that come from? J explained that both "Where is Thumbkin?" and "Frere Jacques" have the same tune.
I am so impressed!
Where is Thumbkin? Where is Thumbkin?
Here I am! Here I am!
How are you today, sir? Very well, I thank you.
Run away. Run away.
After he finished that song, she started singing, "Where is Jacques? Where is Jacques?" and I was like, where did that come from? J explained that both "Where is Thumbkin?" and "Frere Jacques" have the same tune.
I am so impressed!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Asleep in the New House
R has been taking to the new house like a dream. When we first got our furniture in and officially "moved" there, we would pick her up from day care and tell her we were going home. She'd then shout, "NO! Go to the NEW HOUSE!" and we would explain that "home" and "the new house" were the same place.
The first night we stayed in the new house, we decided to go ahead and have her sleep in her twin bed (which, incidentally, is the same twin bed I slept in until I was nearly finished with graduate school) because we had the crib in the baby's room and we wanted her to sleep in her own room.
I was a little nervous about how the new bed would work out. We have a bed rail for her in case she rolls over too far, but we were still not sure how well she'd sleep or if she'd try to stand up in the bed or figure out how to get out of the bed or whatever.
Turns out we didn't need to worry. She was snug as a bug in her big bed with all of her stuffed animals all night long. Not a peep until 6 a.m. the next morning. And since then she's been excited about her big bed. When we tell her it's time to get ready for bed, she says, "go to sleep in the BIG BED!" and we say, "yes, in the big bed!"
J taught her how to climb out of the bed because he was worried about her trying to lean too much on the crib rail (which is fairly sturdy but still!) and because well, it's just good for her to know how to get in and out of the bed.
So, now in the mornings she sometimes crawls out of the big bed and J wakes up to her rattling her doorknob. The other afternoon for her nap, she, for whatever reason, didn't want to sleep in the big bed, so J pulled out her nap pad (remember that thing?) and laid it on the floor, along with all of her stuffed animals and blankets (of COURSE). She slept like a log-- in fact, taking a longer nap than usual. We peeked in on her a little after 4 (she is usually up around 3) and this was the scene in her room:
The first night we stayed in the new house, we decided to go ahead and have her sleep in her twin bed (which, incidentally, is the same twin bed I slept in until I was nearly finished with graduate school) because we had the crib in the baby's room and we wanted her to sleep in her own room.
I was a little nervous about how the new bed would work out. We have a bed rail for her in case she rolls over too far, but we were still not sure how well she'd sleep or if she'd try to stand up in the bed or figure out how to get out of the bed or whatever.
Turns out we didn't need to worry. She was snug as a bug in her big bed with all of her stuffed animals all night long. Not a peep until 6 a.m. the next morning. And since then she's been excited about her big bed. When we tell her it's time to get ready for bed, she says, "go to sleep in the BIG BED!" and we say, "yes, in the big bed!"
J taught her how to climb out of the bed because he was worried about her trying to lean too much on the crib rail (which is fairly sturdy but still!) and because well, it's just good for her to know how to get in and out of the bed.
So, now in the mornings she sometimes crawls out of the big bed and J wakes up to her rattling her doorknob. The other afternoon for her nap, she, for whatever reason, didn't want to sleep in the big bed, so J pulled out her nap pad (remember that thing?) and laid it on the floor, along with all of her stuffed animals and blankets (of COURSE). She slept like a log-- in fact, taking a longer nap than usual. We peeked in on her a little after 4 (she is usually up around 3) and this was the scene in her room:
I am a dunce
Ok, so every time we looked at our kitchen--before we bought the house, in the pictures we took of the house, living in the house for a week--I would have sworn all of our cabinets, our stove, and our refrigerator were white.Last week we bought a new dishwasher. White, of course. Plus, the one we bought was a floor model (the only one in the store), discounted more than 50%, and it had all the features we wanted.
When the appliance guy came to install it yesterday, one of the first things he said was, "Are you sure you want white when everything else is almond?" Well, almost everything else-- the fridge is apparently "bisque," or, as he described it, "the new almond."
Looking at the dishwasher in this picture, I am absolutely stunned that I had no idea that the rest of the kitchen was not white. I told J today that I think part of it is that I just thought we had very yellow lighting that made all the cabinets and everything look dingy.
Oh well! I already hated the cabinet doors so those will be among the first things to get changed, sometime, some day, who knows when, probably ten years down the line. Until then, our white dishwasher will just have to stand out.
Ms. W
One day last month while Grammie and Grampie were visiting, R was playing by herself while Grammie and I were doing something--I can't remember what. R kept running around with her dolls and arranging them just so in the kitchen.
Then she dragged one of the chairs that goes to her little table into the kitchen. At this point, Grammie got curious and went into the kitchen to see what she was doing. This is what she saw.
When Grammie asked R what she was doing, she said, "SHHHHHHH!! The babies are sleeping. I'm Ms. W!" (Ms. W is R's day care teacher-- and she sits on a chair and reads quietly while the kids nap).
Then she dragged one of the chairs that goes to her little table into the kitchen. At this point, Grammie got curious and went into the kitchen to see what she was doing. This is what she saw.
When Grammie asked R what she was doing, she said, "SHHHHHHH!! The babies are sleeping. I'm Ms. W!" (Ms. W is R's day care teacher-- and she sits on a chair and reads quietly while the kids nap).
Sunday, August 16, 2009
We've Moved!
We're finally in our new house!!! We closed on it July 31, and immediately after the closing, J and his dad started working on sanding and refinishing all the hardwood floors--basically the entire upstairs of the house (it's a ranch, but there's a full basement, which is *awesome*). On Saturday they took off moulding and prepped the house for the sanding; on Sunday they worked like fiends sanding and cleaning the floors with mineral spirits and put one coat of finish on. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, after the in-laws left to go back home, J single-handedly sanded down more spots throughout the floors where the finish from the first coat was a little lumpy and put two more coats of polyurethane on the floors. He was pretty wiped out, and I just felt bad that I couldn't help at all.
Then we left the house alone so that we could give the floors time to dry. The in-laws came back down the following weekend and J and his dad rented a truck from Budget and moved all of our boxes while his mom and I hung out with R and got some last-minute packing, organizing, etc. done.
On Sunday J and his dad cut new moulding strips and J spent Monday nailing them back in place so that we wouldn't have to worry about it after our furniture got put in. We had movers come on Tuesday to move all our big furniture. Then Wednesday and Thursday J and I got every last thing out of the house (it took 7 or 8 trips in our Camry-- that car fills up fast!) and cleaned the old place from top to bottom. It really wasn't until just Friday that we were able to start really thinking about the new house and how we wanted to arrange things.
We're getting a new dishwasher installed on Wednesday. The one that came with the house was at least 30 years old and at first we thought we'd just make do with it until it REALLY broke. But the first two or three times we pulled out the top rack to put dishes in it it collapsed on the bottom rack. And then I noticed all this brown melted crud on part of the bottom rack and I was just like, "Let's get a new dishwasher! Today!" So we went to five different places looking at dishwashers and ended up getting ours from Sears-- a Maytag that was discounted more than 50%. I'm pretty psyched.
We also have most of the furniture arranged how we want it. The trouble is just figuring out where to keep a lot of stuff. There's not QUITE as much kitchen storage in this place as there was in the other house (it's close, but the other house had more drawers, so we're struggling to figure out where to keep some of the things we USED to have in kitchen drawers) and we gave R a dresser that we used to keep in our dining room to store linens, napkins, and other items like that, so now we have to figure out another spot for those things.
I seriously love this new house. I never thought I would be all about a ranch style home but I really like one-floor living for the most part, especially because we have such a great basement for our "family room" type stuff.
The house is not without its quirks, though:
--There's no bathtub, so we're getting used to giving R showers instead of baths. It's still a little weird, and she doesn't love the shower yet. One of us usually has to take a shower with her in order to get her in. We'll see how that goes after awhile.
--Several of the doors don't latch shut. This is an easy fix, I know. But I'm not sure how quickly we'll get to it, so for now we're living with it.
--I hate the faucets in both the main bathroom and the half bathroom. We'll get that sorted eventually.
--The basement has some really old (and really in-need of replacement or something) linoleum, as well as one room that is carpeted in 2" thick dark and light green shag carpeting that makes me want to mow it down with the lawn mower. It'll be awhile before we get to changing that, either though.
But seriously, this place is great. I can't wait for folks to come see it-- any of you are welcome anytime you're in Delaware!
Then we left the house alone so that we could give the floors time to dry. The in-laws came back down the following weekend and J and his dad rented a truck from Budget and moved all of our boxes while his mom and I hung out with R and got some last-minute packing, organizing, etc. done.
On Sunday J and his dad cut new moulding strips and J spent Monday nailing them back in place so that we wouldn't have to worry about it after our furniture got put in. We had movers come on Tuesday to move all our big furniture. Then Wednesday and Thursday J and I got every last thing out of the house (it took 7 or 8 trips in our Camry-- that car fills up fast!) and cleaned the old place from top to bottom. It really wasn't until just Friday that we were able to start really thinking about the new house and how we wanted to arrange things.
We're getting a new dishwasher installed on Wednesday. The one that came with the house was at least 30 years old and at first we thought we'd just make do with it until it REALLY broke. But the first two or three times we pulled out the top rack to put dishes in it it collapsed on the bottom rack. And then I noticed all this brown melted crud on part of the bottom rack and I was just like, "Let's get a new dishwasher! Today!" So we went to five different places looking at dishwashers and ended up getting ours from Sears-- a Maytag that was discounted more than 50%. I'm pretty psyched.
We also have most of the furniture arranged how we want it. The trouble is just figuring out where to keep a lot of stuff. There's not QUITE as much kitchen storage in this place as there was in the other house (it's close, but the other house had more drawers, so we're struggling to figure out where to keep some of the things we USED to have in kitchen drawers) and we gave R a dresser that we used to keep in our dining room to store linens, napkins, and other items like that, so now we have to figure out another spot for those things.
I seriously love this new house. I never thought I would be all about a ranch style home but I really like one-floor living for the most part, especially because we have such a great basement for our "family room" type stuff.
The house is not without its quirks, though:
--There's no bathtub, so we're getting used to giving R showers instead of baths. It's still a little weird, and she doesn't love the shower yet. One of us usually has to take a shower with her in order to get her in. We'll see how that goes after awhile.
--Several of the doors don't latch shut. This is an easy fix, I know. But I'm not sure how quickly we'll get to it, so for now we're living with it.
--I hate the faucets in both the main bathroom and the half bathroom. We'll get that sorted eventually.
--The basement has some really old (and really in-need of replacement or something) linoleum, as well as one room that is carpeted in 2" thick dark and light green shag carpeting that makes me want to mow it down with the lawn mower. It'll be awhile before we get to changing that, either though.
But seriously, this place is great. I can't wait for folks to come see it-- any of you are welcome anytime you're in Delaware!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
There is More Coming...!
Lots more news to update folks on-- but no more energy for tonight. Love you all.
Feel free to send some love back in the comments. We all really enjoy reading them :)
XOXO
S, J, R, and Baby
Feel free to send some love back in the comments. We all really enjoy reading them :)
XOXO
S, J, R, and Baby
A New Pool
So R's other pool was really getting a tad bit too small. And K-Mart was having a sale on pools. So we splurged, and spent $8 on a new pool for R. Here she is enjoying it for the first time. We've actually used this one several times, although she enjoys walking around it, scooping up water and pouring it into a bucket, and "watering" all the trees and plants in the yard more than she enjoys sitting in the water and doing stuff in it.
I'm A Castle!
When we were visiting Grammie and Grampie earlier this summer, Grampie couldn't resist picking up this adorable Melissa & Doug pot & pan set for R, and giving it to her for her birthday. She's cooked just about every possible item of food in it (although almost everything turns into "birthday cake" in the end). She also uses these pots and pans for all kinds of other purposes.A few weeks ago, she discovered the fun of standing on one of the pots and doing exercises. Seriously, one of the cutest things I have ever seen. And, of course, the first thing she said when she stood on it was, "I'm a castle!"
#32
So last month I turned 32. It was a great birthday. J let me sleep in and took me to Target (I seriously love that store, and I miss living 5 minutes away from it). Then later, he and R made me a cake, decorated with peanut butter, and R drew me a card.
Here's a close-up of the card. She insisted that J write everybody's name on the card (remember-- she LOVES birthdays, and likes to have us sing happy birthday to everyone and anyone she can think of).
I also used the opportunity to wear my cutest maternity dress and take a belly shot or two. (for reference, in this photo I am 28w, just starting month 7).
So Much To Catch Up On!
I've finally got a few minutes so I'm going to spend some energy this evening updating the blog and giving you some news about what's been going on with us and with R. Stay tuned!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Report card
This morning we met with R's daycare teacher. We went over some of what R has been working on, and how she has developed since starting there. We talked a bit about the changes that are coming up and how they will affect her. These include: moving to a new house, changing from sleeping in the crib to a big bed (this will happen soon), new baby (eek!). R's teacher also had a kind of report card of developmental milestones. There were +'s in the spaces where R had displayed a certain physical or social skill or behavior. Some of the grades were +/-'s. These were her "emerging" skills. Things that they had not seen a lot of until recently. Here is a list of R's areas of "emergence:"
+/-
urinating on the potty
"pooping" on the potty
sharing/negotiating with others
interacting with toys, having two toys interact with each other
walking backwards 10'
walking on tiptoes 4 steps in a row
putting 's' at the end of words to make them plural
changing clothes (putting on socks, etc.)
We did not get a copy of this particular report, though we did get a write-up describing her progress in general. But this means we cannot list what categories she had +'s in. In fact we didn't even really go over those much at all.
Some things we took out of the meeting:
R is a dare-devil. When she gets on the playground equipment, she likes to climb and try things that even some of the bigger kids won't do. (this was modified by a "for her size")
She likes everybody, but she does have her preferred friends. Her teacher described her as a "butterfly."
She doesn't hit others, and is more likely to tell the teacher who is hitting who.
She doesn't talk a lot in big groups, but individually, or in smaller groups of children (4 or less) she will be more vocal. She's "bubbly."
She loves her Mommy and Daddy and talks about them throughout the day (awwwww).
Any questions?
+/-
urinating on the potty
"pooping" on the potty
sharing/negotiating with others
interacting with toys, having two toys interact with each other
walking backwards 10'
walking on tiptoes 4 steps in a row
putting 's' at the end of words to make them plural
changing clothes (putting on socks, etc.)
We did not get a copy of this particular report, though we did get a write-up describing her progress in general. But this means we cannot list what categories she had +'s in. In fact we didn't even really go over those much at all.
Some things we took out of the meeting:
R is a dare-devil. When she gets on the playground equipment, she likes to climb and try things that even some of the bigger kids won't do. (this was modified by a "for her size")
She likes everybody, but she does have her preferred friends. Her teacher described her as a "butterfly."
She doesn't hit others, and is more likely to tell the teacher who is hitting who.
She doesn't talk a lot in big groups, but individually, or in smaller groups of children (4 or less) she will be more vocal. She's "bubbly."
She loves her Mommy and Daddy and talks about them throughout the day (awwwww).
Any questions?
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