3rd Trimester (27)

I've made it to the 3rd Trimester! Woo! Things are going very well so far. No gestational diabetes, very few problems or irritating symptoms. Actually, it's uncanny how similar this pregnancy and baby is to Felix: hiccups multiple times a day, same area in belly where I don't feel much movement. This baby is pretty active when awake, just like Felix, too. Maybe a bit gentler, though, which could be because it's a lot roomier in there after Felix stretched it out. :o)

We've had some fun lately, going to a Brewers game last weekend with family on one of the hottest days we've had this spring. Thankfully, we were well hydrated and sunscreened. Felix has sure grown big since the last time we were at a Brewers game, which was 2 years ago (see below). I think he also had more fun this time around, dumping water on our feet at the tailgate, playing in the mister, and cheering like crazy when everyone else did.

Felix is busy being Felix. He loves to sing and makes up little songs quite often. He likes to nuzzle noses. He's still is obsessed with putting out fires, though that's taken a slightly disturbing turn: He watched a Ghostrider trailer with Nick, who explained away the head-on-fire thing by saying that the man has special powers and it doesn't hurt him. Now I've had my head on fire several times, but "it doesn't hurt." He's also taken to saying "What the hell/heck?" Argh. On the flip side, we're starting to get through to him about not interrupting when we're speaking, and if he wants to speak, to say "Excuse me." Very cute, as is when he says "Yes, indeed." Now if only I could report a breakthrough on the potty-training front. Double argh.

Side note: I found out I passed the Professional Engineers exam, so I officially have letters after my name and can get sued. Considering that unlike the vast majority of civil engineers taking this exam, I did not have the basic undergrad courses they took, I was a bit at a disadvantage. But I studied for six freakin' months, and passed! I figured I would give it one shot to see if I could do it. Guess I could. :o)

Felix: 2.5 yrs

Lovely May (23)

We're a little over halfway through the month, and what an interesting one it's been so far. I tagged along with Felix's day care trip to the zoo on May 2nd. It was quite fun seeing the reactions of six little nearly-3-year-olds to all the animals.

I turned *mumble* on May 8th, and that ended up being an interesting day. Felix acted up at day care (throwing a wooden chair! Egads!), so I had to pick him up early. A combination of factors led to me crying when I got there. Not my finest moment. Shortly after, we had a visit from Nick's family and went out for a nice dinner. The day was definitely a little... off.

Things have turned around for Felix in a very positive way. The next day after his outburst, he was moved out of his classroom and up to the next one with the bigger kids. Most of the kids he's with now are 4 or about to be. He's no longer the big fish, and I think that the new environment and challenges are good for him. I'm hoping he takes note of what the big kids do and gets potty trained quickly. He hasn't had a rough day since. Yay!

We had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. My folks came down to celebrate my birthday and the day. We had a nice cookout on Saturday, then went out for an atypical Mother's Day lunch at State Street Brats. The weather was so nice, we headed down to the Memorial Terrace to see the blue chairs, eat some ice cream, and enjoy the day.

We've had a few nice thunderstorms, much to Felix's chagrin. I've been trying to explain what thunder and lightning really are, so that he's less afraid of the thunder (though he's gotten that if you hear thunder, you must come inside immediately). Any rumbling noise around the house becomes thunder in his mind. Thankfully, he's not cowering from it, but he doesn't like it. He's said a few times that when he's driving a semi in a thunderstorm, he'll honk his horn and make it go away.

He's developed an obsession with putting out fires (from the fire station visit and playing the fire engine mini-games on Grand Theft Auto with Nick [yeah...]). He plays pretend with his Hot Wheels that one car is blowing up, then the fire engine comes and puts it out. He pretends water bottles or empty cups are fire hoses and makes water noises. I have often been told that I'm on fire and need to be put out. I'm not sure if this is usual, but I enjoy how involved he gets in his play.

His imagination is making itself known at night, unfortunately. He's back to rarely sleeping through the night. He wakes up crying, but isn't coherant enough to tell us why he's crying. We just comfort him, tell him everything is okay, and banish the monsters and spiders and dinosaurs once again. When I'm the one putting him to bed, he asks me to lay with him and protect him. Aw.

Felix is showing some interesting fickle tendencies. One day, he'll declare that he no longer likes onions, mushrooms, or peppers. The next day, he'll eat them all up (knowing full well what he's eating). We're playing along as best we can. He is, however, very good at sharing. He will often insist on giving us each a small bite of what he's eating for a snack.

Now, on to the littlest member of our family. Other than a scare I had early last weekend, things are going well. Suffice it to say that I learned my lesson and will not be lifting anything heavy that could result in abdominal muscle strains and worse. While active, this baby doesn't make me feel like I've turned into a rock tumbler like Felix did. Maybe we'll end up with a low-key little one... or maybe not. I've taken to walking every day at work, and that's helped to keep my energy levels up and keeping myself in shape.

Felix: 2.5 yrs

Felix and the Fire Station (21)

Cassie arranged for us to visit a fire station, courtesy of her friend, Willy. On Sunday morning, the six of us (Mom & Dad were in town, too) went to the Middleton Fire Station, where we were treated to a tour of the facilities, up-close views of the various vehicles (new and old), a ride down the fireman's pole, and even a ride in the huge ladder truck! It was definitely a unique experience!

Felix started off a little slow. I think he was overwhelmed by the size of the trucks, and was nervous that they'd put the sirens on and hurt his ears. Once we assured him that there would be no sirens, he warmed up considerably. He really liked climbing on the little ATV they use for brush fires, grabbing the radio and pretending he was on a call. So cute! Thanks again to Cassie, Willy and the Middleton Fire Station! We hope to visit again!

Felix: 2.5 yrs

Hello, Baby! (20)

I've been saving a few things to blog about until yesterday's appointment. We had our 20 week ultrasound! Nick and Felix joined me for the appointment. Happily, everything appears to be in proper working order, and the baby has the correct number of digits and appendages. Whew. It's really a relief!

A few things about the ultrasound:

• We didn't find out the baby's gender, but I already have a pretty strong feeling (which I'm not going to share - neener!).
• The baby is a whopping 13.5 oz (nearly 30% heavier than the "normal" weight of 10.5 oz at 20 weeks).
• The baby is stubborn. It was head-down and apparently very comfortable there. We had difficulty enticing it to turn to get a better view of its head. It didn't like being bothered, because it would push back against the transducer with its hand, rather hard at times.
• Because of the baby's butt-up position, it was a little uncomfortable when the technician scanned the baby's abdomen. Felix, who was pretty good during the whole thing, didn't like that the lady was "hurting" me.

Bigfoot!

Baby's Profile

We're so much more prepared for this baby than with Felix. With the exception of diapers, we have all the gear we need for the first few months (boy or girl). I went to a huge consignment sale last weekend, and picked up a few items that I was still looking for: a swing (one that uses the baby's car seat, so it's so much more compact), a wrap carrier ($16 for something that costs $55+ brand new!), crib sheets, and swaddler sleepers. Awesome, awesome, awesome. And (dum-dum-dum-dum!) we have our baby names picked out! Big change from last time when we went to the hospital not having decided on a boy name.

And now to Felix. He's very excited about the baby, and will talk to/pat my belly occasionally. He's insisting the baby is a girl. :o)

There are good things and not-so-good things going on with Felix. He is so cute at times:

• As Felix and I were leaving the day care, his friend Alana came out and gave him a hug and kiss on the lips. After she ran back in the room, he turned to me and said, "Alana kissed me! I like it." He was blushing. Awww!
•  I told Felix to see how the water was doing for his lunch. Shortly after, I heard this: "Hello water, how are you? Good? I'm doing good, too."
• This morning, I mimed putting on one of his "listening ears" before I left him at day care. He immediately asked for another ear so he could have two.

Also good is that his teacher is going to start pushing potty training with him because he seems close. It'll be a wet day for him today, but he's excited about wearing underwear. He told me he's going to poop and pee in the potty today. Good to have goals. :o) I'd love it if it happened sooner, but I'd really like him out of diapers before the baby comes.

On the flip side, he's getting very demanding and doesn't like to listen when you ask him to do something that isn't on his agenda. It can be frustrating to ask him to do a simple task like "please take your shoes off" 5+ times. Challenging him to do things helps, but not always. I try to appeal to his be-helpful nature, but he becomes so focused that he'll just ignore you. He also realizes he's bigger and may have a choice in the matter. The kid is too darn smart at times. He's started saying "You don't say no to me!" when we tell him no or stop. And then there are tantrums if you physically separate him from what he wants to do. I'm hoping he snaps out of this quickly. When we let him know that we're unhappy, he immediately becomes contrite and says he wants to be a good boy and listen. Sorry, buddy, but just saying that won't get you a treat. You have to show us you're a good boy and listener.

Nick's financial business is going well, and he thinks it's only a matter of a few months before many worries are behind us. I sure hope so!

There's our life in a nutshell right now!

Felix: 2.5 yrs

Happy Easter! (18)

I got Good Friday off, and so we headed up to Rapids after Felix's Easter day care party and lunch. Felix handled the trip well, though he did not nap on the ride like we hoped. We had a couple of nice, relaxing days with my family. Felix got to do an Easter egg hunt in my parents' backyard. He got very excited when he found the eggs, usually exclaiming, "Oh! Look at that!" Sunday, we headed over to my Grandma's (nearly crashing into a monster turkey on the way) to see family and have a nice lunch before heading home. Felix got another egg hunt there, too. He very much enjoyed the weekend. So much so that he wailed for the last half-hour plus of the drive because he didn't want to go home.

We've got a couple of fun weekends planned: Felix is spending the weekend with his other set of grandparents coming up (all by himself!) and the following weekend, we're visiting a fire station!

And back to reality. We have our hands full getting Felix to listen to us when we ask him to do things. If he is playing and it's time to clean up, it takes asking multiple times and threatening to take whatever he's playing with away before it clicks that he needs to listen. And we really don't like threatening or bribing. Sometimes challenging him works (usually to a race up the stairs when heading to bed), and sometimes he'll just do it (and then we heap him with praise). There's little consistency in his behavior. Oh, the joys of 2 and a half.

But it's not all bad. I started singing "I love you so much when I kiss you" (then giving him a kiss). He likes this so much that he sings it back to me (so gloriously off key) and pulls my head down so he can kiss my forehead.

Things are going well with Kid 2 so far. Every test has come back normal, and I had another OB check this morning where I could listen to the little heartbeat. This baby has been punching/kicking for the last few weeks, which I enjoy. We have our ultrasound scheduled in two weeks, so we'll get another look at the little one. For a while, Felix proclaimed the baby a girl, but then suddenly switched it to a boy this weekend. His guess is as good as ours. :o)

Felix: 2.5 yrs

Winter gave Spring a miss and went straight on into Summer (15)

We have been graced by some gorgeous weather the past week and a half, and I wanted to note it before it disappears again. The record high temperatures have in short order melted all the snow piles and greened everything up. It might be well before mid-May when the trees are fully decked out in their leaves! That would be lovely! However, typically pessimist that I can be, I'm anxiously scanning the forecasts to see if we're going to have another cold snap. I like this warmth too much! It will be a different pregnancy, though, if it ends up a being a hot summer. The year Felix was born was pretty mild and I only had to suffer through about a month and a half of heat. This year, I've got the whole summer to be big. With that in mind, I've been stocking up on maternity tees, tanks and shorts to help me cope. :o)

Felix has taken to the warm weather as well, getting back into his old habits of wanting to play with everything outside and being very difficult to bring in. Even popsicles aren't enough of a bribe!

Batter up!

Felix rides his first bike!

Felix and Eve having fun

Felix: 2.5 yrs

Special Announcement! (12/0)

  

Felix is going to be a big brother! Yes, that's right, we're expecting our family to gain a new member in early September! Just like with Felix, we are going to let the baby (and our chosen names) be a surprise. Yay!

Felix: 2.5 yrs