From baby to "Big Boy"

 Ethan has begun his journey to "big boyness". He is doing an amazing job at it. The last week he has enjoyed his own toddler bed in his room--both of which are new. He has also decided the last few weeks to start eating and talking some more. Ethan has been in speech therapy for a couple months now and has had great improvement. Some of his new words include: mama, dada, more, pee-yew, as well as many animal noises. His first "phrase" so far has been "bye by poo"--he yells this every time he hears a toilet flush--it's great at church:)

Another big boy addition has been the potty chair. I actually have no real desire to potty train him yet--he is only 22 months but several times he has come to me and said he needed to go pee pee. So I sat him on the toilet and he went. The other night we decided to buy him his own potty. After we brought it in he opened it up, pulled the potty out of the box, quickly undressed (squealing with excitement all the while) sat down and did his business. I couldn't believe it. Could I really be so lucky to have child who potty trained himself? Time will tell I guess, but the future is looking bright.

He has also been working on his "boyness" I think. The other day Ethan was rubbing something all over his face. I assumed it was his usual fuzz but then he wanted to share it with me. I held out my hand only to have a dead stink bug that had been rubbed all over his face presented to me. Then later that night I caught him placing another dead bug on my side of the bed. Guess I better get over any phobia of bugs because he LOVES bugs.


Because Ethan has been eating more he has also finally gained that extra pound we have been waiting four months for! He finally weighs enough to be in a forward facing car seat! Good timing since the new baby will taking his old baby seat! He has been enjoying his fancy new car seat complete with cup holder.
 

We are pretty proud of our big boy.

 

36 week ultrasound

It's a girl!

My doctor ordered and extra ultrasound at 36 weeks to check on a condition I had with Ethan called polyhydramnios (basically you have way too much amniotic fluid). Not super excited about the condition, but we got to have an extra peek at our little one and now we know it's a girl. 

She is unusually active they said because she has so much extra room with all the fluid. The technician kept saying, "wow, I have never seen a baby move this much this far along...your ribs must be killing you" hmmm...I could have told you that! Everything otherwise looked good they said so we are not worried. We are getting very excited to meet this little girl with my due date only three weeks away!

Ethan is getting ready in his own way. Every time we see a baby he pretends to rock a baby in his arms and then he comes and rubs my stomach. He also looks up at me every now and then and just laughs. I think he does this because he can't see my face when he looks up--only stomach--then he gently rubs my tummy and rocks a baby in his arms. I think he is excited to see meet her also.

Craig has also done his homework to get us ready for the big delivery. After extensive research and considering many options, he has invented his own birthing method. Craig suggests I consider the "jello birthing method" (the book will be hitting shelves soon he has informed me). Similar in some ways to a water birth, the jello he believes offers better relaxation and aroma therapy. It also cures the problem of any hunger or immodesty during delivery. If only the hospital would let us experiment with his groundbreaking methods.

As for mom--one day at a time:)

Pregnancy comments

People always react differently to pregnant ladies. I thought I would share some choice experiences of mine.

My primary class (4 year olds) last week needed to make sure I was aware that my baby had certainly gotten bigger (don't know how I could have missed that since I gained three pounds last week!). Their major concern however was how I was possibly able to fit behind the steering wheel in my car. Somehow I manage I explained.

When I was pregnant with Ethan I constantly got the "are you sure it's not twins" reaction. One that I will never forget though was our apartment manager explaining quite seriously to me that he would prefer to jump up and down until the baby fell out. Glad I didn't follow his advice.

I think my favorite comment though was the other night at the grocery store. We were at the deli ordering dinner. The man helping us asked me how far along I was and if it was my second child. I responded yes and that I was not far enough along. He could tell I was uncomfortable that evening and he said, "you know, my mother had four children. I don't know how she did it but I thank God every day that she did." I smiled and said thanks. Then I came home and cried and thanked God that this man had said something kind and encouraging to me. I am sure he had no idea.

Funny how little comments we make seem to have such an impact.