Better late than never

So we had another baby shower for Mason man this past weekend, with five days to d-day no less. Better late than never right? It ended up being so close due to several factors, including some slow planning on our mom's parts and it being an ideal weekend for several out of town guests who would be attending. Either way, it happened and it was lovely. I was just enormously pregnant (still am) and completely wiped by the end. It's sad how sitting and talking can be exhausting at this point. We did get some more very useful items to help us in preparation for the arrival of son number two in *three* more days. Yikes, but yay. I am so worn out, my body hurts so bad. I am scared and anxious about what it will mean to have two children, and worried about how this will affect Skyler... but sweet jebus I am so completely done being pregnant. If I have it, it hurts and it doesn't work very well anymore. Blech. Anyways, here's some lovely pictures from MIL's camera (except for the first two) of our get together. Presents, chocolate, and friends is never too trying after all.

Veinte y seis

Dear Skyler,Alright, so for now I am keeping the monthly letters. Who knows if I will manage it after this month though, in eight days you aren't going to be the only one whose milestones I will need to take notice of. Eight more days and you are going to be a big brother kiddo. There will be two of us (parents) and two of you (little monkeys).


This past month has just been a blur of cognitive advances for you. I realized today that when you sing the ABC song you actually sing the ABC's. Before it was just the tune and an occasional intelligible vowel. Now you clearly say each letter, and even finish off the ditty by requesting that next time we sing with meeeee! It's amazing, and I am not sure I can pinpoint exactly when that change took place. You are so much better at putting thoughts and sentences together. You clearly understand what is going on around you and can even think outside of what is there and present. You continue to love being active and above all else outside. I think you would be perfectly content to spend hours 'mowing' the lawn and dragging your tools around behind you. Daddy even took advantage of your enthusiasm for outdoor chores the other day and put you to work gathering rocks out of the lawn. Very few people would gain as much pleasure from collecting and then disposing of rocks, running back and forth across the back lawn to do so, as you did. You love to be a helper.


We also sprung something pretty big on you this month, a brand new bed. We let it sit side by side with your crib for a few nights before making the grand switch, but truly it seems our greatest of fears are yet unfounded since you are sleeping quite well in it (even now as I type). At night you like to sit on the end of 'Skye-guy car bed' and let your feet dangle as we read your nightly stories to you. Then, all of your night time ablutions attended to, you willingly climb right in and lay down for the night. I am still marvelling at your acceptance of this change, perhaps you are more willing to grow up than we are to let you.


I won't say that two months past two has been all roses, you have been providing us with a fair amount of disciplinary challenges and general toddler trouble. But with all your big hugs, 'need' kisses, and willingness to share any treat you come across I can see how parents (and their children) survive to year three. Happy 26 big man, and I hope you enjoyed it as your last as a single child.

On again, off again

Not that my body hasn't been slowly betraying me over the last few months, but the last week has really made me want to put up the white flag. I surrender, I am done. Time for baby, my body is tired. I never experienced sciatic nerve pain last time with Skyler, and thank the gods that I am only just now experiencing it with the end so very close (11 more days!). Seriously though, ouch! I was already tired and achy in the pelvic region, but now my right leg has decided to abandon me and sends shooting pains every once and a while up the back. Even sitting doesn't provide relief all the time. I thought things had righted themselves yesterday, but it seems Mason was just testing out a different position and has now resumed his camp out right on my sciatic nerve. Thanks kiddo. Looking forward to seeing you and getting you off of my more sensitive internal assets.

Ch-ch-changes

We are doing our best to get some big changes in Skyler's life out of the way before the greatest shift of them all occurs with Mason's arrival in just a few *gulp* short weeks. We are "pursuing" potty training, though not on an overly active basis. We moved out Skyler's dresser into Mason's room. And now, now we have removed his crib and replaced it with this:

Skyler's big boy bed, his race car chariot to dreamland. We made the transition slowly, partially out of our desire to be sensitive to Skyler's dislike of change though largely due to lack of courage and love for our own sleep. We had no idea what this new bed would bring out in Skyler, we still don't really as this is only day three of it being in full use. So far so good, though I am not sure he has fully grasped just how much freedom he truly has in this new bed. It frightened him a bit the first night, though only when we got down to the business of getting him to sleep in the bed. He loved the idea of a bed he could 'drive' and he didn't really seem to notice (or at least mention) the lack of his crib. He has slept as he usually has otherwise, which frankly I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I am sure it can't be this easy.

I also made some changes to the decor in Skye's room. It has always been largely dominated by dinosaurs, but it has become quite clear over the last year that his true love is cars. So with the introduction of the car bed I thought some more car themed decoration would be appropriate. I painted the roads onto his walls and still plan to get some little cars up there as well. It's a work in progress. Hopefully it will all pull together before Mason arrives, including Skyler's full acceptance of this new sleeping arrangement.

The reason I love summer

This:

How do I love sunny days and my little boy, let me count the ways. I love how excited he gets when he figures out the nozzle on the hose. I love how he runs manically in circles with his lawnmower, stopping every five minutes or so to run up and tell me he 'needs kiss'. I love watching my husband chase his son, knowing that he is squealing on the inside as much as our little boy is on the outside. This is a good time of year.

That's new

We are "potty training" the mister. I use that term oh so loosely, because really we aren't doing anything active in this endeavor beyond asking him if he wants to use the potty every hour or so, and assisting him if he assents. He uses it about five times a day, give or take, and hasn't really shown any dislike towards the process. This all leads to my story about how I was just summoned by our sleepy child so that he could use the potty. Now Skyler, and I am sure many other two year olds, uses any number of excuses to avoid bedtime. Saying he needs to potty could likely have been one of them, but since we are trying this "training" I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Sure enough he had to go, and did, and then pulled up his own little pants, flushed the toilet and allowed himself to be put back to bed. That's new.

And so that you aren't left with all story and no pictures. Some other things that are new:

Skyler tries to take pictures of himself, with varying levels of success. Mostly he just holds the (wrong side) of the lens up to his eyeball and says "Skylah cheese!". I helped him with this one.


My child likes to pick things up and hold them with his toes. This lovely and strange trait is sadly inherited from me.

Skyler is getting better at handling, and not eating, play doh. He was rolling out 'snakes' here, which always live a short life before being mauled flat into a birthday cake.

One last "new" thing. Be sure to stop over and congratulate Carrie and family on their new arrival, baby Kyla. She is especially new as she entered this world a bit early. Be sure to leave a nice encouraging comment as they go through this new phase of life.

Happy Der-day to Mom-Me

Hooray! My turn for a birthday serenade. Today finds me turning twenty six years old, and also 36 weeks pregnant. Behold the bigness.

Despite my current size, and general discomfort, I had a wonderful birthday courtesy of my boys. Andy and Skyler went out this morning and found me breakfast and some lovely flowers. The flowers really prove that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Mind you that Skyler had full reign in choosing which flowers Mommy got, so this is what the ideal birthday bouquet looks like to a two year old:

Beautiful, right? I imagine that their being the loudest and most vibrant on display helped to attract his attention. I also think they are perfect.

We then spent much of the rest of the day at the zoo. Again, being in advanced state of pregnancy I had begun to doubt the practicality of my birthday choice of activity, but we just went slow and arrived early to beat the midday heat. Overall we had a great time, especially with Skyler now being able to recognize (and imitate) the animals he was seeing. Exhibit A, below we see him roaring like a bear at the Sun Bear display.

We also enjoyed a small break and some snow cones. Skyler sampled both the red and the blue, leaving the lower half of his face an interesting purple.

He made sure to share with me:

And with Daddy:

We ended the trip with the purchase of some souvenirs and a ride on the big (yellow) shuttle bus. Skyler actually enjoyed this part immensely, as he chose to narrate the entire ride by reminding me that "Skye riding bus", and "Skye sit on bus".

It was a wonderful way for me to kick off this new year of life, and truly happy der-day.