PT Time

No, I'm not going to make my child run the mile in under 8 minutes, but I do think I should give the ol' Potty Training a go here before baby comes just to see how far we can get. I've been delaying with Jack mainly because I didn't think he was all that ready, but the more moms I talk to about this topic, the more I think I should at least give it a try!!

Ok, so everyone who has been through this before, I need some help. What's your best tip(s)?

A girlfriend of mine suggested putting the big boy underwear on Jack with a diaper over the top of it, that way he could feel the wetness, but I wouldn't have to clean the floor. Anyone tried this?

Thanks!

Third trimester already?

28 weeks is looming large....Time needs to slow down a little bit here for me to finish a few things before the baby comes...

Had my 27 week checkup last Monday where I got to gulp down a "margarita" (as my OB called it) of sugary orange drink in 5 minutes to do the glucose testing an hour later. All in all not too bad. She said no news was good news, and since I haven't heard anything from the doctor's office yet, I assume the test results looked good. I did have a little bit of scare though when it seemed to take forever for her to find the baby's heartbeat. Usually it takes just a few seconds to zero in on it, but this time it probably got closer to a minute or minute and a half, which really isn't that long but just seems that way when it's generally a much faster process! It was also way over on the right side too, I guess baby Anna must have found a comfy spot there at that moment.

My OB did mention that since Jack was a large baby at 9 pounds when he was born that she would consider inducing me early as long as everything looks good in the last 36 week ultrasound I have done. That sounded good to me since those last 4-5 weeks can be pretty miserable, so if I can shorten it without threatening the baby's health, that sounds lovely! Although, I've heard induced labors can be more intense...anyone have any experience with that? Jack came on his own, so I don't know myself.

I got to see my friend Heidi's new baby boy born last week and he is too precious. I can't believe we're about to enter back into the baby stage again here soon. And congrats again on your pregnancy news Kami if you're reading this!

30 minutes of freedom!!

Ok, you moms out there know how precious your free time becomes after having a baby. When I find myself with free time, unless I'm exhausted and need to nap, I try to get as much done as I can! It's amazing how my mood can improve if I can get just a small amount of time to myself to do a few things without interruption. Anyone else second that?

Bob took Jack out for about 30 glorious minutes this morning, and here's what I was able to do:

• Quick shower, iron a shirt and shorts, thrown on some make-up
• Swap loads of laundry
• Clean my bathroom countertops
• Pick up odds and ends off the floor, namely all the pairs of shoes Jack pulled out of our closet to try on
  
• Finished gluing some odds and ends on curtains for the baby's room (pictures coming at a later post...I'm excited!)

I think there is some rule somewhere that you should automatically assume it will take twice the time to get things done after kids as it did before them. Now that I think about it though, before kids I probably wouldn't have gotten all of those things done in 30 minutes anyway, mainly because I moved at a slower pace and didn't fully understand how valuable free time is! I tend to work better under deadlines I guess :)

It's great to have that rare feeling of accomplishing tasks with a young child in the house! Here's wishing all my mom friends out there some time of your own to get some things done around the house...

The joys of Toddlerhood

I think I've got a Daddy's boy on my hands now, at least in this stage of his life. Seems like ever since we got back from vacation, any time Bob leaves the house/room/general proximity of Jack, a chorus of elevated "Daddy....Daddy....Daddy" inevitably ensues. It's not so much the daddy thing that bothers me, it's the whiny pitch that goes along with it.

Now I love my child dearly of course, but this whining thing is TOUGH. I guess we're just at the stage for awhile now where any time something doesn't go Jack's way, the next 5 minutes (or sometimes longer) are spent in a mixture of high-pitched rambling sounds with some tears added in for good measure (or to make mommy feel guilty). The guilt thing doesn't work because he still gets told "no", but it sure does grate on my nerves to the point that I sometimes develop a knot on my back left shoulder, which often requires some assistance from Bob that evening to get loose.

That being said, it sure is fun at this stage to watch his personality continue to develop. He'll do things now and I look at him and think "When did you learn how to do that?" The other day for example I was heating some lunch up for him in the microwave, and when he got the plate in front of him, he proceeded to say "hot, hot" and then try to blow on the food to cool it down. Nothing earth-shattering of course, but it's little things like that which make me realize he's growing up pretty fast. I guess he's seen us blow on our food at some point, but I don't specifically remember teaching him to do that! I've got to be on my best behavior because he's apparently watching me closer than I realized :)

A new perspective on the master bedroom closet

Baby Anna now has some furniture for her room as of this evening. We found a great deal on a white convertible crib, changing table, and nightstand through the Woodlands Online (a nicer alternative to Craig's List in my opinion) and went to pick them up this afternoon. They look brand new, but for a fraction of the price. Can't beat that! I haven't been in a rush to find furniture though because of our sleeping arrangement "plan" for the first few months the baby is home. Of course the word plan is in quotations because all parents know the best laid plans are highly subject to change with kids.....

Let me preface by saying the one rule I will ALWAYS stick to no matter how many children we have is that I refuse to have a baby sleep in the same room with me. I know a lot of moms do this and the arrangement works out just fine for them, but I have not been blessed with the ability to sleep soundly at any point in my life, and there is absolutely no way I could catch even a wink of sleep with a new baby within 5 feet of me.

With Jack, I resolved to pull myself out of the bed and walk down to his room (which wasn't very far in our first house) for late night nursing or diaper changing sessions. On a handful of occasions I was so exhausted that Bob got up, brought him to bed so I could nurse him, and then put him back in the crib in his own room, but never has he slept in the same room with us. Plus there was no transition time as he got older from sleeping in mom and dad's room to his own room, which was nice.

Ok, so that works fine and dandy when you're in a one-tory house and the baby's room is just a few steps away. We're now in a two-story house though, and suddenly climbing up and down stairs multiple times a night to nurse baby Anna has become a dreadful thought when I remember how tired I was those first few months. I considered moving up into our guest room and sleeping there for a few months until she gets on a more regular feeding schedule, but I think we've come up with another idea: the master bedroom closet!

I admit the idea of putting my child in a closet to sleep for the first few months sounds a little odd at first, but I wish you could see the size of this space. The homebuilder obviously got the people-want-large-master-closets idea loud and clear (thanks HGTV) because I think ours borders on overkill. Seriously, I would be embarrassed if I ever had enough clothes to fill this thing out! I've seen "bedrooms" in cramped New York City apartments that are about the same size...

Bob and I plan to move all our clothes and shoes to one end and put a glider and bassinet on the other end. That way when the baby needs something, I can walk through our bathroom just a few steps to get to her, but still have the luxury of closing a door in between us so I don't hear all the little noises she's going to make. Plus, then I won't have to use a monitor (I'm not a fan of them during the night...a subject for another post). The room is ventilated and has a nice large window, so it's not some confined, musty old closet by any means.

After a few months, we'll move her up to the crib upstairs after she can go a little longer between feeding sessions. Now, to decide on a paint color for her room...

My new BFF: the swimming pool

The swimming pool has fast become my BFF this summer. Well, I suppose I shouldn't say Best Friend Forever...it should be BFWP-Best Friend While Pregnant. And it's not just because the temperature outside has been hovering in the upper nineties with humidity the last few days, although that does play a definite part. It's really because a swimming pool is the only thing that allows me to achieve a pain-free state now heading into week 25 of this pregnancy.

I'm not sure exactly what week it was that I realized my body suddenly felt like it had aged about 60 years in the span of a few days, but it was probably sometime over our vacation a few weeks ago when I had some major belly poppage. The sad thing though is that I don't remember feeling like this until about week 30 with Jack. I'm not quite to the miserable, is-this-over-yet feeling, but it's definitely a little uncomfortable now with lower back pain and sore hip joints!

Anyway, the pool is so wonderful for pregnant women because of a little thing called buoyancy, which basically means my back gets a break from holding up my belly and the water does all the rest for me. It really does almost feel like I'm not even pregnant anymore to feel the relief in my joints, and gives me hope that I will return to a pain-free state here in a few months. At least this pain is all worth it in the end!

What was your favorite way to relieve stress and/or pain during pregnancy?

Starting over

A friend of mine emailed me today asking about sleeping suggestions for her 2 week-old baby who apparently sleeps just fine when he's held, but won't sleep more than an hour if he's laid down in the crib. It made me realize just how far Jack has come in 19 months, and how much I already take for granted that he can do on his own! I'm mentally preparing myself to start this whole process all over again with the new baby come November, oh boy!

It's easy to focus on what he either can't do or can't do well yet, like eat with utensils without too much mess, walk down the stairs, dress himself, swim, or use the potty. But, when I think of my friends who have just had new little babies, I'm reminded of just how much he CAN do now, and how much easier it's made our life. The sleeping thing is huge, it's great that we can put him down around 7:30 and not hear from him until 6:30 the next morning, plus one consistent nap in the afternoon. It's nice that he can feed himself reasonably well and eat a variety of foods so that we're not constantly having to make him a separate meal of baby food. It's nice he can walk/run pretty well so that I don't have to carry him everywhere. And it's really wonderful that he can entertain himself more now and communicate better with us using the words he's learning each day.

It's really been a lot of fun to watch him grow up and it's amazing how much they learn in a short time! Now, if I could just get him potty trained by the time Anna gets here....yes I know, a girl can dream can't she?