Daniel's 26 month update

School

A few weeks ago Daniel had his first day of "real" school.  This was somewhat anticlimactic given that he's already been there since July for their summer session, but one significant difference is that he's now required to be in dress code, which includes blue pants or shorts and a white or red polo shirt.  Other than that, not much change for him.  His class is really small right now, just him and 3 other kids, 2 of whom also have at least one parent who works at Microsoft.  He adores his teacher and the teachers who do afternoon extended care and talks about them a lot, and he also really likes his classmates.  He's obviously quite happy there, given how much he talks about everyone, and while he's always happy to see me in the evening when I pick him up, he's sometimes sad to leave the school.  The decision to start him in school and leave him in the care of non-family members was not one we made lightly, so it's gratifying to see that he is so happy and thriving there.

 

They must sing a lot at school, because now Daniel loves to sing at home.  So far we've heard "Twinkle, Twinkle," "Jesus Loves Me," "Alphabet song," "Row, Row Row Your Boat," and a few others.  He sings to himself a lot and is happy when we join in.

 

The school also offers age-appropriate gymnastics classes every week.  I expected Daniel to enjoy those and he definitely is.  Here he is showing off his somersault technique.

 

 He also recently started a basketball skills program at school too, so it'll be fun to see what he learns in that. I'm sure he'll enjoy it.

Potty training update
For the past 2 weeks we've been sending him to school in underwear rather than diapers.  The first week he had several accidents a day but this week he made it most days with 1 or no accidents.  The past 2 weekends we mainly kept him at home and just in undies, but now he has gotten pretty good at getting his clothes and undies off and on, so this weekend we kept him clothed around the house.  We also took him to run errands, to dinner at a restaurant, and to the church nursery and he stayed dry everywhere.  While I'm sure we have a few more weeks or months before he stays dry all day every day, he's consistent enough at this point that I consider him largely daytime potty-trained.  He's still got room for improvement but I'm quite pleased with his progress so far.

As for night-time training, we're still at the starting point.  The other night he had a dry diaper in the morning for the first time ever, and as soon as he woke up he told Kevin he had to go.  He not only held it through the night but knew once he woke up to wait for the potty.  We'll wait for him to do that a few more times to know he has the ability, then start putting him to bed in undies.  That may happen next week or not for another month or two, we'll see how he does.

Big boy bed!
In the meantime, in anticipation of that transition, we moved him out of the crib last week.  We started out by placing his crib mattress on the floor to see how he'd do outside the crib rails.  He was excited by the change and slept quite well for several nights.  So, Saturday morning we bought him a twin bed and some new sheets and moved the crib out.

He is quite proud of his new big boy bed and excited about it.  And yesterday he napped for 2+ hours on it-a big deal given that he doesn't nap much these days.  Last night, perhaps because of the nap, he took awhile to get to sleep but otherwise did pretty well.  Today hasn't gone as well though-a restless nap time (not so unusual) but then a hard time getting to bed tonight.  Might be a one-off, but I think once we get back to his school week routine he'll do fine.  He almost always falls asleep right away after a day at school.  He has proven to be a child who handles change quite well and has always been a good self-soother, but still, it is a big transition, so I don't expect it to go flawlessly.  His enthusiasm is encouraging so I'm confident we'll get there.

Bye-bye high chair
Last week we also transitioned Daniel from his high chair to a booster seat.  He had been wanting to sit in a regular chair so this was an easy transition for him.  He likes being able to climb up into his seat on his own and buckle himself in, which is also handy for us.

Speaking of high chairs, while he may be ready to say goodbye to his dining chair he now enjoys climbing up onto our barstools.  This means the counter is no longer a safe place to put things we want to keep out of his reach.  Funny to think how when he was a newborn everything in the house was safe, then as he's graduated from rolling to crawling to walking to climbing, less and less of the house is now out of reach for him.  He keeps us on our toes!

Haircut
The other day I took Daniel to get his second haircut.  It went well, but he got ticklish when the stylist tried to use the trimmers!

 

 

 

20 weeks already?

Halftime

Wow, how did we get here so quickly?  Somehow we're already halfway through this pregnancy.  It has definitely gone much faster than the first time.  For one thing, we've got a toddler now, and he does a pretty good job of keeping us busy between school, potty training, and amusing antics.  Also, last time around we were busily getting up to speed researching birth plan options and baby gear and putting together a registry, so a lot of time was spent thinking about and planning for Daniel.  This time around, we aren't doing a registry and we already know the birth plan we want, having done this before.  So while we certainly think and talk about Honey Badger baby a lot, we aren't really focused on preparing for him/her.  So, after the queasiness and fatigue of the first trimester faded away it was easy to just get on autopilot and let the weeks pass.

 

Another reason the past month has gone by quickly on the pregnancy front is that my allergies have been doing such a good job of taking my attention   This past week they developed into sinusitis, which is even less fun than it sounds.  Fortunately it seems to be running its course but the ragweed season can't end soon enough for me.

 

Last week we had our 2nd trimester anatomy scan sonogram and got to see HB up close.  S/he is developing beautifully, measuring just a few days behind my due date (but right on track with the later due date I've got in my head), but no areas of concern.  The sonographer looked at the below-waist area to make sure all was in order there, but I looked away when she did.  Actually, I didn't trust Kevin not to peek so I looked back at him to make sure he wasn't looking ;)  We asked her not to tell us what she saw but she said she felt pretty confident she could tell the gender.

 

After the sonogram we met with an OB, per the practice's requirement that midwife patients see an OB at least once during the pregnancy.  At this point we learned that our trend of "everything looks good but" midway point sonograms continues.  With Daniel, the concern was "bright spots" on the heart and brain, which ultimately turned out to be normal variances.  With this pregnancy, the baby him/herself is fine, but the concern is that the placenta is a little low on the uterine wall.  It's not really a concern at this point but ultimately if it failed to move up it would block baby's exit thus requiring a C-section. 

We'll have another sonogram early in the 3rd trimester to check, but it almost certainly will resolve by then, as over 95% of cases do.  The good news of course is that the odds are overwhelmingly in our favor.  The bad news is that there's nothing to do but wait and hope.  It helps though to remember that last time we were in this situation the issue ended up resolving, and it almost certainly will this time.

 

Aside from the sonogram, we had another big pregnancy milestone this week.  I was sitting on the couch and could feel HB squirming around and kicking.  I could feel it so much I thought maybe Kevin would be able to feel it too, so he put his hand on my belly and sure enough, he could!  It was around 23 weeks before we could feel Daniel's kicks so it's fun to get to feel HB sooner.

 

Haven't really had much in the way of pregnancy symptoms lately, though I've noticed that coughing triggers heartburn for me (which means this last week has been extra fun).  I'm mostly, but not exclusively, wearing maternity tops at this point, but maternity pants are still too big.  My regular pants still fit so I'm in those and can still button them and wear a belt.  I'm surprised to still be in regular pants this far in, but I'll take it.  I'll credit a combination of higher carry position and lower pre-pregnancy weight...thanks running!

 

Here are a few 20 week pictures.  Ignore the cheesy expression.

 

The shirt says "Future Aggie" pointing to the belly. We were dressed to watch the game!

 

For comparison, here's a current shot alongside my 20 week picture with Daniel.  Comparing the two, I look smaller this time and am still in regular pants with belt, whereas at this point with Daniel I had just moved into maternity pants (but had had to use a Bella band with my regular pants for several weeks prior).

 

16 week update

I'm now 16 weeks along and the last week has seen several interesting developments.  The exciting one is that I've been able to feel Honey Badger moving.  So far it's just fluttering, and nothing I could feel externally with my hand, but I now know from experience it's baby movement.  Looking back at my blog entries from my pregnancy with Daniel, I was starting to feel something around 18 weeks but wasn't sure that it was baby movement.  I had expected to feel movement sooner this time around so I wasn't surprised to feel it this past week.

 

Alas, I had also expected to begin feeling bladder pressure by this point and that has also come to fruition.  I suspect that carrying a little higher this time delayed it for a few weeks, but it was bound to happen eventually.  Never was this more evident than this past Saturday when I participated in (note that I did not say "ran") a 10k race.  I expected to be slow, but it turned out that the limiting factor was not my legs or my lungs, but how fast I could go without jostling my bladder and having to pee.  I ended up walking for stretches and even so, had to make 4 bathroom stops over 6.2 miles, when I can generally run an entire half marathon without having to stop.  So, it looks like I'll be investing in a support belt soon to try to alleviate this issue.

 

As for clothes, I'm still largely in regular clothes, but a few maternity tops no longer look baggy on me.  I suspect the coming weeks will see me wearing more maternity tops and then, within a month or so, it'll probably be time to pull out the maternity pants too.

 

Last week I had another checkup too.  It was short, mostly just a chance to hear the little one's heartbeat (133 bpm, around where Daniel's was at this time) and chat briefly with Cecily.  We've also got our anatomy scan ultrasound scheduled in a few weeks, when we'll get to see the little one in more detail and make sure everything is developing well.  With Daniel, this was when we found out we were having a boy, but this time, since we're going for a surprise, we'll have to turn away while the sonogram technician checks out Honey Badger's nether region, and remind her not to spoil the surprise for us.  While it won't be the big reveal it was with Daniel, we're looking forward to the chance to see the little one up close and confirm that everything is on track.

Daniel's first few weeks of preschool and 24 month checkup

Daniel starts school
Almost a month ago we started Daniel at his preschool, Apostles Day School.  It's a Montessori school set in an Episcopal church in a nearby suburb.  It came highly recommended by our good friends Lisa and Richard, whose 2 older kids go there and love it.  We looked at several options but this was immediately my favorite, and after considering them all Kevin agreed this was the place for Daniel.  From the first time I set foot there I thought, "I can't wait for Daniel to start here, he's going to LOVE it."

So far, 3 weeks in, he does love it.  His first day Kevin and I both took him.  He stood nervously by us at first when we arrived, following me into the classroom but then right back out.  A minute later though, he walked back in on his own, and a few minutes later after we'd stopped by the director's office we peeked back in to check on him and he was sitting at a table with other kids studying one of the works (projects).  His teachers reported a great first day and every day since has been good too.  He seems to really enjoy the interaction with other kids, the predictable structure of the school day, and the stimulation of the classroom setting.  He's always happy to see me when I pick him up, but always happily playing when I get there.

This school requires parents to send a lunch for their child every day-a negative to some people but a plus to us as it means his lunches will be healthy foods we pick out for him.  We pack plenty for him every day-usually a sandwich or some chicken, yogurt, fresh fruit, and milk.  He doesn't always finish but nearly always eats most of it.  His teachers have commented to us on what a hearty appetite he has and said he's one of the best eaters in the class.  Especially when we sent my mom's homemade applesauce with him-they said he wolfed that right down!  We pack his lunch in the little red lunchbox we got for him designed like a fire truck-he's very proud of it and loves it!

Here he is when I picked him up after his first day.  He was having so much fun with all the toys he didn't want to leave!  His lunchbox is by his feet.

One of the things we were really looking forward to with Daniel starting school was the help they'd provide with potty training.  We're rookies at this but they're pros, so we knew that when Daniel was ready they'd help him really get the hang of it.  Their approach has been much like ours, offering the potty and giving him the chance to sit on it, but since they have him all day they offer it more than we can.  Also helping there is that Daniel has the positive peer influence of watching the other kids in his class using the bathroom.

[Disclaimer: If you're not the parent of a little one, you might want to skip this part.  You've been warned.]  Whatever they're doing, it's working!  Daniel used the potty at school once last week, then this past weekend at home, he did #2 in the potty.  It was the first time he had ever done that and he was quite proud.  Then today was another new milestone.  He peed in the potty this morning before Kevin took him to school, then used the potty at school, then tonight used it again once we got home.  His first day to use the potty more than once, and he did it 3 times, including a #2. Once he becomes more consistent in his toilet use, it may be time to take Daniel shopping for underwear!  My hope is that he'll at least be daytime toilet-trained by the time of Honey Badger's arrival.  If nighttime training takes longer, that's fine.  I'm surprised but pleased that at barely 2 years old he's already doing so well with this.  Thanks preschool!

24 month checkup
Last week Daniel had his latest checkup.  He weighed in a little over 25 pounds and stands 35 inches tall-holding par for the course, long and lean.  Our pediatrician was impressed with his development and particularly with his vocabulary and articulation and felt that he was on pace for all developmental targets for his age.

It was also a vaccination day for us.  At our request, the doctor agreed to delay the Hepatitis A and B series until Daniel was 2.  Long story short, these 2 are relatively unimportant at this age (the former is mild, the latter is spread via needles and sexual contact and thus, not  really a concern for any but the most rebellious toddlers) and have relatively higher risk of seizures than other vaccines, so we opted to postpone them and focus our attention in his earlier years on more important shots (e.g., DTAP, Hib, PCV).  So, this visit he got his first HepA and his second polio shot.  He cried during the actual shots but calmed fairly quickly afterwards and had no adverse effects.  We'll take him back in a month or two for his seasonal flu shot, then in February we'll bring him along for little bother or sister's first checkup and he'll get his first Hep B shot then.  It's a little surreal to think that before long I'll be taking 2 kids to the doctor!

Honey Badger: 14 weeks and counting

With Daniel, I tried to blog every week about my pregnancy.  With Baby #2....we'll shoot for at least once a month (blame 2nd child syndrome...I can already picture it if we had a 3rd: 1st post: we're pregnant, 2nd post, here's her 1st birthday pictures!).  So, that said, I'll do my best!

Bye-bye, 1st trimester!

Now that I'm 14 weeks in, the queasiness and fatigue of the 1st trimester are happily in the rear view.  I still feel pretty tired in the early evening sometimes, but not as bad as before.  There were weeks there where I'd pick Daniel up, play with him as best I could then, as soon as Kevin got home, I'd hand him off for dinner and bath time while I'd go grab a nap.  Other days, I'd bring Daniel into our bedroom, which is pretty well child-proofed, and lie down while he played.  I hated to miss our evening play time, but thankfully most days I'm up for it again now.

NT scan

2 weeks ago we had a nuchal translucency (NT) scan ultrasound done.  The primary purpose of the NT scan is to measure the width of the space in the baby's neck area, as there's a high correlation between larger widths and Down's syndrome and other chromosomal defects.  We have no real risk factors for this, but we chose to do the test because we didn't do it with Daniel and in hindsight, I wish we had.

At his 20 week ultrasound, the technician noted some "bright spots" on his heart and brain.  Our midwife said it was probably nothing, but let's look again at 24 weeks.  They were still there at 24 weeks so she said, while it's still probably nothing, let's do a detailed Level II sonogram at a specialist's office to make sure.  She told us that bright spots are sometimes nothing, but can be "soft markers" for Down's or other chromosomal defects.  Of course, as it turned out, the 26 week sono showed that everything was fine, the bright spots were normal variances, and we went on to have a perfectly healthy little boy.  But, those 6 weeks were a rather nervous time for us as we waited to find out, knowing the odds were overwhelmingly in our favor but still waiting for the official "all clear." 

Had we done an NT scan with that pregnancy, when the 20 week sonogram showed the bright spots, we'd have felt much less nervous about it, knowing that between the NT scan and related maternal blood draws, any defect would almost certainly have been found by then.  So, this time around I looked at the NT scan as peace of mind in case a similar issue arises.  And if it had turned out there was a defect, we'd have more time to make decisions, arrange for prenatal surgery to correct in cases of some other issues the test can find, and have extra time to prepare ourselves and Daniel if a special needs child were in our future.

All that said, the NT scan went just fine.  The little one was definitely looking a lot bigger than when we saw him/her at 7 weeks, and features were much more defined.  This kiddo was active too-pushing off the wall with the legs, arching the neck and back, and waving hands around.  It was fun to see that little glimpse of what baby's life is like right now, and if that morning was any indication, I've got another squirmer coming!

Here's a profile shot.  This definitely looks a lot like Daniel's sonogram profile pictures, but it may be that most babies look like that at this age, so it may be too soon to draw any conclusions about features:

State of the Mommy update

With the 1st trimester behind me I'm feeling pretty good these days.  I'm running, biking, and swimming, albeit more slowly than before, and really no pregnancy symptoms at the moment.  I have to pee a little more frequently than before, but not like I remember with Daniel.  I seem to be carrying a little higher right now too, which might explain that.  I often feel like a bottomless pit of hunger, but thankfully veggies and I are getting along well again after a rocky few weeks.

On a related note, I'm still in regular clothes so far.  After Daniel was born I lost my baby weight and then another 8 pounds, so pre-baby #2 I was in pants 1 or 2 sizes smaller than pre-Daniel.  So far, these smaller pants and shorts still fit fine for the most part, and aren't even starting to get snug.  Maternity tops are still too big on me but I'm having to be strategic about wearing looser-fitting regular tops.  I'm in that stage where I look chubby more than pregnant, so for now it's all about minimizing the bump till it becomes more definitely a bump rather than a sign of too many donuts.  I switched to maternity clothes around 19 weeks with Daniel, and my guess is I'll get there a week or 2 sooner this time, but if I keep carrying higher I may be in maternity tops and regular pants for a few weeks.  I've gained about 4 pounds so far-pretty comparable to where I was at this point with Daniel, but since I started lighter I'm still several pounds lighter than I was pre-Daniel.  Thanks, running! ;)

Belly pictures

This is from mid-June when we went out for Kevin's birthday dinner, about 6 weeks pregnant.  At that point I hadn't gained any weight but was rounding a little in the belly.  I will note that I tried that dress on last weekend for our anniversary dinner but while it fit, it was neither comfortable nor flattering anymore.

Here I am at 10 weeks on our beach trip.  Still not really showing-looks more like a muffin top than a baby bump (which is why I favored my tankini and wore it much more than the bikini in this picture)

Here's one from 13 weeks.  The tech shirt is a small and while it still fits, some of my other running shirts do not.  Over the year I've acquired a few that ran really big.  Now I'll have a use for them!

And, one from 14 weeks.  On a related note, while I like the wall color as background, I'll have to remind Kevin to put his shoes away before we take these pictures ;)

My next checkup is this week.  No sonogram this time (next will be at 18-20 weeks), but it will be nice to hear the heartbeat again on the Doppler.  Honestly, with no pregnancy symptoms and not really showing yet, checkups provide a nice reassurance that yes, there actually is a baby in there.  That's another reason we wanted to do the NT scan-otherwise we'd have a sono at 7 weeks and not again till 18-20-a long time to go without seeing baby.  It was reassuring and fun to get to see him/her again.

I haven't taken Daniel to a checkup yet, but once we get a little further along I'd like to bring him to one.  I know the midwife who delivered him would enjoy seeing him again (she's still got his birth announcement up on her wall, along with dozens of others of kids she's delivered), and as this all starts becoming a little more real to him I think he'd like to hear the heartbeat.  In the meantime we'll keep reading his "brother book", which has become one of his favorites, to get him used to the idea.

So, in another 6 months, we'll be a family of 4.  Right now that still feels a long way away but I'm curious to see if the time passes more quickly this pregnancy, with an active toddler providing a fun distraction from the "are we there yet?" feeling of pregnancy.  There will be less preparation for us-we already have most of what we'll need, and we've done the Bradley classes and know how to care for an infant.  But, this will all turn Daniel's world upside down, so we'll have to be especially mindful of preparing him for the transition from only child to big brother.  Should be interesting!

1st haircut, beach trip, and 2nd birthday!

This is what happens when I get behind on blogging.  We have an eventful month and suddenly I'm way behind on my updates.  So, I'll get us mostly caught up this time and save the other giant update (starting preschool!) for the next post.

1st haircut

Much as I loved Daniel's long shaggy hair, it was time for a trim.  The back was starting to get kind of mullet-y and as cute as the longer hair was in the front and on the sides, the mullet thing was not as becoming.  So, after asking around for suggestions, we took him to Cool Cuts for Kids, a salon that's tailored to kids.  For the littlest customers like Daniel, the salon chairs are built into race cars. 

He liked driving the car while the stylist trimmed away.  The car also faced a little TV which was cued up with an Elmo video.  I was quite the proud mommy that he recognized Elmo not from TV, but from his books. 

He was pretty patient all through the cut and looked quite handsome afterwards.

Beach trip

When I was growing up, a trip to Padre Island was a part of nearly every summer.  Kevin and I decided that would be a fun tradition to keep for our family too.  Daniel enjoyed the trip last year so we knew he'd have fun this year too, especially now that he's big enough to walk and run in the water. 

Before our flight, Daniel enjoyed playing in the kids' play area of DFW airport.  What a genius idea to let the kiddos burn off some energy before their flight!

Last year we went with the Rangels and my parents.  This year the Rangels weren't able to make it but my parents, Kevin's mom, and Kevin's brother Scott and his wife Katherine all came, then my brother David and his girlfriend Alana joined for the final two days.  So, it wound up being an extended family trip, which was fun.  Daniel loved spending time with his grandparents, uncles, and aunt!

Last year he wasn't walking yet so he couldn't really go very far out into the ocean itself before the water was hitting him in the face, so he mainly stuck to the sand and the tidepools.  This year, he was boldly running out into the surf, or at least the first 20 feet or so of it.  He was laughing out loud and saying "whee" as the waves would hit him, until he got out too deep and the waves were hitting him in the face.  He's still not a big fan of water in the eyes, but as long as he stayed in that shallow zone, he was happy.  He'd run into the water, back out, then back in again, over and over.  We definitely have a little beach boy!

Daniel turns 2!

I'm not sure how it is that it's been 24 months since our little boy was born, but somehow I've got a 2 year old now.  We decided to keep the birthday celebration low-key.  We went swimming with a few friends that morning, then did a family dinner at the house that night. 

Before all of that, though, we gave Daniel his birthday present.  He's all about cars these days so we decided his gift from Mommy and Daddy would be a little car he can drive.  We test-drove a few at Toys 'R Us earlier in the week and once he met the Cozy Coupe, it was love at first sight.  We put a Cozy Coupe box in our car, but Daniel didn't understand that.  All he understood was the part where he had to leave the "floor model" he'd been enjoying for the last 30 minutes and oh, what an epic meltdown that entailed!

So, imagine his delight a few mornings later when I brought him downstairs on his birthday and he saw the car sitting in the middle of the living room with a bow wrapped on the side.  His face lit up and he ran toward it.  Until it was time to leave for the swim playdate he was happily climbing in and out of the car.  I'll always remember that morning-that might be the happiest I've ever seen him.  It was the perfect gift.

We managed to pry him away from the car to head for the pool to meet up with his playmates Alejandro, William (who, as of this month, is now also his classmate at school), Natalie, and Justin.  The kids had a blast swimming, jumping into the pool, and exploring the playscape.

Finally, it was cupcake time, and time to get our birthday boy home for a nap before the evening festivities.

That night my parents, Kevin's mom, Uncle Scott and Aunt Katherine, and the Rangels joined us for dinner.  We feasted on dove breast (from Kevin, my dad, and Scott's successful hunting trip last fall), chicken, squash casserole, homemade applesauce, salad, fruit salad, roasted kale, homemade potato chips, roasted okra, homemade guac and chips, homemade bread, and cupcakes.  Yeah, it was a LOT of food, but all delicious! 

The company was wonderful too.  Having just seen all his extended family a few weeks before at the beach, Daniel was really excited to see them all again (and talked about everyone for days afterward!).  And of course, he was thrilled to see his buddy Alejandro not once but twice that day.  At first I thought we'd have some trouble on our hands when they both seemed interested in the Cozy Coupe, but then, on their own, they found a way to share it.  Daniel got in the car and Alejandro happily pushed the car around the house!

After that big day, Daniel got to stay up extra-late to enjoy his company.  He slept hard that night though! 

We thoroughly enjoyed our 2nd year with Daniel, and I can't wait to see what his 3rd year has in store for us. I hope he loves being our son, we sure do love being his parents!

23 months…and 10 weeks!

10 weeks?!

Daniel has some pretty exciting news to share since our last update:

 

Yes, he’s going to be a big brother!  Daniel’s sibling is due in early February, and we’re all eagerly awaiting his/her arrival.  I’m 10 weeks along and so far, everything seems good.  We had our first sonogram and prenatal appointment a few weeks ago and got to see little Honey Badger (our nickname for this baby.  Why?  I joked about the baby being like a honey badger, Daniel picked up on it and started saying it, and that was that).  S/he was looking good and had a strong 144 bpm heartbeat.

So far I’m doing…okay.  I have been kind of permanently queasy the last several weeks.  It hasn’t been terrible, mostly just annoying.  My impression is that it’s worse than it was with Daniel but I may not be remembering accurately.  I have been tired, though perhaps not quite as much as with Daniel, and not sleeping too well.  Fortunately, I have not felt the constant need to use the bathroom like I did before.  Unfortunately, I have had several multi-day migraines, which I did not have with Daniel.

So, do the stronger pregnancy symptoms this go-round mean that we’re having a girl this time?  Maybe so, maybe no….but we won’t be finding out till the little one arrives.  It was fun to find out with Daniel and I think it made everything more real, 1) now that we have a toddler running around, the whole “there’s a little person in there” aspect is quite real to us, and 2) it will be fun to go to the hospital on that eventful day with a big surprise ahead of us.

Other than not finding out the sex ahead of time, we are pretty much planning to handle this pregnancy and birth like we did Daniel’s.  I’m going to the same practice I did while pregnant with Daniel (and for subsequent checkups) and will have half of my visits with Cecily, the same midwife who delivered Daniel.  The other half will be with Allison, the new midwife they recently brought on.  We had our first appointment with Allison, and while we don’t yet have the familiarity with her that we do with Cecily, we liked her and I’m sure as the pregnancy progresses we’ll have ample chance to get to know her. 

We plan to deliver at Baylor Dallas again, and I again plan to labor, and hopefully deliver, in a birth tub., epidural-free.  I never doubted I'd succeed at a natural birth last time, but this time I go in with the huge confidence booster of knowing I can do it, because I already have.  And 2nd labors tend to be faster, apparently-good news after the 37 hour endurance event of Daniel's birth. 

I also feel like all my running and racing this past year will pay off, not just in better overall fitness but as more encouraging moments for the positive memory bank.  If I hit a challenging moment in labor, I'll think back to mile 8 of the Austin Half-Marathon, when my IT band seized up and I was reduced to a limping walk.  I was in pain, but I persevered and finished strong.  When the end is in sight, I'll remember hitting the 11 mile marker of the White Rock half and realizing that I was about 20 minutes from becoming a half-marathoner.  I've read that in times of stress people don't rise to the occasion, they sink to the level of their training, and I like to think I'm going into this endurance event well trained for it.

Speaking of endurance events, Honey Badger already has a sprint triathlon and half marathon under his/her belt.  I was already signed up for the events and only 5 and 6 weeks along, so I did them.  I felt great but made a point to hold back a little to avoid overexerting myself.

Playtri Sprint Triathlon

The sign I wore on my back for the Wounded Warrior Half Marathon

I hope that we skip the NICU stay this time and the baby gets to room in with us.  It hit me what we missed out on with Daniel being in the NICU when I went to visit a friend at the hospital after her son was born.  We went into her recovery room and I thought, hmm, no pump in here.  Then I realized she didn’t need to pump at the hospital, because her baby got to stay in her room and nurse around the clock.  I’m glad the NICU facility was there for us, and we took home a healthy boy, but if we’re fortunate to be able to skip that and keep our baby in the room, I surely won’t take for granted how lucky I am to be able to love on my baby around the clock instead of being limited to the NICU visiting schedule.

23 months

While we’re eagerly awaiting the Honey Badger’s arrival, we’re also enjoying every day with Daniel.  We tried to teach him to answer “how old are you?” by saying “almost 2,” but instead he says “2 old!”  I understand his logic: when we ask how big he is he answers “so big” so instead of just saying he’s “2” he says he’s “2 old.” 

His fascination with reaching high spots continues unabated and at least 5 times a day we’re guaranteed to hear one or all of the variations on “Danny reach it: lights/fan/giraffe/ceiling/clurtans (curtains)”  I hope the kiddo inherits Daddy’s height or he’s set for a life of disappointment!

He’s very fond of giving hugs and kisses and every night when I put him down to bed, I tell him I love him and he answers back “I low do too Mommy.”  Sometimes he says “I low Danny too!”  Well, who wouldn’t? ;)

He is also demonstrating impressive memorization.  When we read his books he can fill in a lot of the blanks if we leave words out.  Which would be impressive anyway but I think is especially so given that he can do it without the book in front of him if I’m reciting the book to him (Mommy’s good at memorization too ;)).  Goodnight Moon and Horns to Toes are favorites to recite and to read. 

He’s also enjoying his new “brother book” we bought to help prepare him for his new sibling. 

He seems enthusiastic about the baby concept for now, but obviously doesn’t really understand.  What could be more abstract to a toddler than the idea that a whole little person is growing in Mommy’s belly and is going to come out and live with us forever?  I’m sure it’ll be quite an adjustment for him to get used to sharing Mommy and Daddy, but I think he’ll also enjoy being our little helper.  We’re going to get him a doll closer to time to give him practice holding a baby, singing to it, and “helping” with diapers.

It’s hard to believe our little guy will be 2 in just a week and a half. So far, the so-called “terrible twos” have been quite mild.  This stage is definitely my favorite so far-he’s so interactive and it’s fun to watch his personality emerge.  I can’t wait to see what his 3^rd year has in store for us.