Week 74.14 Nathan is 17 months old!

Dear Nathan,
You have been talking up a storm lately with new word developments like, a joking "no, no, no" and my personal favorite, "mama." After 17 months of waiting, I finally heard it this week.

Things you have been interested this week include drawing, putting together train tracks and playing with trains, playing with your little people school bus. Every time we go upstairs, you show me the sign for drawing. We normally can get about 10-15 minutes of art time before you go down for you nap. When you find random pieces of paper, you show me the sign for draw. I hope this is the result of me teaching you that we only draw on paper. So far [knock on wood] you do a pretty good job of that. Except for when you draw on your hands. But I'm ok with that.

This week you figured out how to connect the pieces of track together and push the train along the track.

 This skill seemed to have co-developed with your shape sorting puzzle skills. You can now pick up a shape and if you are paying attention, you will bring it to the right hole to drop it into the container. It's really neat to see how it just suddenly clicked.

I also picked up some play-doh at the store the other day. At first, you were a bit unsure about the texture, you even tasted a little bit of it (but immediately spat it out). You had a bit of fun pressing the cookie cutters into the dough and using various tools to cut the dough. I think you'll have more fun with this activity in a few more weeks.

Tonight, I figured out your sign for ketchup. you use a pointed index finger and dab it down on the tray like you are dipping something. You signed this after I placed a few tater tots on your plate. After I squeezed a bit of ketchup on your tray, you started to dip everything in it. Meatballs, rice, and tater tots.

Potty training has become a bit more frustrating this week as your schedule has become less normal. Some days we sit on the toilet for what seems like 10-15 minutes with no results. I've decided that I will just have you use the toilet after you show me the sign. You've been pretty good with it the few times you've had to go during non-scheduled potty sessions. I'm sure there will be a lot of poop rinsing in the days ahead of me, but I don't know if I can sit and entertain you by the potty for such a long time anymore. 

You are still not eating your veggies, although you tried asparagus, carrot, and radish this week. 

As far as news with me, I'm feeling better, less tired, but some days I still need an afternoon nap. On Monday I was so exhausted after teaching that I decided to take a nap. I laid down in bed, only to find that my back was a bit sore. So, I did a happy baby yoga pose, (legs froggy style in the air) to stretch out my back and fell asleep in the position...for 2 hours. I woke up, and carefully straightened my legs as they had gotten slightly sore from being in that position for that long. Crazy, huh? 

It seems like this pregnancy, I've gotten more than my fair share of stomach bugs. I hope it won't affect the baby too much. 

I've also had super vivid dreams with details that seem to really fit with what's going on in my life right now. They are so realistic and relevant that they could very well happen. It's pretty crazy. 

Well, everyone in the house is sick. It's getting late, so I better get my sleep. Until next week! 

Love, 

Mama

Week 73.13

Dear Nathan,
I am finally starting to feel like my old self again. I'm not 100% there yet, but I don't have to take a nap every afternoon, and I don't feel sick all day. It could be the hormones leveling out, or it could be the beautiful weather that we've been having. Regardless, this is a good change and I like it!

I am starting to show a little bit. It seems like last Friday, overnight, a belly just suddenly appeared.

Today we went to go in for a visit with the midwife. She mentioned how well behaved and cute you were. You just sat there and watched, waiting patiently for us to finish. We were able to hear the heartbeat for the first time today. You perked up when you heard the quick thumps. It must sound very familiar to you since not too long ago, you were in the same situation. I talked with the midwife to clear up any guilt that I've had with eating sugar. She told me that as long as I'm not gaining an excessive amount of weight, and not eating too much sugar, I can indulge in an ice cream or slice of cake once in awhile. Whew. That's a relief.

Right now, the little gummy bear is cradled more on the left side of the womb. The midwife could already hear the little one kick, move around, and hiccup. Wow.

In 4 more weeks we'll have our next appointment and pretty soon afterwards, we'll have the 20 week ultrasound to check if everything is alright and we can see if the baby is a boy or a girl. I still haven't decided if we should find out this time. Well, we have a lot of time to decide.

Since we've been going outside a lot lately, we've gone exploring in the woods, disc golfing at the park, and playing at the play ground. You must have seen older kids play with sticks, because when you find one, you start thrashing it around like a sword, or you draw in the mulch with it. For the most part, you are pretty careful with it, but sometimes I get smacked in the face or the leg when I'm not paying attention.

You are starting to become a little daredevil. There is nothing too tall for you to try to climb, there is no slide too tall for you to slide down on your belly with. When you come down the stairs, you no longer slide down on your belly. The only way that you will come down is on your bottom. It's a lot less efficient and a bit more dangerous, but you refuse to come down any other way.

Last Thursday, we went back to the inflatable playground. You were not a big fan of the place. I think the loud fans were scary to you this time. All you wanted to do was sit at the tables and eat. You must have had a growth spurt or something because that day, you ate alot!

On Friday, we went to story time at the library. We even saw your cousin Hazel there. You enjoyed it a lot. We will probably be making weekly trips now.

New signs this week include "book," "draw" and "pee-pee." Yesterday and today, you've been signing pee-pee to me when we are around a toilet. You keep signing it until I take you and when we are at the toilet, you go number 1. Our sign for "pee-pee" is a pat on top of the head. I figured it's a lot easier than signing the letter "p" twice. Will we have you potty trained before you little brother or sister gets here? We'll have to wait and find out.

Yesterday, we went to Austin's children's museum, the Thinkery. Since the weather was warmer, I took you to the water area where you really enjoyed throwing objects into the pool and watching them make a big splash. You threw a major temper tantrum when it was time to go to another area. In fact, I have never seen you throw such a huge temper tantrum. You must have REALLY liked that. Wait until we go to the pool this summer.

Talk about splashing, you recently have started to stand up in the tub and sit down quickly into the water, causing a huge splash. You do this several times until the tub runs out of water. It's cute and funny, but daddy and myself both get pretty wet when you do this.

Oh, there's been a few days this week where you have gone several hours without drooling. You seem to have learned to suck in your spit and not let it dribble down your chin. You still forget to do this a lot, but I think the electric toothbrush technique is starting to work. Yay!

We did an experiment this week to see if Dad can tuck you into bed at night. The first night didn't go too well because he didn't follow the routine exactly. I don't blame him, there's just so many things that need to be done. After he watched us do it through the monitor, he was able to successfully tuck you into bed without any tears. I wonder if you'll do the same for a babysitter. If so, mommy and daddy can go out on a date night :)

We had another baby party this past weekend. Not as many babies showed up, but the 4 of you had lots of fun playing and singing songs with the host dad. Here are a few pictures.

Besides these pictures, I really haven't taken much this week at all. This mamarazzi is slacking off! We can't let that happen! I will do better this upcoming week.

Until then,
Mommy

Week 72.12 Nathan's Gonna Be a Great Big Brother

Dear Nathan,
Think of the song that starts like this: "I can see clearly now the rain is gone." Don't forget the tune, but replace it with the following verses:

I can feel happy for the sickness is gone.

All of the bad feelings have disappeared. 

Gone are the days feeling in the dumps.

It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright, sun shiny day!

It really started yesterday. I was able to go to a pump class (with severely reduced weights) for the first time in like 2 months. Then today, I was almost back to my normal clumsy self in Zumba. So, praise God for answered prayers! 

This week seems to be a huge week for you. You've made a few cognitive milestones, at least they've gone from random occurrences to intentional and reproducible. For example, you must sign "Thank You" 100 times a day. Pretty much after anyone hands you something or picks something up for you (which never happens to toddlers), you show the sign and say something that kind of sounds likes "thanks." You even look at the person who helped you. I hope this is not a fad, but a practice that you will take up for the rest of your life. Everyone loves a courteous and polite boy.

You are still the picky eater that you have been for the past few days. Although you have recently showed an interest in using chopsticks. You will grab a pair and try to open and close them like we do. But using them like skewers makes you happy too! 

We went to the Austin Zoo this weekend. It was the first above 60 day in a long time. I was surprised at how well you knew your animals and animal names. You "baa" when you saw a sheep. When you saw a tiger, you roared.

 When you saw birds, you made a high pitched squawking noise.

When you saw anything that looked like a cat (bobcat or leopard), you would actually say the chinese word for cat which is "mao." When you saw anything that looked like a dog (wolf hybrid), you would yelp a high pitched bark, or pant like a dog.

These turtles were very fascinating to you. Look at them eat their veggies! It makes me happy when someone eats their veggies ahem.

Overall, we were quite impressed with the Austin Zoo. It is pretty much an animal sanctuary, but they had a great variety of animals to look at. I'd say it's great for little ones like Nathan who don't have to travel too far to be exposed to exotic animals that we don't quite get to see in our back yard.

We had a nice picnic at the zoo and had to scare away the chickens who were eyeing our sandwiches a little bit too closely.

And finally, here is the potty picture. It's interesting how you almost always insist that we remove your pants and socks whenever you sit on the toilet. Not sure why, but it just needs to be done. Currently, we routinely take you to the toilet after meals.

 Sometimes, you go immediately, sometimes we wait. So this is what helps keep your interest while we are waiting on the toilet. You like to thread the pieces of toilet paper tube onto the toilet paper holder and then use your hand to projectile launch them off of the holder. You giggle and sign to do it again. Each time I hand you a piece of the toilet paper roll, you sign "thanks" and continue to thread the pieces on.

 Sometime during your game, you pause, make the face, I hear plops and water squirting against the side of the seat. I know you are done. I ask you to give me a hug to get you to lean forward as I clean up down there. Sometimes we do the potty party dance, sometimes we just flush and continue our business.

Sometimes towards the end of the meal, you will show us the sign to go potty and we take you. Immediately, you get your business done. Sometimes we still play the game because I love hearing you giggle.

You current best friend gave you one of her dolls. You've been a pretty good big brother. You do a great job feeding the baby water.

And solid food.

 And you are even starting to play pranks!

But the sweetest thing happened the other day when I was pretending to nurse the doll. You brought over my tablet to me. At first I thought you were going to open it and play with it, but you just plopped it down next to me and walked away. You remembered how I used to use the tablet when I nursed you! There have also been times where you would come by and pat the baby as I nursed her. It's too sweet. 

Another interesting thing that happened this week occurred while we were watching the men's figure skating on the Olympics. You got so excited that you started to mimic the skaters by turning in circles in the living room. It looked fun, so I joined you. We had an awfully fun time! 

On the coloring front, you are getting pretty good at putting the cap back on to the markers that you just used and putting it back before you get another one. You even show me the "one" finger to let me know that you pick up one marker. You seem to really like drawing rainbows (arcs) and on your hands. We have fun and it keeps you entertained for about 20-30 minutes. 

Well, now that the weather is finally warming up, and I'm feeling better, we are going to try to spend some time outside before the oak pollen comes. Until next week! 

Love,

Mommy

First Trimester Posts for Baby 2

On December 20, 2013, we found out that Nathan is going to be a big brother. We will now have 2 little honey buns. I had this feeling that I was pregnant, so I waited until the day my period was supposed to come before I took the test. The results came quick. Before I finished washing my hands, I could see a faint plus on the stick. However, I decided to quickly look away and whisked off to change Nathan's diaper before I came back to see the final results.

I'm not quite sure how many weeks I'm pregnant (instead of the average 28 day cycle, mine is closer to 36). But if everything goes as it should, we should be able to meet our new baby by the end of August. 

Most of me is super excited. We just started getting excited about the idea of another little guy or girl running around the house. My mind is going pretty crazy as I just fantasize about our new family, trying not to think about the night time wakings and blow out diapers. Names, new room...it's all to exciting. By the time you are reading this, I'm probably at least 12 weeks along and finished with my first trimester. If it were up to me, I would've shared with everyone today, but this is Steve's baby too. 

I think we want to find out again, whether it's a boy or girl. It's just easier that way. At this very moment, right now, I'm kind of hoping that we will have a total of 3 kids. Everyone says if you can handle 2, 3 is a piece of cake. Well, I'm always in for the better deal, so if God allows it, I'd like to have 3. 

I've also talked it over with Steve and if it is possible, I'd like to give birth through the birthing center. While we did talk about the option of having a midwife deliver at a hospital, simply so we can enjoy the 2-3 days of pampering, I think for the sake of Nathan, I'd like to be home as soon as possible. 

With Nathan, we took weekly pictures to track the pregnancy. I think we'll start doing this again. But this time, have Nathan stand beside me to document his growth as well. *Another thing to be excited about. 

I pretty much loved being pregnant with Nathan. I pray that I will be in love with this one just as much. 

Sooooooo excited! 

Week 6

Traveling with a toddler is pretty tiring, I can't imagine what it would be like if we had 2. On the flight to Chicago, I saw a lady traveling by herself with twins. Wow. Well, this week I've felt a bit nauseous  when I get tired. So, mostly in the afternoons or evening. The feeling is very slight, like last time, but I notice it. I am starting to get tired and fatigued very easily. I am pretty much craving a coffee around 2-3 pm. Also, this week, I have felt a few sharp pains, brief, around my uterus, which go away almost immediately, and to make it even more scary, I was spotting, just a bit one day this week. I immediately googled it and as I typed in "Spotting during pregnancy week," the number 6 immediately popped up to auto finish. So, I guess this is a pretty normal thing. 

That is all the symptoms for now. 

Week 8 (Jan 16)

Morning sickness comes and goes. It seems like it hits me in an almost debilitating way, every other day. But luckily, those days, Nathan takes good naps. I've been so blessed in that way several times. The birthing center gave us the information about payment. Our insurance will only cover the midwives, but not the facility (like last time) so the cost will be about $2700. With Nathan, we didn't think twice, but now, knowing that our insurance can cover pretty much most of the cost of a hospital delivery, my wallet strings are tugging a bit. During a late night in-bed discussion last night, we finally decided to go with the birthing center. The experience that we had with Nathan was so amazing that we think it is worth it to spring the extra almost 3 grand to bring a new baby into the world naturally. 

With Nathan, we waited until the second trimester to announce. Well, this time, the people whom I see almost every day, like my neighbors know. It's just too difficult to put up a peppy front when you feel like you are about to pass out. They are super supportive and have even offered to watch Nathan if I become too sick. I love my neighbors! 

I have my first check up next Tuesday and the ultrasound appointment is set up for the following week. I just found out that my roomate from college is expecting her first one around Aug. 13th, so I am way excited and bursting at the seams, wanting to share the news with her. But I will wait for after the ultrasound to share the news. First, on superbowl weekend, when my family will be in town, and then shortly to the rest of the world via face-to-face and facebook. 

I've had some crazy dreams lately, one of them involved twins, another involved us having 3 kids total. I went to the fabric store the other day to pick up some fabric for Steve's cube curtain and Nathan's chairs. The store happened to be clearing out their inventory of fabric, so I picked up this cute fabric because it was a good price and it was super cute. 

I hope we have a girl, so I can use this in the nursery. But somehow, I feel like we are going to end up with another boy, which is fine too because we already have experience in that department. 

So far my "morning sickness" leaves me feeling hung over. I generally feel woozy, slightly nauseous, and fatigued. I've tried various remedies to help alleviate the symptoms, but what works best for me this time around is carbonated water, chocolate covered gummy bears and a hot shower. I've been trying crystalized ginger, but the taste turns me off and sometimes makes it worse. 

I've been craving sweets, chocolate in particular. I also feel like I have a slight aversion to pork. For some reason, it just doesn't taste as good as it did before. 

Jan 22 (Week 9)

I had my first prenatal appointment yesterday. Things look good down there, but we couldn't hear a heartbeat yet. So, week 9 may be a pretty good estimate of how old you are. The midwife says that a heartbeat is typically heard at week 10. I did get to see a little bean in the old ultrasound machine that she had. No twins :( Next week, I go back and get an actual dating ultrasound with the sonographer. 

The midwife again reminded me of how evil sugar is and I even feel guilty right now as I'm typing this and craving a chocolate frosty. 

Today, I have felt constantly queasy. I am hungry, but once I eat, I feel like vomiting. I am also super emotional right now. While I was watching TV today, I started to cry while watching a commercial! Hormones. 

My lower back is already starting to ache and I am still exhausted. I haven't been to the gym in a week and I am ok with that. I simply can't muster up the energy to go. (Actually, I went to yoga on Monday, but it was hardly the intensity that I am used to). 

I remember pregnancy to be awesome! I have always told people that I loved being pregnant. Well, I'm starting to take it back. It has pretty much been miserable this time around. Realistically, I know it could be worse, but I'm just not used to feeling crappy all the time. It seems like matcha tea has helped. I've noticed that when I make some in the morning, I feel pretty good throughout the day. Those days I don't, I feel horrible. This morning, I was too tired to make myself a cup of tea. I felt horrible. I don't know it it's the matcha, or if I was bound to feel bad anyways and because I feel so bad, don't make myself some tea...who knows. Tomorrow, I'll try again. Maybe I'll just make up a large batch and make it easier each morning. 

Nathan has pretty much self-weaned. This morning, he didn't ask for milk. Usually he will sign "milk" and then point to the source. This morning, he pointed to go outside. I asked him if he wanted some mommy milk, or some cow milk. He pointed to the fridge. While I am glad that his morning routine has been made simpler, I'm a bit sad to think that he no longer needs my milk. That's pretty much the one thing that he has done all his life and now, he's about to give it up. In my mind, this is pretty epic. Or, it could be the crazy hormones. 

1/29/2014 : Week 9 and 4 days

I went in for an dating ultrasound and found out that we are only 9 weeks and 4 days along. So, I guess I will be making posts for this one every Saturday. 

If the ultrasound dating is spot on, the chances are really good that we will have a girl. If it is off by 2 days, it will probably be a boy. So, I guess I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a girl.

Morning sickness is still lasting all day, but I now have urges to vomit, without actually doing so. This occurs usually in the late afternoons. I'm also starting to get really sensitive to smells. Taking Nathan to the bathroom, leftovers, and trash have made me gag. Other than that, things are pretty much the same. 

I am taking about a 45 minute nap each afternoon, which sometimes makes me feel better, and sometimes makes me feel worse. 

Starting about 3 weeks ago, I've been having to get up several times at night to use the bathroom. I don't remember this happening until late 2nd trimester with Nathan. Getting up in the middle of cold, cold winter is rough. 

It seems like so many of my friends are having babies. But in the midst of all this joy of new life and adventures, there has been a few instances of heartache and disappointment.  My friends who have recently lost their baby did so towards the end of their first trimesters. At first, knowing the statistics that 1 in 5 pregnancies end in miscarriage during the first trimester, I was more on the apathetic side. It didn't seem like such a big deal. But after seeing the little gummy bear wiggle on the screen, I somehow became more attached to this beautiful creature growing inside of me, and the thought of losing him or her now devastates me. But as with all things, God has a plan and if I ever have to face that horrible day where I lose my child, may He give me the strength to endure it. 

2/8/2014 Week 12

Well, today officially marks the end of my first trimester. I should be feeling better any day now. Just not today. In fact, I don't think I have felt this bad so far. It's so bad that I'd rather endure child birth once again than to suffer like this another day. I must have eaten something bad because this morning, I had an upset stomach and all day, I've had a tummy ache, on top of nausea, on top of exhaustion (Teddy woke me up in the middle of the night wanting water and I couldn't fall asleep for 2 hours). Thank God Steve was home today so he pretty much kept Nathan company while I lied in bed. 

I am a little concerned about the possible stomach bug. During my first pregnancy, I pretty much avoided lunch meat and eggs over easy to avoid listeria poisoning. This time, the midwife gave me more specific guidelines on lunch meat, so I had a ham and egg sandwich for breakfast the other day. The ham wasn't cooked to steaming, and the egg was a bit, just a bit runny. So now, I feel guilty. I hope this is one of those 24 hour bugs and I get back to being myself tomorrow. 

My nose is hyper-sensitive. The other day, Steve was changing Nathan's diaper upstairs and I was able to catch a whiff of it from downstairs. Garlic is totally disgusting to me, and foods with a strong meaty smell kind of turn me off too. 

I've been craving ultra-unhealthy foods to the point where I can actually smell their greasy goodness. For example, the other day, I was sitting in the living room after dinner and suddenly caught a whiff of doughnuts. Man, I wanted one then and there.  It was weird. 

Oh, I've finally discovered something else that helps me feel better. Grapefruits. I remember it being grapefruit season when I was pregnant with Nathan and ate a bunch then. I've been eating about 2 a day. I've learned to cut up a bunch and just snack on a few slices when I feel a bit weird. I got 10 pounds of that stuff sitting in my kitchen. I hope I can finish it all before it goes bad. 

I will be combining any pregnancy thoughts in my weekly Wednesday blog. So good-bye first trimester, hello second trimester!

Week 71.11

Dear Nathan,
You may have noticed that the title of this post has a bunch of decimals behind it. Well, remember this?

Just in case you didn't figure it out, YOU'RE GOING TO BE A BIG BROTHER! According to the ultrasound that you went with me to get, I am about 11 weeks along, which means your little sister or brother will be born around the end of August, about a month before you turn 2.

This time around, I've felt pretty horrible. I'm going to publish a post that I've been saving for a few weeks that document how I've been feeling during the first trimester. but I think I will start combining any pregnancy related posts with these posts because I just don't have time to make 2 posts each week. 'Caus Ain't no body got time for dat!

Here's another new activity that we tried this week. I didn't think you would be able to do this, but after awhile, you became pretty good at putting the cheerios onto the spaghetti noodles.

This past weekend, your grandparents came to visit. We always do lots of fun things when they are in town like go hiking at Emma Long Park. This is one of Austin's few off leash parks for dogs so on the hike, we saw so many dogs running around. You totally had a blast! That afternoon you took an extra long nap.

 We also hosted super-bowl at our house. Being able to walk around and eat snack foods was fun for you and your cousin. Both of you had pretzels and fruit chunks in your hand as you wandered around with Teddy close to your heels. Here's a great picture of your grandparents and your cousins.

For lunch that day, we went to a BBQ restaurant. I ordered some fried okra and had you try some. Daddy thought that you wouldn't like it, but you ended up eating so many! I was proud.

On Monday, Grandma, your Aunt, and your cousin got to join us for Chinese class. Then, on Tuesday, we met up with your best friend at Austin's children's museum, The Thinkery. You two really just get along so well. Here are some snap shots of you guys playing.

Today was catch up laundry day. After a morning of mommy and daddy loads, it was time to wash some of your clothes. You had been kind of helping me load and unload clothes all morning so when I slid your basket of clothes up to the washing machine, you immediately started to load the clothes. Wow.

It's amazing to see how you are learning about language and how things work. You seem to be able to understand a lot of what we say and you are figuring out more ways to say things in your own way. Many of your words have been reduced to the last syllable of the word like "ish" for fish, or "bao" for "mian bao" (bread in chinese). You've also started to use more of your newly learned signs like cracker.

You are starting to learn your animals better and every day you surprise me with a new sound or animal-related word. And I really do think that the Chinese class is helping reinforce your animal vocabulary. When the weather gets warmer, we are definitely going to the zoo.

This week you are finally consistently able to go potty while sitting on your toilet seat. Since you have your hands pretty free and can move around, potty time is now also 4 times longer than it used to be. You want to play with the toilet paper holder, the toilet seat, and anything else that is in your reach. I'll try to take a potty picture this week. It's kind of cute (to me, at least).

I am sorry if Mommy's been not herself lately. I've felt constantly tired, nauseous, and certain smells, like garlic really have become sickening to me. I'm hoping that all of this will go away in a few weeks and I'll be back to myself again. Even today at Zumba class, I danced feeling like I had just eaten a turkey dinner and had bricks on my feet. I danced with an enthusiasm of a too-cool-for-middle-schooler doing the chicken dance at a toddler party.  It was pretty bad. I'm definitely praying for energy and not feeling hung over all day.

Well, until next week...

Love ,
Mommy