Separation Anxiety and Sorting Things Out During Week 93.33

Dear Nathan,
This past week the whole family has been battling a cold. It has definitely not been fun, but thankfully, things are clearing up and we are almost back to normal. As far as new changes go, you have started to develop some separation anxiety. This is really the first time you have showed it since you were born. You have never had a problem being left at the nursery at church, or at the kids center at the gym, but this week you had a rough time watching us go. Somebody suggested that maybe it's due to the fact that you realize that you have a baby sister coming soon. Who knows. I've read that it's normal for kids your age to start developing it too, so I'm just going to treat it as a phase.

It's just so amazing to see how much you have grown. I love to watch you play. It's so interesting to see the different things that you do with your toys. Your thought process is very unique and unpredictable. You haven't been influenced too much by the world's conventions and rules so your play sessions are truly expressions of your creativity.

You are definitely into puzzle-like activities. One of your favorite things to do is to put together a 24-piece Thomas the train puzzle (with some assistance). I ask you to find a puzzle piece of a certain color and you will find it. Then, I help you orient the piece and you put it in its spot. You always seem so proud after you complete the whole puzzle. Another thing you like to do is build your train track. It's kind of like a puzzle in that you have to connect the pieces of track together. I guess you are now in a phase where you are learning how things fit together.

Having you around the kitchen is actually starting to be beneficial, meaning that you can actually help me out. Here, you are pulling the strings off of some sugar snap peas. I snap the ends off a bit and then you pull the strings out. You are also good at throwing things away for me.

 Even though you are helping me more with food prep (especially in the vegetable department), you seem to be wanting to eat veggies less and less. You would used to try things. Now as long as you see green, you are very reluctant to try, but if you see us eating it a lot, you try a bit and then spit it out. You used to sometimes eat peas, but now you will spit it out as well.

Daddy's birthday was yesterday and you helped him blow out the candles. You really enjoyed the cake, but in the end you asked for more fruit while you still had cake on your plate. I am glad that you like fruit better than sweets still.

You are also pretty good at putting things away. There have been a few times where you are playing independently while we were doing something else. You would then get our attention and when we go to where you were playing, everything is cleaned up. Here's an example from today. I was getting lunch ready and you had asked if you could draw with crayons (you signed "draw"). I got the crayons for you and went back to the kitchen to cook. I looked over and saw that you were so cute, playing on your own and decided to take a picture.

 After awhile, you called me over and you kept repeating "blue," so I went over to take a look. You pointed out "blue," and "yellow."

 You had organized your crayons by color!

I am so lucky to be able to stay home and watch you grow and develop. It's simply amazing. Oh, also, this week you may have said your first sentence. I don't remember exactly what you said, but Daddy and I both heard it. 

Sometimes you will point to my belly and say "baby" and give the bump a hug or a kiss. It's amazing that you understand that there is someone inside. You have felt the bump a few times while your little sister was moving, so maybe that was what convinced you. Perhaps you still remember your days in the womb, I mean, it was only no more than 2 years ago when you were there...who knows. 

(Update for Honey Bun 2)

I had my follow-up appointment with the dietitian. It was a bit annoying because I got there 10 minutes early and then sat in the waiting room with Nathan for about an hour before they called us in. Then, when we went in, we spent like 3 minutes talking, she looked at my numbers, showed them to the doctor, and then said that I should keep doing what I am doing and come back in 4 weeks and charged me a $30 co-pay for a 5 minute visit where I learned nothing. I'm still pretty convinced that I don't have gestational diabetes and the 2 times during the past week when they have been slightly higher than the 120 target, Steve's was high as well. In fact, last night, after eating cake, his blood glucose level was at 150.  

I'm going to talk to the OB tomorrow to see if I can just stop going. 1) It's a pain in the butt to have to wait so long just to have someone tell me that things are ok. 2) I'd rather spend the $30 co-pay on other things that actually may help me feel better during this pregnancy. At my next follow up visit, they are going to take my blood pressure and other vitals that they normally do at each of my pre-natal visits anyways, so I really don't think there's a reason to go, unless my numbers start to escalate (which I doubt they will). 

I will still monitor my glucose levels and eat a healthy and well-balanced diet, but I think going in is a waste of time and resources. 

32 Weeks Along

So far I have gained 16 - 17 pounds. Almost the same amount of weight that I gained total for Nathan. I'm hoping that I can reach at least 20 pounds this time. Perhaps this will help the breastfeeding process a bit better this time around. 

Nesting has started to kick in. I've actually got myself on a cleaning schedule where I'm cleaning about 30 minutes a day (on a 4.5 week rotating schedule). After 3 days, our house already just feels more tidy. I hope I can keep this up. 

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Well, that's about it. I'm going to take a quick nap before you wake up from yours. Until next week!

Love,

Mommy