Baby Girl

She looks a bit freaky, I know. This is a view of her face (head) and the scan is cutting right through her left eye's lens, which give her that crazy look like she's staring at you.

Anyway, I had another ultrasound today because they had found a 'placental hemorrhage' that was 'a good size' three weeks ago. My OB said the baby looked good, so it was 'nothing to worry about' (so I didn't), yet they sent me to another office for 'high-risk pregnancies' to get it checked out again. This time, there was no sign of it whatsoever. (It was interesting to me that last pregnancy, I had a small hemorrhage that they kept checking at my regular visits. It kept getting smaller and smaller, but didn't disappear like this one did.)

This 'high-risk' doc did say that the amniotic fluid seemed a little low, so that is another thing to 'keep an eye on,' but the baby is still looking great... I'm just assuming God is being nice to me ... keeping my belly a little smaller that it would be otherwise and giving me another chance to catch a glimpse of her before she's born.

The Birthday Boy

Two is a wonderful birthday. I like it because new twos don't realize it is their birthday and aren't begging for more presents and cake. I take that back. Joe did want cake. What was so sweet was that he kept trying to give his presents away to everybody else to open.

I hardly had the candles lit before he had blown them back out.

Yum.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

A few more things I forgot.

Since we got into the habit of giving Finley choices (like picking out which cereal she wants in the morning), Joe has taken a liking to choices, too. At night I have to hold up two pairs of jammies, and ask him which one. He'll quickly point to the one he wants (like poking out a tiger's eye as fast as he can) yelling, "Whi-done!!!" (The lazy version of 'which one.') If I don't offer him a choice of pants in the morning, it throws him off, and when we get ready to go outside and I ask him to get a jacket, he'll bring me two so that he can choose between the two. Ridiculous, but fun.

We have tried to teach the kids say please and thank you, instead of being demanding when they want something. If Finley says, "I want juice," or even worse, just "juice," then I wait for her to get a clue and ask nicely for it. Sometimes I'll remind her to ask nicely, and (she came up with this on her own), she will change her voice to this soft, sweet tone (so that sometimes you can barely hear her), and say, "May I have juice, please?"
Mind you, this is a little over the top for me and drives me crazy, but I don't know how to correct the over-niceness.
So last night, Joe stood up in his seat, pointed to the napkins, and shouted, "Nakin!!"
"Joe," I said. "How do you ask nicely?"
And in the sweetest, softest voice he could muster said, "Nakin?"
Aargh.

About Joe, Part 2

The kids are in bed. Yay.

Joe can almost sort of sing the alphabet song. He can name several of the letters when you point to them (A, B, F, H, M, T are the ones I'm aware of) and tell you what they sound like. (This is thanks to the Leap Frog alphabet magnets on our refrigerator.) He likes to jump as he makes the 'B' sound.

He has taken to dropping to the floor in protest of something he doesn't want to do. This is especially fun in stores. If he suddenly decides he doesn't want to leave an area, or walk, or be carried, or whatever, he will plop down on the floor and give me that look that I thought only teenagers gave. As long as there is no major foot or cart traffic, I usually just walk off and stop at a distance that tells him I am not going to cater to his behavior, and it doesn't take too long before he decides it isn't worth it and follows me. Today was extra funny, because instead of getting up to walk, he decided to scoot for a while. (Kind of like a dog trying to wipe its bum in the grass.)

He has gotten very good with the word 'no.' Using it, I mean. Whenever I ask him to do something, and he decides he doesn't want to, his 'no!' sounds like 'I can't believe you even dared to ask me!'

'Monkey see, monkey do,' must be his unspoken motto. He follows right along with most of what Finley does, and if Finley gets something, he wants the same thing, too. The only area where this causes some tension in the house is when he wants to dress up, or get his fingernails painted like Finley does to be 'pretty.' One day, he insisted on putting on a dress-up gown, then walked into Reanna's room and asked, "Joe pretty?" Chris doesn't like this too much.

Joe is still super sweet and cuddly. He will frequently wriggle his way into my lap, and still likes to lay his head on my shoulder and just hang out like that.

Recently, he has started saying 'sorry.' If he did something to hurt Finley (usually by accident), I'll ask him to say sorry, and he will, then hug and kiss her.

A few more things he loves and/or is fascinated by: trains, planes, helicopters, busses, tractors, running around, playing with tools, riding or playing in the truck or Daddy's work van, watching the washing machine do its thing, and, just recently, getting a cup and filling it with water from the refrigerator's dispenser.... and then dumping it in the trash can so he can do it again.

About Joe

I pulled out Joe's baby book yesterday, and was embarrassed to find that I hadn't really written anything in it for the past 8 or 9 months. I need to scan back in the blog to see how much 'baby book' material is in it. Joe will be two on Sunday, and that has made me think of all the things that I've meant to document, but haven't gotten around to writing down. So, in lieu of taking the time to write, I'll blog. (It is so much easier....)

Joe is almost two. (I've said that.) He calls me 'Ma-mom.' Finley is 'Binley,' and Reanna, 'Re-nana.' He says 'Daddy' just fine. He is a great growler, and manages to get a deep throaty growl out that would dupe any bear.

He wakes up happy in the mornings (which is a nice balance to the grumpier Finley), and meets the day with enthusiasm. He still uses a pacifier at night, which I recently started pinning to his jammies. I was tired of waking up to his sweet little voice wondering "Wherdit go?" and having to run upstairs in the night to search through blankets (usually forgetting my glasses) for his lost pacifier. It has worked like a charm. We keep thinking about weaning him from it, but are dreading the hysteria (on his part) and resulting lack of sleep (on our part).

He loves cars. He loves balls. Recently, on Easter, when the kids were let out into the yard for the egg hunt, Joe made a bee-line for a football that was lying in the grass, and Chris had a hard time getting him to look for any eggs. He has a fairly good arm, and likes to throw things. We are pretty sure he is a lefty (like Finley, Nana, and Grampa Nicholas), and although he tries to throw with both hands, he is much better with his left.

What has been really fun is seeing Joe's personality emerge. I didn't think much about Finley's personality when she was a baby, since I was too busy figuring out what to do with babies, and when she started really expressing herself, it was pretty obvious. By the time Joe came around, I think I was a little confused with what I saw as a lack of personality. He didn't seem to really smile or laugh at much as an infant, and only wanted to hang limply on his mama's arm most of the time. Reanna was the one that finally figured out what could make him laugh. I guess Joe just took his time figuring out the world around him before he really started involving himself in it. Now, I really enjoy watching the way he asserts himself as an individual in the world.

Did I mention that he likes to throw things? A few days ago, he was 'eating' a graham cracker, when Reanna noticed he was just breaking off pieces and throwing them (at Finley, I think). Reanna brought it to my attention, and when I approached him with my hands on my hips, looked at him sternly, and said (sternly), "Joe." He looked up at my face, then shot that stern look right back at me. Reanna and I lost it.

He isn't very afraid to be disobedient. If I am kneeling on the floor and ask him to 'come here,' he usually keeps right on with whatever it is he's doing until I start to get up... then he comes running in order to avoid getting into trouble.

Another great thing about him, is that he usually comes to tell me immediately when he is 'poopie.' So most of the time, it doesn't get mashed all over his hind end.

He is good at spitting things out of his mouth. The other night, Finley was refusing to eat her supper, and told us she didn't want to eat it (sitr fry and rice) but wanted ice cream instead. Upon hearing the words 'ice cream,' Joe immediately spit out all the food he was chewing.

He is also good at putting things in his mouth. He still tries to eat crayons and Play-Doh (But then he ends up spitting them out. I'd rather he swallow than make me clean up after him). Yesterday, when Finley didn't finish her Cheerios, I found Joe picking them out of the trash and eating them.

Anyway, there is more I want to write about the boy while he naps, but need to focus my attention elsewhere. (Did I mention that Finley quit napping last summer?)

To be continued...

Random Photos

My Reoccurring Dream

Last night I had yet another dream that I was back in high school. Inevitably, these dreams take place near the end of a semester, and I realize that sometime in the early part of the semester, I had decided to only attend the classes that I liked. I have since forgotten what room and what time those other classes meet, and don't even remember for certain what they are. There is a sudden panic that I am flunking these unknown classes and that I am completely unprepared for the finals.

What is most amusing to me, is that at some point after high school, I made a more conscious decision to not waste my time on things that didn't matter to me or my life. I made more of a habit to skip college classes I wasn't fond of if I determined there wouldn't be any serious consequences. (Though I never bailed out on a class completely.) I sometimes wonder (as one of those who felt like high school was, for the most part, a waste of my time) how my life would have been affected if I was allowed to more fully pursue my passions at a younger age. Maybe this dream is telling me I would have really screwed up. Maybe it is just a bad dream.

Books

I have a problem. I want to buy books. Lots of them. I've always enjoyed owning copies of fine literature, but recently, I have developed an obsession, I think.

It started several months ago when I decided to start reading Newbery Award books. These are perfect for me these days, because most of these (being books for 'juveniles') are top notch, but easy to read. I usually read one in the matter of two or three evenings. The longer, more 'serious' books take at least a month these days, since I don't get to read much during the day, and when I do, I'm too tired to focus on such subject matters.

Anyway, I decided it would benefit me and my children if these books were readily available to pick up off our shelves whenever interest is piqued (or boredom drives one to it). Several of the books from my parents shelves I ended up reading this way (Little House series being a prime example). Also, when you pick up a book from the library, enjoy it, then years later, forget the title... well, you see my point? (This is why the picture of the post is the cover of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. I loved this book in my youth, and have been thinking about it for days, but couldn't remember the title. Today, I spent several minutes perusing the library's catalogue in order to find it.)

I have yet to log on to Amazon and engage in any sort of spending spree. I'm afraid of what might happen if I allowed myself to do that. So what do I do? I think I might start making a list of potential purchases, then allow one or two monthly. Also, my birthday is coming up in June. (hint hint... )

Anyway, I had started a book blog to help me remember books I read, but then a friend invited me to join goodreads.com. It's a good way to keep track of things you've read and want to read (and buy). I since deleted my book blog.

Those cliche's don't work, especially with young children.

Finley has a purse that she keeps her 'lipstick' in. Joe likes to put chapstick on as well, but sometimes he eats it (especially the flavored kind that Reanna gave Finley). Finley usually gets upset when Joe gets into her purse for the chapstick. I finally found a place for Finley to keep her purse that was out Joe's reach, but still within hers.

I walked into their room the other day to find Joe, once again, with some of Finley's chapstick.

"How many times do I have to tell you to keep your purse where it belongs?" I ask with tired-pregnant-mom exasperation.

"Four."

Home Renovations

In 2003, after spending the first three at our 'new' home working in the yard, we got curious and started tearing into the living room. We pulled up the carpet, removed the trim, then ended up gutting the whole room.

before:after:

The dining room adjacent to the living room- before:

after:

A month before Finley was due, I decided I couldn't bear the thought of my baby crawling around the nasty 40+ year old linoleum in our kitchen. You can't see it very well, but the sink was one of those vintage metal contraptions, and there was also a 48" stove (which I was rather fond of), and those old, sticky, red couter tops from the 1940's:
I wish I could find the picture of the mouse nest we found under the cabinets.
Here is an example of the 'fine' (read lousy) craftsmanship in the house before we got to it. In the kitchen, there was paint on top of wall paper on top on the duct-taped seams of fiber board, not to mention the falling tile ceiling:

After washing dishes in the bathtub while 8 months pregnant, I was thrilled with the outcome:

In addition to the obvious work you have just seen, all the electrical in the house is new. (A reel of copper has jumped from $80 in 2003 to close to $200 today.) Chris also replaced all of the plumbing in the house (greatly inproving the water pressure) and replaced the entire HVAC system. The heating and air was done only a month after he had started working at Lee Company installing duct work. The furnace went out, so we replaced it with an outdoor combined unit. Chris had gained enough knowledge to install the new ductwork in a way that freed up a ton of space in the basement. The basement is unrecognizable from when we moved in... I'm sorry I don't have any good pictures of that.

The attic is in the process.