Nesting?

Mike JUST informed me over the weekend that someone recently asked him how I was doing with this pregnancy. His typical response is: She drinks a lot of beer and watches a lot of Oprah. (Both accounts are SO NOT TRUE, but THAT is how he justifies the growing belly!) 

This time, he replied: Good, but she's nesting. She's going crazy cleaning things from top-to-bottom.

Nesting? Really?? (I call it BEING PRODUCTIVE as we watch the time slipping away.) Seriously, have you SEEN the baby widget ticker lately?

Yes... that is 68 days to go until our due date. That's a little over 2 months.

 I reminded him that I am scared to death - NOT KNOWING if my MS will remain at bay or if I will snap back into the vision problems I had been suffering from prior to getting pregnant. I reminded him that I have NO IDEA how challenging it will be to juggle TWO KIDS under the age of 2 PLUS maintain a household.

Yes, I have been cleaning and sorting lately: We've now got dresser drawers in our hallway that are reasonably well organized. Our sunporch resembles usable space that is MUCH MORE INVITING than the garbage dump that used to greet us home each day. Our pantry has had a facelift and an overhaul. (I'm HOPING to relocate the litter box and food/water bowls to the pantry - since we vacuum almost daily anyways with a toddler in the house.) We are now a few boxes lighter on random JUNK that we've stored since moving here - just 2 years ago.

Over the weekend, we laid new carpeting in the nursery and in the master bedroom. During this process, I managed to pack up MULTIPLE BOXES of stuff that were squirreled under the bed and on top of one of the bedroom dressers. I left them for Mike to go through, explaining that I didn't want us to hide it all back under the bed. I collected an entire plastic crate full of tools from our upstairs - hoping that they would find their way back to the garage. (I was THRILLED when Mike announced that he wanted us to replace the ratty, old carpet in our entire upstairs. We didn't purchase new runner for the stairway yet, but I'm told that it will be on sale soon, too.)

We recently purchased a decorative storage bench (deck box) for our sunporch. Mike had hoped that we can keep the sunporch looking nice this way. He also picked out an entertainment console for our television - for our entryway. His willingness to spend money surprised me on both accounts. This was all AFTER we had just purchased all new carpeting.

I also have my eye on an official table (since we used a stool and a marble slab as a table last year, but it doesn't guarantee SAFETY if climbed upon by an active toddler) for the sunporch because we enjoyed countless dinners out there last spring/summer/fall.

I've been busy making TO DO LISTS (room-by-room) and planning out the laundry corner of the kitchen, which was left untouched in the kitchen remodel. I got a quote from Frank's grandson to do some painting projects in our house; figuring that it doesn't HURT to get a price quote.

Sydney has been BUSY disassembling my office - proving that NOTHING is safe. That room, looks like it MIGHT be stripped of the crafting supplies and made more family-friendly. (Sigh. Slight sadness; although, I will most likely NOT have much for free time within the next few years.)

So, perhaps it IS nesting. (I'm still thinking that it is being PRODUCTIVE while I still have a few random segments of free time and ambition left.) If only I hadn't run out of time in the fall... I had been having some luck cleaning and sorting in the bonus room, too. (That room, is currently A STORAGE PIT.)

Better get a move on... hoping for a quick POWER NAP and to tackle more JUNK in the office. I've got some MAJOR sorting and filing to do... but I will be SO HAPPY when it is done!!!

SYDNEY'S DRAWING: a Ball

Sydney was coloring one day when we were visiting at Grandpa Lowell's house. On a blank piece of paper, he drew THIS IMAGE and proudly showed it to us. We asked him "What did you draw?"

With a HUGE GRIN on his face, he signed the word: BALL

We were impressed that he has enough "thought process" in his 20-month brain to PLAN/KNOW what he is drawing. (We were also impressed that it was a round shape.)

I snuck the drawing into our diaper bag so that I could take it home - to scan it.

Trials with a Toddler

Monkey See, Money Do: Grandpa Lowell was using a knife to cut fresh fruit for he and Sydney the one day. Then, Grandpa ate a piece off of the end of the knife. I quickly motioned to Grandpa that THAT wasn't the best idea for Sydney to witness. Of course, a few days later, Sydney insisted "NO ME..." when we were slicing a banana with a butter knife and he tried to eat the banana slice off of the knife. I simply reminded Sydney "We don't do that."

Instead of NO, showing him a YES instead: While reading the book "How to talk so your kids will listen and how to listen so your kids will talk", I learned A LOT about parenting. Instead of beating myself up - sounding like a broken record (NO, NO, NO!) I learned to re-direct Sydney's attention. For example, the more we told him NO, DON'T TOUCH the knobs on the washer and dryer, the more he spitefully tried to disobey our wishes. Instead, thanks to this book, when I see that he is considering being naughty with the washer knobs, I tell him "If you want to turn knobs, you can turn THESE KNOBS on your kitchen."

I also use it with throwing objects. I remind him that if he wants to throw something, he will have to go find a ball because we don't throw toys or books.

Apples landed not far from tree: Mike and I are constantly pointing fingers at each other for Sydney's behavior. Mike likes to simply state "Apple Tree". I reminded him that I grew up with a CHERRY TREE in my yard and that HE was the one with APPLE TREES.

On Friday, Sydney got a naughty spell in him. He was a little stinker - purposely doing naughty things for MUCH of the day. He started drawing on the table (instead of on his paper) and I reminded him "We draw ONLY ON PAPER." As he continued to taunt me, I started picking up his crayons and taking them away. He quickly grabbed his entire cigar box of crayons and threw it across the table and onto the floor, calmly stating "Uh-Oh!" as if it was an accident. I got him down to help pick up crayons from the floor, but he motioned that he was going to color on the carpet. "We draw ONLY ON PAPER, not on the carpet." I reminded him. He grinned and started to scribble on the dining room rug until I managed to wrestle the crayon from his hand. (He knew I was upset with him. I locked him in his booster seat and made him watch me get the carpet cleaner out to scrub the blue crayon off of the beige part of the area rug.)

Later in the evening, he taunted that he was going to turn the knobs on the washer. I reminded him that he has KNOBS in his own kitchen to turn. The little stinker went out into the living room and grabbed a stuffed animal dog, bringing it back into the kitchen. Surely, I wouldn't get mad at THE DOG for turning the knob as Sydney directed it's paw to turn the knob. I shook my head NO and told him that THE DOG can go turn knobs in Sydney's kitchen too. Seconds later, he came into the laundry area with a set of toy measuring spoons. Clearly, it MUST BE OK to use the measuring spoons to tap at and turn the knob settings on the washing machine. He OBVIOUSLY likes to test his boundaries. Toddler Testing 1-2-3. Perhaps, he will someday be a lawyer since he likes to find the loopholes in "the rules."

Sydney also learned a valuable LIFE LESSON this past week: it is NOT a good idea to attempt standing ON A BALL. He tried standing on his rubber Winnie the Pooh ball and quickly discovered that they move. He fell down, banged into the storage bench and immediately needed a hug/kiss. (His pride was hurt more than anything.) I think he will think twice before doing that again anytime soon.

Sydney disturbed by library book's pictures

On Monday, we also checked out a book called "You and Me, Baby" by Lynn Reiser. Sydney LOVES looking at the pictures in this book because of the interactions between the baby and the parent. He also gets SUPER EXCITED to announce if it is a mommy or a daddy on each page.

HOWEVER, he finds the final 2 Peek-A-Boo pages (of this book) to be rather disturbing. 

Detail of first spread: Peek at me, peeking at you, peeking at me. PEEK-A-

Detail of second spread: BOO!

He is 100% convinced that the Mommy is EATING THE BABY. I tried to show him that they are playing Peek-A-Book, but he'll have none of my explanation. I even tried to demonstrate, but he thought I was going to eat his fingers. He just keeps pointing to the picture, saying "Mama", pointing at the teeth in his mouth and shoving his hands inside his mouth to demonstrate.

The thought process of a 20-month old is really QUITE fascinating!

Little Lullaby (means fine print in Mike's world)

On Monday, we checked out 6 new books from the library. (Being that we are NEW MEMBERS, we are on probation and allowed only 3 books each. Grrrrr!)

One of the books was "Daddy's Lullaby" by Tony Bradman. In this book, the Daddy gets home from work (late) on a Friday - after everyone is asleep, but soon he discovers that the baby is WIDE AWAKE. The Daddy tries to comfort the baby and eventually, takes the baby downstairs to the recliner where he will sing it a lullaby.

Detail: Let's sit right here. Now don't you cry. Here's a little lullaby...

Sydney LOVES having Mike read bedtime stories that have Daddies in them. However, ever since Mike first laid eyes on this book, he struggled in the lamplit bedroom with his tired, old eyes while sitting too far away from the lightsource. (Most likely, with his cheater glasses, he MAY have been able to pull it off.)

I laughed when Mike read it like this:

Let's sit right here. Now don't you cry. Here's a little lullaby... and by LITTLE, they actually mean FINE PRINT.

Family Date to APPLE, APPLE... airplane arms and big boy stairs

This afternoon, we stopped at Target to pick up some cat litter, soda and hair products that were all on sale. We also dropped off paperwork to transfer our prescriptions from WalMart to Target, where we are hoping that the service is better. (We've been disappointed with the customer service at WalMart Pharmacy for a while now... they, seriously, roll their eyes at you when you ask a question there... HOW RUDE! Being that I used to work in a pharmacy, I guess I expect better quality of service than what they have offered us in the (almost) 2 years that we have lived here.)

Then, we went on a family dinner date to Applebee's; Grandma Carol had surprised us with a gift card for there as a Valentine's Day present. We don't normally go there so, it was a nice change of pace to try it; we were happy to learn that we picked the right night to go.... kids meals are just 99¢ with the purchase of an adult meal - on Wednesdays. (Sydney got 2 mini cheeseburgers and an order of fries for just 99¢; although, he was surprisingly more interested in eating the tortilla chips from our appetizer platter's artichoke dip. He also tried a bite of Mike's hot wings - where Sydney declared "HOT!" and some blue cheese dressing on some celery stalks. Because of his age and the potential for allergies, we did NOT let him try our shrimp appetizer.)

Following our appetizers, Mike had a Philly Cheesesteak Burger and I had a Reuben; we each ate half so that we could try both of the selections. Sydney enjoyed the pickles off of our sandwiches and would have probably eaten the fancy toothpick, too if we would have let him.

While there, Sydney was SUPER EXCITED to play with the salt & pepper shakers. (He plays with them at Grandma & Grandpa Olson's house and likes to pour them into his hand.) He kept sprinkling pepper into his hand and surprisingly, kept LICKING it off! Soon, though, he GROSSLY licked the top of the pepper shaker. EEEEWWWWW! Just think how many hands have touched that! Although, I am sure he is NOT the first, or last kid, that will ever do that. We did notify the waitstaff so that they could get wiped off post-licking; Mike wondered if they would REALLY do that or if they would just put them back onto the tables as is.

Sydney was also QUITE EXCITED to play with the sugar packets that displayed an Applebee's logo. Every one he pulled out, he would excitedly report "Apple... apple... apple!"

He's SUCH a delightful kid!

Thanks for our family date night, Grandma Carol!

• • • • •

Earlier today, Sydney decided to start running all over our house with airplane arms. (They do it in swimming lessons; although, Sydney puts his arms behind him moreso than out to his sides.) So, while yelling and singing all-the-while, he kept running from the living room, through the dining room and into the kitchen AND BACK... over and over... thinking that it was THE COOLEST THING EVER. At one point, he tripped in the dining room and managed to catch his fall with his arms. (I, honestly, had my doubts that he would pull that off if he fell - running in that form, but he managed just fine... must have fast reflexes... quick, like a cat! I tell you... sometimes, kids just make you cringe and want to look the other way!)

• • • • •

We are also witnessing that Sydney is FINALLY starting to play shy around people! This is a new development within the past week or so.

Also new... he climbs the stairs like a BIG BOY now! He has been refusing to crawl UP the stairs or back down them. He is now climbing them like we do; although very, Very, VERY SLOWLY. It was as if he flipped a switch and decided one day that he's not a baby anymore and that big kids do it like this. (Sometimes, he does give up and yells UP! so that we will carry him down.) To him, UP is still an inter-changeable word meaning UP or DOWN. He's funny and makes us laugh!

YAY for hot water!

Mike called the plumber this morning to report that our free conversion kit arrived late yesterday. They told him that they wouldn't get to our house until after 1:30pm, but - to us - that was better than not at all.

Less than 30 minutes later, there was a knock on the front door. The plumber announced "The other people can wait a little while longer; you guys have been without hot water long enough so, I thought I would stop here first."

Within the hour, we had hot water running to our pipes again and we were back in business to run the dishwasher and start on one of the four loads of laundry that had accumulated since Sunday. (Much of those were wet towels from our family showering experiences at the YMCA, but being that it was a public restroom... and that we used some of them to stand on in the locker rooms... there was NO WAY we wanted to use them again without washing first.)

When Mike got home from work, he ate some lunch and then enjoyed a hot bath.

Tonight, I enjoyed a hot shower (and the fact that Mike watched Sydney so that I was able to shave my legs without goosebumps from all of the "Hi Mom!" interruptions or the blasts of cold air as Sydney opened the shower curtain, as he normally does.) It was delightful!

YAY for hot water!

Still no hot water, hopeful for Wednesday

Our conversion kit for the water heater was shipped out (yesterday) overnight and was due to arrive next day - by end of business day. (We assumed that THAT meant TODAY!) Sadly, we left the house - rather disappointed - around 5:30pm (for swimming lessons) and we had seen no evidence of a package. (Thankfully, we had swimming lessons tonight and were able to use the family shower after our lessons . We showered together again tonight, demonstrating great teamwork. I'll have to bake something special for the receptionist who snuck us in for free to shower there. She gave us a green light to come back tomorrow, if needed, too; how incredibly nice is she?!?!)

Thankfully, by the time we got home, there WAS a package inside our sunporch. I'm not sure what time it FINALLY arrived, but that is one LONG business day!

Hopefully, in the morning when I call the plumber, they will be able to sneak over (sooner rather than later) to install it. It sure will be nice to have some hot water again... the dishwasher doesn't clean as well with cold, our laundry basket is NOW over-flowing and it would be nice to shower and shave. 

Our little boy is talking MORE and MORE

Sydney is suddenly trying to talk MORE and MORE each day. He's catching me off-guard when he attempts to say words that he hasn't ordinarily attempted. It is interesting to watch him as it seems to take deep concentration to form his words.

He's been trying to willingly say words like APPLE, PEPPER and PAPER. (He calls Pineapple APPLE as well, but we know what he's asking for.)

In the afternoon, I asked Sydney if he could say the word GO. With a little thought, he - clear as a bell - said "GO". Then, I told him to go ask Daddy if he is ready to GO. He immediately ran into the living room and stood before Mike. Mike questioned "What do you need to ask me?"

Sydney replied "GO!" (Mike and I were both pretty proud of his latest word. We then got ready to GO to the YMCA where we took a hot shower together in one of the family locker rooms since our water heater is sadly STILL out of commission. Sydney has also recently attempted to say the word WATER, which comes out without the W.)

Right before bed, he picked out one of his books (Corduroy goes to the doctor) from the living room basket and announced "DOCTOR". Then, as he flipped through it, I asked Sydney if he could show Daddy the page where Corduroy says "AAAAH!" He quickly found it and proudly showed Mike the picture of the tongue depressor, saying "Aaah!"

 

(I have a papercrafting supply on my desk that Sydney is convinced 

is a tongue depressor, but really it is a folding bone. 

I'm impressed that he is THAT OBSERVANT to notice the similarity! 

See StampinUp! image - above. 

Often, when we SKYPE, he puts it in his mouth and says AAH!)

Last night, Sydney walked into his dark bedroom and said "IGHT ON" - requesting me to turn on the lamp.

He's also been doing a great job at trying to ask us to turn the television on. He points to it and says ON. On PBS, he enjoys a 30-minutes animated kids show called "Between the Lions" so, he also tries very hard to say LION. It comes out more like: ah-lee-I-on or ah-lee-own-lee-own, but he tries VERY HARD and we know what he's talking about.

We're also working on having him ask for HELP instead of simply whining or crying. When prompted, he says (with slight desperation) "HEP!"

When dressing, he now says "AHM" which is ARM.

It is AMAZING to watch his daily growth and development.

Bad News/Good News

Uterus

Bad News: My uterus continues to measure SMALLER than expected.

Good News: At our next appointment, March 9th, Doctor has ordered an ultrasound to check on Number Two's growth & development and to check fluid levels, which gives us another sneak peek (and reassurance that Number 2 is healthy.) Perhaps, we'll even get a good 3D image of him this time - since he's had time to pack some fat on to the bony little frame we saw last time.

Gestational Diabetes

Bad News: I failed my preliminary gestational diabetes test on Thursday.

Good News: With Grandpa Lowell staying here for a few days, I was able to utilize him for watching Sydney so that I could go in for the 4 hour retest on Saturday morning.

Bad News: Having to wait until Monday for lab results.

Good News: They called this morning to report that my 3-hour test results were JUST FINE and I do NOT have gestational diabetes! YAY!!! I can proceed to live life, as I was without worries.

Water Heater

Bad News: Sometime during the day yesterday, our water heater conked out on us.

Good News: The repairman just left and it "just needs a (FREE) conversion kit to fix it"

Bad News: It will be shipped overnight and is guaranteed to arrive by end of next business day.... meaning, it SHOULD come sometime tomorrow. The time of arrival is the key to whether we'll have hot water tomorrow or not... the plumber said that if it hasn't arrived by 3:30pm, we'll have to wait until sometime Wednesday morning for hot water.

Good News: Although the warranty is out on the 2003 water heater, the conversion kit is free and Mike reminds that a $100 service call for the plumber to fix it is still cheaper than buying a brand new water heater.

Bad News: We've both gone a few days now without showers.

Good News: At least, we both smell (bad?) together. We're also fortunate that Sydney is still able to be bathed in the kitchen sink so, we could boil some water, if needed. Heaven knows, we've got PLENTY of cold water to cool it down for his bath. (I guess we can look forward to swimming lessons tomorrow night at the YMCA and will perhaps opt to use their showers before heading home again.)

Water in the Basement

Bad News: We've got some water in our basement from the recent thawing of snow and additional rainfall.

Good News: We get water in our basement almost every time it rains so, this is NOT a new development. (We're still STUMPED how the previous home owners managed to disclose NO KNOWN PROBLEMS.)

Bad News: Mike patched the driveway in the fall in an attempt to keep water OUT of the basement. Unfortunately, it is all heaving up already. Looks like we may need to spring for new gutters on the house (eventually) and perhaps some WaterTite paint in the basement to keep the water OUT.

Good News: Our home (complete with quirks and charm) is 115 years old and still standing. We like our home very much and are thankful to have Mike's job to support us, a roof over our heads, food on the table, shirts on our back, some money in the bank and each other to love.

Life is good.