International Traveler

Nope, not me. And as it turns out, not Travis. About a month before O was born, he went to Turkey. This time, his glamorous destination was Armitage, Louisiana. There were 3 buildings, one was abandoned. Total trip time 19 hours. As it turns out, it takes almost as long to get to Shreveport as it does to London.

It's Corn Season

How do I know this?

Because I've seen corn inside the large intestine during 3/4 of the colonoscopies I've done in the last few weeks. It really doesn't digest well.

Just one more reason gastroenterology is fun!

38. Big. And Hungry.

I'm officially big. Tomorrow I'm 38 weeks, so any time in the next few weeks D2 could decide to make an arrival. I'm also end-of-pregnancy hungry, which means basically hungry all the time. I get full quickly because there's so much baby smashing all my organs, but then am hungry again an hour later. OK, time for some Trader Joe's Ultimate Chocolate Ice Cream.

Owen Meets his First Bully

Owen met his first bully at the park yesterday. We were at the best park around, a HoCo park with a huge new playset. There are always alot of kiddoes there and he loves it.

One little dude came over to play with him (or so we thought). The tot was about the same size as O, so probably the same age. The other boy gave Owen hug, and grabbed his arm, and Owen began to look freaked out and cry. Seemed weird and we realized it wasn't the hugging, but the 'pinchers of steel' move the other little guy was doing to Owen's arm. Separating the 2 showed that O got the worst end of the deal, with a collection of finger sized bruises and one cut. The tiny offender got removed by his Mom with a 'no pinching' discussion. Owen returned to playing after a few more tears, some reassurance, and a drink of water, but wanted to play close to Dad for much of the rest of the stay.

There's a first time for everything and this was Owen's first run-in with a pincher/biter/hitter, although I expect it won't be the last one. His other little friends are pretty mild-mannered. It'll give Travis and I plenty of opportunities to hone our skills discussing with O why kids pinch and what to do.

Nesting

So far, there hasn't been as much nesting with this pregnancy. With Owen, I was all about the rearranging and sorting, throwing things out, and buying sensible things, like new tupperware. Nothing really aggressive, like painting in the middle of the night, but low key organizational stuff.

I think this time around, I've just been too busy to nest. Between O and work, my free time is spent sleeping and eating.

Nesting really kicked in at 6:40 this morning. It started a touch last night at 9 when Travis and I reorganized all Owen's toys in the living room. But this morning it started in earnest.

So far:
1. I packed for the hospital (which all but guarantees I'll be overdue)
2. Took all the non-baby linens out of the D2's room (including pillow mountain, which now resides in our living room for the moment)
3. Pulled out all the baby clothes to sort and find the little ones
4. Got the car seats, baby bathtub, bouncy chair, and other gear out of the baby's room and put closer to where they belong.

Still to come - more clothes sorting, taking non-baby decorative items out of the nursery, and then whatever stikes my fancy (like tupperware purchasing? Reorganizing the cabinets?) Part of me wants the entire house painted, but this doesn't really seem like the best project to start at 37 weeks.

Sleeping. Whew.

Hopefully I don't jinx us by typing this, but Owen is getting back to normal sleeping.

It turned out to be a combination of changes that have helped. We moved bedtime back to 7:30 from 8. We tried a few different things to keep him in his room, and ended up reversing his doorknob, so we can lock him in from outside (and we've hidden the lockpick above to door in his room, for when he accidentally locks in our nanny, or one of us). And we bought him a little kid bed with guardrail from Ikea, which he loves. He has his first real pillow (something called a 'crib pillow' from Ikea, not that anyone would ever put a pillow in a crib with a baby), and sheets and a really thin duvet. There's still plenty of room for Elmo, Frog, Lamb, Blankie, Brownie, and Sheepie, as well as his music player Dr. T. So he's back to going to bed easily and waking up at 6-ish, instead of 4-ish.

So things are much better, so hopefully it will last!

Owen's Book Club 2

Owen has a new list of books that he's been enjoying.

We have 3 different Thomas the train books that are all in heavy rotation - 2 have sound effects buttons and one also has a steering wheel. All train books and any book with a picture that might possibly be a train are also popular.

Also popular is Beatrix Potter's 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit'. Who knew he could be so interested in a naughty bunny that eats vegetables. He seems to enjoy hearing about Peter getting chased by Mr. McGregor. His favorite page has a picture of Peter hiding in the watering can with ears sticking out and saying 'Kertchoo!'. He likes that word enough that sometimes he wanders around the house saying 'Kertchoo! Kertchoo!' It's in daily rotation (or more as it's a fave potty book).

'Goodnight Goon' by Michael Rex. A parody of Goodnight Moon full of monsters. We checked this out from the library. It's funny, rhymes, and has good art.

Where is a Good Place to Store Penne Pasta?

According to Owen, that would be the right nostril. He put a piece of penne up his nose during dinner tonight. Travis had to fish it out with tweezers. They had a little talk about not putting things up the nose, but I suspect that we'll be having this conversation again in the future.

Sleeping. Or Not.

Most of the pregnancy articles recommend resting and getting plenty of sleep in the third trimester. In preparation for the lack of sleep that comes with a newborn. Owen is doing his best to thwart this. For the last 3 days, he's gotten up early. Think 5 am and 4:30 am and refused to go back to sleep. Only because I'm married to TBHE (the best husband ever) have I gotten to sleep in the morning.

He also hasn't wanted to go to sleep at night, crying, letting himself out of his room, and tonight capping it all off by vomiting on his floor. This of course led to a bath, new PJs, another round of 3 story books, and more singing to sleep. Which was followed by crying.

Maybe he's getting ready to hit another milestone, so he's having sleep disturbances? Or teething? Or super excited that 2 of his grandparents have been here? Or, is he just being 2 and this is going to be the new standard. Gulp.

Owen = 2

Happy Birthday Owen! He's officially 2 and has been celebrating for a week or so. Two rounds of cupcakes with 2 candles each time. The first round he blew out the candles and requested 'more fire'. For round 2 he got very close to the candle, but blew it out instead of licking it (big yikes for mom). He's much more skilled (and interested) in opening presents this year. He also had a good time playing with his toddler buddies, Mimi, and PapaJohn (also known as GrampaPapaJohn). He's been wanting to hear the happy birthday song when he's going to sleep at night.

Also for birthday week, he had his 2 year pediatrician visit. The YG weighs in at 32 pounds, which is the 90th%ile. 75th-90th% for height and his head is, of course, the 97th%ile. It's like Sputnik, but cuter.

Transformers 2

Two years ago, the day before Owen was born, Kerry and I went to see "Transformers", hoping that the noise and excitement would induce labor. It didn't, but it did induce what I immodestly consider to be one of my better movie reviews:

For those who are undecided, let me encourage you to go. The movie absolutely lives up to its name. There is more transforming in "Transformers" than in any movie you will see this year. If you are a fan of transformation, you simply cannot miss "Transformers". If you have been wondering if transformation is really your cup of tea, go see "Transformers"; the question will be answered once and for all.

To be sure, transforming is really at the heart of "Transformers", but the movie has other strong characteristics. It could have been called "Transformers: Loud, Kinetic Action With Planet-Sized Plot Holes And Stunningly Bad Robot Dialog".

I liked it.

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" delivers somewhat less fully on its title's promise. Yes, there is quite a lot of transforming, but I feel that it has been slightly downplayed in favor of more robot fighting and planet-sized plot holes. And frankly, while there is plenty of "of" and "the", very few of the characters who fall down in the movie go on to pursue, let alone achieve, revenge. But these are mere quibbles; it was still really fun and surely satisfied anyone who wanted to see it in the first place. (Like its predecessor, this Transformers movie failed to induce labor, which was a good thing this time around.)

A handful of people have asked us if we plan to stop having kids after Baby Something. I guess it's really up to Hasbro and Michael Bay.

Owen puts in his vote for D2

Travis and I have been trying to guess whether D2 is a boy or girl. I certainly have gotten alot more votes for boy from friends, colleagues and casual observers. Travis is pretty sure D2 is a girl. Owen weighed in this morning when he patted my belly and said 'baby brother'. I'm 34 weeks, so we'll see when D2 decides to arrive.

All Colors are Blue

Owen's vocabulary is picking up more, which has led to some funny comments on his part. Lately, all colors are blue. What color is the school bus? Blue. What color is Elmo? Blue. Sometimes he correctly identifies black. Otherwise, he's having his own mini-Picasso blue period.