18 month check-up

Joey had his 18 month check-up today. He's really 20 months now, but we just switched pediatricians and to get the one I wanted we had to wait.

I'm so happy that we switched! I LOVE LOVE LOVE his new pediatrician and he was SO GOOD with Joey!

Joey hates the doctor and cries as soon as a nurse walks in the door or even measures his head. The doctor had him calmed down in 10 seconds and the check up was the least painful one we've ever had.

It also helped that the pediatrician complimented Joey and my parenting numerous times! :) My favorite line was "Wow, Joey! How do you have all these words? Your mom must spend a lot of time teaching you!" And let's see ~ after being in the room with us for all of 1 minute Joey had totally charmed him into saying, "your such a cool kid - I just met you and I already like you!"

Anyway ~ the check up was great and Joey is making progress like he should be. He weighed in at 26 lbs. 9 oz. which is the 50th percentile and was 34 inches which is the 90th percentile. No wonder he looks like a string bean in his once piece pajamas!!

He has to start taking a vitamin since he does not eat a single vegetable and I need to work on getting him to eat more meat and of course veggies. However, he's gaining weight and growing fine, so nothing major to worry about!

I asked the doc for any advice he had on helping Joey to adjust to the new baby and he said the best thing I can do is let Joey be as helpful in taking care of the baby as possible to make him feel a part of taking care of the baby and to make him feel like the baby is his too. I was happy with this advice because doing "chores" is right up Joey's alley!! I can see the excitement in his eyes already when I ask him to bring the baby a diaper or shake the baby's bottle!! He's going to be a great helper!

I'm so happy that he checked out with a clean bill of health and a dinosaur sticker in his hand! He's the best ever and he makes Chris and I so happy and so proud every day!!

Morning Cuteness

It's only 9:00 in the morning and Joey has already done so many cute things!

He heard the trash truck when I was getting his breakfast ready and knew that meant the school bus wouldn't be far behind. So after asking for the bus a zillion times, we settled on parking his high chair right in front of the window so he could eat his cereal and watch for the bus to go by. When it finally went by his face lit up so much that he could have been the sunshine for the day!

After breakfast, he started walking around the house looking for his police car cozy coupe. (It's been inside the past few days to keep him busy). The way he asks for it is by flashing his hand back and forth as if it's the blinking siren and saying "whoo whoo whoo." Totally cute!

Then, when I let Bill (Joey pronounces it "blah") and Charlie ("woof") up from the basement, Joey took charge of letting them outside. Bill came up first - Joey opened the back door and said "out." Then Charlie came up the steps and he opened the door for Charlie and said "pe pe." (I always say to Charlie - go pee - as I let her out the door).

He's becoming such a big boy and really communicating a lot more about everything! I hope this super cute morning turns into a super cute day!

35 Weeks

Because of all the contractions I've been having with this pregnancy and because they have been going on since about 20 weeks - I'm constantly second guessing whether they are significant or not.

But after last week and this weekend - I began to think that just maybe these contractions had me heading toward an early labor. I had contractions 10 minutes apart again on Saturday morning for about 2 hours, but then was fine the rest of the day. Then last night I was up every hour because of cramping/contractions. I was too worried about having a premature baby to wait until my 36 week appointment next week - so I decided to go in today and see the doctor.

And I guess I didn't need to go in. The doctor said the baby is down in the birth canal but at the very top. I am just starting to dilate - not even a full centimeter yet. AND - if I do go into full labor then they won't stop it. AND - there is nothing they do at this point to PREVENT me from going in to labor (I guess meaning no bed rest).

After telling me that I don't need to call or come in (except for regular appointments) until my contractions are 5 minutes apart for at least an hour - the doctor makes a side comment on his way out - "just try to keep the baby in there a little longer if possible."

I didn't really ask a lot of questions because I kind of felt dumb for going in worried in the first place.

But now that I am sitting here thinking about it - if it's okay to have the baby at 35 weeks, then why tell me to try to keep the baby in a little longer? And what exactly do I do in order to keep the baby in??

I'm a little frustrated at how whimsical the doctor was because I am very detail oriented and I like to know all the possible ways this thing could play out - even if there are 37 different scenarios!

Speaking of 37 - I am hoping that the baby waits until at least that many weeks before joining us!

As grouchy as I am - and I'm REALLY grouchy - and as much uncomfortable pain as I am in, I want to have a healthy, strong baby.

So next Monday, when I go in, I will be prepared with my list of questions - #1 being "if the baby is born this week, are there any potential complications she will be facing?"

Until then, I'll just google it! And end up thinking I am going to give birth to a 3 headed alien like figure with a tail! :)

I'm sure everything will be fine. I know I had a lot of the same issues with Joey and he was born at 38 weeks - so I'm probably worried about nothing. But I guess if I wasn't already worrying about her now, then I wouldn't be a parent!!

Bow Bow!

Yesterday we went to a birthday party that had a moon bounce. After 3 hours neither Chris nor I had taken Joey to the area of the yard where the moon bounce was.

After helping Joey play with the birthday boy's new power wheels Escalade and watching him take a million turns on the new roller coaster - I asked him if he wanted to go in the bounce house.

He started bending his knees up and down and saying "bow, bow!" So I carried him over to the Moon Bounce ~ Just in time for the guy to show up and tell all the kids to get out because he needed to deflate it.

So for the next 20 minutes, Joey stood in front of the Moon Bounce,watching it deflate and bending up and down while saying "bow, bow??!!" To which I had to answer a zillion times that the bounce bounce had to go bye bye.

I tried everything to distract him - how bout another ride on the coaster? "Bow Bow?" Do you want to go see Daddy? "Bow Bow?" Let's go get some ice cream! "Bow Bow?"

I felt so bad for him because he just couldn't let the bounce bounce go!

When it was time to leave he talked about the bounce bounce for the entire 1 hour ride home. I don't know how many times Chris and I had to say "the bounce bounce is all done."

When we got home and got Joey in his pj's and off for story time, I thought we were finally done with the bounce bounce. I read him his stories, we said his prayers, and then I rocked him and started our nightly chat. Instead of talking about his day like I usually do, I wanted to avoid the bounce bounce, I talked to him about the baby.

When we were done with out little chat and he put his head down on me, we rocked in silence for a few minutes. Then I picked him up and put him in his crib. We said our good nights and just as I was about to walk out the door he goes: "Bow Bow??!!"

I had to go through the whole explanation again and finally just left him in his crib repeating, "bow bow," over and over again!

I bet I know what he dreamed about last night!! :)

Stickers!!

Joey has been really attached to Chris lately. As soon as I go in to get him from the crib in the morning, he points toward our bedroom and says "Dad?" If Chris hasn't left for work yet, then he busts into the bathroom to "help" him shower and shave, or runs into the bedroom to get him out of bed.

On the days when Chris has already left for work, he spends the first 20 minutes of his day checking all the usual hiding spots to find him, all while calling "dad!" The "usual hiding spots" include his office in the basement, under his desk - Chris will sometimes hide there and surprise Joey as he walks into the room, in the back cellar, the downstairs bathroom, and outside in the yard. Eventually, he realizes that he is not home and goes on with his day.

When Chris comes home from work at night Joey runs to the back door, yells as loud as he can, and claps his hands! It's really quite adorable.

So yesterday, when Chris finished work early and went outside to mow the lawn, Joey couldn't have been happier. The only problem is, he wanted to help mow the lawn. Obviously, this was a safety issue, so I had to lock the gate surrounding the yard and keep Joey out. This did not make Joey happy at all and he spent a good 20 minutes yelling/screeching to get in. Eventually I figured I should spare the neighbors and brought Joey inside. BIG MISTAKE!!

He stood at the door hysterically crying and yelling "Daaaaaaaad!" for 30 minutes! Needless to say, when Chris came back inside, Joey was delighted. And determined not to let Daddy out of his sight again.

After dinner and pajamas, there was a good half hour left to play before bedtime. Chris was cleaning the kitchen for me so I could rest, and I tried to settle Joey in at the coffee table to play with stickers. Well, Joey was all about the stickers, but he didn't want to play with ME. The whole time Chris was cleaning the kitchen, Joey was running back and forth between the living room and the kitchen - in the living room to get 2 stickers, then to the kitchen to put them on Chris! It was totally cute and he was super excited about his little "project." When Chris finished and walked into the living room, the sight of him made me laugh so hard I almost peed my pants (for the third time that day)!!

Here's a look at Joey's finished art project!:

Fill Her Up!

A cranky toddler is bad enough. But add on a tired, cranky mother who is going on 34 weeks pregnant and you have one disastrous day! Or should I say week.

I'm not sure what has gotten into Joey these days - maybe a tooth on the way? - but his frustration tolerance has been in the negative range for SEVERAL days now!

Everything is making him mad. He wants to drive my car, but it's time to go in. Tantrum. He wants to eat a meal, but he doesn't want to sit in the high chair. Tantrum. He wants to put the keys in the door and unlock it himself, but he can't reach. Tantrum. He wants his little car to go straight, but it vears to the left. Tantrum.

I am trying my best to redirect the screaming and whining - prompting him to say "help," or "stuck," or any of the other 40 words or so he could use, rather than just melting down. But because I am so tired and uncomfortable myself, I seem to be finding MY frustration tolerance reaching the dangerously low range as well.

I sometimes find myself wondering "What was I THINKING? ANOTHER baby? How am I going to do this?" But then I tell myself "When the baby is born, ALL you will have to deal with is being tired. You won't be carrying around a bowling ball in your stomach. Your nose will not be stuffy anymore and you will actually be able to breathe! When you sneeze or cough, you won't pee your pants!! Rather than waddling like a duck, you'll actually be able to walk straight! You'll see your feet again - and they won't hurt anymore!"

So in these last few weeks, I am going to try my very best to manage my frustration and help Joey to overcome his. Because as positive as I am trying to be - I know that a whole new can of worms is about to be opened when this baby finally arrives! And when that happens, I need to make sure that Joey and I BOTH have full tanks in the frustration tolerance department.

My Little Helper

(These pictures are a few months old because I meant to write this blog a while ago but am just now getting to it!)

Joey is a chore-a-holic! He loves to do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that Chris and I do. To Chris' disappointment, some of the things he enjoys doing (because he sees me do them every day) is put on rings, bracelets, and necklaces, put on his "make-up" with my extra make-up brushes, put moisturizer on his face, and brush his hair with my round brush!

These are all quite girly things, but there are lots of other things he enjoys doing as well - chores!

First up ~ he loves to help clean anything with a wet rag. Windows, the high chair, furniture. While I dust and clean - he dusts and cleans!





He even gives Elmo a bath when he's all done dusting the furniture!!



A daily task that Joey really enjoys is helping me to unload the dishwasher. He is in charge of all the silverware. He takes out each utensil and throws them up in the drawer - then I organize them in to their proper spots later!



On to his FAVORITE: Trash Night!! Luckily for Joey, we have two trash nights!! He shakes the bag out and everything! It's hysterical to watch!





Last, but not least, in the photographed chores is laundry. He does it all. Put the clothes in, take them out, close the detergent drawer, and push the buttons to turn everything on!






There are lots of other chores Joey likes to do, but not all made it on photograph! The first job he ever got excited about was feeding the dog. He used to scoop the food, poor it in the bowl, and then clap when Charlie would come over to eat it. After about a month though, he discovered how much fun it was to take the food out of her bowl and throw it in the water bowl. So this was the end of feeding the dog! I don't let him do it anymore because after numerous "time-outs" for throwing the dog food, the throwing didn't stop. It was just too much fun and so the time out was worth it!

Just recently Joey has gotten really into cleaning up toys after he is finished playing with them! Shocking to me, but he loves it! When we are outside and I tell him it's time to clean up, he pushes each and every car and toy up the driveway and into the shed. Also, when I turn off the water in the shower, without direction, he begins putting all the toys into the bucket! He likes everything to be neat and orderly - something Chris is happy about!

As Joey gets more and more independent, he finds more things he wants to do all by himself. Some are chore related, but now it is expanding on to other things - like putting on his own shoes. It is so neat to be able to watch him grow, learn, and develop every day! You can almost see his little brains working away as he figures new things out! What a blessing he is ~ my little helper ~ my little life!

Joey Makes a Discovery!

Chris was able to pick up and set up the baby's crib last night! So this morning, after breakfast, Joey noticed through the open door that something NEW and AMAZING had been added to the baby's room!

He got a big smile on his face when he saw it from the kitchen, pointed to it and said, "ahhhhh???" (his way of asking if he can go look)

I told him to go check it out - and here's what happened!

Looking at me to see if this is for REAL!:


Trying to climb in and contain his excitement at the same time:


AMAZED at the mobile:


And finally, testing out its sleepability:


He had so much fun playing with the mobile, reaching for the blinds on the window next to the crib (we'll have to figure something out when the baby learns to do this), and alternating between jumping on the mattress and laying on it while snoring!

Finally, after about 20 minutes, I had to end the fun and to get Joey and I dressed and off to my OB appointment.

He COMPLETELY flipped when I took him out! He cried like you would imagine a boy crying after seeing his dog get run over by a bus! :) He was so upset.

So this has left me thinking. Does he think I built him and extra room - complete with a crib? Is he going to be even MORE upset when the new baby comes home and he realizes that SHE gets to sleep in this wonderful new crib? Only time will tell - but I'm starting to get really nervous for how he is going to take the arrival of the baby who is going to zap away 50% of his daily attention!