Christmas '09

It seems that we might have a new, not-so-fun tradition on Christmas Eve.  Last year, Connor had the flu (2 weeks after his flu shot!) and we rushed to a doctor's office in Livingston just before they closed.  The week leading up to Christmas, Connor had "stomach issues" and after talking to a nurse, we decided once again on Christmas Eve to bring him into the doctor.  Thankfully it turned out just to be a virus and he's much better now.

This year Josh, Connor and I spent Christmas Eve and Day at home.  It was very low key and we had fun watching C with his new toys.  I must say, I love spending a whole day of playing and hanging out with just my 2 boys, but it wasn't Christmas without the whole family.  Sadly, we couldn't make it to Colorado this year to be with Josh's family, so we missed out on family time and a White Christmas.  We were fortunate, however, to have Mimi, Papa Jud and Jason make the trip to visit us and celebrate on the 27th.

We had so much fun watching Connor open his gifts and get so excited. Just look at this expression:

Santa (aka Nan and Granddaddy) brought Connor an outdoor climber/slide and this was the first time seeing it.  Needless to say, he loves it!  Actually, he loves all of his gifts.  Because he got so many, I plan on hiding many of them and bringing them out around the time baby #2 arrives!  He'll just think it's Christmas all over again.  Here are some pictures of  our 2009 Christmas memories. 

Name That Tune

Ji Be, Ji Be, Ji Be

...AWAY

(mumble, hum...)

HEY!

Can you guess?  Why it's Jingle Bells, of course.  That is, Jingle Bells sung by an 18 month old. Yesterday Connor's Mother's Day Out put on a Christmas program for the parents.  The one year old class held bells and sang this song.  Well, the one year old class minus a certain someone!!  When their class walked in and got on stage, Connor was okay. He saw Josh and was a bit confused, but still okay.  But then he saw me, and that was it.  "MOM MOM!!" (that's what he calls me.) Fussing and crying, "Mom Mom!!" He made is way over to me and even though Josh tried to take him back on stage, it didn't last.  So he watched his class sing from my lap!!

The director was just about to get up and talk when Connor came a'runnin.  So she picked him up and carried on with her speech. 

Connor is going to be like his daddy in many ways.  Josh loves spicy food; I do not.  As I mentioned in the last blog, Connor watches and repeats everything.  So Josh was eating chips and salsa when C saw him and of course wanted a chip as well.  Josh gave him one, but he had to dip it in the salsa (which was not mild, mind you) then eat the chip.  He ended up eating so many and by the end, was just licking the salsa off he chip!

Going in for the first dip.

First taste...

What a face, but that didn't stop him from eating more and more!!

18 Months

Connor had his 18 month check up last week and was given a clean bill of health. While in the waiting room he was playing with all the toys, having a great time. Then once they called us back he started fussing. We went into the first room to get weighed and measured and he wasn't having it. I had to peel his clothes off and he was screaming his head off. Once that was over with, he sat in my lap for a bit but began to play once more and was okay. When the doctor came in, I guess he got scared because he crawled up in my lap and never mumbled a word. He would not crack a smile and just stared at the doctor. She was able to check everything and he cooperated, but he wasn't about to let her know that he enjoyed being there. You'll see below we still have a long and lean little boy.  The nurse said he looked like a 2 1/2 year old.


Weight: 27.10 (75% ile)
Height: 34.5 (96% ile)
Head: 48.75 (76%ile)

This stage has to be the best! I LOVE it!! He talks and talks and has such a wide vocabulary. He repeats EVERYTHING he sees or hears, and I do mean everything! Thankfully most of it is pretty funny. He remains very rambunctious at home, but I think he really mellows out when left at the church nursery or mother's day out. All the nursery workers and teachers always tell me he's so sweet. Even though he can be a wild man, I do have to agree about the sweetness. No matter where he is or what he's doing at the moment, he stops periodically, runs over and says, "hug! keees!" Then follows up with "La Lo," which means love you. It's the best! Something else I find sweet is that he says a prayer before each meal. He will sometimes remind Josh and me and say "PAY" and clasps his hands together, mumbles some stuff then shouts "AMEN." It's so cute!  He's also great at sharing and plays well with others. Hope that trend continues!!

In between all of this cuteness and sweetness, however, we are definitely starting to see signs of a toddler!  He has a new fussy/scream that he does and when we tell him NO his first reaction is to throw whatever is in his hand or to hit whatever is in his way.  Oh the terrible twos are going to be fun!

Sleep has become somewhat of an issue again. We dropped his morning nap a couple of months ago b/c I knew at school they did not take naps. Well, Connor still really likes that a.m. snooze time and keeps falling asleep during school! Even the director talked to me about it last week b/c there are no mats or places for him to lie down and the teacher has to end up carrying him around. And if he does fall asleep, even for 10 minutes, he won't nap the rest of the day. Then the past few days, he has been waking up fussing around 6-6:30. Maybe God is just getting me ready for life with a toddler and newborn!!

Here are some pictures taken of Connor this past weekend. We went to Livingston where they had a downtown festival and parade. He enjoyed the petting zoo (even when 5 goats were jumping on him at once) and really had a good time riding the horses. He did not want to leave.

I think the expression says it all:

Looking at a train exhibit.  He kept calling all the trains "Tom" thinking they were all "Thomas the Train."

Intently watching the parade and waiting to see Santa:

I'm in THIRD!!

Third trimester!!!  I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy seems to be progressing.  I went in for my very detailed sonogram on Tuesday and Mimi and Papa Jud accompanied us.  The baby did cooperate for the sonographer to get pictures down there while we turned our heads the other way.  (Well except for Papa Jud, but frankly I dont think he knew if he was looking at the foot or the ear so I think the secret's still safe.)  Whether we're having a boy or a girl, the baby looked perfect so there's not much more we can hope for.

We did get a few pics (all of the stomach up, of course) and a 4D picture which I think looks like Connor.  They gave us a video of the ultrasound, but I'm scared to watch it b/c I'm not sure if everything is included .  In other words, I don't know if it will reveal the sex.  So that will just be something we watch at a later date.

I am measuring two weeks early, which puts me at 27 weeks.  She said they won't move the due date up yet, but I guess we'll just wait and see what the doctor says later on.  The baby is also measuring in the 86%ile so it looks like we might have another big baby.  Of course given our genes, we're really not surprised.  Speaking of big, when I was pregnant with Connor we always joked about how big his feet were.  In fact, after he entered this world, the first thing the nurse said was "wow this boy has big feet."  Well as we're watching the ultrasound, the sonographer said "those are really big feet!"  Ha!! I guess with my size 10 feet, Josh's size 15 and Uncle Jason's size 17, we expect to have another big baby with big feet!

As far as I am concerned, I seem to be rocking along just fine.  Nothing exciting to report about, which again, am very thankful for!  I definitely feel like I'm much wider than I was with Connor, but maybe that's because there is now "more room" in there.  The baby likes to have a dance party often, and I love feeling him/her move around.  Here are some some pregnancy shots: