More of the Same

Still 3cm. Still 50 percent effaced. Heart rate down a bit to 120. Does that mean Sissy's making her appearance soon?

Confession

My due date isn't really February 6. It's February 5.

I know. Shocking.

At my first doctor's appointment, the nurse asked what my LMP was and when I told her, she turned that little paper circle chart to come up with a due date of 2/6/12. Which, mathematically speaking, is a pretty awesome due date. At my next appointment a few weeks later, I was told my due date was February 5. I said, wait, I thought it was the 6th. They explained that sometimes when they put the info in the computer, it spits out a slightly different date than the paper circle.

Oh. So that's fine and all, but I really preferred the 6th. I figured at the doctor and for anything official, my date would be 2/5, but in my mind and what I was going to tell people would be 2/6, just because I liked it more.

But ohhhhhh, my. Now that both dates are within spitting distance, I really really want to focus on the 5th. Because that is one day closer. One day sooner to The End.

Which is ridiculous. I know this. If stubborn baby doesn't come out on her own, I'm not going to be induced until February 16. WHAT? That is absolutely too far away. This morning I woke up with general pregnancy aches and pains, plus a headache and sore throat. Just generally feeling sick. I stayed home from work, and have since spent some time on the couch, watching TV and convincing myself that I cannot be pregnant for one more minute. I honestly don't know how I would make it to 2/16. Everything hurts.

Please send go-into-labor-NOW vibes my way. Whether you go with 2/6 or 2/5, I just want this baby out asap.

This might be my favorite "first" of all

This morning I was saying goodbye to Milo before he headed off to daycare with Daddy and I headed off to work. Since I was showering while he ate breakfast, I hadn't seen him much. So I asked him for a big hug and a kiss, and while he indulged my hug, he only reluctantly gave me a kiss. When he reached out for Daddy, I handed him over and said, "Bye bye, Milo, I love you." And he said "I love you, Mommy, bye bye."

And I melted. I love that boy more than I can possibly describe.

He's 22 Months Old, So Don't Even Tell Me He's Almost Two. As If.

Milo is 22 months old. For the first time, I missed taking his picture and posting his stats on the 21st of the month. And here I thought I might actually make it to the two-year mark before missing it by a day or two. Oh well, what can you do?

Milo is so fun. And funny. He makes silly faces and silly noises and sings and dances and beats on his chest like Tarzan. He makes me laugh every single day.

He is learning his letters, numbers, and colors. I'm surprised sometimes how many letters he can identify, especially hard ones like Q and W. He can count some, but he likes to start with 4 and count up to 9. Colors are still tricky, but he knows Daddy's car is black and Mommy's car is blue.

The kid loves fruit. Blueberries, grapes, oranges, bananas, apples, raisins (does that count as a fruit?), pears, kiwi. He also loves eggs, cheese, peas, corn, french fries, pizza, juice, milk, peanut butter, and occasionally cookies or ice cream. Sometimes he refuses dessert, which is fine by me.

Opinions. He has them.

He's speaking in longer sentences. A common one right now is "Oo dat soun, Mommy?" which translates to "What's that sound, Mommy?" He hears things I don't, and is constantly asking what made the sound. Often it's a train or airplane, sometimes it's something like Daddy shutting a door, where I have to rewind my subconscious to see if I even know what the sound was. Milo's vocabulary is huge, or it seems huge to me. I really have no idea how he stacks up to the average 22-month-old, but he sure impresses me.

We've been putting him in time out this month. He is always pushing the limits and seeing how we'll react when he does the opposite of what we ask him to do. So we're trying to set boundaries and be consistent. Time-outs may or may not be working. Sometimes he seems very upset to be going to time out, other times he casually walks over to the time-out spot and just chills until we tell him he can get up, like it's no big thing. Hoping to cut back on bad behavior, like...throwing food. Smacking Mommy and Daddy. Refusing to pick up toys. Dropping his cup or fork on the floor. Banging on the table. Refusing to do X, Y, or Z -- anything we ask him to do, really. None of his behaviors are that bad, the bad part is that he directly doesn't obey when we ask him to do/not do something. And I think we're supposed to be in control, somehow. I think.

He loves books and loves storytime before bed. Lately we've been reading a couple books about a new baby in the house. I still have no idea how much of it is sinking in, the whole new baby thing. We'll find out soon enough, I guess.

Milo's daycare situation is wonderful. He's been at Kristin's for about five months now, and he hasn't really been sick at all. Maybe one cold and a potential ear infection or two that we've fought off with drops before it got started. He knows all the kids there, he enjoys the crafts, and it's just been a good place for him. His teacher says he's pretty quiet there, which kind of surprises me. He's constantly babbling at home. Maybe he's just more of an observer and keeps his thoughts to himself. He seems happy there, though, and that's what matters most.

Hello again

How about a few little updates and ramblings?

• I'm 37 weeks and a few days pregnant. At my doctor's appointment this morning, I was 3 cm dilated and 50 percent effaced. If I were to check my archives, I'm pretty sure I'd find that this was how much I had progressed a couple days before going into labor the first time. Therefore, I'm convinced the baby is on her way. My doctor was quick to say I could stay this way for another few weeks, but I just don't think that will be the case. We'll see. I could just be doing some wishful thinking. Which brings me to my next point...
• I'm. So. Completely. Over. Being. Pregnant. I'm having trouble sleeping. It's either heartburn, plain ol' insomnia, or too much kicking from the baby. On a really good night, it's a combo of all three. I waddle when I walk, my feet are swollen, and the simplest tasks are becoming impossible. Drying off after a shower, for instance, or removing my own boots at the end of the day. Forget it.
• While I desperately want the baby out of my body, I'm having a ton of probably misplaced guilt over wrecking Milo's life. Why am I doing this to him, shaking his world and asking him to suddenly grow up and be a big boy? He should get to stay a baby as long as he needs to.
• The nursery is still not quite finished, though we're getting close. I hemmed the curtains this weekend, and they actually look really good. Nice straight seams and everything. I'm getting better at this sewing thing. Frames still need to be hung, closet still needs to be organized, and cloth diapers need to be re-washed and organized. And the crib still needs to be put together, but I'm delaying that as long as possible so Milo won't remember it as being his.
• Milo loves playing in Sissy's room. That may have something to do with the step ladder that's been in there the last couple weeks. He climbs up, he climbs down, he climbs up, he climbs down. Repeat.
• I wonder how much Milo is understanding about his impending status as big brother. We've been reading books on it and talking about it all the time, but you know. He's not even two yet.
• We've been working on our bedroom remodel, and it's sort of on hold. My father-in-law can't hang trim for another few weeks at the earliest, so the room is in this semi-done state that is driving me crazy. If anyone knows how to hang trim and wants to dedicate a weekend to our cause, let me know.

Wrapping Up: My 2011 Resolutions

I wrote a post about a couple of New Year's resolutions I was (reluctantly) making almost exactly one year ago. And now that 2011 is over, I thought I'd follow up on those resolutions and let you know how it all turned out.

I hate New Year's resolutions. But this year, I actually have a couple of them. And in order to help keep me accountable, I will share them here with you.

1. In typical New-Year's-resolution fashion, I want to lose weight. (More weight, that is, on top of the 40 pounds I've already lost since Milo was born.) Twelve pounds, to be exact. This will get me back to my college/living-in-New-York/wedding weight. And I will be satisfied with this weight.
2. I want to decorate our bedroom. I absolutely hate it right now, and I have lots of ideas to decorate it. Unfortunately, these decorating plans of mine all cost money. But this is the year I no longer want to just live with the room I hate. I want to make it a place I love to be, rather than just a place I sleep in. I'm thinking navy, light gray, butter yellow, and crisp white...

Well. Let's start with #1, shall we? If memory serves me correctly, I lost maybe five more pounds after that, then sort of plateaued for three or four months. Then I went and got myself pregnant. And in typical pregnant fashion, I then proceeded to gain 40 pounds (and counting). Maybe this weight loss goal will have to go back on the 2012 resolution list.


As for #2, I began to make some headway on this goal throughout the year by buying things like a new duvet, new side tables, accessories, switching out our dresser for Milo's old one, and generally filling up the room with things that would be used someday. Then the room finally, finally got painted about two weeks before Christmas. And that's where we're at. An almost completely painted room (still a couple of places that got patched that need to be painted) that needs the new trim hung, puttied, caulked, and touched up with paint. Then we'll be in business. I'm hoping by summer this room will be complete. But as for a 2011 resolution? FAIL. I blame it on that whole pregnancy sick-for-two-trimesters thing. Definitely not just laziness.

Unprompted

Tonight at dinner, Milo was hardly touching his food, as he is likely to do these days. Because I wanted him to eat something, I gave him a few dried cherries. Then, without any kind of urging, he said, "Thank you, Mommy." Isn't he just the nicest boy who ever lived?