E is officially a year and a half old!
It’s been quite a journey, and in about a month we’ll be embarking on our next journey when E becomes a big brother. So before life gets super crazy, I wanted to post an update of what’s going on in E’s world. A lot has changed in the past few months, but even more has changed in the last few weeks. It seems like every day there is something new that he can do, or some new thing that is so adorable and makes me melt.
It’s a weird period of time with E.
I’m both excited for what comes next, but sad about what’s ending.
For example, his language. I’m really excited for him to be able to talk and communicate and to hear all the funny things he’s going to start saying in the next 6 months. (18 months - 2 years old is a GIANT language explosion). But I’m also going to really miss how he is now. He “talks” all day with great expression and passion.
I’m actually doing okay this week, physically at least. Mentally I’m all over the place. Both with worrying about E (even though I know he’s fine) and new baby (who’s going to be uber monitored so I also shouldn’t be worried), but I really feel like I could use a relaxing vacation or something right now (never going to happen).
I never wanted E to be timid or afraid of life. So I’ve tried hard not to hover over him, and let him explore on his own. I’m aware that means he may get hurt from time to time in situations that I could have prevented, but the goal is/was to make him independent and confident. That’s what we’re supposed to do as parents, right?
Not that I haven’t been, but I’m not sure I’ve been brutally honest lately either.
This pregnancy is hard.
I wasn’t shy last time from letting people know that I didn’t enjoy being pregnant. And that’s still true. Sure there are some things that are fun (getting seats on the T!), but overall, it’s not the best experience for me.
Remember Easter this year?
I actually didn’t. Just the other day I was asking Tom if we made it to sunrise service on Easter, and couldn’t remember why we didn’t. Oh yeah, we were all super sick. We’ve actually been doing really well since then, even managing to dodge a few outbreaks of hand, foot, mouth at daycare!
For someone who has been preparing for Christmas for months, this holiday snuck up on me. I decorated some of the house, but most of the decorations are still in bins downstairs. I totally forgot to send E to daycare in his Halloween shirt until today (last year I think he wore shirts for 2 weeks before the holiday).
I was hoping I’d have more time. After all, I’m only 7 months pregnant, and I was crossing my fingers I’d have at least another month. But apparently this is it. This is where I’ve run out of time, energy and motivation apparently.
There is still a lot to do. There’s a baby to prepare for, holidays are coming up and presents need to be wrapped, cards need to be sent, and then there’s the normal things, like remembering to do laundry (or more realistically, remembering to put it away after its been washed), and getting myself dressed and out the door every day.
I’m not sure why, but I really enjoy them. Maybe they’re made for small children, but I disagree. They’re one of those things that I can’t walk past if I see one. I want to ride it. And I usually do. It used to be Nicole that I’d drag on with me (okay drag is too strong a word, I think she likes them too!) and now it’s Tom.
Central Park carousel? Ridden it. Disney World carousel? Yup. Boston’s? Of course.
Since my last update (only a week ago!), I’ve had three more appointments scheduled. Yes, it’s getting ridiculous.
They were all interesting for different reasons. One was for my three hour glucose test - yup as predicted, I failed the one hour test again. So off I went to spend three hours sitting in a waiting room, drinking super sweet orange drink, and getting my blood taken a million times. I’m almost getting good at it! Fasting, chugging the drink, bringing a book to read, and then packing food to eat for after.
Christmas is going to be interesting this year.
Well, in more ways than one. But let me back up - I’m actually talking decoration wise. And no, I don’t have my tress up (yet!). I did start pulling out my Halloween/Fall decorations, though. Not all of them, but a few pumpkins here and there. It didn’t take long for a certain tiny human to notice… and demand that he be allowed to carry them around everywhere!
It’s time to get BIG!
Seriously though. They say that everything happens quicker in subsequent pregnancies because your body remembers this time around, but whoa is it true. It’s like my body just said “oh remember what it felt like to be 9 months pregnant? Let’s jump there NOW!”
So I’m feeling very big, and slow, and out of breath. I can’t breathe very well and doing almost anything leaves me panting. Who would have thought sitting on the couch would be so hard? My clothes are already uncomfortable, and it’s already impossible for me to find a position to sleep or sit in that feels good.
It’s not really about the bike. Sure the bike may have set it off, but in reality, it’s more about being a toddler. Being a toddler means learning crazy amounts of new things every day, discovering emotions that are overwhelming at the best of times, and having little control over anything in your life. Together it makes for a frustrating existence. Oh, and did I mention your mouth constantly hurts because teeth are literally ripping holes through your gums?
So that’s where we are.
I have to say, this may be one of my favorite trends in parenting lately. Yes, it’s a way to entertain and keep your toddler busy (YAY!) but it’s also super cool, and I want to play with it probably as much as E does!
They’re also super easy, and completely customizable. Basically you take a piece of wood, and screw on whatever random stuff you have lying around the house, or want to incorporate, and voila! You have something fun and entertaining that is teaching your toddler valuable life skills in the process!
The other morning, Tom was holding E while he opened the trash can to throw something away. From across the room I heard Tom laughing and saying “Oh no, don’t worry about Flappy in the garbage. You saw nothing!”
Remember our singing elephant? The one that my whole family hates, but E love so much? Well it officially makes the list as the second toy we’ve played with so much that we’ve killed the batteries. A singing toy truck from our neighbors was the first, and I’m pretty sure a singing laptop from my parents will be next since it’s been struggling and making some interesting noises lately. Are you sensing a theme? Our Bubba likes things that sing to him!
Fall has something the rest of the year doesn’t have - these crazy big pumpkin/apple farms that open up for picking. Well that’s the general premise anyway, but they’ve become so much more than that. They’re comparable to amusement parks in their size and activities, and they’re only open for two-ish months in the fall where everyone flocks to them.
They’re so overwhelming that Tom and I are a bit afraid of them. We’ve been to all the big ones and have had bad experiences dealing with lines and traffic and getting lost, so we usually stick to the smaller and less intimidating ones. Of course that means they offer less to do while you’re there.
A lot! The fall is always my favorite time of year. It seems like it always gets filled up with fun trips and visits and activities that we never get around to at other times of the year. There are holidays to look forward to, the weather is perfect, life is good! However, it seems like I’ll never get around to making a separate blog post about everything we’ve been up to, so instead I’m going to try and play a bit of catch up. So here are a bunch of random but good things we’ve been up to.
Also in completely random updates, E has 4 teeth! We have no idea when #3 and #4 came in - we flipped him upside down the other day (the only way to really check) and he has a mouth full of teeth up there! But since he only has 1 on the bottom, we hadn’t noticed. I guess that’s a good thing though. (Although now that we know they’re here, we’re thinking back on a cranky week last week and wondering if that’s what was going on!)