Check-Ups

Yesterday was doctor day. Annie was having her 18-month well-baby visit, and I was due for a check myself, so the whole family packed up and headed to the clinic. Anne was in no mood for anything yesterday at 10:00 and was not herself--any time anything went slightly wrong she just burst into tears. This makes for one exhausting half hour of poking from the nurse and the doc. What we eventually learned is she weighs 27 lbs, is 32.5 inches tall, and is generally healthy and happy. I was glad that she perked up a bit at the end and the doctor could hear her talk a bit. Oh, and she still has a giant head. Can't forget that part! No shots--this was frustrating to me. They schedule shots for the 12-month and 18-month appointments, but no one tells you that these doses have to be given 6 months apart. So because we had her 12-month visit late (Oct. 16) and this one early (March 30) she couldn't get her shots. It is annoying because no one tells you this and no one asks when you schedule your appointment, so now she has to get extra shots at her next visit, which isn't until 24 months. I'm guessing she'll be bigger and kicky-er by then!

My appointment went fine. The doctor was more interested in gabbing about her own kids than asking me anything, so all my questions went unasked and unanswered. The nurse was crabby, too. Some days I hate that I can't ever see the same doctor twice in a row, but on days like that I'm glad I can say "Nope, not coming back to you!"

Ultrasound date has been set for.....TODAY! At 4:15 this afternoon all will (hopefully) be revealed. Sam and I each have strong opinions about what the baby is (Me: boy, Sam: girl) but he still won't decide if he wants to know or not. I think the uncertainty and anxiety is now making me sick and crabby--I threw up this morning out of the blue and I am not being very nice to the kiddos this morning. Time to turn that attitude around and be nice!

(My alternate theory to all of our "discussion" about gender: the baby lays in a way that shows nothing and we are forced into ignorance for the next 4.5 months...)

Because any picture is better than no picture

Here's another one from last March. Opa used to help Annie stand and say "Queen of the babies!" She loved it.

I loved those little shoes, too...

Quick update

Sorry no pictures today--I got the camera but not the USB cable, so we must go another day with no photos of Anne. She's seen the extended family lately, so most of our readers know what she's up to.

We've had a string of busy weekends, and will continue to be busy until the school year is over and our wedding season comes to a close. Until then the laundry may get done more sporadically and the bathroom may not get a good "deep clean," just the "wipe and swipe" with a paper towel and the Lysol spray. If I could just stop sleeping I could keep up with it all!

Pregnancy continues to progress with few complications. Well, there's one minor one, but it is too gross to write about. Some things are better kept private--no one is in any danger or anything, so don't worry. Next check-up is Monday and hopefully the doc can give me some advice/medicine to make life a little easier. Still no decision on finding out the gender--we keep going back and forth!

In food news, we bought ourselves a 50 lb box of ground beef, roast, and steaks at our church fundraising auction on Sunday. Sam really wanted to bid on the "beef box," so I told him he could spend up to $120. He bid and bid and got the box for $115--just over $2/lb for all that meat. Now we need to fire up our basement freezer so we'll have somewhere to put it all. So when you get invited for steaks on the grill this summer, we really mean it! (Trav, I'll make you a black bean burger--also delicious.)

So that's all for today. I've got 15 kindergarteners set to arrive any second, so I best get out of my chair!

March 20th

First day of spring and I was brushing snow off the car this morning. Please, make it stop!

Only 5 months to go until baby. Why does it seem like I just started telling people I am pregnant? Those 4 months went fast!

One more

I forgot one more "first": First playground bully! We thought it would be a good idea to let Anne stretch her legs in the mall playground on Sunday. We were in there for maybe 2 minutes when a little boy (about Anne's age, maybe younger) didn't want Annie by some toy on the wall and he pushed her--palm to the face and poked her eye! She looked at him like "What the #*&?" and then looked at me at just started bawling. I looked at the kid's dad, who was totally oblivious, and scooped up my child and said in a not-so-quiet voice "That wasn't nice. Mean boy!" It just came out of my mouth before I could stop it! So, sorry, Annie. Some kids are mean. Just don't play with them.

Many irrelevant firsts

Annie had several "firsts" this past week. Here they are, in no particular order:

-first soy milk. She loved it!

-first "boobooties," of course meaning blueberries. She ate enough over two days to create an enormous diaper explosion (which conveniently happened while in the nursery at church--Oma was on suprise diaper duty while I taught Sunday School)

-first trip to Sam's Club. We made our maiden voyage on Sunday and got some good deals. Who needs a 3-lb box of Goldfish crackers? We do, apparently. Anne fell asleep in the stroller about half way through the trip.

-first fast food. Not our proudest moment, but we drove through Taco Bell on our way home and Annie got a Cheese Roll-Up, which is a plain tortilla with melted cheese. I let her hold it in the car and she just slowly munched her way through it and sipped water out of her Taco Bell cup. It was cute but we felt bad for 1. feeding her fast food and 2. letting her eat in the car. We were just so tired and wanted to get home!

-first walk. This happened more than a week ago, but we'll count it. We took Anne for a family walk on one of the nicer afternoons. No stroller, just walking on the sidewalk. She went SO far! She kept a nice pace and just kept plugging along. We took Mikey and Anne strung 3 words together for the first time. "Get the puppy" she said as Mikey was in front of her the whole time. She figured out that if we are walking, we will end up at Oma and Opa's, so when she and Sam walked again on Sunday, she just said "Oma, Oma, Oma" the whole time. Last night we went again and as we turned down their street it turned to "Oopa, Oopa!" She was glad to see him. (For Erin: we went up past Rick and Pat's and around to Wildenborg's, then down to Linda and back to our house.)

-first night-time sitting. It finally happened, at 17.5 months! She woke up the other night and cried and cried, so I went to check on her and she was sitting up in bed. That has never happened before. She had dropped the Dee-Dee under the crib somehow and was quite upset that it was gone. Once it was replaced and a fresh diaper was on, it was right back to sleep. She was sitting up again in the morning when she got up, and then stood up when Sam came to get her out. Looks like we will have to lower that crib mattress soon--once Sam can find the "metric allen wrench" that is needed...
(Side story: Our friend Matt was over for dinner last night and was saying that his son, Bennet, pulls himself up in the crib and cries at night. He's barely 10 months old--much more advanced in the crib-standing department!)

I think that covers everything. She's at a really fun age right now, just chatting with us and laughing at diferent things and making her way around the house. It is very fun to be 1!

Quick morning blog

Annie attended Auntie Erin's bridal shower on Saturday. As part of the wedding party, it was necessary that she be there :)

Anyway, I had to spend the morning in St. Paul before the party, so Annie went to Oma's house for the morning and I met them later. Oma surprised us with a new dress for Annie and freshly washed CURLY hair. She looked like a little doll.



Yep, those are her curls. They just pop out like that after a bath. They feel like the last remnant of her baby-hood as we get ready for her to be the Big Kid at our house.

Just for fun

I've been meaning to do this as Annie has her "month-days" She just turned 17 months old, but here she is last year when she was just 5 months old. Such a doll, and I loved that little outfit--it had a Cinderella-themed toile print with castles and carriages. She had a similar pink one in newborn size. If you click and look you can see her long, spindly fingers. They don't look like that anymore :) And she's not a cue-ball anymore, either!

What does that say?

There are many days I miss my old job and the one big difference between private schools and public: Uniforms. How I adored those little plaid jumpers and tucked-in shirts! I especially miss them when I see little girls wearing saucy t-shirts. I know they are everywhere, and some of them are cute, but most are obnoxious. Today's examples are: "I don't give attitude. I bring my own." and "Out of your league." Really?!?! Out of your league?!?! You are 9 years old--how do you even know what that means?

Long ago I saw a cute website that had "alternative" word shirts for kids. This one was my fave:

My daughter can say something intelligent with her shirt (should she ever wear a word shirt). She doesn't need to be "princess" or "diva" or "sassy" or "flirt" (my least favorite of all!) Can't she just be a kid?

Oh, oh, jump in--Come on, let's go!

And thus begins the main song of Annie's new favorite thing: Handy Manny. Apparently she and Daddy have been partaking of this Playhouse Disney show when they are home together on Mondays and Tuesdays. I saw it for the first time on Saturday and I must say, it's pretty cute. Manny is the go-to handyman in the town of Sheetrock Hills (!) and he has 7 helpful tools that go with him everywhere to get the job done. There's a regular cast of characters like Kelly at the hardware store, Mr. Lopart next door (and his cat, Mr. Fluffy), and Mr. Chu at the school. Annie likes to watch as she plays and delights in seeing the "kitty" "Mah-nee" and "toos" Why Handy Manny? I think Sam found it and he kind of liked it, so now they watch it. It is too funny to hear him sing all the little songs--it's one of those things I never imagined he would do before we had Anne!

Here are the tools and their names. They're pretty clever.
Saw: Dusty
Pipe Wrench: Rusty
Tape Measure: Stretch
Pliers: Squeeze
Hammer: Pat
Flathead screwdriver: Turner
Phillips screwdriver: Felipe (get it?)

Manny also has a dog that he built himself out of a belt sander and some other parts. Anne still knows its a "puppy!"

And I know, a one-year-old doesn't need to be watching TV. Trust me, she's still much happier reading a book than watching "Mah-nee" for 10 minutes.

Just for you, TB

Melissa B. had her baby this morning!

Hayden Joshua
9 lbs, 1 oz
20 3/4 inches

Everyone is doing very well :)

Seventeen Months Old

Well, yesterday The Baby turned 17 months old. That is a weird age to say--I think I'll start saying she's one and a half when people ask me. Here are some quick updates:

-She has one of her eye teeth (is it eye teeth because of where they are or I-teeth because they are incisors?) The top right one is through and the left will follow soon. Negligent mother that I am I didn't even know until I stuck my finger in there yesterday to check on them! If I count those top two, the Tooth Total is 14, with 2 more on the way.

-She likes to brush her teeth. She'll go to the bathroom and stand by the cabinet and say "Please? Please?" so we'll brush her teeth. I do it first, then I let her have it. She just likes the taste of her toothpaste, but we'll go with it for now.

-She talks all the time! To us, to herself, whatever. She is also very good at playing by herself. Last night she was running up and down our hall and laughing at nothing. Sam said it looked like she was trying to find her top speed.

-She can be naughty. On Saturday there were two times when I went to her room and she had unloaded the diapers and/or wipes from the changing table. When I walked in she gasped and said "Oh, no!" and started putting them away! It's like she thought she could fool me: "Oh, no, Mom; what has happened here? I will help you clean it up."

-She likes to be "nice" right now. She'll pet the dog or pet my arm and say "nice" because that's how we tell her to be with Mikey. According to Sam there was a day when Annie walked over to Mike, pulled his jaws open, then poked him in the eye repeatedly while saying "Eyes! Eyes!" We had to ramp-up our "be nice to puppies" campaign after that.

-The blanket has officially become Dee-Dee. That's the name she stuck with, so we went along with it. "Ah Dee-Dee?" is the question we hear most often.

-She follows basic commands. Yesterday she impressed me by being able to "Take your cup to the kitchen" and walking it right to the sink.

-She says "no" a bit more than we'd like to hear. Not yet in full-on screaming/tantrum mode, but there are times we get a whiny "No" out of her. Sam really doesn't like this--I guess I'm more used to it.

-She's more cuddly than she used to be. She spends more time on my lap with her blankie than she used to. It is nice.

-Puppies are her fave. If she sees even a glimpse of a dog on TV she says "Puppy!" and knows all of her books that have puppies in them, even if they aren't on the cover. Sometimes we have to flip through the pages just to find the puppy picture, then move on to the next book.

Here she was last night in her heart jammies, sucking her thumb with Dee-Dee. She has a very specific hold for the blankie: sucking her right thumb she holds it in her right hand up against her nose, occasionally using the left hand to ball up the blankie closer to her face. I've NEVER seen her suck her thumb without the blanket in hand.Giving a skeptical look at the TV.
Resting with Daddy. Awww...
Time for "nigh nigh," Annie! Get your Dee-Dee!

Anne Video

One of Annie's favorite things is the dishwasher. She likes to close it for me and "help" put the dishes away. Here she is pulling the baby spoons out of the basket and putting them in the silverware drawer. She initiated this all by herself. Never mind that they were still dirty...

You can hear a lot of her words in this: spoon, daddy, no, etc.

Pregnancy 1 vs. Pregnancy 2

For the most part this pregnancy has been the same as the first one, in terms of how I'm feeling. The difference is that I have a little commentary on the whole thing from Annie. Like yesterday, when I was feeling yucky and, um, gassy, I had a voice to say "Tootie!" every time it was appropriate. Thanks, kiddo.

I think I will concede to Sam and not find out the gender of this child, if for no other reason than I am the one who rarely compromises and he almost always does, so I need to be fair. As I told a friend, it all boils down to that one moment during the ultrasound when they ask "Do you want to know?" and you have to say "yes" or "no" I have a feeling I would look at Sam for him to answer and he would say "Fine, we can know" because he almost always lets me have my way. So I must be strong! Stay decided! No flaking at the last minute!

I have a few updated pictures of Annie and a funny video to share, but I can't seem to remember to bring the camera to school! I like to upload things on my laptop because it is much faster, but it involves the extra step of getting the camera to school and getting it done.

Now, a funny conversation between my friend Carl and his 3 and 1/2 year old daughter. They were watching a TV show about going to the beach:

Daughter: Can we go to the beach?
Carl: Of course we can.
D: No, we can't. It is too cold.
C: Well, we can go when it gets warm.
D: No, we won't go.
C: Why not?
D: Because it is never going to get warm!
C: Um, okay. We can still have fun playing in the yard in the snow.
D: No we can't.
C: Why?
D: There's too much dog poop!

We had a good laugh at that. Apparently we both have backyards that look like minefields when the snow melts. Our neighbor calls them "poodle bombs" (even though her dogs are Schnauzers.) So come on, spring! I've got poop to scoop!