Reasoning with a Toddler + Pregnancy Hormones = Much Hilarity

If anyone is counting, I am now seven days past my due date.  We've been walking, running errands, going to the zoo; I've been toting groceries, and a toddler, and forcing myself to pick things up off the floor.  Anything I can think of to get this show on the road.  While I do have the occasional hormonal meltdown, I am really working on being at peace with the process, trusting God and "leaning not on my own understanding."

In the midst of this process, Benjamin's verbal skills have been just exploding lately … forming sentences, asking questions, pretending and role-playing … generally being funny, and sweet, and only occasionally ornery :)

The combination of these two scenarios has resulted in some pretty remarkable conversations lately… primarily resulting from my inability to think up anything to say but the matter-of-fact truth.

Yesterday at the park, Benjamin decided he'd rather be at the zoo.  In response to his continual no's, I said, "Well, we're at the park Buddy, so you gotta deal with reality."  He responded with an energetic, "Deee wit re-ad-a-wee!"

Benjamin loves seeing trucks and construction equipment while we're out … problem is that one is never enough.  The excitement is always followed with, "More digger!"  "More school bus!" etc.  Today, after hearing enough "More dump truck" to drive a momma crazy, I said, "Ya know, Benjamin, there's a thing called contentment.  You see something cool, you say, 'Oh wow! Dump truck! Awesome!' then "OK! Movin' on!"  He responded with a perfectly pronounced, "O-tay! Movin' on!" as if he totally understood what I meant.  And who knows, maybe he did?

Honestly, I have no idea if these matter-of-fact responses are good parenting strategy or not … it's just all I can think of right now.  And I don't know if his affirmative responses are actually good signs of progress in attitude, or just a reflection of how much he loves to try new words and expressions.

But, for right now, it's working for us.

Still Waiting...

So, we are still waiting on Baby Brother to make his arrival.  In the meantime, I offer this list…

Ten Ways to Know Its Time to Have Your Baby:

10. You no longer fit in your maternity clothes.  You no longer fit in your husband's clothes.  You longingly wish you could wear a mu-mu and still look respectable.

9. You've maxed-out your daily Tums dosage for the last five days straight.

8. You love the cooler weather and are not even considering turning on the neat, though it's 60 degrees in your house and your toddler's nose is running.

7. The only downside to the cool weather … not being able to wear flip-flops.  You can't bend in any feasible way to get your socks and tennis shoes on.

6. Come to think of it, your feet don't fit in any of your shoes anyway.

5. You dropped your grocery list this morning in the store and just stood looking at it for a full 60 seconds before deciding to make the sacrifice and bend over and pick it up.  How rude would it be to just leave it there?  Could I remember everything that was on it?  Could one of those "Helping Hands" employees walk by right now?  I would be totally unashamed to ask him to pick it up for me!


4. You've crossed nearly everything off your "Pre-Baby To Do List" and the remaining items you've decided you no longer care about.

3. You're considering buying stock in toilet paper because going to the bathroom 20 times a day uses up a surprisingly large amount of the stuff.

2. Both you and your toddler have the "Baby Brother books" completely memorized.  (By the way, kudos to our local library for having not one, but two board books on the topic of welcoming a new baby to your family … "Sweet Baby Coming" and "When You Get a Baby" have been so much fun to read - and I hope they've been at least semi-helpful in preparing Benjamin for this transition.)

1. You are so excited to meet your new little one you can hardly stand it!  Will he look like his big brother?  Hair or no hair? Will he be a thumb-sucker or a paci-man?

We love you already, Baby Brother, and though we can't wait to meet you, we are content to wait for God's perfect timing to introduce you into this world!

Some of you have been waiting a while...

I've recently received some requests (you know who you are … wink, wink :) for some "pregnant pictures" on the ole' blog.  It's not that I've intentionally not posted any, it's just that when you have someone as cute as Benjamin running around, it's hard to take the camera off him and put it on yourself.  Not to mention the fact that life is infinitely busier with a two-year-old than when I was pregnant before - unemployed, with nothing better to do than take multiple naps per day and bake cookies.  :)

So, anyway, here ya go … :)

Easter 2011 - 4 1/2 months or so

My birthday (yup, the big 3-0) - 6 1/2 months

And now, here we are at the very end … 38 weeks, 3 days … because yes folks, I am now counting the days!  Anytime you're ready, Little Brother!

(and you'll have to forgive these pictures … fingerprints on the mirror, laundry on the couch, unmade bed in the background … that's just the way life is at this point! :)

Giving "Littuh Brudder" kisses

Where is Little Brother?  "Wite heere!"

Baby Brother's Room

As of today, Baby Brother's room is officially finished!  Sure, I may decide to change some things around later (it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind, right?) but all the boxes are unpacked, furniture in place, curtains hung, etc.  And, since as of tomorrow, I will be officially "full-term" I guess its not a moment too soon.  Unless of course Baby Brother decides to follow his older brother's lead and take his good ole easy time arriving.  But that won't happen … you're not gonna put your momma through an extra two weeks of pregnancy, are you, Baby Brother?

I'm sure that kick just now meant, "Of course not, Mom!"

Anyway, here's the nursery…

as you walk in the door.

Note: it was surprisingly hard to snap pictures without Benjamin running through at the exact moment the shutter snapped.  He kept saying, "Heppin' Momma!"  Yes, dear, you are certainly helping make the pictures even cuter!

Thank you to Craig's List for the awesome furniture finds!

 

The view from my rocker … Benjamin is really getting into his helping, with some full-on dance moves for the camera.

Evidently the rug can double as an impromptu yoga spot.  Always glad to have multi-purpose pieces. 

 Benjamin, are you excited to meet Baby Brother?  Yeah!!

Benjamin's "New" Room

We've been in the midst of a little "Trading Spaces" around here … with Baby Brother's arrival now only weeks away, we've been working on moving all the "baby" decorations from Benjamin's room to the nursery, and revamping Benjamin's room with a "truck" theme.

Here's a quick peek at his room before … and his tiny little chubby self last summer!  Where did my little baby go???

I've been waiting to take pictures until Benjamin's room was "completed" or "perfect" but I've decided that's never going to happen … I wish I could find the perfect picture frame for the shelf or a basket for the dresser.  And I wish I could get him to leave all his toys in the bins for just five minutes while I snap some pictures, but ya know what?  This is real life here!  So, without further delay, we present …

Benjamin's New Truck Room!

"Knock, knock … can we come in and see your room, Buddy?"

"You have to pass the mighty tool test first!"

(Notice the rug behind him … city streets, buildings, even a police car and a helicopter!)

I made these pictures from pages of one his favorite books, Trucks GO!

Here's a close-up … I'm really proud of how they turned out!

Street and car decals over his crib, bright polka-dot sheets, 

and the crib skirt I successfully fashioned from a tablecloth!

Changing Table has been refitted with brightly colored bins to hold all his toys, 

with a new shelf above and a few more decals to the sides.

(Really need to spiff up that shelf a little, but again, real life! :)

And that's about it!  Baby Brother's room is coming along slowly but surely, so hopefully we'll have pictures of it ready soon!

Summer is for … watching lawnmowers!

Or "mana-moaner" as Benjamin calls them.

and in this case, we had to finish up the bath as quickly as possible so he wouldn't miss it!

You know you're...

Through the funny little moments of life lately, i've been contemplating posting one or other of these lists… "You know you're nine months pregnant when…"  or "You know you're the mother of an almost-two-year-old boy when…"  and then i thought what i really ought to do is combine them…

(And by the way, yes, I will be using the rather awkward phrasing of "almost-two-year-old" throughout this post because I have another six weeks or so before my little baby turns two and I refuse to rush that moment!  On the other hand, I will be rounding my pregnancy months up by a week or so, because, yes, lets get this over with already.)

You know you're nine months pregnant when getting up and down off the floor is quite an effort.
You know you're the mother of an almost-two-year-old boy when your days are filled with animal names and noises of all types, but especially his favorite, the monkey.
You know you're BOTH when in groaning with the effort to get up off the floor, your son says to you with great hilarity in his voice, "Momma Monkey!  Momma Monkey!"

Thank you, buddy.  That makes Momma feel lots better about herself.

You know you're nine months pregnant when your nights' sleep is full of bathroom breaks, leg cramps, heartburn, and incredibly vivid/disturbing dreams.
You know you're the mother of an almost-two-year-old when the Caillou theme song gets stuck in your head for hours at a time.
You know you're BOTH when your sleep, potty-breaks, leg-cramps, heartburn, and vivid dreams are all backed by the Caillou theme song … all night long…  i'm just a kid who's four … each day i learn some more…

Please somebody make it stop!

You know you're nine months pregnant when your days are more and more consistently filled with "pregnant brain" moments.
You know you're the mother of an almost-two-year-old boy when you intentionally take the route clogged with construction so that he can see the diggers and the dump trucks.
You know you're BOTH when you intentionally take the construction way … forgetting that your child is NOT in the car with you, and then persist in quick intakes of breath each time you see a construction vehicle, ready to call out, "Look, Buddy!  A digger" only to realize, again, he is not in the car with you.

I guess I can just enjoy listening to the radio while i sit in traffic pointlessly?

You know you're nine months pregnant when you cry at the drop of a hat… literally.  I mean, you're gonna have to pick that thing up off the floor!
You know you're the mother of an almost two-year-old boy when telling him goodbye elicits hugs, tears, and many repetitions of "wuv oo!  wuv oo!"  (translation: I love you)
You know you're BOTH when telling him goodbye means hugs, tears, and repetitions of "wuv oo" from BOTH of you!

You'd think I could pull myself together … I mean, I was going to watch a chick-flick with a group of sweetest friends!

You know you're nine months pregnant when the state of your house doesn't matter too much anymore … you just really need a nap.
You now you're the mother of an almost-two-year-old son when you have to make (at least) hourly decisions about the danger vs. fun factor of any given activity.
You know you're BOTH when your son makes up his own game that involves whacking a soccer ball with a soup ladle, and you figure, "Hey, he's having fun and I get to sit on the couch for a minute.  I'm gonna have two boys anyway.  I've gotta get used to things getting broken around the house."

What can I say?  I give you…

Ladle Ball!