Talkers

I mentioned in my previous post how C is starting to "talk" some. I swear sometimes it sounds like he's saying "Mommy" in his own way - it's a sound that he makes when he wants to be picked up and hugged. I know, I'm crazy. Crazy in love with my baby!

Anyway, the funny thing that C does in his sleep is laugh! A full hearty belly laugh. It's so cute!

I already knew that hubby talked in his sleep occasionally. I didn't realize that R was such a night-talker too. But since I've been up at night with C, I've discovered it's a rather regular occurrence. I too have been known to talk in my sleep as well. I used to sleep walk in college, but fortunately that has stopped (unless you count the zombie-like walking to the nursery to feed the baby...lol). So I guess eventually C will be a talker as well. But for now, I will enjoy the laughing. :)

Six Weeks!

C is now six weeks old as of yesterday, and it's amazing how much he's grown and developed in those six weeks. With R I was so excited to get to the next big milestone - sitting, crawling, etc - that I'm not sure I fully appreciated the smaller developments. C really likes to look around and is starting to coo some. He smiles when tickled, and even laughs some. He's already working on hitting the toys dangling in front of him in the bouncy seat. And he LOVES when his big brother talks and sings to him - he usually calms right down (except when in the car...lol). He's gotten so much better with his head. But C, just like R, HATES tummy time! You would think I was torturing the poor kid. Doesn't matter how happy he is, as soon as I put him down on his tummy, he starts crying. Flip him to his back, and he'll start smiling and cooing. At least I can say I tried. :) Happy six week birthday, baby!

First Family Outing

On Sunday, Dec 5th, we took our first family outing as the four of us. After a month of going out one at a time, it was very exciting to be out of the house with the hubby. :) Plus, we were doing something as a family. Where did we go, you ask? Sea World, of course! Lol. I'm still a bit of a germ-a-phobe, so I still don't want to take C out to the stores and such. Sea World, though, is mostly outdoors, so it seemed a little safer. And the weather was nice. C of course slept the whole time, so he didn't see any of Sea World. R, on the other hand, had fun taking his brother around and talking to him. Plus we got our annual Christmas ornament. We're gonna head back next week to try to get the boys' picture taken with Texas Santa. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Burping

Not sure why it took two kids and several parenting books to realized that the best and most efficient way to burp a baby is to bounce them quickly vertically. I should have known this from my training as a kid. My dad taught me this while on road trips - chug a root beer, then let the bouncing of the car do it's job until you let out the biggest burp you can. I was usually not the winner of these burping contests, but I had a few I was proud of. Thanks, Dad! :)

Oh Poop!

Literally. The other day, as I was changing C's diaper, I lifted his butt to put down the clean one. Then, all of a sudden, this slow motion rocket exploded out and covered the floor, the walls, the trash can, and almost reached the crib 4-5 feet away. It was impressive!

R peed on me (and himself, and the wall) numerous times when he was a baby. But I've never seen exploding poop before. Good thing the diapers hold up to the force! lol

On a related note, C does not like having a full diaper. He wants a clean one as soon as he's done (and sometimes before he's done too). We're hoping this attitude stays and translates into easy potty training. R spoiled us with that the first time around.

In fact, R spoiled us in a lot of ways. He never was a good on-the-go sleeper, but otherwise he was pretty laid back. I'm the one who kept him in a routine. But C seems to be more opinionated so far. Just before he burps, or falls asleep, or poops, he has to cry to announce it first. Then he calms back down in a minute or so. And so far he keeps his own schedule, which I'm trying to help shape but mostly just go with.

While that may be more difficult, C is rewarding me in other ways. He's got a great laugh that he does when he's asleep. Makes me wonder what he's dreaming about. And today he smiled somewhat responsively. I was making silly faces at him, and he repeatedly flashed a smile at me. A little early, yes, but still made me happy!

Happiest Baby

Well, not quite. C has "colic", and he has it bad. Now, colic really just means that the baby gets cranky and almost inconsolable for a certain period most days, worsening until age 6 weeks, and spontaneously resolves by ~3 months. By 3 weeks of age, poor C would start screaming around 9 pm all the way until 1 am. Then, when he did sleep at night, he would wake up every 1-2 hours. He would finally really sleep starting at 6 or 7 am,when it was time to get up and start the day. So frustrating!
So, I read the book Happiest Baby on the Block. The guy makes sense, and his theory on colic is as good as anyone elses. Plus, I already knew C loved to be held and hear my heartbeat, so his theory goes along with what I know for my child. The techniques are free and have no side effects, so we tried it. They have worked quite well. Not perfectly, but MUCH better.
The biggest thing I got from this book is swaddling. For some unknown reason, I always though swaddling was about keeping the baby warm. Since my babies didn't have any issues with that, I never really swaddled them at home. But this has been the key to getting C to sleep and stay asleep.
Now, we go to bed around 9 pm, sleep 3-4 hours between feedings, and are ready to start the day around 7 am. Yay!
That book was worth reading. :)

Born to be a Thumb Sucker

So C loves his thumbs. When he was born and placed on my chest, he cried and then stuck his thumb in his mouth.

Like most babies, C loves to suck. He will sometimes nurse for hours just because. So, I have offered him the pacifier. He's now starting to take it some, if he's in the mood, but will often spit it out so he can stick his thumb / hand in his mouth instead.

So now the question is, why do I fight the thumb sucking by offering the paci? Because when he's older, I can take away the pacifier whereas the thumb is permanently attached to him. Well, I suppose I could remove his thumbs, but I might get in trouble for that. LOL j/k

For now, he can still have his thumb once in awhile.

Dear Santa

So, now that it's November, the Christmas catalogs are pouring in. R was looking through one this morning and kept finding things he wanted to ask Santa for for Christmas. So finally I told him to write down the things he saw so we could eventually send the list to Santa. He loved this idea, and scrambled to get paper and pencil.

The first item was a little grocery store playset. So he writes "gRoshRe", which is how it sounds.

The next item was a kitchen playset. So he writes "cichn".

I was pretty impressed, esp with grocery, since that's a fairly long word to sound out. Too bad the English language has so many exceptions to the rules, but I think knowing that he was spelling phonetically, I could figure out what he meant. :)

Bathtime

This is something I was remembering today as I was bathing C.

Bathtime was such a stressful thing for me when R was a newborn. I thought since I had a baby bathtub (with sling for newborns), I had to use it. The first time, I thought I'd be smart and put it on the bathroom counter so I didn't have to bend over. I filled it up in the big bathtub, then carefully lifted it to the counter. Then I put baby in - oops, it overflowed all over the bathroom. LOL. Got to mop the floor after it was all done.

But the REALLY funny one was the next bath. Learning from my last mistake, I just kept the little bathtub inside the big bathtub and bent over. Then, R decides it's time to poop again. In the bath. So, okay, I'll just drain it out and fill it up again. I scoop him up and empty it into the big bathtub. But I don't want to just put new water - the bathtub is dirty and needs to be washed first (at least this was what I was thinking at the time). Time for plan c - we'll take a shower. So I get ready and jump in the shower with him. So not only do I have a wet, slippy newborn, but I'm wet and slippery too. Very scary. LOL.

Not sure why this was all such a crisis at the time, but it was. Now it's just funny. C gets a bath in the little pink basin from the hospital. MUCH easier. :) At least until he can hold his head up. :)

Week One

C has had a busy first week. He's a very strong baby, already lifting his head and looking around. One time, he was lying on my chest on his belly, and decided he was hungry. He then hiked his knees under his body, lifted up on his elbows, and hurled himself toward his milk supply, landing his mouth directly on his target. Pretty impressive!

C loves being cuddled and swaddled and warm. Just like he was in my belly. Sometimes he won't sleep unless I'm lying next to him. Not sure if it's me or just a warm body, but I'll pretend it's me. :)

He likes to nurse with his hand balled in a fist on his cheek - something his big brother did as well. He also gives lots of spontaneous smiles, esp after eating. Although last night he was sitting there, made this laughing noise, so I look down. He's got a great huge grin on this face, but when I start laughing, it quickly changes to a deep frown. Poor kid, I scared him. lol.

I knew he would get the hiccups two or three times per day while in my belly, but now he gets them at least six times per day! And he gets so mad about it too. It's usually right after eating, before he gets that good burp out. Weird.

C is also ticklish already. Especially on his feet and along his ribs. It's really quite cute, though sometimes it makes him smile and other times he gets upset.

He had his nights and days mixed up for awhile, but seems to be getting straightened out. His umbilical cord fell off on day 6. Today he stayed awake for a whole 3 hours just looking around. It was definitely naptime after that.

That about sums up week one. We have a check up next week, so I'm excited to see how much he weights at that point. :)

Big Brother

R has been SO SWEET ever since C arrived. He came that night to see him, and the nurse sat him on the side of the warmer next to C. I told R he could talk to C, so he spontaneously started telling C a story about dinosaurs, which started with "Once upon a time" and ended with "The end" and lasted at least 3 minutes. So cute!

We had also been reading the story "God gave us you" prior to C being born. So the first night, after the dino story, R came to sit with me. He said, "Mommy, God gave us brother and now he's popped out of your belly?" I told him he was correct. R then looked off into the distance and said, "Thank you, God!" How sweet is that?!?

In the mornings, R wants to see "my baby" before going downstairs for breakfast, and wants to see C as soon as he gets home from school. R's favorite thing is to have C in the bouncy seat so R can play the music for him and turn the vibration on and off to entertain C. R's high for the day has frequently been that C popped out of my belly. I think he's happy to be able to cuddle with Mommy again.

R even drew a picture of C at school just two days after he was born. He then spelled C's name on top and only missed one letter. Very impressive!

This morning, as we were walking down the stairs, C was in my arms. R states that he was going to walk beside us in case C fell on the ground. I told him that was nice, but reassured R that I would not let C fall on the ground. R stated that he would still walk beside us and let me know if C ended up falling to the ground. Not sure why he was so concerned about C falling, but I appreciate his concern.

R has also become proficient at the steps of diaper changing. He likes to bring me the supplies, pull out a wipe, open the diaper, and then talk to C while I change the diaper. However, when it comes time to throw the dirty one away, R says, "I can't do that. That is disgusting! It would make my hands dirty." lol. Although speaking of dirty hands, I only had to tell R once that I would like him to wash his hands before touching C and now before he touches him he runs to the bathroom to wash his hands first. Yay!

C is a very lucky boy. He's got a great big brother, someone who is going to watch out for him. Hopefully C realizes that sooner in life than later, and the two boys grow to be great friends.

C's Birth Story

What a different delivery C had compared to R. Same outcome, but Mommy is much happier. Another uneventful pregnancy, but felt harder at the end. Of course, the due date (Daddy's birthday) came and went without C arriving. There were signs that labor might be soon, but never really got going despite all the walking, spicy food, etc.

At 40 4/7 WGA, I decide I can't take it anymore. So, since my cervix was slowly changing over the last 1-2 weeks, my doc agreed to induce me. We did low-dose pitocin overnight for about 6 hours, which caused regular contractions every 2-3 minutes, but they were so light I slept through them. In the morning, I got a break to shower and eat and walk before starting the increasing-dose pitocin. I had an excellent nurse who is in midwife school and brought extra care. I was able to move around as much as I wanted, and was encouraged to use my labor ball. Over the first 4-5 hours I went from 2/90%/-3 to 5/100%/-2 - yay! Good active labor was going on with still a relatively small amount of pitocin. My water broke at this point, and the contractions were getting really intense, lasting 60-90 seconds every 2-3 minutes.

It was finally epidural time, which hurt more than I remembered from the last time. But it worked great! I could wiggle my toes, but could not lift my thighs or move my hips. At that point, C was coming down OP (sunny side up), so my nurse positioned me in bed to encourage him to turn the right way. Just over two hours after the epidural, I was complete, and C had almost rotated completely. A couple of pushes, and he was crowning. Big head of dark hair! It was awesome watching in the mirror. He almost got stuck getting his head out, but I was determined to get him out.

Pushing lasted 20-30 minutes, and C was here at 6:01 pm! He came straight to my chest, where he was verified a boy, had his fingers and toes counted, and covered in kisses. Unlike R, who just kinda squeaked at first, C gave a hearty cry. The placenta didn't want to come out either, so I was VERY glad to have the epidural at that point. C latched on without difficulty and ate hungrily. He was then weighed and measured, coming in at 8 pounds even and 21 1/4 " long. A bit bigger than his brother, but not surprising numbers.

It was a beautiful delivery, and I couldn't have been happier. Hubby did a GREAT job supporting me throughout, including helping me curl up and push. I felt great afterward and was so happy to have C in my arms finally. He definitely wasn't as happy about being out, and has been a big cuddle bug ever since. And that's his story. :)

Time to Wake Up!

So this morning, we were awake but hadn't gotten out of bed yet when we heard R up and using the restroom. We knew his next stop would be our room, so we closed our eyes and laid there very quietly. He came in, whispered to himself that "They're still asleep" and then left. That was different - usually he climbs on the bed to wake us up. A few minutes later, he returns, so we pretend to be asleep again. Suddenly, there's a dinosaur next to my head roaring and R starts yelling "Mommy, he's eating you!!!" HAHAHAHA. Good thing I was already awake, or that would have been scary! I love that he thinks the best way to wake us up is to scare us away. So funny!!!!!!

Interview with R

Favorite color = green

Favorite food = macaroni and cheese

Favorite toy = Mommy Horse

Favorite thing to do = play dinosaurs

Can read small words and loves to read. Loves to paint and draw, especially "maps" showing where his cousins and grandparents live.

Counts in Spanish to 20, and in English to 100.

R's Milestones

This is going to be a random list of when R did certain "milestones" and other events.

3-4 months - slept through night except for 3 am feeding.

6 months - gave up 3 am feeding because Daddy showed up instead of Mommy - only took three nights before he realized he wasn't getting fed and quit waking up. lol

6-7 months - sat on own

Mother's Day 2007 - First trip to zoo

Father's Day 2007 - Mission trail bike ride

9 months - mastered rolling around to get where he wanted to go - so cute!

9-10 months - signed first word of "all done". We weren't really doing the signing thing, but he just started copying Mommy's hand gestures. I was all about the signing after that! We also quit nursing at that point since Mommy had started residency and milk supply dried up. Fortunately, we had some extra frozen, so he could get at least a little breastmilk once daily for the next few months.

10-12 months - transitioned from bottle to sippy cup.

First birthday - We also let him have cake for his birthday - he loved it! Wanted to eat the crumbs out of the sink as I was cleaning him up! lol. Vegetables were just not as interesting after that.

12 months - finally started crawling in typical fashion on hands and knees. Also had several sign words that he used regularly, including milk, more, all done, eat, and please.

Dec 11, 2007 - first time using straw successfully

12-14 months - first word - first words included mama, dada, lala (Lady), and more

14 months - cruised with great proficiency

16 months (2/7/08) - finally walked on his own. He was really just happy to be where he was.

April 2008 - Favorite phrase is "I don't know". Favorite food is chicken nuggets and corn dogs.

May 2008 - We start to see his imagination take off!

Mother's Day 2008 - Repeat trip to the zoo, then to Chuck E Cheese for dinner.

June 19, 2008 - Favorite toys include cars, airplanes, books, and Elmo. Favorite phrase is "No, Daddy." Favorite food is cereal with milk. Likes fruit and yogurt. Dislikes cheese and chocolate.

Father's Day 2008 - Headed to bookstore for arts and crafts, then to Pei Wei for dinner.

July 6, 2008 - First circus

July 10, 2008 - New favorite color = green!

July 19, 2008 - First time horseback riding, with his cousin Isabella.

22 months - started using potty for BMs

August 10, 2008 - I know my colors!

August 18, 2008 - "R, did you do something wrong?" -> "Huh?" Favorite summer activities include swimming and visiting Sea World. Lady is his best friend, but he still pulls animal tails. He asks for "Aqua, please". He can draw circles and likes to "write" his name.

August 31, 2008 - Favorite food is pizza. He doesn't like messes and wants to wash anything that is "dirty". He calls a flashlight a "star".

September 20, 2008 - Second circus, where I rode the pony, ate cotton candy, and saw "stinky" elephants up close.

September 21, 2008 - R mocks Mommy for the first (but definitely not the last) time!

Second Birthday - Ice cream is better than cake this year, and he's got the opening presents thing down! Went to Chuck E Cheese with Mommy and Daddy.

24-26 months - used potty regularly for BMs and urination. Still needed pull up at night.

October 5, 2008 - I can jump - sometimes.

October 6, 2008 - first time "swimming" in bathtub.

October 11, 2008 - sideways summersaults!

November 16, 2008 - Favorite color is purple.

December 23, 2008 - Favorite Christmas song is Jingle Bells.

26-27 months - can count from 1-10 without any mistakes.

27 months - would stay dry through most nights. Moved from crib to big boy bed!

28 months - sings ABCs all the way through and can count to 13

March 9, 2009 - Favorite food is pancakes.

2 1/2 years - finally got rid of pacifier. He'd been limited to nights only for quite a while, but couldn't give it up at bedtime. We definitely waited too long for that one!

May 29, 2009 - can play by himself regularly.

3 years - Finally let him have his first taste of soda (Sprite), which he didn't like. Also let him have a piece of candy - now that's good stuff!

3 1/2 years - Mastered the tricycle.

R's Birth Story

I thought it would be good to record R's birth as I remember it (which is a bit fuzzy due to medication) prior to the next kiddo coming. So here goes.

After an uneventful pregnancy, which included me working up to 100 hours per week in med school on surgery and ob rotations, we were nearing the end. I had lost 10 lbs the first trimester due to morning sickness, but was up about 15 lbs at the end. Starting at 37 weeks, every Friday evening I would start contracting every 10-15 minutes for hours. The first Friday this happened, I called my parents. Of course, by the time they got here, they had stopped. Mom decided to just stay, which ended up being three more weeks.

That fourth Friday, as usual, contractions started. I commented that I was tired of spending every Friday night contracting since they were uncomfortable. Mom and I settled on the couches to watch a movie before bed. Suddenly, around 10 or 10:30 pm, wetness! My water broke! This was different. :) But the contractions really weren't any worse than the other ones. So, we finished the movie, and I headed upstairs to take a nap. I woke up around 2:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep because the contractions were getting worse. So, I got up, took a shower, put on make-up, fixed my hair, and had a snack. Around 3 am I wake Matt up and decide it's time to head in.

By the time we got to the hospital, I was definitely in pain. I'm told that Matt broke some speed limits along the way, but I didn't notice through the contractions. But alas, I was only dilated to 3.5 cm, and was told I could not have my epidural yet. So, I got some IV Nubain, which made me loopy. I slept between contractions, but felt all the pain of each one. I must say I was not a very nice patient.

I finally got my epidural, and that was much better. But the Nubain was still making me very sleepy, so I slept through a good part of the morning. I remember being very thirsty but was not allowed anything. :( Matt gave me a few ice chips when no one was looking, but I definitely wanted more.

Somewhere around lunch time, my epidural wore off. I got re-dosed, but there was a section along the right side that didn't take. It felt like a fire-hot poker with every contraction. I was SO glad it was only that one section.

Eventually, it was time to push. I could definitely feel that pressure and the amazing urge to push. Curious. I was kinda glad at that point that I had the "hot spot" so I knew when contractions were starting. The OB on call for my doc finally came in and immediately cut a mediolateral episiotomy. Glad I couldn't feel that!

At some point, I reached down and felt R's head. How cool! Toward the end of pushing, I got a little frustrated and told R it was time to come out! lol. If only it were that easy! :)

R was born at 12:30 pm on Sept 30, 2006, three days past his due date. He was gorgeous and perfect (of course). He weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and was 18 inches long (but three days later was 21 inches at his check up, so I think he wasn't measured correctly). He got to breastfeed pretty quickly and did great. For the first 24 hours, he just wanted to sleep (me too!), so I had to wake him to feed him. He also got a little cold, so we did some kangaroo care, and then sent him to hang out under the warmer for a little while. Once he was exactly 24 hours old, we got to take him home. What a great new chapter in our lives!

And that was R's entry to the world. He's now 4 years old and such a little man. Very sweet and energetic and outgoing and creative and funny and handsome. There are so many great adjectives to describe him. He's such a blessing and a joy. Every age has been such a blast, I can't wait to see what comes next. And yet, he can take his time getting there. :)

Random things

Whenever R likes something, he'll say, "This is the best I never had!" Whenever we try to correct him from never to ever, he'll argue "That's what I said!" lol. So cute.

We have now finished up our first soccer season. Goalie has become a favorite position, and he's done a pretty good job at it. It was hard for him to run up and down the field since he just turned 4 and is one of the smaller players (hence smaller legs) out there. He got his first trophy today and was so amazed by it. I wish I had a picture - he was so proud!

R seems ready for brother to show up. He likes blowing bubbles on my belly, getting brother to kick at him. Silly boys. I wonder who will pick on who more.

Being four has brought a whole new level of independence - even bossiness at times. But then the other times when he is tired or being silly, he suddenly doesn't know how to do anything. For example, if he doesn't want to eat his dinner, he can't put the fork in his mouth to chew. He will want us to spoon-feed him. Curious. It will be interesting to see how much regression takes place once brother arrives.

We got him a bike with training wheels for his fourth bday. Despite saying for months that he wanted a green bike, R ended up picking out a blue bike. He was so excited to get home and ride it! He got on, started peddling, and 10 seconds later when he hit the end of the driveway, fell over. Scraped both the new bike and his knee. Grr. There went the enthusiasm. Now he's very cautious and spends as much time hitting the brake as peddling forward. Guess we'll have to keep at it.

Brothers

R is getting more and more excited about being a big brother. Now that it's September, he knows his birthday is coming, and then his baby brother is coming. I think he thinks it's the next day, not a month later. He makes sure to give a hug and kiss to brother when he's giving out hugs and kisses at bedtime and such. Such a sweet boy. His favorite thing right now is to have Mommy lay on the couch so he can pat my belly. Just this week he finally felt the baby kick and was really amazed by it. Tonight, though, brother really got R good. R had put his ear on my belly so he could listen to him, and sure enough R got kicked (or punched) right in the ear! lol. Good thing R thought it was funny. He also knows that brother can hear him, so R will sing songs or talk to him, telling him about our dog and cat and so forth.
R is still a little mischievous at times though. At dinner, while I was still eating, he got up, untied the strings on my maternity shirt, and TIED ME TO THE CHAIR. lol. I wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing until he suddenly started laughing, and as I turned to look at him, I couldn't move! lol. Silly boy.
These two boys are going to keep me on my toes, that's for sure. :)

Rain, Rain, Go Away?

While having breakfast this morning, it started raining. I look at it and think, "Guess we're not going to the pool, but at least I won't have to water later." R looks at it and says, "I don't hear any thunder, Mom. I want to put on my boots and go dance in the rain. Please, please!" What an optimist! Of course I couldn't say no, and we spent the next half hour dancing in the rain puddles. Such innocent bliss. :) I think that may be my high for the day.

Still at work...

So R is spending the week at one of the grandma's houses and having a blast of course. But when we dropped him off, we said he had to go home because we had to work. So tonight (day 3), he asked if we were done at work yet so we could come pick him up. Poor kid thinks we've been at work this whole time! lol. I told him we still had to work again tomorrow, but that we would see him in 2 more days. That seemed to be okay. But still so cute how his mind works. :)

Names

So, R is going to be a big brother this fall. He's very excited, and as we were talking about his little brother, I asked him what we should call him. R replies, "Let me think about it....I have an idea! Let's name him O-R-T-F!" Ortf. Lol. I told him that we would think about that one.

But it reminds me of how R got his name. The middle name was an easy one - DH's first name would be our son's middle name. But the first name was tougher. We had been talking about it for months, and had it narrowed down to three names, but couldn't decide. One day, DH comes home and announces he has a way to pick the name. I told him I'd play along, but reserved the right to veto the decision. DH took three index cards, and wrote a name on each one. Then he held them up so I could pick one at random. It said "R". Yay! I got my favorite! DH suggests I try again to see what could have happened. It also said "R". Hmmm. The third did too! How sweet! DH agreed since I was really set on this name, we should go with it.

Of course, now that we're working on naming the next one, he wants to use his favorite name that we didn't use before. I still like it the same as I did before. Lol. Poor DH. We'll see what we come up with this time, but I'm pretty sure it won't be Ortf. :)

Naps...

Oh, how I already miss naptime. The only way R will take one these days is if he lies in bed for at least 2 hours, which then pushes the actual nap too late into the day for normal bedtime. Of course without it, he gets cranky several times throughout the evening, but at least he goes to bed on time. What to do? lol

He doesn't talk like most three year olds most of the time. His favorite phrases are "Well, actually" and "I have to go think about it". lol.

I was watching him sleep the other morning and even in sleep, he no longer looks like a baby. Sigh. He's such a kid now. And a really fun kid at that.

He's finally enjoying the swimming pool this year and wants to go daily. He's still a little timid in the water, but slowly he's getting the hang of it. We're going to try some swim lessons later in the summer, so we'll see how that goes.

Favorite Color

is GREEN right now, which is very fitting since it's spring and everything is starting to grow again. Also, because dinosaurs are green (we think) and dinos are another favorite right now. Lucky for me, I have someone to eat all the green jelly beans (which I don't like) while I eat all the orange and black ones. yum!

Mommy's big helper

Last night after dinner, hubby and I were lingering at the table talking. R was ready to go play, so he got up, pushed his chair in, and took his plate to the sink. THEN, he comes back to the table, takes hubby's plate to the sink, then comes back for my plate as well. THEN, he takes the apple butter off the table and goes and puts it in the fridge. Then he says, "There. Now we're ready to play. Come on, mommy and daddy!" lol. I was so amazed! Let's hope he keeps this up every night.

Queens and knights

So last week was another one of the cultural luncheons at MSH. This one was about England and Queen Elizabeth. So, before lunch, R's teacher announces that she is the queen, and everyone must wait until she sits down before they sit down. The other teacher says, "Well that makes me and all the girls princesses." The teacher replies, "Yes, and all the boys are knights." R very seriously raises his hand and announces, "I'm not a knight, I'm a dragon!" Guess his experience at Halloween when he was a dragon and his cousin was a princess (whom he chased around all weekend) really made an impression! lol. Too cute!

Birds and Bees

R is suddenly very interested in how things grow, especially himself. Matt was looking through some old pictures and came across my baby shower ones. R noticed my big belly, so I said that was him inside my belly. He replies, "And then I come out and I was a baby. I drink Mommy's milk all up and grow bigger!" (Yes, he knows about Mommy's milk. He became interested in why women had boobs, so I told him what they are REALLY for - not "decoration" as he thought. lol)
He's also focused on the fact that Mommy is a doctor, who "helps the people who are hurt with blood". At first he said he wanted to be a doctor too, but then he decided he wanted to be a doctor for the baby lions. Sounds like a good plan to me!
Can't believe how much my baby has grown up. And to think he's only three!