baby update

So, we have settled on "Baba" as a nickname for the new baby. It started with a silly game Molly was playing at supper one night. She would point at me and say "Mommy", then point at Marc and say "Daddy, then she would point at Noah and say "Baba" and giggle like crazy. Noah laughed along the first couple of times, but soon tired of it and was yelling at Molly to say his name right. I stepped in and said that the new baby could be Baba instead.

I have since decided that Baba is short for Baby Baldwin.

I had an ultrasound on the fifth of this month. Things seems to be fine. I saw the heart beating, and the little head and belly and feet and hands. We did not get a good look at the privates however, so that is still a mystery.

I told my boss about the pregnancy on Monday. He's not thrilled, and I don't blame him. Not that he's being nasty about it, he's just not hiding the fact that my going on leave will cause problems for him. He's going to ask the woman I replaced to come out of retirement for a year. I spoke to her this week as well. She might actually do it.

I don't think I could have kept my secret much longer. At 23 weeks, I'm definitely showing.

update

Noah is feeling much better. We are on day three of the antibiotics. He has been sleeping better, and his fever is gone. So, hopefully, he will get to enjoy the rest of the summer. The tricky thing now is to get him to take his medicine for the full ten days. He really hates it. I bribed him with ice cream this morning to get him to take it. Now usually, I'm not a fan of rewarding or bribing with sweets, but Noah could really use some fattening up after barely eating for a week.

As to my sub-par parenting this week, I just feel like my intuition is off, you know? Last month I took Molly to the ER because she was very uncomfortable and squirmy and whining a lot. She had gas. And yet, it takes me a week of burning fever and no eating to call a doctor for Noah? Like I said, just off.

I seem to be taking good care of #3 so far.

confessions

It has been a hard week. Noah has been sick since last Thursday. He was in bed with a fever Friday through Monday, then decided he was well enough for Mini-U (day camp) on Tuesday. Then he was in bed again Wednesday and Thursday. I finally took him to see the doctor yesterday, and he has a raging ear infection. They also took some blood to make sure nothing else is wrong.

I have done my best to be a good parent this week, and found myself lacking.

I should never have let him go to Mini-U on Tuesday. At the very least, I should have checked on him at noon that day and taken him home. By the time I picked him up at 4 o'clock, he was absolutely grey. He was just so keen to go. He loved Mini-U last year. I think if I had kept him home one more day, he would have been fine, maybe. Sometimes the choice that makes the kid happy at the time is the wrong choice.

Even though Marc or I has been home all week with Noah, Molly has gone to daycare. It feels a little bit like we've been shuffling her out of the way. Of course, she really likes it at daycare. She gets to play with her friends and go to the park and be her happy little self. At home, she just wants to wrestle Noah who's fever has made him sensitive to touch. I find that even when she gets home, I still want to put all my energy into caring for the sick Noah. I hate it that it has taken a conscious effort to shift focus for a little while and pay some attention to Molly who is so happy and bouncy and fun.

Oh, and I've been cranky about getting up in the night to take Noah the water that he asks for like 100 times.

my other big kid

I recently posted about all the big kid things Noah is doing. Molly has moved from toddler to little girl just as quickly it seems.

She takes off her own shoes and coat and puts them away. She sings her own little songs. She can climb up the ladder to the slide holding a teddy bear in one hand. On Sunday, I watched in amazement as she climbed up the slide part for the very first time. When she's on a swing, she tries to pump her feet. She is now sleeping in her own room. We read her stories and walk away, and she's usually asleep within 5 minutes. Her speech is really coming along as well. I was a little worried since she didn't say that many words when she turned two. She's now speaking in sentences and has interesting things to say. One of her favourite phrases is "Molly's turn". And the weird thing is, she understands the concept of taking turns. If we tell her it's Noah's turn to play with something, she'll hand it over (um, most of the time).

the end

Molly is not napping anymore. She's only two and half, but she's done with naps. Not that she didn't enjoy a good snooze in the afternoon. The problem is she enjoyed
it way more than going to bed in the evening. No matter how short the nap, she would be up until 10 or 11 at night - obviously tired and a danger to herself and to others.

So, the naps are no more. Bedtime is great! By the time we get home from work and daycare, she is extremely tired. We have had to change our after work routine. It used to be that I made supper while the kids played, then after supper I would take them up and put them in the bath while Marc did the dishes. Molly is having a hard time staying awake until supper is ready, so now one of us bathes her while the other cooks. The bath revives her enough to eat, then she is ready for stories and bed. It is so nice to have her lie down and listen to stories instead of trying to grab the book and throw it at me or smother the cat with it!

We usually read 3 or 4 stories then she rolls over and falls asleep around 7pm. Pinch me! Knock on wood. I'm enjoying it a lot!

it's official

I bumped my stomach as I was closing the trunk of the car yesterday. I am officially a big pregnant lady.

Yes, faithful readers (who are not in my family or on Facebook!), it turns out there is room for one more after all. The new addition is due December 11th.

The plan this time around is to have the baby at home, possibly in the water. In fact, the presence of a birthing pool is the only way I would even consider birthing in my dining room again.

I have the same midwife who caught Molly. Marc is going to get the "precipitous birth" talk (i.e., how to catch your own baby). So far all is going well. I am past the nausea for the most part, but baby insists on regular meals and snacks. He/She is fond of sugar - watermelon, chocolate milk, ice cream - wait is that me or the baby? Anyhoo, I'm tired of this he/she business. This babe needs a nickname. Any thoughts?

Noah in the summer of 2008

So, all of a sudden, Noah's a big kid, really big. He can ride a 2-wheeler with no training wheels. He can do the monkey bars (and skip some of the rungs). He can get the water pitcher out of the fridge and pour himself a drink. He can make his own peanut butter and jam sandwich. He can swim. He can follow Lego instructions without any help. Wow.

how to get Molly to sleep without a fuss

1. Set out on a road trip around nap-time.

2. Expect her to sleep in the car for most of the 2-hour trip, but really, she will only sleep for about half an hour.

3. Take her to the beach and let her boss you around (in and out of the water, up and down the sand).

4. Go to a BBQ with loads of the grandparents lake friends. Feed her off your plate. (she eats well - cheese and veggies, pickerel, pasta salad, part of a hot dog)

5. Let her have her own piece of cake. Laugh your but off when she says she is now "happy Molly".

6. Let grandma give her more desert.

7. Let her run around after the BBQ and throw rocks in the lake.

8. Put her in her pyjamas and get in the car around 8pm.

9. She falls asleep in the car almost immediately.

10. Drive home.

11. Carry her inside while she is crying because she woke up in the car.

12. Carry her straight to bed and cover her up.

13. Leave the room.

14. Let the wonder sink in - she has gone to sleep again!

a sad working (outside the home) parent moment

So, Noah learned to ride his two-wheeler without training wheels this week. He is so happy and proud of himself. The sad part is that he learned at daycare. Both Marc and I were looking forward to running with him, and letting go, and helping him get back up. It's just one of those moments, you know?

We've been meaning to take the training wheels off ever since the snow melted this year, but never seemed to find a spare moment. We live on a busy street, and people often drive quite fast down the back alley, so it needed to be an afternoon when one of us had time to take him to the park by himself. Well, it never happened.

Marc has been taking the kids to daycare on his bike whenever the weather permits, and Noah broke a training wheel along the way on Monday. That was the day they taught him to ride at daycare. By the time I picked him up at the end of the day, he was a pro.

Somehow I don't feel any sadness that Molly was potty-trained at daycare:)

i overheard . . .

Noah talking to 2 six-year olds at daycare today. He was telling them he didn't "really" believe in Santa Claus. Hmmmmm, I thought, interesting.

When we got in the car, I asked him about it. He said he didn't believe in Santa. I asked him how the presents got into his stocking on Christmas morning. "It's just magic," he replied.

baby steps

I am starting a new job tomorrow. It is neither closer to my house, nor is it fewer hours than before. (things I have been looking for in a new job).

I am still on campus, and I still work full time.

The positive things about the new job are that I will be doing editorial work, which I enjoy, and I will not have the vacation restrictions I had before (July, August, September, December, January).

I also am getting a small raise.

So, while in some ways it feels like I have not followed my heart in this matter (I really would rather not work outside the home at all), I think this new position will be easier to combine with family life, and will ease our finances as well.

Noah and the WSO

I almost didn't take Noah to see the Symphony perform Peter and the Wolf today. I have been so excited about taking him ever since I bought the tickets. Noah knows the story. We have a lovely version with David Bowie narrating on CD. But, ever since I told Noah about it, he has resisted. It's very weird since he usually loves a chance to spend time alone with Mommy.

His two main objections were that it would be too loud and that it would be boring. Noah does not like to attend live performances in which he is not a participant.

So, about a week ago, I thought we had overcome his objections with a pair of earplugs (just in case). But the day of the concert, he was still refusing to get dressed when I went to put Molly down for her nap. When I came back downstairs, he was asleep. This was around 1 pm. The concert was set to start at 2. I woke him up around 1:25, and asked if he was sick. He just whined something incomprehensible. I then convinced him to get dressed, and we were out the door by 1:45.

We arrived at the concert hall breathless, just as the ticket takers were taking down their stations. We were directed to the 1st balcony. We tore up the stairs and found our seats. As soon as we had taken off our coats, the lights dimmed, and the concert began.

It was all worth it seeing the look on Noah's face as the orchestra played Peter's theme for the very first time.

Here is the funniest thing Noah whispered to me during the concert:


When the Wolf came out of he forest, he leaned over and said, "Rule number 1, never live beside a forest."

senses

Seeing a lamp shade through the window of a bus, through the window of a restaurant, reminded me vividly of the taste of a gin and tonic I had in a piano bar in Niagara on the lake.

birthdays

Noah is tired of waiting for his birthday to come. Today he told me he didn't want to invite anyone, he just wants the presents to come in the mail. What do you say to that?

ET

Noah was crazy excited to rent ET last weekend, so we did. Molly watched a little too, but it didn't seem to capture her attention.

Then on Monday, she came running towards me with her little finger outstretched saying "ET, ET, ET". I couldn't figure it out at first, then she grabbed my finger and pulled the tip of it to her own. I said, "ET phone home?", and she giggled like crazy.

Noah's version of a classic hymn

Swing low, swing cherry hat
Mama gonna carry me home!

I just figured this needed to be recorded. He sings it with a great deal of soul.

one thing I like about Noah

He gets so excited about what's inside the Kindersurprise egg, he will forget to eat the chocolate.

one thing I like about Molly

She would never leave chocolate uneaten.

one thing I like about Marc

he buys Kindersurprise.

weird fact about Noah

As a baby/toddler, Noah was a very picky eater (and still is), but we never had any trouble getting him to take even the most vile tasting medicine.