So Much for the Chinese Gender Charts! Ha Ha Ha

As seen above, it's another little boy in there! He wasn't very cooperative in terms of getting a good face or profile shot. Most of the ultrasound he spent lying on his tummy. He did roll to his back after I used the restroom...it was just enough to get her the last picture she needed (a frontal face picture) and to take a peek at his bottom.

Of course, we're just has thrilled with another boy but I was surprised. I thought it was a girl...which just goes to show that I should have trusted my original instincts (from before this pregnancy) from the beginning (that we would have two boys).

The placenta is completely at the front of my uterus, which means that the "flutters" and "popcorn" that everyone else is experiencing, just feels more like pressure or pushing to me. Sometimes poking, but when that happens I'm not entirely convinced that it is the baby.

Now on to a name! Any suggestions would be most welcome! :)

Big Ultrasound Tomorrow

Tomorrow is our "big" ultrasound. We get to take a peek at our baby looking like an actual baby and not just a piece of rice! They'll check to make sure everything looks o.k. and for us, focus on the umbilical cord. (Our son had a two-vessel cord and a velementous insertion so we'd really like to see a nice normal cord this time).

Yes, we will also find out the gender. It's just something we want to do. It honestly doesn't matter either way but personally, I just like knowing. I can't really explain it any other way. Just like people like having ultrasounds..they do serve a health-related purpose, but really, most of us just like seeing our babies.

So, we should know tomorrow whether those Chinese Gender Predictors were correct!

Baby or Gas?

From everything I've read, most women first feel their babies between 16 and 20 weeks. I've also read that it's usually the "very thin" women or women who've been pregnant before who feel it closer to the 16 week range.So I'm not sure if what I felt was the baby or just gas....because I'm neither "very thin" or one who has been pregnant before.

I was up fairly late last night. It's been a little tough sleeping partly because I have to use the bathroom so much and partly because my anxiety about the robbers ebbs and flows with the last couple of days being particularly annoying. I thought I would be over it by now, but apparently not...anyway...I crawled into bed at the 1:30-2:00AM range and was set to go to sleep but then I felt something. At first, I figured it was probably gas....even though it didn't really feel like gas. It was more like a "tic" or something...or like an involuntary twinge. I concentrated on it for a while and felt it a couple of times but still, I'm not really sure.

So at 17 weeks and 2 days, not being thin, and this being my first pregnancy, I'm not sure if this is just wishful thinking that it was the baby I'm feeling. I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow so I'll probably mention it then. In any case, even if it wasn't the baby, I'm sure it won't be too long before I know for sure.

Chinese Gender Predictor Charts

I was playing around with these "gender predictors" tonight and 7 out of 8 that I've tried say "girl". The calendar was correct when my son was born but really only time will tell. If (apparently she) isn't shy on the 25th, we'll find out then.

I honestly do think it's more likely to be a girl this time. Of course, there's a thread of doubt, but I call her "she" more often than not. I knew right away that my son would be a boy but I didn't carry him. And Joanne thought he would be a girl.

I do have a standard appointment on the 17th but it's in the office with the "Junior" ultrasound machine. Maybe they'll take a bonus peek then. I haven't had an ultrasound since the 7 week mark.

Time for New Clothes.

This morning I stepped on the scale and while I'm down two pounds from this weekend (the mass eating frenzy), it looks like I gained a net total of about 5-6 pounds. You would think it was 20 pounds by the way my clothes are fitting.

My pants are also tight in the belly. My two favorite pants will only likely make it another week or so...and even then I'm pushing it. I have two pairs of pants one size up so I've moved into those. My chest is also so big that my regular button down shirts for work are mostly out of the question. I pulled out some of Joanne's maternity clothes and there are some sweaters that will work.

Last night I put on one of the new pants with a sweater and I looked so....pregnant. Already. I can't believe it. I don't think I'll be able to keep it from work much longer. This job is relatively new and my only saving grace is that I have a bit more time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about the baby and finally being able to feel the bump. It seems to get bigger by the day. But not many girls love stepping on the scale and seeing it creep up...pregnant or not. And while some women would pay to have breasts like these (as my mom says all the time), I still would rather they didn't get so big so fast.

I will be actually relieved when I tell them at work because I won't have to try and hide it anymore and I can wear my bump freely. :)

Arthur's Big News

Arthur is going to be a big brother in June. We're all very excited. He's been very interested in babies lately in general which has been a plus. He has his own baby (that he calls "bee") and we'll be working on teaching him about being a big brother.

The pregnancy has been going very well. I've had some morning sickness but even on it's worst days, it's never unbearable. I'm just starting now to notice a difference in my tummy, although it's minute. I'm not a skinny thing so I didn't really expect to get any sorts of bulges just yet.

We're just relaxing and enjoying the experience. We'll keep you posted.

18 Month Appointment

Arthur had his 18 month appointment today and everything is going really well. His growth is back on the charts, especially his weight..and that's a great thing. He had some meetings with an endocrinologist in Boston about his height but all tests came back normal. The verdict..."he's just short".

But we know that all along and he's just perfect the way he is. :)

As of this appointment

Height: 30 inches
Weight: 23 pounds

He says a lot of words now but really his favorite thing is to make animal sounds when asked. He knows who his Mums are and will say so when asked. He likes to talk on the phone...with a very German sounding "Allo" when he answers. His motor skills are great, he can open ziploc backs and put pen caps back on the pen.

He's having a tough time with stairs though. Because he's so short, his legs just won't make the reach. He's great at climbing though.

Ummm...He has 16 teeth....

Every day we see something new that moves our little boy out of the "baby" stage and into the "little boy" stage. But it's exciting and we can't help but just watch him in amazement.

Happy Halloween!

Arthur had his first lollipop today and I can't say that he didn't enjoy it. He doesn't get candy so it was a real "wow" moment for him. My favorite picture of the night "drunk on candy"....

It's Early, but We Found a Halloween Costume

Three days off.

We both have three days off from work so I have a couple of moments to add some new photos finally.

If Looks Could Kill......

Frankenstein Video

Frankenstein Video <-- click here

Fourth of July

A Comparison....

It was a rainy Sunday today and we both had the day off so we decided to head up to Boston to the Children's Museum again. We took a photo next to "Arthur" like we did the first time we brought him (when he was 9 months old).

(I just noticed when posting these that he still wears that yellow outfit from five months ago. He wore it on vacation in PA one day!)

New Swingset!

First of all, Thank You Nicole for the awesome swingset!

Joanne and I had been looking in the paper for this exact toddler swing/slide combo. We saw it in the store new for way more money than we wanted to spend for something he could only use for a year or two. So we had been looking for a used one. I even put an ad on craigslist with a photo to see if anyone was getting rid of one.

So today, Joanne was responding to an ad and was heading to look at a couple of sets. She mentioned it to a woman she works with who said that she had the exact one and had been wanting to get rid of it. So she just gave it to us!

We're very excited to have found something Arthur-sized that he can play with outside, and as you can tell by the pictures, he really likes it too!

Vacation in Pennsylvania 3

Our last stop on vacation was Hershey, PA where we visited Hershey Chocolate World and Hershey Park. At nearly 28", Arthur measured as a "miniature" on the ride scale. Although we're not big on junk food for babies, we knew that we couldn't make his visit official without letting him try his very first chocolate. He didn't really know what to make of it at first but once he realized it was edible, it was quickly eaten.

There were a few rides he was able to go one but we switched off for most of them. Hershey Park has a baby swap where one adult can ride while the other waits and then when the first adult gets back, the 2nd adult can ride next. It makes it so everyone can wait in line together.

We all enjoyed the trip. The park is immense...much larger than the Six Flags we have in New England and a lot cleaner. We left for home on Friday around noon but not after visiting Chocolate World one more time to ride the tour ride and buy souveniers for the ride home!

Vacation in Pennsylvania 2

Before we went to Sesame Place, we spent the day in Philadelphia. We drove from our hotel into town (about a half hour). On the way we discovered "Wawa". It's a convenience store with do-it-yourself-milkshakes that were to die for. We had these shakes two days in a row (before dinner, yay!)

In Philly we went to the "Please Touch" museum for children and then on to the more historical aspects of town. We saw Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell (which is a lot smaller than I thought it would be).

Overall it was a very fun day and we were proud of ourselves for finding parking on the street on our own!

Vacation in Pennsylvania

We took a drive down to PA last week and we had a really great time. It was 5 hours down (7 with the stops) and 7 hours back (10 with the stops and traffic). Arthur did really really well. We made sure to give him car breaks every couple of hours.

Our first stop was Sesame Place for two days. Here he is splashing away in the park during a warmer part of the day. (While it only rained a couple of short spurts during our whole week, it was kind of chilly the first day and a half at Sesame).

He looks like he's having an amazing time but he was done with the sprinkler after about two runs through it! :)

13 Months Old

Here's our little floppy sleeper. This has been his new thing with his bum in the air and his feet crossed. It's very cute.

Happy 1st Birthday Little Boy!

1 Year Photos a Little Early

We took Arthur to have his 1 year photo's done today, wrapping up our membership in the photo club with the Picture People. He still has another 12 days before the actual big day but we wanted to have the photos done before Orthodox Easter this weekend so we can bring them up to our family. Between Easter and his birthday party next weekend, we just weren't sure when else we were going to be able to do them.

We're very happy with how they came out and we got a lot of great deals with our coupons and $10.00 off card! Three sheets for $8! Woo hoo!

Since they were right next to each other, we also did a quick shoot at Sears because we had a coupon there too that expires in a couple of days. Because they did such a nice job, we decided that since Sears is more modestly priced, we'll stick with them next time. Although, now that DS is turning one, he's not going to be having those professional photos every three months anymore. We take enough at home anyway! Thank goodness for digital cameras!

A Test Slideshow

Click Here!

Happy Easter!

11 Month Old "Supermodel"

In terms of being superficial, we're about as far away from it as they come! But when a modeling agent says "We want to represent your baby!", who can say no?

We'll see where this takes us. If it becomes "icky" or "snotty" at any point, we'll likely hit the road. But in talking with other moms who have had modeling babies, we're hearing that it's actually a lot of fun and very low pressure. Hopefully, it will be!

We'll keep you posted but in the meantime, keep your eyes open. (I'm hoping for an L.L. Bean catelog shoot!)

"Mama" and Blueberries

I finally got a "mama' out of Arthur today. After listening to a couple of months of "cat" and "ball", it's nice to know that we matter too.

Of course, he was in an unhappy moment and he wanted me to pick him up. With both arms extended and a teary face it popped out, followed by another a few minutes after.

I tried to get him to say it again all day but he's having none of it. I was sad that Joanne wasn't home to see it but I'm sure it won't be too much longer before he's using it regularly.

Arthur also took a break from cramming homeade blueberry pancakes into his mouth to flash this grin!

Our Little Reader

Yay! Picture posting is working again. Here's a little picture that Joanne took today. I can't get over how much he looks like a little boy instead of a teeny weeny baby!

A Little Bonkerz

Joanne recently won a pass to Bonkerz so we decided to go for the afternoon. Bonkerz is a kids play place a little like Chuck-E-Cheese but will much less video games. They also have a toddler area for kids two and under which Arthur really enjoyed. It was a nice day and we all had a good time.

I don't know if I mentioned that Arthur learned how to crawl up the stairs the other day. We have our front room set up as his main play room. It's gated and has his toys and some furniture. One one side are the stairs leading up to the living room but he hasn't really noticed them...until now.

I had stepped into use the bathroom which is right next to his play room/front room (and I always leave the door open when it's just us in the house). He was playing and I could hear him and it was fine. When I went back out into the front room, I couldn't see him. I heard him over by the stairs and figured he managed to squeeze himself next to them by the part of the wall that I couldn't see. When I got there, he was on the 5th stair!

I always protect the top of the stairs so that he doesn't fall down but we both didn't think he'd be climbing UP them any time soon. They are carpeted, but we're just not ready to have him crawling up whenever he pleases. So we're off to find a baby gate tomorrow that will fit into the awkward space that is the bottom of our stairs.

Blogger isn't letting me post pictures right now so here are some links you can click on:

Coming out of the Tunnel
I'm Stuck
I love Trains
With Jessica, Erin, and Melanie

Moving Along

Arthur is now known as "Mr. Speedy". He's everywhere and into everything! He has his own special room (the front room) to play in and he has a great time crawling around and walking along the furniture (and the cats when they are available).

He's still an eating machine although you'd never know it by the scale. Four months and STILL no weight gain (He's maintaining a "still on the charts" 17 lbs 11 ozs). Pediatrician says he's active and healthy and eating very well. He's probably just due for a growth spurt any day! At least we're getting a lot of wear out of his 6-9 month clothes that he's still swimming in!

We did have a couple of weeks of family illness. Colds, fevers, and the overall ickys. Arthur's on his first ever round of antibiotics for a mild ear infection and the past few days he's been sleeping much better. We're all doing a lot better.

On a special note...WELCOME TO THE WORLD SAWYER MICHAEL! We were all so excited to hear of your arrival! We're sure your mommy, daddy, and big brother Caleb are all very happy you're here!

We'll try to post again soon!

10 Months Old Now!

9 Months Old Today

Boston Children's Museum

Today the three of us went to the Boston Children's Museum to meet up with 6 other May 2005 babies! It was lots of fun hanging out with everyone.

The day started in a cranky way because Arthur didn't have a very good nights sleep. He has one pesky tooth (#6) that keeps going back in and coming back out and causing him a great deal of distress.

In total we met nine 9-month old babies (three we met before our group arrived) and Arthur was definitely the smallest of the group. One of the babies was the same size but still a little taller. I didn't realize he was so little because everyone is always telling us how big he is! He definitely eats and eats and eats....

Arthur was a little shy at first and needed a little cry when everyone first arrived and we put them in the big, baby play waterbed in the infant room. After about 5 minutes he was right at home with his new little friends!

He was a very sleepy boy by the end of the day and snoozed the whole ride home!

Amazing what a couple of days can do

With the right motivation (food...specifically, puffs), Arthur can now successfully "crawl" from one end of the living room to the other.

When I say "crawl", I mean "kick furiously with his legs and uses his face to pull himself along." It's very comical to watch and he's very serious about it.

He has managed to sneak in a couple of real and true crawls in the midst of all of this and I'm sure that it will be a matter of days when he's really got it.

Arthur has also discovered something called "The Wiggles". No, that isn't something you get when your diaper is past its prime. The Wiggles are actually four very quirky and very thin Australian men who sing funny songs for kids. Apparently they are a big hit for the 0-3 crowd. He likes to dance anyway so it's good encouragement.

When I figure out how to post some links to Arthur's videos, I'll try and put some on here.

Six Teeth and First Word

It's been a while since we've posted about our little chomper. The holidays and then a couple of colds being passed around and the next thing you know, it's a month later!

The past two weeks have brought some exciting new things for Arthur. For starters he has four new teeth! The last one is just teasing us coming out and going back in but it's definitely there. That brings his total to four on the top and two on the bottom. He's just started sleeping better again the past three days and Joanne says this morning "I think he's getting two more on the bottom!". We'll see.

Arthur has also decided that his very first word will be "cat". It makes sense since we have three of them. He says it with intent for sure. When the cats walk by, he moves towards them and stretches out his arms saying "Gat!" "Gat!". He doesn't say it any other times so we're thinking that it definitely counts.

It's better than the "dadadadada" he says all the time which we've just attributed to one of the first multisyllabic sounds babies can make...

As for the crawling...mmmm..not so much yet. He can definitely find a way to move himself from one place to another but it's mainly by doing a ballerina twirl sitting on his bum. He can go from sitting to hands and knees and back again.

The closest he can do to crawling is to "army crawl" but he really hates it and gets all mad and frustrated when he tries.

He can "walk" from one end of something to another if it's just a few steps and still enjoys walking while holding on to mommies hands as his favorite form of transportation.

His food variety has also increased since he's learned how to feed himself with his hands. He's added several kinds of beans, lentils and tofu to the already diverse fruit, veggie, and cereal diet he's had. He still nurses three times a day but 60% of his diet is coming from the food he's been eating.

For all this mass eating (he really does eat a lot), he hasn't gained any weight in 6 weeks but he's definitely gotten taller. We're not concerned because he's healthy, hydrated and he eats as much as he should be eating. We know that babies slow down their weight gain about this time but we certainly will be checking with the pediatrician the next time he goes.

That's all for now! Hopefully we can get another post on here again soon!

Almost Christmas

Picking out a Christmas tree

After an inch or two of snow last night, we decided to pack Arthur up in his never-worn snowsuit and venture out to get our Christmas tree. He wasn't really sure of what to make of the snow.

After getting our new tree in the house and setting some towels around to catch the drips (it was a little drizzly outside), we set about decorating the house and sealing our windows.

We'll take a picture tomorrow when we have the tree decorated. :)

Jaws II

Playing with leaves

We've been very busy this week getting ready for Thanksgiving and for Arthur's dedication. I can't tell you how many times I've been to BJ's in the past two weeks. There's always something else I think of!

Arthur has a little cold but it's getting better. There were about three days worth of sneezing and a runny nose but he seems to be on the mend.

His two teeth are getting bigger every day. Now they can be seen when he opens his mouth, smiles, or his eating. His face was flushed again today which makes me wonder if any of those top ones are going to follow soon.

75,000 Christmas Photos Later

This isn't the one we're picking for our holiday cards but you get the idea of what we've been trying to do. They're all cute and we're happy with what we ended up choosing for the cards.

The past few days have flown by. After Arthur sprouted his teeth, he seemed to calm down a little at night. He's been waking up once in the wee hours but he usually just fusses and cries a little bit then goes right back to sleep. On the nights he really wails, one of us has been soothing him. It's really nothing like last weeks up every hour sort of stuff. I'm glad he's not in as much pain.

His new thing today was "I don't want to eat dinner." This is very strange for him because as you can tell from the broccoli photo, he gets excited about everything he's tried so far. We've added chick peas (shells skimmed), pears, and green beans and he's still enjoying himself. Tonight's anomaly made me wonder if he had a sore throat but he seemed fine after that and played with his piano for a very long time. I'll check it tomorrow but I imagine it was just an isolated incident.

The next week and a half will be a flurry of getting ready for Thanksgiving and Arthur's Dedication. We're very excited about both but a little nervous about pulling off two "mass-feeding events" as we like to call them, within a few days. We're both excited about Arthur getting to meet some family members and friends he hasn't seen before.

O.k., he's awake. I'm going for a listen. Goodnight!

Second Tooth

Where there was one, there are now two. Today, while feeling around to see how tooth #1 was doing, I felt tooth #2. I still can't believe how quickly they broke through the gums. I only had one day of calling him "fang". Guess I'll have to start calling him "chomp".

First Tooth

We are always surprised by our little guy! He has the six teeth coming in on top, which is weird in and of itself because babies normally get teeth on the bottom first, and not normally six at once. But when the pediatrician pointed out the six teeth coming in on the upper gums, they were kind of hard to miss.

Wouldn't you know today he cuts his very first tooth....on the bottom! I couldn't believe it. There has been no bottom gum swelling, no visible bumps, and no indication that teeth were coming in there at all!

Right now it just is a ripple-y sharp white edge but it's very easy to see and feel. I wasn't expecting it to just be "not there" one day and "there" the next. It's such a fascinating thing!

It just reaffirms the many reasons why I believe that babies are "going to do what they're going to do when they're going to do them." You just never know...

6 Month Checkup

The pediatrician told us that Arthur is in the 50th percentile for height and weight, which is exactly average (Half of the babies are bigger and half of the babies are smaller).

She also said though that judging by the size of his very large thighs, she would have thought he weighed more. Laugh! Ever since he started growing, he's had those chunky thighs. They're very fun to squeeze.

Arthur is also getting 6 (yes 6!) teeth on the top gums. I only saw four little white bumps under the gums but after it was pointed out, I could see all of them. In a way, I hope they come in all at once because although painful, he will get a big chunk of it overwith. I hate seeing him so uncomfortable.

So here are the stats:

Height: 26.5 inches
Weight: 17 lbs
Head: 17 inches

He's grown nearly 8 inches since he was born and has gained just over ten pounds. We were very glad to hear that he's right where he should be.

B is for Broccoli

I really think that we could grind up raw snails and feed it to this child and he would still be very excited. As you can tell by his expression, we're going to have no problems with the green veggies for a while. He's happy with the peas, avocados, asparagus, broccoli. He has no problems with the orange ones either...sweet potato, squash, pumpkin, carrots. Of course he gets his fruits too..banana, apple, peach.

I try very hard to grind them fresh as much as possible. The broccoli above was just thrown in the food processer. It just looks so much better than the jarred stuff. We have been using the jars though for convenience when we're travelling or for when Arthur is with a caregiver.

We're very excited for his doctor's appointment tomorrow when we get to learn how tall he is and how much weight he's gained. I guess that he's about 25-26 inches tall and about 16.5-17.5 pounds, but we'll see tomorrow!