Thursday, March 31, 2011

From Twitter 03-30-2011





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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Peanut is 2!

Yes, yes, he turned 2 just over a month ago. We've all seen how well I've kept up with posting about him, so nobody is surprised are they?

My little boy is an absolute treasure and a joy and keeps us very busy! And as always, my lament over the past two years has been, "where does all the time go?"

So while I spend lots of time enjoying his actual awesomeness, that means I don't have a lot of time to write in depth posts about what he's doing now. I don't know how other moms do it. I seem to have found enough time to Twitter a few times a week but somehow, 140 characters doesn't seem enough to tell you about how great my little Monkey Boy is.

But he is - great, amazing and wonderful. He learns new things every day and teaches me something every day. He runs and jumps and plays and loves trains and balloons and his family. He is mostly a good eater and doesn't hassle us too much at meal times. He is still a terrible sleeper although we're down to usually only waking up once at night. He's 3 feet tall and weighs almost 30 lbs. And growing fast! Must be all that Mama Milk.

Speaking of Mama Milk, with little fanfare and a few tears (on my part only!) I weaned him in January, 6 weeks shy of his 2nd birthday. Being pregnant, it got to be too painful for me to continue any longer. Considering he was only nursing occasionally at night it was an easy transition for him and it surprised me at how much he didn't seem to notice it had even happened.

Peanut loves tunnels and is constantly wanting us to come play trains and build tunnels with him. When he wants you to come somewhere with him, he will tug on you and say, "Pull!" When something is out of his reach or too high to climb on he says, "Too big, mama!"

He talks so much now and one of his favorite questions is "Whatcha doin' dere?" and he is CONSTANTLY asking it. How many times a day do I say, "I'm making breakfast, buddy." "Putting on your shoes." "Mommy's going potty, baby."? I feel like I am my own narrator sometimes!

He still has some trouble with F and L, and so says "I yove you" and "yeyow" (for yellow) and his own name has become "Betcher." When he sees a picture of himself he excitedly exclaims "Betcher!" or sometimes "Brody!" which is his cousin who is two months older.

Cousin Brody and Auntie Heidi are two of his favorite people EVER. He is constantly asking, "Go Brody house?" Auntie always lets him borrow one of Brody's trains when we go home, and so at our house Monkey is always asking, "Where Brody trains?" which is so cute because he really does know and specify which ones are his and which are Brody's. And he also knows all of the Thomas trains by sight, whether on t.v. or in the books or his actual toy trains, as well as the "supplemental" cars that come in the sets - one of my favorites to hear him say is "BAGGAGE CAR" in this funny little voice.

And of course, aside from I love you, one of my favorite things to hear him say is something he says all the time: "HI MOMMY!" Even if he's already sitting on my lap, he will often turn an look at me with delight and say HI MOMMY! I love his little voice, but even better is his laugh. He laughs often and heartily and has even inherited Mommy's laugh-snort if you get him going.

He loves tickles and will scrunch his fingers on your side and say "Tickle you!" and then look at you and go, "Tickle me!" One of our favorite games is when Mr. Fantastic does "Everybody tickle!" and we all tickle whoever's name Daddy says. He loves Mousey Mousey and Bumble Bee and any other tickle game you can come up with.

Peanut also loves his books - especially when we point to the pictures and ask who that is and what color and what sound do they make. He knows his animals and animal sounds and colors very well but is still working on numbers and letters. He knows the numbers - just not the order they go in past 3, and so will sometimes say "1,2,3...7!"

I could keep going on and on (and on...) so I'll just say it's been amazing becoming a mom. Fletch has taught me so much about myself and about how much you can love another human being. I finally understand now how my parents felt about me. And I can't believe that come July, we get to do this all over again with a little girl.


Hard to believe in two years he's gone from a little 7-pound-something burrito...




to this amazing ball of energy and inquisitiveness.

Week 26 of the JellyBean Progression


Week 26
Time marches on! And there’s no hiding that there’s a baby in here anymore. Not that I ever was, but nowadays the baby bump is more mountain than molehill and JellyBean is making her presence known well and often. Plus this week her hearing is developing further and she weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. Well, at least the cucumber reference is a lot more relevant than last week’s rutabaga.

In general, I am feeling pretty good. Still no persistent backache and I am sleeping okay – still using the multiple pillow/flying buttress system I developed with Fletch and so despite multiple waking in the night, I am usually able to go right back to sleep. (Even sometimes when there is a surprise two year old climbing in to be with me!)

Mr. Fantastic has gotten to feel JellyBean kicking a few more times which he always enjoys. And I am still feeling HUGE, mostly because I can’t bend over anymore and have the grace of a hippo getting in and out of the car. At least this time around we have a different car, which is not so low to the ground and so Mr. F doesn’t actually have to hoist me in and out. So far I can still do it by myself. And we are working with Fletch to have him climb into his carseat himself so I don’t have to lift him in anymore. He is surprisingly cooperative with this endeavor (so far – I’m sure just until the novelty wears off!). Fletch weighs almost 30 lbs now so he is getting to be a bit of a chore for me to lift. And also to hold or carry – it’s kind of funny to see him try to get situated on my hip like he’s used to doing because now he can’t get his little leg around my front to hold on. So a lot of time when I pick him up, he seats himself waay high up on my waist so he can sling his leg around my front over my belly. But this places him way up high so that his head is higher than mine. He’s not used to being so tall when Mommy carries him!

Next appointment isn’t until 4/11, when I’m supposed to do the glucose test. Still looking into alternatives for that. One thing I may have to end up doing is just a basic blood sugar check 4 times a day for a week. Since I still have all the testing stuff left from when I was pregnant with Peanut, that shouldn’t be a big deal. In fact, I may just go ahead and do it proactively the first week of April and bring my results to Dr. Owens on the 11th and see what else she might want to do.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

From Twitter 03-28-2011



  • 21:26:30: Loving the heck out of watching The Karate Kid on Dancing with the Stars!


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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Friday, March 25, 2011

From Twitter 03-24-2011



  • 07:52:52: RT @GeorgeTakei: SNL's Victoria Jackson thinks Glee is turning boys gay. Frankly, I think Victoria Jackson is more to blame for that.
  • 11:36:49: Ugh, why would you ever buy fish in the office cafeteria? And then why would you take it in the elevator to the 11th floor?! BLECCH.
  • 20:12:20: Have ordered my iPad2. Now how am I supposed to wait 3 weeks for it?!


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Thursday, March 24, 2011

From Twitter 03-23-2011



  • 06:57:03: Screen icon Elizabeth Taylor dies - http://bbc.in/fmFUtS
  • 08:58:27: Do you know how happy this makes me?! Terry Pratchett's Discworld Being Adapted To Crime-Of-The-Week Mystery TV Series http://t.co/vTxsILZ
  • 11:16:18: RT @danhaleyDP: An important step for Colorado. What say you House? RT @lynn_bartels: Civil unions passes on initial voice vote. #COLEG
  • 14:50:56: Barefoot Contessa says Russian dressing is just mayo & ketchup. I feel way less white trash now!


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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Week 25 of the JellyBean Progression

Week 25
Funny, last week the doc said I was measuring 3 cm big and it was nothing to worry about. But with Fletch, by week 25 I was also measuring 3 cm big and they decided to do a growth ultrasound just to check on his size. I wonder why they were concerned last time and not this time? Maybe not this time because it turned out to be nothing last time. But of course now I wish I had the chance for another ultrasound because I want to see JellyBean again!

So this week, JB should be around a pound and a half and 13 ½ inches long. She certainly feels bigger! (The website compares her to the average rutabaga…which is so helpful because we are all so familiar with rutabagas. I think possibly the rutabaga is the Brazil nut of vegetables.)

 She has really been moving around a lot, and finally this weekend Mr. Fantastic was able to feel her kick. I was going to bed and he came to say goodnight and I told him JellyBean had been really ruckin’ around and he might be able to feel her. So he put his hand on my belly and we waited a minute and sure enough, she gave him a good kick. And we both looked at each other like, “Hee! Did you feel that?!” Now I can’t wait to have Fletch feel it too.

Also this week, JellyBean is starting to get some baby fat and growing hair. (Or, NOT growing hair if she’s anything like her bald big brother who had hardly any hair to speak of for the first 6 months and then a natural mohawk for the next.)

From Twitter 03-21-2011



  • 06:34:00: Mr. Fantastic got to feel JellyBean kick for the first time last night. It's going so fast!
  • 07:58:23: LOL...a quote from EW.com this week: "Wait, the brontosaurus isn't real? Oh, cruel Science, wasn't it bad enough when you stole Pluto?"
  • 21:33:10: Mr. Fantastic rules...just brought me ice cream in bed. Yum!


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Saturday, March 19, 2011

From Twitter 03-18-2011



  • 07:12:05: RT @BreakingNews: Slim majority of Americans now support gay marriage, finds new Washington Post-ABC poll; 53% say it should be legal ht ...
  • 07:51:27: Antarctica, 1961: A Soviet Surgeon Has to Remove His Own Appendix - The Atlantic http://t.co/rEUN82a via @AddThis


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Friday, March 18, 2011

From Twitter 03-17-2011



  • 07:33:00: Does anyone actually EAT brazil nuts? Or are they in there just to take up space? I just tried one and ICK.


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Thursday, March 17, 2011

From Twitter 03-16-2011



  • 09:04:28: Note to self: WD-40 gets purple crayon off both kitchen walls AND stainless steel fridge.
  • 19:28:28: Now that Mr. Fantastic is not opposed to me buying an iPad2 with some of my bonus money, naturally nobody has them in stock. PITIFUL SIGH.


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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

From Twitter 03-15-2011



  • 10:35:28: RT @ConanOBrien: Why did that soothsayer tell Caesar to “Beware the Ides of March” when he could've more helpfully said, “Beware the kni ...
  • 10:44:55: RT @ebertchicago: Self-indulgence is said to be a fault, but can you deny it's one of life's great pleasures?
  • 15:29:08: In vino veritas: Week 24 of the JellyBean Progression http://t.co/IYmg0te


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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Week 24 of the JellyBean Progression



Week 24
Six month checkup today! Saw Dr. Mahoney since Dr. Owens is on vacation this week. Everything is great; although she did freak me out a little bit by telling me that starting this week, if the baby were to be born, she’d be viable. Whoa. So I am supposed to start paying extra attention to movement – I should be feeling more and more, so if I start feeling less, I’m supposed to call right away. Also am supposed to pay attention for signs of preterm labor and call if there’s anything weird.

Little Baby Josie Duggar was born at 25 weeks and has done okay so far - she celebrated her 1st birthday in December 2010. Of course, her mom was 40+ years old and had previously delivered 18 other children and had to deliver so early due to severe preeclampsia that was endangering the health of both mom and baby. Though our circumstances are different, I am still crossing all my fingers, hoping that everything continues to go smoothly and that JellyBean goes all the way to 40 weeks. And not 41 like her brother.

I have been worried about my weight gain the last two months because it seems like I’ve gotten really huge really quick. I’m not seeing changes anywhere but my belly, so it’s not that I think I’m in general just eating too much or anything, but have a little concern that the baby is getting too big too fast or ahead of schedule or whatever. Dr. M said although I am measuring a little bit big, my weight gain is fine and that at this point with Fletch I weighed 172 - ten pounds more than I do now. She told me not to worry about it at all and that right about now what she calls “mushrooming” happens – that basically you really start popping out. Looking back, by week 25 with Fletch, I was measuring 3 cm big and felt the same way – all belly. So probably just me worrying about nothing, especially since Fletch ended up weighing less than 8 lbs at birth.

Next month I’ll see Dr. O again and am supposed to have my glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. I have a call in to my bariatric doctor to see what the alternatives to the normal glucose test are because there is no way in heck I am doing that again after the disaster it was last time.

Last week JellyBean’s hearing started to get better, so now she can hear sounds from outside. Guess we need to start singing! This week she should be just over a pound and just about a foot long. We are supposed to picture her as an ear of corn. (Apparently, long and skinny?) She is growing more brain and developing taste buds and lungs this week as well.

I can’t believe we are over halfway now! It’s gone by so fast. It’s been relatively easy too – maybe that’s because it’s the second time and I know more. (Like that Fiber is Your Friend and Breathe Right Strips are Awesome.) Really the only lasting complaint I’ve had is the Rhinitis of Pregnancy (aka, Stuffy Nose) that you get when you’re pregnant due to all your mucous membranes swelling up. And while I learned last time that Breathe Right Strips are AWESOME, I have learned this time that supermarket brand nose strips SUCK and give you pimples across the bridge of your nose as well as a red stripe that won’t go away. (Note to self: Shell out the extra clams for name brand next time!)

From Twitter 03-14-2011



Forecast for 60+ temps all week. Yay! I am a happy (and hopefully less cold) girl!
One of our neighbor's dogs is wearing a cone. He looks so pathetic and I think the other dog may be laughing at him.
RT @sesamestreet: Count von Count: Pi day? Three point one four one five nine two six five three five eight ... I may be here all day!
Hey, I forgot! Happy Pi Day! 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679821480...
Just another reason to hate Big Pharm: $10 drug now $1500 after FDA grants monopoly - Boing Boing http://t.co/vcU9d7r
Mmm...circus animal cookies. Nope, not spoiling my dinner!


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Monday, March 14, 2011

From Twitter 03-13-2011



Sigh...another weekend over already. Sure did enjoy the warmer weather, though.


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Sunday, March 13, 2011

From Twitter 03-12-2011



Remember when you didn't have kids and therefore still had a concept of "sleeping in" on the "weekend?"...yeah, me too.


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Monday, March 7, 2011

Cold. Coldcoldcold. COLD.

Yes, I am cold. SO VERY COLD. I am over the winter. I am over below 60 temps. I am OVER dressing like a clown in my own house just to try and stay warm. Right now I am wearing slippers, socks, sweats, a night gown, a sweatshirt, a giant pink fuzzy bathrobe and a scarf. I have talked Mr. Fantastic to letting me set the thermostat to 70. And I am STILL COLD.

I would also be wearing long underwear if I were not too pregnant for them.

Where is the myth that pregnant women are hot all the time? I WOULD LIKE SOME OF THAT NOW, PLEASE.

I am warm in three locations:
1. In the shower.
2. In bed, but only after I have been running the space heater at 80 for a half hour with the bedroom door closed.
3. At my desk at work, because I sit under a heating vent, wear a blanket on my lap and run an illegal space heater under my desk that the Facilities Police have been grumbling at me about for nine years.

I am now going to sit in front of the t.v. in my clown clothes, wrap up in a comforter and shiver until it's bedtime.

(And when I am bitching about being hot in June, please kindly disregard this note.)

"Do you think he knows about second breakfast?"

THIRD breakfast is ok when you're pregnant, right? It's not even 11 yet and I've already eaten breakfast twice. STILL HUNGRY NOM NOM.

Also, for first breakfast I was a good girl and ate my grownup Fiber One cereal. But I mixed it with Crunch Berries.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Week 22 of the JellyBean Progression

Week 22
Hey, have I mentioned my skin has finally mostly cleared up? Hooray. My skin does not like being pregnant. I am so glad to be over that stage. Urgh.

So, 22 weeks already! I can’t believe how fast it’s going. And maybe the difference between being knocked up the first time and this time is that with Peanut, I spent most of the time on the couch in sweatpants and with JellyBean I am in the office and chasing around after a two-year-old, but I swear either this pregnancy is easier or I am just too busy to notice.

Also possibly things are easier this time around because I am not in the middle of trying to sell a condo and buy a house and driving Steve to 37 doctor’s appointments every week. Things are a little less stressful for me and that itself is probably making the biggest difference.

Once I passed the food aversion stage, which was much milder this time around, I really have had no complaints. JellyBean is being much nicer to me than her big brother was. Let us all keep our fingers crossed that this means she will be a better sleeper than Fletch.

Though there have been just as many Conversations with JellyBean as there were Conversations with Peanut, they are of much less interest because they mostly consist of JellyBean being sweet and agreeable, as opposed to gleefully evil.

For example, an early food-related conversation with Peanut went like this:
Me: *rummaging through kitchen* How about...a cracker?
Peanut: No.
Me: Hmm. Slice of ham? Toast?
Peanut: No and no.
Me: Peanut butter?
Peanut: ...
Me: Sorry. Um, how about some chees-
Peanut: GOD, no.
Me: Okay, how about this other kind of cheese?
Peanut: Yes.
Me: Oka-Really? All right! *nom nom nom*
Peanut: Just kidding!
Me: *is queasy*
Peanut: *gleefully evil cackle*
Me: Sigh.

Whereas, a similar conversation with JellyBean went like this:
Me: *stares morosely into cabinets and fridge* Meh. How about...this? *holds up random piece of food*
JellyBean: Meh. *shrugs tiny shoulders*

However, in the context of teasing Mr. Fantastic, JellyBean is just like her brother. We have this same conversation daily, in which you can replace “Peanut” with “JellyBean”:

Peanut: *twitch*
Me: Oh!
Peanut: *twitch twitch twitch*
Me: Hee!
Peanut: *twitchtwitchtwitch twitchtwitchtwitch*
Me: Heeee!
Mr. F: Really? *feels my belly*
Peanut: *crickets chirping*
Mr. F: *sad* Darn.
Me: Sorry, honey.
Peanut: *gleeful cackle*

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, we’ll be able to feel JellyBean from the outside and Mr. F will get a chance to feel her. Although I hope he will still keep putting his face on my belly and talking to her because it is darn adorable.

Also adorable is when Fletch says hello or goodnight to JellyBean and kisses my belly. I don’t know how much he really gets that the baby inside will be coming outside and staying with us. But in the mean time, it’s so cute when he pats my bump and says “Baby! In dere!” in his sweet little voice. We have a couple of books about Mommy Having a Baby that are hopefully being helpful in preparing him. He also has a Little Peanut stuffed toy that is basically a little sleeping baby that goes inside a peanut shell. He calls it his “baby” and sleeps with it and so we talk a lot about how Mama has a baby in her belly just like his baby. (It is freaking adorable, let me tell you, and I plan to get the Sweet Pea version for JellyBean)

 This week JellyBean is almost a whole pound and around 11 inches long. She is working on refining things like eyelids and eyebrows and has started sprouting tiny tooth buds under her gums. Still a work in progress but if we could see her, she’d look very much like a teeny tiny newborn.

Update on Dad


Haven't talked much about my dad lately...it's been mostly babies and Steve, so I thought I'd throw a little love Dad's way. (Or, as Fletch calls him, Paw-Paw.)

 Waaay back in October '08, Dad got diagnosed with "moderately aggressive" prostate cancer. At the time he had no health insurance and so his doctor decided on a treatment course of something called Lupron, which is in short a hormone shot that turns off the production of testosterone thereby giving the cancer nothing to feed on so it can't grow. The idea was to basically hold the cancer at bay until Dad turned 65 in August '10 and started Medicare.

 A major drawback to the Lupron is that it causes menopause-like symptoms, the worst for Dad being weight gain. It's made him hungry all the time and he's gained probably 50 pounds which is really bothering him. However, the Lupron has done its job and the cancer has not progressed, so Dad had his last shot a few months ago. He recently started what I consider to be the "real" treatment - radiation and implants. In February, he got the radioactive seeds implanted, and this week he went in for the first of 25 radiation sessions. He goes five times a week at noon for the next five weeks.

We’ll find out in a couple months how it goes. He's been told side effects should be minimal, including the possibility of a sunburn-like effect on his abdomen. It’s only been a few days, but so far, so good. He’s feeling fine and I think, like me, relieved to be doing something more proactive. I know he’s happy to be done with the Lupron, although they did say it would take a while – at least 6 months or more, for it to clear his system. Hopefully once it does, he can start losing some of the weight he’s gained and will be feeling generally better.

In addition to quitting drinking in June ’08, Dad also quit smoking probably a year ago and I am so proud of him for doing both those things. I have always worried about his health and cutting out these two things is the best thing he has done for himself. And aside from the major health benefits, I feel like I have my dad back.

When he was drinking, you just never knew which Dad you were going to get. Some days would be good and I’d love spending time with him and other days I wanted nothing to do with him. Now that I have my son, and a daughter on the way, I am so thankful to have all my days with Dad be the good ones. I am so happy they will get to know their grandfather and hopefully have a lifetime of wonderful memories of him like I do with my own gramps.