2008 resolutions

1. Only gain half as much weight (or less) during this pregnancy as I did with Alex (Which should be fairly easy, I gained almost 60 pounds with Alex, which gives me 30 pounds to work with for the next six months, so far - 16 weeks, I've only gained 3)



2. Loose the pregnancy weight by the end of the year.



3. Finally finish Alex's first year photo book



4. Be more active as a family.  We spend way too much time downstairs in front of the TV watching Star Trek re-runs.  I want us to get OUT and do SOMETHING together as a family at least once a week.  Even if it's just a picnic at the park on a Sunday afternoon.



5. Stick to our "total money makeover".  Be gazelle intense.  DO NOT ACCUMULATE MORE DEBT! 

2007 in review

I thought this might be a fun end of year exercise thanks to Linda at All & Sundry:

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
 Live in another country (Panama) for a month
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Well, let's see, here's last year's resolutions:

Loose 40 pounds (the obligatory weight loss goal) Not even close

Find things I love to do (i.e. get some hobbies) and do them often.  Ideas: writing, taking pictures, crafts... Took some photography classes this year

Take Alex out to socialize with other kids once a week at a minimum. And then some! We have playgroups / playdates three days a week.

Get myself out to socialize with other adults once a week at a minimum Unless playgroups count, no.  But I am managing a once a month mom's night out.

Less TV.  Ideally, Alex and I would limit our daytime TV to 1 hour and as a family, our evening TV time to 2 hours.  Not sure how I'm going to get John on board with this goal.  We're down to two hours or less daytime TV. 

Read one non-kid / non-parenting book per month about two a month!

Create and stick to a household budget.  Yikes! Not quite.  This will be on my 2008 list for sure.

Get our front yard into shape (Spring/Summer) Almost.  I did do a lot of work out there this year

Spend more time with family (both John's and mine).  Have everyone over for BBQ's, do crafts with mom, call Grandma weekly, have Alex draw pictures for Vince and Raquel, get Alex and Baby Lily together often (well, after she's born of course)... Not as much as we'd like.  Will work on this for 2008

I will definitely be making 2008 resolutions

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, and now we have our beautiful niece Lily
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully no
5. What countries did you visit?
We all went to Panama.  John went to Canada twice on his own
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Better control of our finances
7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Father's day / John's birthday.  Going to Fenway park and watching John and Alex get to play catch on the field.  That was really, REALLY cool
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I didn't do anything spectacular this year.  I think ending the year healthy, pregnant and still madly in love with my son and husband is a pretty great achievement though.
9. What was your biggest failure?
We did not stay on a budget this year, in fact, we managed to accumulate additional bills.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Only real "illness" I've suffered this year was debilitating morning sickness
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My camera, Digital Canon Rebel Xti.  Definitely money very well spent!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
John has made HUGE steps in being more engaged with Alex when he plays with him.  He's also helping out a lot more in the not-so-fun parts of parenting like diaper changes and discipline.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I am embarrassed to admit that I've been following the Britney / Train wreck /custody battle 
14. Where did most of your money go?
Travel
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The Panama trip in February was huge for me.  I was so excited about it I didn't sleep for a week before we left.  There's also the whole, having a new baby thing too!
16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
My favorite song this year has been Sweet by Jehro.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
 a) happier or sadder? 
b) thinner or fatter? 
c) richer or poorer? This is surprising.  Apparently wealth and beauty have nothing to do with my happiness.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Dates with John
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Throwing up (morning sickness)
20. How did you spend Christmas? Family get-togethers and lots and lots of honey baked ham.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Boston. I fell in love with Boston
22. What was your favorite TV program?
The Naked Archeaologist which I can't watch anymore because we canceled our cable :(
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Not really
24. What was the best book you read?
The life of Pi
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Jehro

26. What did you want and get?
A dSLR camera
27. What did you want and not get?  I got pretty much everything I wanted this year, and then some.  

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
I didn't see a lot of movies this year, and I couldn't call any of the movies I did see a favorite.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Not a whole lot on my actual birthday, however John and I both turned 30 this year, so we pretty much celebrated our 30th year all year round by taking some opportunities to travel and make big purchases we ordinarily wouldn't make.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Maid service for our house
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
If it's clean it's fit to be seen on me in public.
32. What kept you sane?
My mom's group, Mom's Time Out
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Does Simcha Jacobovichi count as a celebrity or public figure?  I LOVE his show the Naked Archaeologist and I watched The Lost Tomb of Jesus twice.  I'm such a sucker for archeology shows and the way he goes about telling a story, like reenacting the battle of Jericho with Lego's.  I mean, what's not to love?  

34. What political issue stirred you the most? I'm really interested in the Democratic Primary.  This is the first time I've been really interested in some of the candidates and excited about the possibilities for change in the future

35. Who did you miss?
My dad.  I suppose I'll always miss him.  I also miss my dog Midnight.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
All the ladies from my mom's group
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
Surrender to Motherhood.  Instead of thinking about the things I can't do or have anymore and dwelling on all of the "sacrifices" I'm making, remember how lucky I am to get to be a mother and how desperately I wanted to be one.  Appreciate the things I get to do now that I wouldn't were I not a mother.  Love every single second with Alex, even the not so great things.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
You never do know what's around the bend
A big adventure or a brand new friend
When you're curious, like Curious George
(Swing!)

Christmas 2007 Redux

Our holiday was fantastic!  Alex got thoroughly spoiled and John and I got to play Santa for Alex for the first time, complete with cookies, a big pile of presents for the boy and this reaction when he woke up Christmas morning:

Christmas for us has lasted three days, today being the last of the family get-together's we're attending, and the only downside has been that Alex has had to suffer three days worth of dog-related allergies of the skin rash and itchy-swollen-eyed variety.  Despite his allergies, Alex has developed a major canine crush on his uncle's Springer Spainel puppy Molly. 

John and I originally decided not to exchange gifts for each other, but John ended up getting himself a new game and some new accessories for his Wii and today I went out and bought a flash for my camera (LOVE!).  So, I guess, technically, we ended up getting gifts for ourselves anyway.  January first we go back on the "Total Money Makeover", so I guess this is the binge before the diet.

I'm looking forward to getting back to life as usual now that the holiday craziness is over.  John will be home on holiday vacation for another week, so we'll get to spend some quality family time together.  2007 was a huge year for us and I'm looking forward to another great year for 2008!

Caught in a lie

Alex and I are sitting on the sofa watching a video.  Suddenly, he let out a loud fart that actually vibrated the cushions of the couch.  I look at him and say "Alex!"  and he giggles.  A minute later, he does it again, a bigger sound that I thought possible to come out of his little butt.  "Did you fart again?" I asked him  "No."
"are you sure?"
"No"
"You farted."
"Daddy fahted" he lies.  Which normally would be a good lie because generally, if you smell something funny, it's John.  But unfortunately for Alex, John happens to be out of town today.  It's actually a shame, because these farts are the kind a father would be proud to have heard come from his son.  Chip off the old block indeed.

A couple of things...

Number one:  After my long and boring post the other day about how Alex isn't ready to potty train yet, last night, Alex followed John into the bathroom, watched him pee, then John helped Alex pee in his little potty (standing up!).  So, huh.  Ok.  I guess I've been going about this all wrong.  I think John might have to be the Potty Professor around here.  It makes sense.  The boy is ALWAYS wanting to do whatever John is doing.  I think I'll take advantage of having John home this week and have him take Alex in with him whenever he goes, see if we get anywhere or if yesterday was just a fluke.  Anyway,  YAY ALEX!  We all did a little pee-pee-in-the-potty dance around the house after John told me.

Number two:  John took me out last night on a much needed date.  I'd been craving steak (I pretty much only eat steak when I'm pregnant. I generally don't eat red meat) so he took me to the local Sizzler where I devoured a big slab o' cow, then we did some last minute holiday shopping, then he took me to a movie. 

We saw I am Legend.  It was my choice, I'm a huge Will Smith fan.  John and I both liked it, but I have to warn you, it's really intense.  I admit, I'm a huge wimp, but I surprised even myself with my level of freakout.  It's a great date movie in that I was practically perched on John's lap the whole time out of fear and we were holding hands so tight neither of us could feel our fingers when the show was over.  The movie had it's flaws in both the story and that they used CGI characters when I think more realistic rabid/vampiric humans would have been even freakier.  The ending was also strangely disappointing.  Even so, the movie is what we talked about all night long and I caught John getting up in the middle of the night frantically searching for the remote to our house's alarm system.  "I was having bad dreams"  he told me sheepishly.  I couldn't really make fun of him because earlier, I had gotten up for some water, making sure to turn every single light on in the house.  When I came back, I did a running leap onto the bed and hid under the covers.

15 weeks - looking great so far!

We went to our 15 week Dr appointment today and it went well.  We had to take Alex with us, but he was amazingly well behaved, content to eat his Yogos and keep his hands off all of the tempting equipment.  My blood work from last month came back perfect, my blood pressure is fine, the baby's heart rate is 155 which is normal and I was also relieved to confirm that I have only gained 2 pounds so far (as opposed to the 10+ pounds I'd gained by this point in Alex's pregnancy), however the doctor said "Don't worry, you'll gain a lot of weight later in the pregnancy".  Great.

I was also vindicated on two points: 

1)  I am actually "showing", not, as I'd feared, just fatter.  I'd been convinced that my existing fat was somehow just migrating upwards to my stomach.  I couldn't believe I'd really be showing this early in the pregnancy.  The doctor however, noted that my uterus is indeed "poking out", as he put it.

2) I am feeling the baby move.  I'd been telling John that I was feeling movement for the last week or so, to which he'd always respond "You just need to fart".  However, the doctor confirmed that yes, with a second pregnancy, it is very likely that I'd be feeling movement this early. 

Our next appointment is the 20 week ultrasound, scheduled next month.  John and I have a disagreement as to whether or not we will find out the gender of Baby 2.0.  I say no, he says yes.  We found out with Alex, and that was great, but I just think it would be fun to not know until it's born.  John feels very strongly that he needs to know the gender so he can start thinking of the baby as his new son or daughter.  I think he thinks it will help him bond with this baby easier.  He's suggested that he know and keep it a secret.  I think that's stupid.  If he knows, I'll want to know and he'll either slip or I'll weasel it out of him eventually.  Since John usually gets what he wants, we'll probably end up finding out the sex, though I'm going to be hard at work trying to convince him otherwise unti then.

Holiday funk

I'm officially sick of Christmas.  Admittedly, as an adult, the holiday spirit has always tended to elude me, but this year I really, really tried to find some festive for my son's sake.  We decorated the house, we (as in Alex and me) made homemade cards, we made goodies and sat on Santa's lap.  But already I can't wait to take down the tree, I've stopped plugging in the inflatable snowman that lays deflated and sad on our lawn, and I couldn't even make it through the Charlie Brown Christmas Special this year.

We missed the one and only holiday party we planned to attend last night because John was sick.  I was so disappointed about it (and the fact that I'd canceled plans that I'd been really excited about just to go to the stupid party) and still can't seem to cheer up today.

I don't know why I'm in such a funk.  Could it be the dreary weather?  The fact that I'm stuck indoors with a wild animal (Alex) all day long?  Is it because I'm disappointed that John and I aren't exchanging gifts with each other this year? Is it the pregnancy?  Is it because my underwear are too tight?

I think I just need a break.  I need to get away from the snow and the kid and the husband and the goddamned cat and all the stupid Santa's and recharge.  Unfortunately, that opportunity doesn't seem to be available to me.  In the mean time, I fear I'll just get grinchier and grinchier until not even a Reese's Peanut butter Tree can cheer me up.

Cheaper than a vasectomy

As I was peeling an orange, Alex was running across the kitchen and headbutting me while screaming with his fists in the air "I'm Mister T!".  Unfortunately, his head is just about crotch level. Fortunately, I'm a girl and it doesn't hurt.  I say to Alex, "You know, if I were a man, I'd probably be sterile by now."  Then a thought strikes, "Honey!  Come in here, Alex is doing the cutest thing.  Ok, just stand here...."

To train or not to train

I had this grand plan that before we had another child, Alex would be fully potty trained.  This plan looked easily doable when we were planning to get pregnant in the summer of 2008.  Instead, my husband sweet-talked me into letting him knock me up a full year earlier than originally planned.  This put a kink in my potty training plans because now, I've got to get Alex potty trained in six months or face two kids in diapers.

Here's the problem.  Alex doesn't seem ready yet.  He used to tell me when he pooped, but now he doesn't.  He doesn't seem to have any idea when he's peeing, unless he's out of his diaper and then he appears to intentionally pee on everything in the house.  And then there's the obsession with throwing things into and flushing the toilet.  If he is allowed full access to the toilet, we will undoubtedly have to put a plumber on retainer. 

My other concern is that if I try to get him potty trained now, I think we'll be more likely to have a relapse after the new baby is born.  I've heard and read many stories of kids having more accidents following a major life change.  I think getting a new sibling could easily qualify as a major life change for Alex.

So what do I do?  Friends of mine, experienced parents of boys similar in temperament to Alex tell me to wait.  In fact, don't even try to train him before he's three.  Then there's those who've potty trained their kids at 18 months or two years old who say it should be done now and I'm just being lazy (these are usually parents of girls incidentally). 

I've been introducing Alex to the potty for almost a year now.  We bought him his own potty chair when he was 18 months old, and he likes to go into the bathroom and sit on it when I go in to go myself.  He never makes a deposit, but at least he's not scared of it.  I've been reading books and articles on potty training and the consensus seems to be kids potty train between the ages of 2 and 4 on average and you'll have better success if you wait until he's ready instead of pushing it too early for the sake of convenience (or bragging rights: "well MY kid was using the toilet at nine months old.  clearly she's brilliant and your child is a brainless dolt.")  So here is a basic checklist for toilet training readiness  (my assessment of Alex's readiness in red):

Physical signs

• Can walk and run steadily. Walk?  Run, yes, but I haven't seen him walk since he was 18 months old.



• Urinates a fair amount at one time.  Check.



• Has regular, well-formed bowel movements at relatively predictable times.  The morning poop is predictable, but we occasionally get an unexpected poopfest in the afternoons or evenings.  I'm sure his pooping habits would be much more predictable if his eating habits were.  Which, they're not. At all.



• Has "dry" periods of at least three or four hours, which shows that her bladder muscles are developed enough to hold urine.  Sometimes.

Behavioral signs

• Can sit down quietly in one position for two to five minutes.  HA!  Ha ha ha ha ha!  You're kidding right?



• Can pull his pants up and down.  Down, yes.  Up?  But why?  That would mean he's further from being naked.



• Dislikes the feeling of wearing a wet or dirty diaper.  Dislikes wearing a diaper period.  Anything that denys him access to his beloved pee pee is of the devil as far as he's concerned, dirty or not.



• Shows interest in other's bathroom habits (wants to watch you go to the bathroom or wear underwear).  Interest is solely in what forbidden treasures can be found an played with in the bathroom cabinets while parent is on the pooper and thus, incapable of preventing bath oil from being poured on floor and tampons strewn around the room.



• Gives a physical or verbal sign when she's having a bowel movement such as grunting, squatting, or telling you.  Nope, always seems to come as a complete surprise.



• Demonstrates a desire for independence.  Oh HELL yes!



• Takes pride in his accomplishments.  Yes.



• Isn't resistant to learning to use the toilet.  Isn't resistant, but not really interested. Has on several occasions used the potty seat as a hat however.



• Is in a generally cooperative stage, not a negative or contrary one.  We're about 50/50 cooperative vs maniac on the loose

Cognitive signs

• Can follow simple instructions, such as "go get the toy."  If he feels like it, sure.



• Understands the value of putting things where they belong.  Not even a little bit.  I mean, have you seen our house?



• Has words for urine and stool. "Pee pee" and "poo poo"



• Understands the physical signals that mean he has to go and can tell you before it happens or even hold it until he has time to get to the potty.  Has not shown the slightest hint of recognizing that he needs to pee or poop.  Usually he will pee if you take his diaper off and let him run around, but then I'll find him squatting somewhere else, desperately trying to make a new puddle, not quite getting the fact that his bladder has already been emptied into his Mega blocks wagon.

I think my overall feeling is that right now, he is not ready.  He may be ready in a few months, but I really worry about trying to potty train him just before he is to become a big brother.  I think I need to just wait.  Wait until we've had this new baby.  Wait until Alex has gotten used to the new family dynamic.  Essentially, wait until he's about three, and look at the checklist again, make sure he's ready, make sure we're (or rather, I am, as we all know John is a total wuss when it comes to all things potty related) ready to commit to being consistent and follow through with Alex while we've got a screaming newborn in our arms.

It's dangerous to over baby-proof your house.  I say this because there may be a day when you're busily reading a new favorite blog while your husband is paying bills in the office, and you really should be watching your two year old, but you're downstairs and the basement is all baby-gated up like a mini Fort Knox and you never have to worry about him playing, unseen in the hallway.  Then you hear a mysterious thumping sound and you wonder, hmmm, what could he be thumping in the hallway?  And you finally get up to look only to find that the laundry room gate has been breeched and the boy is playing in the not-cleaned-in-over-a-week kitty litter box and all you can do is scream as though you've found his severed head lying on the floor prompting your husband to make a terrified dash out of the office thinking that surely the child is dead, only to find his son making a kitty litter sandcastle on the floor of the laundryroom.  Meanwhile, as husband is digesting this sight you will be frozen in place chanting, "I can't touch it, I can't touch it, I'm pregnant, I can't touch it."  "it" referring to both the litter and the child.

I tried on my swimming suit tonight and it kind of covered my prematurely burgeoning belly, but when I looked down, at my legs, GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY!  It's like some sort of freaky side show spectacle down there!  I mean, I've never had great gams, but something happened, something truly, truly wrong has happened to my thighs involving more jiggling and dimpling than I think is legal to display in most states and I fear no amount of diet or exercise can cure them.

Now that I am in the second trimester and I am feeling lots better, my helpful pregnancy newsletter tells me I may safely begin a moderate exercise routine.  Tomorrow I plan to get up early and try out the elliptical we have downstairs.  I used to do a 2 mile walk around our neighborhood, but our roads are like an ice skating rink out there and obviously way too cold for me to stroller Alex around outside.  I think the elliptical may work becuase it's low impact and I can keep my heart rate monitor on to make sure it doesn't get too fast.  I'm not going for weight loss here, but a little leg toning would do me some serious good.

It's 8:30 and The Monkey is still asleep!

Of course, he woke me up at earlierthanshit o'clock this morning crying that "Diegogo GONE!"  When I got to his bedroom I found him naked, diaper ripped off and flung onto his pillow, him and his bed soggy wet with pee and Diego Blankie was amazingly dry and right next to him.  I still don't know what he was talking about Diegogo being gone, he must have had a bad dream.  I put a fresh diaper on him, brought him to bed with me and he's still sleeping as I type this.

In other news, I've got the pregnant itchies in the worst way.  Does everyone get this?  I remember it happening last time.  I can't stop scratching.  It's like I rolled around naked in poison ivy.  My belly and boobs are the worst.  I've been itching at my right boob so much it looks like I've been attacked by a wild cat.  Anyway, just thought I'd share :)

Getting into the holiday spirit

Alex was deep in conversation with Santa and didn't want to look at the camera.  The photographer got him to look at her by sticking a feather duster in his ear.  I don't know, I kind of think a picture of him talking to Santa would have been even cuter.

Always room for it

As I was fixing Alex lunch, without warning he came up behind me and bit me on the butt cheek.  HARD.  My first reaction was "WHAT THE HELL!?!?!" and my second was, could this have something to do with his recent obsession with Jello?

What to wear, what to wear

This weekend I spent a lot of time tugging at my pants and underwear in a vain attempt to keep them from rolling down my stomach.  The baby is all of three inches long and it's already popping out all over the place.  The problem with being fat pre-pregnancy is that when I am pregnant, I don't get that cute little baby bump that those skinny types get.  No, I just expand.  There's a baby bump in there somewhere, unfortunately, it's hidden under a layer or two of blubber making me look more "Michelin man" than an expectant mommy.

I went to the mall today looking for something to wear to John's company holiday party, realizing that John's ratty snowman jammie bottoms, while festive, just wouldn't be the right look for the event.  I looked at some clothes in a bigger size than I usually wear, but nothing fit right and I hesitated to buy anything I'd likely never wear again.  I then went over to Motherhood Maternity and tried on a few tops, but they made me look really, REALLY pregnant.  I'm not ready to go around looking six months pregnant and have to explain I'm only three months along.  I did however buy a belly band that is going to make it possible for me to wear a couple of my old pre-pregnancy pants for a bit longer.  I ended up getting a black top at Target that does make me look pregnant, but not too pregnant.  If I stand up real straight, I just look fatter.  I'm going to be able to wear a brown pair of slacks I already have with my new belly band.  I won't be the best dressed, but I won't look horrible either.  That seems to be my goal these days, just don't look like shit.  Sometimes I even succeed!

I think we'll name it Maurice

After trying to get Alex to go down for a nap for 45 minutes the other day, exhausted and out of ideas, but unwilling to let the little twirp win this particular battle, I pulled out what I previously considered to be the dumbest trick in the book.  I made my hand into a "puppet" and told him (in my best hand-puppet voice) he needed to go to bed right now or else he wouldn't grow up big and strong.  Alex looked at my hand in amazement.  It was like a whole other person had walked into the room that he hadn't noticed before. 

"But why?" he asked my hand. 
"Because I said so"  My hand answered back
"No"  Alex said seriously
"It's time to go to sleep"  The hand said "If you don't go to sleep I'll go away"
"Time to sleep?" Alex asked
"Yes, time to sleep"
"No" 
"Ok, I'm leaving" my hand said and I put it behind my back
"Nooooo!  Where are you! Where are you!" Alex whined and climbed over me to look behind me.  He found my hand and forced my fingers into the hand puppet shape.  "HI!"  he told my hand
"I told you you have to take a nap." My hand told Alex in a serious tone
"take a napa" Alex said and laid down and started fake snoring ("aaahh shooo, ahhh shooo")
"Good boy" my hand said to him "Can I get a night night kiss?"
Alex turned around and kissed my hand
"Can Mommy have a kiss" I (not my hand) asked him
"No"
"Can you give your Mommy a night night kiss?"  My hand asked him
Alex gets up and gives me a smooch

He was asleep a few minutes later.

Since that afternoon, I've pulled out the hand puppet for fun a few times.  Turns out, he'll do almost anything my hand asks him to do.  Clean up his blocks, fetch things for me, let me put his clothes on without a fight.  Last night I was making him do silly things.  My hand asked him if he would go kiss his daddy's toe.  Alex looked at my hand and asked "Kiss daddy's toe?"  "Yes, go kiss Daddy's toe" my hand repeated.  Alex looked at my hand like it was crazy, but he turned around, went over to John and kissed his big toe.  John, who hadn't been listening to what we were doing looked at me "What the hell was that all about?" "I don't know" my hand said innocently.

book worm

Now that I'm feeling better and no longer have an excuse to have the TV raise my son, I've been turning it off and reading to Alex again.  I never really stopped reading to him all together, but we'd only read one or two board books and then I'd collapse in a heap on the couch and turn on another episode of Mythbusters.  This was never even close to enough reading for Alex.  Kid LOVES him some books.  He could very easily sit on the couch all day and have me read the same Tonka Town books to him for hours on end.  He's also very much into an odd little picture book called "Olson's meat pies" which I am required to read at nap time every day.   

Even though we've got a bookshelf full of books, we've read each and every one of them about 100 times each.  At least.  I can recite "Where the Wild Things Are" by memory as well as most of the "Frog and Toad Together" stories.  Honestly, I'm bored out of my mind.  Sometimes I'll try to make up a story as Alex turns the pages in his books, but he knows the stories too, and as soon as he catches on that I'm making it up, he'll turn to me and say "No.  No, no, no!" 

Yesterday we were at the library with some friends to see a puppet show.  After the show, my friend took her two boys to pick out some books from the children's section.   I don't know why it never occurred to me before, but it was like a whole new world opened up for me.  Here was an almost endless supply of new books to read.  I can just check them out!  Why, it's brilliant!  I check out books for myself almost on a weekly basis, how it never occurred to me to go into the Children's section is beyond me.  Alex indiscriminately picked out 10 books.  He was so overwhelmed with the idea that he could just grab whatever book he wanted, he began just flinging them on the floor into a pile.  I took our ten books to a table and had him pick out four to bring home.  We settled on a book about a spider, a book about a sheep, a book about Hanukkah and a Dr Seuss book about an elephant. 

Alex flipped through his books all the way home and we immediately had to read them.  The spider and Hanukkah books were duds, we're still undecided on the sheep book, but the Dr Seuss book "Horton hatches the egg" is the clear winner and we've read it five times already.  We'll be going back today to get some more Dr Seuss books. 

The only problem is if he falls in love with a particular book, I'll really have to do some convincing to get him to return it.  If there's one thing my kid can be counted on it's picking something to obsess about.  Even though we have these great new books, I had to read about Olson and his damned meat pies again last night.

With the second trimester on the horizon, things are becoming decidedly better around here.  I still have some nausea, but I'm only throwing up if I'm not diligent about not letting myself get hungry.  If I get hungry I will throw up whatever I ate last.  This makes no sense to me, but at least I know how to control it.  I get sick of eating all day so after dinner I'll usually take an anti-nausea pill which will usually help me get through the rest of the evening.

I've gained two pounds, though I look and feel like I've gained at least 10.  My clothes are getting uncomfortable and my wardrobe now consists of pajama bottoms and sweat shirts.  Like last time, I just can't stand having anything even remotely tight around my middle.  I was in maternity clothes at 14 weeks with Alex, mostly because I was working and I couldn't get away with wearing sweats all day.  I'm no where near ready for maternity clothes, but my current fashion statement isn't working for me. I'm going to buy a bella band this week and see if I resurrect some of my old pants. 

My energy is slowly returning and I'm now able to play with Alex more often.  Since it's so cold outside, we spend a lot of time building elaborate cities out of his mega blocks and driving his toy cars around.  I can tell he's thrilled to have his mommy back.  I'm thrilled to be back too.