a little late with this one...

To my faithful blog followers who don't know me IRL (in real life) or through Facebook, this is for you.

Nate will be having a baby brother!

We had a lovely ultrasound, watching the little guy swim around. He's a healthy baby! He has all of his organs, fingers, and toes. This ultrasound was done by a tech (Nate's was done by a Dr). The Dr only popped into the room after reviewing the pics to say that everything is great!

He's a bit big, like Nate was at the ultrasound, but still within the realm of normal, so they are keeping my due date at Sept 21. If I've told you the due date is Sept 22, I don't know why I keep doing that. It's the 21st. For sure. If you go by averages, he was measuring 19 weeks and 2-4 days, and I was 18 weeks pregnant. His head circumference, though, was 20 weeks even. I think Rodgers must come from a people of large skulls.

We haven't settled on a name yet, and when we do, I won't be telling. With Nate, we told the name as soon as we left the ultrasound (my choice). We changed the middle name right before he was born, and kept that secret. Rodgers likes keeping things secret, so we're keeping the name to ourselves this time. I will say that it will be a boy name and will not be yooneek. :)

For now, he's going by "Baby Brother." I ask Nate, "Where's your baby brother?" And he points to my tummy, sometimes going so far as to lift up my shirt and reveal my belly, which he finds endlessly amusing.

working mommy wednesday

Prompt #2 - 5 things perpetually on your to-do list.

During this pregnancy, and especially since I started working again, I've had no memory at all. Rodgers has always relied on me to remember things for him. Actually, he sometimes calls me his brain. This makes my forgetfulness even more of a problem. Last week, I created not a to-do list, but a to-do notebook.

It's full of lists - what we need to do each week, what goes into Nate's diaper bag for various length trips, what groceries we currently need, what groceries we usually keep on hand, and whatever else I think of that we need to remember.

There are some things that never get crossed off either because they never get done or because as soon as I've accomplished that thing, it needs to be done again.

1. You may remember that we have a cleaning schedule that rotates every two weeks. That's kind of like a continuous to-do list. Since I went back to work, I have not been keeping up with the cleaning. Our home looks about as bad as it did when I originally got fed up with it and initiated the cleaning schedule. But, pregnant + toddler + work = I don't care right now. We (and by we, I mean Rodgers) keep up with the laundry and keep the kitchen clean, and that's good enough.

2. Food is always on my to-do list. What groceries to buy, what meals to cook, what am I going to eat right now?

3. Trimming Nate's fingernails. When he was very small I just kept mittens on him because it seemed as soon as I'd trimmed and filed his nails, he was scratching both of us again. Now, he pretty much just scratches me, not himself.

4. Make Nate a photo album of family and events in Texas. I was given a super cute scrapbook for Nate before he was born and have never done anything with it. I finally decided to make it a photo album for him to take with us when we move to Kenya so that I can remind him of all these people and things that he won't remember because he's too young. Of course, the pics are online and on my computer, too, but I think he'd really like flipping through a hard copy. I made the title page a couple of months ago. Making more progress, I had some pics printed this week to put in it, but the photo album is yet to be made.

5. Write a blog post. I am always getting ideas for posts which never make it to a physical (or virtual) to-do list, but stay on my mental one, which, as we've already established, is basically worthless at this point. So my blog post ideas never get written and are never crossed off the list because I can't remember what the list was in the first place.

QOTW: 
> Oh? And just how do you think he will survive?
>> "How do you think he will..." What do you mean "how do you think he..." He's with me, ain't he? And I'll learn him all I know.
> Oh? That shouldn't take too long.

15 months

Nate had his 15 month check up this morning. Rodgers took him since he doesn't typically work in the mornings and I do. The doctor was impressed by Nate, which always makes me proud. She didn't have any instructions for us because he's doing so well.

He's skinny, 25th percentile for weight now according to the CDC charts. But, the doctor wasn't concerned about it this time (she was at 9 and 12 months). He was 22 lbs even at 12 months, now 22 lbs 13 oz.

Rodgers told me that Nate's height is either 31" or 33". Pretty big difference there... He was 30" at 12 months, so I'm guessing he's 31" now. That's right on the 50th percentile. 33" is between 95th and 100th percentile. He does seem tall, but I don't think he's had that much of a growth spurt. Plus, his hair is long now, and adds more than half an inch to his apparent height.

Nate has 15 teeth now. Only one eye tooth remains, then we wait for the 2nd year molars.

Something I read online says that 15 month olds should be able to say at least 3 words in addition to Mama and Dada. Nate has 10 or 11 words in addition to Mama and Dada. Nate came home from the appointment with a hacky sack because he kept asking Rodgers for a ball. :)

15 month olds should also be able to follow simple instructions. At one point during the appointment, Rodgers put Nate on the floor and told him to go get his shoes. He walked across the exam room, picked up his shoes, and brought them back. Dr was impressed.

He got a couple of shots, for a lot (I think they contain 6 altogether) of vaccine boosters (Dtap/Hib/IPV 5-in-1 and pneumococcal). One leg was very sore this afternoon, poor kid. He was back to normal after the ibuprofen started working. He also soaked in the tub for a while, and I think that helped, too.

Dr said that we should be bracing ourselves for the terrible twos to start soon. Yay.

QOTW: You need to find yourself a girl, mate. Or perhaps the reason you practice three hours a day is that you already found one, and are otherwise incapable of wooing said strumpet. You're not a eunuch are you?

gender prediction :)

In less than 2 weeks, we will be looking at this baby bean via ultrasound. As long as s/he cooperates, we will know if s/he is a he or a she!

For the record, here is what the old wives say:

Carrying high and wide, girl; low and all out front, boy :: I'm not sure whether I'm low or high, but definitely out front and not at all wide yet. This one leans toward BOY

Wedding ring on a string moves in a circle, girl; side to side, boy :: I just did this test - it was side to side. BOY

Heartrate faster than 140, girl; lower than 140, boy :: The first time, it was 170. This week it was in the 160s. GIRL

Bad morning sickness, girl; minimal morning sickness, boy :: If that's the case, this is the kind of girl that you'll see on Toddlers and Tiaras one day. GIRL

Looks: round face, bad acne, significant boob growth, girl; hair growing faster on legs, wider nose, cold feet, minimal boob growth, boy :: I've got a little bit of acne, but not very bad; I'm still wearing the same bra size; and my feet are cold. I think we're leaning towards boy on this one. BOY

Cravings: sweets, fruit, OJ, girl; salty foods and protein, boy :: Before reading this, I just had to have a leftover piece of pizza with an OJ and Sprite cocktail. That's a little of both...um...one-of-each-TWINS?

Previous kids' first words: if Nate said Mama first, girl; Daddy first, boy :: We know he's a Daddy's boy! BOY

If a toddler boy expresses interest in a pregnant woman, it's a girl; if he ignores her, it's a boy :: We have a few friends with toddler boys. They seem to like me. GIRL

If a woman prefers to lay on her right side, girl; left side, boy :: GIRL

Tally that up. I think it's a tie.

Then there's the Chinese gender chart, which is complicated because you have to figure out your lunar age and the lunar month of conception. Lucky for you, I did the math. It says: GIRL.

QOTW: You're a frog! You're supposed to have cold feet!

nate update

Nate is 14.5 months old. He has his 15 month appt just 2 days before baby #2's anatomy scan (and we'll find out if it's a brother or a sister!).

He has 11 teeth. Three of them are molars. His fourth is there, under a gum hematoma. He won't take cold teethers or anything to soothe it. It seems like it doesn't bother him very often, but it looks painful.

At 12 months, he was 30 inches tall. He seems much taller now, but that could just be because he's started walking more. By my measurement, he's grown half an inch. He's wearing shoes willingly now! I'm no longer afraid to put his sandals on him without socks. I think he figured out that if he puts shoes on, we go outside, so he's happy about shoes.

His clothing size is part 12 months and part 18 months. His torso is too long for 12 month overalls. His head is too big for 12 month t-shirts without buttons on the collar. But, he's too skinny for 18 month waistbands. Actually, his 12 month shorts and pants are still too big in the waist for him.

He's talking more, too! He learned 2 new animal sounds this week. Monday or Tuesday he started saying "baa baa" for sheep. This afternoon (after his Gigi and Grandpa went home from visiting us) he started saying "neigh" for horse. He still does snake, monkey, baby (says Mama), and Daddy (blows a raspberry). He also has been saying things (in appropriate context) that sound like up, out, yes, no, done, and gone, in addition to his previous words Mama and Daddy (no Elmo recently). He says muh for kiss and mmm for hug because I say mwah when I kiss him and mmm when we cuddle. His signs are milk, more, eat, up, and bath. We're working on diaper. He tries to do it sometimes.

He still takes a bottle of milk twice a day. He won't take milk from a sippy cup, only juice and water. Though I want him to drink just from a cup, I'm honestly too exhausted to force the issue right now, so he keeps getting a bottle when he wakes up and between dinner and bedtime.

He's down to one nap per day, and his separation anxiety isn't nearly as bad as it was 2 months ago. It's a good month for Nate.

QOTW: Oh, they call me Little John. But don't let my name fool you. In real life, I'm very big.