 |
| From 2013 October |
 |
| From 2013 October |
 |
| From 2013 October |
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Lessons From a Big Brother
Nicholas and I were playing a game over the weekend and I gasped a little with some of the baby's movements. Nicholas was of course worried and I reassured him that his sister was just kicking me a little too hard.
And so Nicholas came over, put his hand on my belly and said, "Baby sister, don't hurt Mommy. She loves us very much."
Melt my heart.
And so Nicholas came over, put his hand on my belly and said, "Baby sister, don't hurt Mommy. She loves us very much."
Melt my heart.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Halloween Part I
On Friday they had trick or treating on Main Street in our town and we decided to take Nicholas this year. Nicholas loved it and amazed me with how much braver he has gotten. Joe and I were not as thrilled. It was SO crowded and overwhelming. I really don't know where everyone came from--this is not a big town. But he got to go into the barber to show the woman who cuts his hair his costume and she had a special treat for him, so that was sweet.
Also, that means I have pictures of Nicholas' completed costume. Now that I've seen the pictures, the front is pretty boring, with all the interesting stuff on the back. But that is true to how Buddy looks, so I don't think I'll make any changes before Thursday.
Another parent even recognized that he was Buddy rather than a generic dinosaur! For those of you who don't watch Dinosaur Train on a regular basis, here is a picture of Buddy for comparison:
Also, that means I have pictures of Nicholas' completed costume. Now that I've seen the pictures, the front is pretty boring, with all the interesting stuff on the back. But that is true to how Buddy looks, so I don't think I'll make any changes before Thursday.
 |
| From 2013 October |
 |
| From 2013 October |
 |
| From 2013 October |
Another parent even recognized that he was Buddy rather than a generic dinosaur! For those of you who don't watch Dinosaur Train on a regular basis, here is a picture of Buddy for comparison:
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Full Term
Yesterday I was considered full term for this pregnancy, but now I'm not.
Nothing has actually changed with the pregnancy, but as of today they changed the definition and timeline. The changes actually make complete sense, but I am just amused by the fact that they made the change when I was in the 2 week period whose name changed.
Link to an article explaining the change
Nothing has actually changed with the pregnancy, but as of today they changed the definition and timeline. The changes actually make complete sense, but I am just amused by the fact that they made the change when I was in the 2 week period whose name changed.
Link to an article explaining the change
Monday, October 21, 2013
Cashews are bigger than Peanuts
This little girl feels massive to me right now, so newborn diapers look shockingly small. I know it is hard to tell in this picture, but they are itsy bitsy. Will she really be that tiny? And, if so, why in the world am I so big?!
Speaking of size, we had an ultrasound today and she is measuring a tad on the big size. They estimate that at this moment (37 weeks) she is already 7 lbs 4 oz (something like 68th percentile). Now, those measurements are +/- a pound, so it doesn't actually mean anything definitive. But the rule of thumb is that they gain about a half pound a week in these last weeks, so that would mean that on her due date she should be just shy of 9 pounds, again +/- a pound. For comparison, Nicholas was 8 lbs 6oz at 4 days late.
But, more importantly, she is doing really well. All the organs seem to be working properly, she is practicing "breathing" and drinking, her heart rate is good, etc. The doctor is estimating that she will be within a few days of her due date on one side or the other and sees no reason for worry. Let's hope everything goes as smoothly as he expects it to. If his estimates are correct, 2-3 more weeks until we meet her!
 |
| From 2013 October |
Speaking of size, we had an ultrasound today and she is measuring a tad on the big size. They estimate that at this moment (37 weeks) she is already 7 lbs 4 oz (something like 68th percentile). Now, those measurements are +/- a pound, so it doesn't actually mean anything definitive. But the rule of thumb is that they gain about a half pound a week in these last weeks, so that would mean that on her due date she should be just shy of 9 pounds, again +/- a pound. For comparison, Nicholas was 8 lbs 6oz at 4 days late.
But, more importantly, she is doing really well. All the organs seem to be working properly, she is practicing "breathing" and drinking, her heart rate is good, etc. The doctor is estimating that she will be within a few days of her due date on one side or the other and sees no reason for worry. Let's hope everything goes as smoothly as he expects it to. If his estimates are correct, 2-3 more weeks until we meet her!
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Bassinet . . . and Channeling my Mother
I don't want to embarrass her, so I won't say too much, but let's just say my mom is a domestic McGyver. I swear she can construct a solution to any problem using spare parts lying around the house. I have often been awed by this, since my brain tends to function much more linearly and so imagining outside-the-box solutions just doesn't come naturally.
But over the last year or so there have been more and more occasions when I did something or came up with a solution and thought, "hey, that is something my mom would do."
Well, this project is totally something my mom would do. Okay, maybe not, because she likely wouldn't consider the aesthetics of something few people will see and that will only be used for a couple months a problem worthy of investing time and money to solve, but assuming she was trying to solve said problem, this is a Mom-worthy solution.
We were lent this awesome bassinet by a co-worker.
This is awesome for so many reasons. Given the lack of a nursery, the baby will likely share our room for months and so using the pack n' play like we did for Nicholas would have been a pain. But this is smaller than the pack n' play and therefore fits more easily in the corner of our room. It is also super-duper light, which combined with being smaller means it can be easily pulled through doorways and so moved to different rooms. The legs also flip with just two quick buttons to make it a rocker rather than stationary. And it is safe to use with a 6-month old, whereas the pack n' play bassinet is only for up to 15 pounds.
But . . . it is very orange. And metal. And Scandanavian. I don't want to say Ikea because that implies cheap and I am positive it is not that, but the design aesthetics of Ikea. Which lots of people love. It is modern and sleek and bold. But, let's be honest. We are none of those things.
So I decided to make a cover for it. But this was easier said than done because it is on loan so I couldn't stitch anything to the fabric or in any other way alter the original. And I didn't want to have anything go inside the bassinet itself where it could be potentially dangerous for the baby. The base plan was safety pins, but I knew I wouldn't be able to get the fabric to hang the way I wanted.
And so I ended up engineering a hanging system using 4 metal hangers that I re-bent into basically curtain rods and attached around the little round screws on each leg
After that it was basically just making 4 curtains. There was a tiny bit more to it than that since the legs are at angles and so the curtains had to angle as well, but that wasn't too hard.
And so here is the final product:
And, yes, in case all the bragging hadn't tipped you off, I am inordinately proud of myself for this. Because, really, this is a Mom-worthy project.
But over the last year or so there have been more and more occasions when I did something or came up with a solution and thought, "hey, that is something my mom would do."
Well, this project is totally something my mom would do. Okay, maybe not, because she likely wouldn't consider the aesthetics of something few people will see and that will only be used for a couple months a problem worthy of investing time and money to solve, but assuming she was trying to solve said problem, this is a Mom-worthy solution.
We were lent this awesome bassinet by a co-worker.
 |
| From 2013 October |
This is awesome for so many reasons. Given the lack of a nursery, the baby will likely share our room for months and so using the pack n' play like we did for Nicholas would have been a pain. But this is smaller than the pack n' play and therefore fits more easily in the corner of our room. It is also super-duper light, which combined with being smaller means it can be easily pulled through doorways and so moved to different rooms. The legs also flip with just two quick buttons to make it a rocker rather than stationary. And it is safe to use with a 6-month old, whereas the pack n' play bassinet is only for up to 15 pounds.
But . . . it is very orange. And metal. And Scandanavian. I don't want to say Ikea because that implies cheap and I am positive it is not that, but the design aesthetics of Ikea. Which lots of people love. It is modern and sleek and bold. But, let's be honest. We are none of those things.
So I decided to make a cover for it. But this was easier said than done because it is on loan so I couldn't stitch anything to the fabric or in any other way alter the original. And I didn't want to have anything go inside the bassinet itself where it could be potentially dangerous for the baby. The base plan was safety pins, but I knew I wouldn't be able to get the fabric to hang the way I wanted.
And so I ended up engineering a hanging system using 4 metal hangers that I re-bent into basically curtain rods and attached around the little round screws on each leg
 |
| From 2013 October |
After that it was basically just making 4 curtains. There was a tiny bit more to it than that since the legs are at angles and so the curtains had to angle as well, but that wasn't too hard.
And so here is the final product:
 |
| From 2013 October |
And, yes, in case all the bragging hadn't tipped you off, I am inordinately proud of myself for this. Because, really, this is a Mom-worthy project.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Sick Day Crafting
A quick update on Nicholas: he woke up this morning with no fever and went all day without one. Just before bed he was up about a degree and felt the tiniest bit warm, but nothing significant. He has a really awful sounding cough and his voice sounds like he has been smoking a couple packs a day, but he seems to be feeling at least 90%. Unless something changes overnight, he'll be going to school in the morning (knock on wood), but I think we will try to pick him up early, before they do afternoon outside play time, just to keep him from pushing too hard.
But as has now become our routine, we used his sick day at home to work on one of our craft projects. We started a cloth book for his sister a couple months ago, but set it aside to work on the dinosaur costume, so we finished that up today.
I made an ABC book over the summer that is much more photo-worthy, but decided after finishing that one that it wasn't actually baby friendly. I mean, really, infants have no interest in the alphabet and the pastel colors say "baby" to us but are actually pretty boring to a baby. So Nicholas helped me pick out a bunch of black and white patterned fabrics (the colors babies see best and so the patterns they are most captivated by in the first couple months) and fabrics with cool animals. The goal is that whoever is "reading" the book to her will have more to say about the owl wearing a baseball hat than about the letter "B."
Anyway, I still think the premise was good but am not thrilled with some points of the execution. But the goal was to have fun together and involve him in a project for her, not to have something award-winning. And in those goals, we succeeded.
At his big sibling class a couple weeks ago the teacher told the kids that they should bring a birthday present for their baby sibling to the hospital (thanks, lady) and Nicholas has been talking about this a lot, wondering what he should get for his sister. So after we finished the book today I had him wrap it and put it in the diaper bag so it would be at the hospital with us. He can then give it to her when he comes to visit.
He is so excited!
But as has now become our routine, we used his sick day at home to work on one of our craft projects. We started a cloth book for his sister a couple months ago, but set it aside to work on the dinosaur costume, so we finished that up today.
I made an ABC book over the summer that is much more photo-worthy, but decided after finishing that one that it wasn't actually baby friendly. I mean, really, infants have no interest in the alphabet and the pastel colors say "baby" to us but are actually pretty boring to a baby. So Nicholas helped me pick out a bunch of black and white patterned fabrics (the colors babies see best and so the patterns they are most captivated by in the first couple months) and fabrics with cool animals. The goal is that whoever is "reading" the book to her will have more to say about the owl wearing a baseball hat than about the letter "B."
 |
| From 2013 October |
 |
| From 2013 October |
 |
| From 2013 October |
 |
| From 2013 October |
 |
| From 2013 October |
 |
| From 2013 October |
 |
| From 2013 October |
Anyway, I still think the premise was good but am not thrilled with some points of the execution. But the goal was to have fun together and involve him in a project for her, not to have something award-winning. And in those goals, we succeeded.
At his big sibling class a couple weeks ago the teacher told the kids that they should bring a birthday present for their baby sibling to the hospital (thanks, lady) and Nicholas has been talking about this a lot, wondering what he should get for his sister. So after we finished the book today I had him wrap it and put it in the diaper bag so it would be at the hospital with us. He can then give it to her when he comes to visit.
 |
| From 2013 October |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)