Cream of Potato Soup

Another year over. It seems like just last week we were jumping on the trampoline at Mikaele and Tim's to usher in 2005, and now it's done. Like the big nerds that we are, we're not going out this year. We decided on a quiet night in--I think Mike and I are just going to take it easy, maybe watch a movie, and I don't even care if I'm awake at midnight. I've enjoyed a hot bath and I'm in my favorite fleece jammies. I can't think of a better way to spend the evening.

2005 was a pretty good year though. Evan started talking finally, and I think that made such a huge difference for us. Him too-he's really grown a lot in the past year. I'm excited about what 2006 will bring for him. We also have all the baby fun to look forward to, and I'm sure that's going to keep us on our toes.

Hope everyone has a great night--celebrate safely and here's to a wonderful 2006.

Posted by jenny at 8:28 PM | Permalink

Christmas is over, and I for one am glad. I'm sure that sounds awful--we had a great time with our families, and really enjoyed ourselves, but tonight we three are alone in the house and it feels good. It was nice to put Ev to bed at a reasonable hour, to have Mike watching tv downstairs and me here on the computer just relaxing. Tomorrow is for putting the house back together, and tonight is for recovery, as I'm sure this weekend will bring more craziness for New Year's.

Evan got a great haul for Christmas as usual. He's really happy with his new toys, and I'm really happy that everything he got was either educational or an add-on to toys we already have, so that cuts down on the unnecessary clutter. Mike and I got some pretty great gifts as well--I'm excited about all the Lush I got, as well as some cute maternity stuff. Some family also donated money in our name to several worthy causes, and that's always appreciated.

The only difficult spot over the holiday was Ev's behavior. He was prone to screaming fits that wouldn't end until we would take him upstairs and lay with him. It wasn't always clear what caused the fits--sometimes they happened if he had to share a toy, or if something didn't get done exactly the way he wanted, or if someone looked at him sideways. My guess is that it was a combination of having not enough sleep and a lack of routine. Our little guy needs things a certain way, and when there's disruption I think it's tough for him to cope. Hopefully he'll be back to himself tomorrow.

In other news, we had our 16 week doctor's appointment today. Everything's fine--strong baby hearbeat, good blood pressure, and I'm still feeling well. I gained back the pound I lost last month, so I'm back where I started before I got pregnant, and that's good. Hopefully things will continue that way. Our next appointment is January 25th--we'll have our usual check and a sonogram to check that all is growing as it should. With any luck we'll find out the baby's sex that day too. Beth had me do the Drano Test last week and that said girl, but it will be nice to know (maybe) for sure.

Posted by jenny at 8:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

...and then demolished by their owners this morning before breakfast.

We did our stockings this morning, as we'll be spending tonight in Erie and heck, I was anxious to get going on the holiday fun. Evan was super excited about his stocking--I think his favorite thing was a little book that has one of those buttons that plays, "Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas". He thinks that's pretty great. We're spending the rest of today kicking back and watching the Steelers game before heading north to begin the festivities.

I hope everyone has a lovely holiday with friends and family, and I'm sure I'll be posting pictures of the Christmas carnage over the next few days.

Posted by jenny at 11:16 AM | Permalink

Oh, I have a blog? I almost forgot. Sorry.

I've been getting wrapped up in Christmas prep, baking and cleaning and wrapping presents. I'm happily done shopping, but the next two days are going to be a whirlwind of vacuuming and picking up toys and frosting cut-out sugar cookies. No problem. It will be nice when it's Friday, and all my pals start coming home for the holiday, and we can begin to really celebrate.

Yesterday was Evan's Christmas party at preschool, and what a production that was. I went to the party about halfway through, just in time to see him almost go up to Santa for his gift, and then change his mind at the last minute. Who can blame the kid? Yeah, this guy gives presents, but he's loud and that's one hell of a beard. He was happy with his gift though--a big wooden truck with wooden blocks in the bed of it. Great idea in theory, but I've been picking up blocks every few minutes for the last 24 hours.

Evan didn't see me at the party until we went back into his classroom for snack, at which point he had a total meltdown. I think he thought I was there to take him home and that he would miss all the fun, so he started freaking out. I had to get him his snack, sit him down and then go to the back of the room until he realized I wasn't there to make him leave. After he calmed down, he ate a whole slice of chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting, and all was right with the world. We played with the other kids until it was time to go, so the day wasn't a total loss.

Now today's our first free day in a while--no school, no therapy. I'm going to try to get some actual work done, but that's not always easy with Mr. Destructo by my side. I'm sure my plans of washing the kitchen floor and tidying the upstairs will turn into another day of picking up wooden blocks.

Posted by jenny at 9:51 AM | Permalink

Mike came home from work yesterday and said to me, "When did you get pregnant?"

I'm really starting to look the part now. The 12 week pic I put up two weeks ago shows my belly, but mostly because I was holding my shirt back and all that for photography purposes. Now I look large all the time, when I'm not even trying.

I don't really mind, because I needed something to hold up the lovely over-the-belly pants and very flattering tent like shirts. It's almost a relief to start really filling them out. I'm sure I won't be so thrilled about it in a few months when I can't tie my own shoes, but for now it's all good. And round.

Posted by jenny at 8:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Evan's been having some trouble for the past few days. His excellent sleeping record has been tarnished. Instead of getting tucked into bed and falling asleep with little argument, he's been resisting bedtime, getting up over and over, and often not falling asleep until one of us gets in bed with him. It's been frustrating for us--we don't know why he's acting this way, and we thought we had "solved" all of our little sleep issues.

On top of that, his screaming is getting worse--louder and longer and more frequent. He seems to do it when he feels he's not getting enough attention, when he's really excited, or when he's doesn't like the way you've done something. Put those three together, and he's pretty much screaming ALL THE TIME. The kicker is that he knows he's not supposed to do it. After he does it now, he immediately corrects himself by putting his finger to his lips to "shhh" or telling himself to "chill". Now what am I supposed to do with that? He knows he shouldn't do it, he tells himself not to, but he just can't seem to help it. It's just maddening, especially when we're out in public or around people we don't see very often. Try explaining this behavior to anyone, and you just feel like a complete and total ass.

So that's what we're dealing with here this week. The screaming, overtired, almost four year old who still wears Pull-Ups and tells himself to chill.

Posted by jenny at 8:54 PM | Permalink

Things are going along swimmingly at our house (for now). Aside from the lingering cough, I'm feeling much better these days. I'm emerging from the dark depths of the first trimester with less nausea and a bit more energy, which is great. Mike is still entertained by my gagging at least once a day, but it's minor compared to what it had been.

Evan is doing wonderfully. We've been doing brushing therapy with him for about a month now, and it seems to really be helping. He's moved from not wanting to be near snow to being able to walk in it. He's gone from resisting touching shaving cream to being able to "fingerpaint" with it. His OT at the hospital is awesome with him, and she doesn't push him too hard. In the past, Ev has shut down when he's forced into doing things he doesn't feel ready for, and this OT knows that and has respected his boundaries. I think that lets him feel more in control and more receptive to trying new things. I'm really pleased with his progress so far.

Speech is also going well. Ev's open to trying almost any word now, which is a huge step for him. What he ends up saying might be nothing like the word he's trying for, but the fact that he's making the attempt is just huge. He's becoming more confident and generally chatty too. For the past week, when he's all wound up and screaming, we'd tell him to chill. So last night he was dancing around to Christmas music in the living room (I have a musical Peanuts ornament on the tree). When the song would end, he'd scream, then immediately hold his finger up and say, "chill". Hilarious.

Posted by jenny at 9:38 AM | Permalink

Evan is asleep, and I'm sitting here chatting with a pal in Pittsburgh and coughing my brains out. Yes, I've picked up yet another cold or something, though it could be a continuation of a previous cold, how would I know. I do know that this not being able to medicate is a real pain in the behind. A NyQuil-induced sleep is what I desire, and instead I will get a restless night punctuated with coughing fits and trips to the toilet. Oh, pregnancy is a hoot some days, I tell you.

Evan has been super wound up for the last few days. I don't know if it's the pre-Christmas hysteria or the stash of chocolate in the candy dish, but that kid is on fire. He was all over the house today, whooping and hollering and making messes. Luckily, he's got school tomorrow and that usually helps him get a little of that energy out. I know it helps me to lay on the couch and watch Maury Povich.

Ev's really into the snow this year too. Don't get me wrong, he still doesn't want to touch it, but he will walk in it--a huge improvement from last year. And he'll watch it fall, blinking and staring and waving his arms all over the place. He'll yell, "SNOW!", just in case I hadn't noticed it myself. I'm glad he's enjoying it so much, because we're supposed to get a bunch more over the next few days. It's fun to watch him get such a charge out of something I find to be such a nuisance. Makes me appreciate things just a little more too, which can't be a bad thing.

Posted by jenny at 9:08 PM | Permalink

The 12 week appointment yesterday went very well. So far I've lost a pound, my blood pressure is nice and low, and things are looking good. We got to hear baby's hearbeat, chugging away at 150 bpm. The doctor that saw me is the one that delivered Evan, and also the one that nicknamed me "The Ticking Time Bomb" during my hospital stay. It seemed that every time this doctor would check on me, my blood pressure and lab results were worse, and he's the one that decided to just go ahead and take Ev out. He teased me a little yesterday, asking if I was going to behave this time around. I really hope so, because there's no need to go through all that again. I like my kidneys, thank you very much.

I'm also suddenly large--I'm so much bigger than I was at this stage last time. I think in the last few days my body just said "Oh, look, there's a baby in here" and all my internal organs just started migrating north. They remember the drill. It's almost embarrassing, but I'm wearing all maternity clothes now. It's a bit ridiculous, but so much more comfortable that I don't really care. I'll have Mike take a picture of me tonight, you'll laugh.

Evan's not really into the whole baby thing. We've told him about it, but I think the whole thing is way too abstract for his little mind. Yesterday, Mike had him kiss the baby, so Ev gave my belly a nice little kiss. So cute, until he then kissed Mike's belly followed by his own. Eh. We'll figure it out eventually, I'm sure.

Posted by jenny at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)