hi everyone! we're on vacation this weekly... vacation very loosely termed as it's only 25 minutes from home and we've not been there for a full 24 hour stretch yet due to me needing to keep up on my work and dh needing to show up to his job a few days this week as well. today is a home day so i can catch up and do some work. it's actually a little slow -- figures. the weekend was nuts, though, so i'm not gonna feel bad about hanging here a few minutes and giving everyone an update.
jasper has been dealing well with sleeping in his toddler bed in his room. we made the move a few weeks ago now, i think. dh sleeps in there on a mattress on the floor. jasper still falls out of bed a lot, and dh doesn't always wake up... like this morning he found him asleep on the floor next to the bed and had no clue he had fallen out. oh well, so long as there's no injuries it works for me! jasper is not sleeping through the night still, but just giving me some uninterrupted sleep for a change has been wonderful. i still wake up when i hear him fussing, but usually get back to sleep much more quickly than i used to. i know it's not gonna last and i'm so thankful dh is dealing with it pretty well right now. he sometimes brings squirt to crawl into bed with me once it's starting to get light out, which is fine. i don't mind nursing him then or sharing the bed (actually, he usually lays at least partially on top of me, the little bed hog!) sometimes, just not the whole darn night anymore. i'll be on call all day and all night before too long with the new babe. this is a nice little breather.
i had a weird gallbladder-like attack yesterday -- while finally seeing the new star wars movie. grrr. it was very weird, a pain in my back off to one side -- very different from a typical gallbladder attack, but the dizzies, cramping, pain and desire to just lay down and slip into a coma somewhere were the same so i'm guessing that's what it was. so we had to leave before the movie was over -- i was getting too woozy and sitting in a theater seat trying to find a comfy position was torture. thankfully once i got back to the condo and went to bed it passed in a few hours. i think i've been pushing it with ice cream treats once a week lately and too much eating out because i've been too busy with work and squirt to make it to the store or prepare meals. the crepes, bacon and sausage i made for brunch yesterday definitely didn't help -- i think they're the culprit that brought on the actual attack.
anyway, back in jasperland... the little guy is finally starting to say a few words. occasionally. if he feels like it. he still prefers the grunting, gesturing and whining game, followed by nodding when we hit upon was he's asking for. but every so often he'll ask for "more" now and i think he tried to say "milk" yesterday but i'm not positive about that one. he also will occasionally mimic what we're trying to get him to say, like "i love you" or "hi doggie." none of it is very clear, but i'm so glad to hear actual words that i know are words at last. he still signs for some stuff, but probably even less than he did a few months ago.
i've now introduced him to patting my belly while i say "baby" (i finally have a little belly now that i'm allowing myself to wear some maternity stuff -- easier on my poor trampoline bladder). he pats my belly but i think the look on his face really means he's wondering what his silly mommy is talking about because he doesn't see a baby anywhere. like he's humoring me. it's cute. he still loves his babydolls and will hug and kiss them when the mood strikes. there's now also a 6-month old at daycare with him a few days a week, so he's getting a little more exposure to a real baby and so far the reports back are that he's been very gentle and concerned when the little guy is crying. fingers crossed this will continue on when his own little brother or sister is on the scene.
we're actually going to try to setup an u/s at one of those cheesy 3d places this week. i find myself getting more and more attached to the idea of a little girlie -- and if this isn't a little girlie i think i'd better find out now before i have an entire 2 years worth of clothing picked out and stacked up in the guestroom! dh hasn't seen more than the few thermal images i have from my ultrasound a few weeks ago, and i think it might help him to start to bond if he sees this one moving around in there. i've tried to pick the right times when the baby is pretty active to have him feel some kicks, but he's really felt very little thus far. it's much different than last pregnancy when he was at every appointment with me and was very tuned into everything. heck, even i'm not as "in-tune" this time. too much other stuff to keep track of!
okay, work calls. gotta do some stuff after all, if i want to not be bothered with too much tomorrow. dh has an interview at a company 15 minutes from home. then we're off to take jasper for his 18-month checkup. then maybe the ultrasound. busy day with lots of driving around. nice vacation.
hope everyone is doing well!
::: lori
