22 1/4 months

Well, Matthew has been home for a week! He and Thomas have been having a fantastic time together, even going out or staying in together so that I can have "me time." We've all been doing our usual thing, going to various playdates with our toddler group, going to various shops that are kid-friendly, going swimming in the local pool, visiting Ben and Sarah, and various buying-a-house stuff. Had an inspection, which went very well, and am waiting for the loan lady to get back to us. It's very exciting! And a little nervous!

Last night, as a seventh anniversary wedding present, Rose and Pam babysat Thomas so that Matthew and I could go out! We went to a movie ("The Hangover"--I was pretty dubious at first but it turned out to be very funny!), went to our favorite hangout Borders, and then went to the Cheesecake Factory for some appetizers and a slice of Coconut Macaroon Cheesecake. Yum to everything! It was a wonderful evening for us, and Thomas had a great time too, hanging out with his favorite "aunties"! I was worried about Thomas' bedtime, because for the past few days, he had been going to sleep very late for various reasons including the I'm-tired-but-will-cry-and-take-an-hour-to-fall-asleep-due-to-mysterious-reasons. But it sounds like things went very smoothly and he fell asleep without a protest ... and now we're all perfectly positioned for our trip to Wisconsin because we're all sleeping in until 8am! I never thought I'd see the day our little before-dawn wakeup baby would sleep in ... and even as I type this, he's still asleep and it's almost nine!

22 months

Thomas and I visited a new park, about 10 minutes down the road from us. The park is split into two fenced-off sections, and one has a climbing frame for 5 to 12-year olds shaded by huge live oak trees covered in Spanish moss and is right on the shore of a big lake with a roped-off swimming section. We could even stay until 11am (wow! so late!) before it got too hot, and there were only a few small spiders under all those trees, not like the monsters up in Gainesville at Utaka and Shauna's old place. Even I felt comfortable moving them from the slide. The park is right across the road from a new house for which we're putting in an offer! It's got four bedrooms and two really big rooms for playrooms or TV, and a lovely small yard that is completely fenced in and private. And the kitchen is gorgeous. I'm excited, and we're going to do inspections, talk to a lender and fill out the paperwork and do all the stuff that needs to be done for this enormous decision!

Matthew comes home soon, and Thomas has added "de" ("red") and an elaborate back-and-forth of his hand along with a hissing sound for "white" to his vocabulary (where did that one come from??). Today I started singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" while I was making breakfast, and he made almost all the motions that go with it! It's nice to see him do that spontaneously because he never does that sort of thing at Toddler Time at the Library when we sing the song! And usually when I start singing it, he shakes his head and says "nooooo" and pumps his fists up and down to request his favorite, "The Wheels on the Bus." He's been off the Itsy Bitsy Spider for quite some time, ever since he learned the sign "all done!"

Thomas and Ellis at Seven Sisters Coffeehouse in the playroom.

21 3/4 months

Well, everyone's safely away. Mom and Dad are almost back to Wisconsin, just in time to catch the beginning of Labor Day weekend traffic. Their plan this morning was to stop tonight somewhere in Illinois, so that will make three nights on the road. It sounds like they stopped by a few great museums, including the museum for Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With the Wind. They left a couple of days after Matthew did, which I think was great for Thomas (and me) so he didn't go suddenly from a bustling 5-person household down to just him and Mommy! Matthew is out, too, flying back and forth between Mexico to Toledo, Ohio. For the first time ever, he rode to work on an international flight on a Mexican airline! Usually he's on a domestic carrier with a layover in the States

somewhere.

While everyone was here, we ate out here and there and visited my new favorite coffee shop with the toy area for kids (and the chocolate shop in the back), and Matthew and I got away a few times which was great! Mom and Dad did a lot of stuff for us, including planting a gardenia plant the day they left. Thomas "helped," too. He stood ready with the hose and even sprayed water for Mom and Dad to wash their hands.

Usually it's so hot and muggy we can't even go for a walk after 9:30am, but yesterday because of rain and other stuff, it didn't even get over 80 degrees the whole day! I took Thomas out for a walk intending to be back in half an hour to start dinner, but we ended up staying out much later because the weather was just so gorgeous. At the empty tennis court, Thomas found a puddle and took great pleasure rolling and bouncing a ball through it. He even said "rai" (or was it "ain?") and did the sign for "rain" when the trees dripped water on him! He's suddenly coming out with a lot of signs and half-words. "Co" with accompanying sign for "cold" when he complained about his milk, an up-and-down motion with his hands for his request for "The Wheels on the Bus" song, a hand doing involved acrobatics with accompanying airplane noises for "airplane," "Geen" for green, .... it's coming along!

Baby is still kicking along, apparently still head up in breech position. Still have three months to go, so I'm sure she'll sort herself out by then! I'm listening to my hypno-birthing/relaxation practice CDs every day, and I love them. To fall into such a deeply relaxed state, especially right before bedtime, is so wonderful after being so busy and feeling aches all day. I think I'm right on the brink of the third trimester, so the tummy is just starting to get uncomfortably big, and it's getting difficult to bend over to tie shoes and stuff. Even some of my "smaller" maternity stuff is getting ... small. Still feeling good, just getting a bit more tired these days.