It's a baby girl!

Video: Thomas and his bucket

20 1/2 months

In the past few days, Thomas has started really babbling. It's almost like I should be able to understand him, but he's speaking his own private language. Which, he probably is! He's also really taking on "no." He'll say no to everything these days. Sometimes he says "no" to a snack while reaching out simultaneously with his arms, so I've learned to hold things out for him for an extra beat or two to see if he really means "no." He also is playing with "u" (up) and "down" which he can really enunciate! I'll have him on the diaper changing table and he'll lift his legs up and say, "u!" and then lower them and say, "downnnn!" He's doing his own little calisthenics! What a great aerobics instructor he'll be!

Oh yes! We had an ultrasound a few days ago and now know the sex of the baby! It's a girl! Yay! The baby was very busy in the womb when we went to get the ultrasound (I just had a piece of chocolate -- oops!), so it took forever for the technician to measure whatever she wanted to measure. And then she took a slew of ultrasound pictures for us, including the new 4-D kind where you can see the baby's facial features while still in the womb! So exciting! Maybe I'll post some photos on the website.

Video: Thomas and Matthew at Leu Gardens

20 1/4 months

Matthew has been back from his trip for almost a week now! We have had lots of outings: to Barnes and Noble, twice to the community pool, to a friend's 3-year old birthday party, to Leu Gardens and storytime, to a friend's house for a playdate, and to the Fort Gatlin pool that has the water fountain shaped like a giant mushroom. It's been a lot of fun, and pretty busy! Now we can buckle down and get to work on our next big project: turning the computer room into another nursery/computer room. We have a lot to do, including tidying (gasp!), putting away all of the junk that seems to accumulate there, painting a color which will be decided after Thursday (that is the day we have an ultrasound to see if the new baby is a girl or a boy!), taking down the wallpaper border, and maybe even shampooing the carpet. Got to get cracking!

Matthew is practicing with Thomas on 1-2-3-4-5 and A-B-C-D-E and A-I-U-E-O (Japanese). Thomas gleefully and enthusiastically repeats the various sounds after Matthew. He's also a lot more interested in other children these days (and the toys they're playing with) and able to be in a big room filled with people and not be distressed or fussy. This made the last party a lot easier! It was for my former co-worker's 3-year old, with lots of adults, kids, food, opening of presents, and a princess cake. Made me think that these sorts of gatherings are a lot of fun to be in, but I don't think I have the energy to host something like that myself! Hooray for those people that do!

Today is my first board meeting with the Conway Mom's Club as Secretary. I have to take notes and other stuff! Thomas will get to play with the other kids, and I think there may even be some cool toys and snacks there. After that ... lunch and then naptime!

Video: Thomas getting more active

20 months old!

Everything is going well here, me with my new full-time job of being a stay-at-home mom (bye-bye, Northwest/Delta!) and Thomas in the business of toddlerhood. I think he's been growing a lot in the last month, judging by the way his face changes shape in these videos! And he now has two more teeth! A bottom canine/cuspid and that final bottom incisor have come out! And yet he's still chewing on his fingers and my dress hem and having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. On closer inspection, it looks like another canine or two are coming out!

The other day, we were at the store looking at kitty litter and suddenly he points excitedly to one of the boxes and says, "coo, coo!" He usually says this when he's watching Blue's Clues and they find a clue, marked out with one of Blue's (the dog's) paw prints. Sure enough, on one of the kitty litter boxes, there is a teeny-tiny blue paw print on the label. Wow! ... or does this mean that Thomas is watching too much TV?! Still, television does have its useful points, and it's fun to sing the songs because it always gets Thomas' attention when I need it. And because of Blue's Clues, he knows what mailboxes are: he always points out the mailboxes with a "maaai" and loves to check the mail. As soon as he sees a letter in the mailbox, he takes it in both hands and shakes it from side to side, the introduction to the "we just got a letter" song, which I always sing on cue.

Last week our Mommy/toddler playgroup met at the library to sit in a real fire truck and hear firefighters talk to kids about fire safety. One of the firefighters put on all of the protective gear one piece at a time and then crawled around letting the kids examine him so they would not be frightened of him and run away in case they were in a real fire, which seems to happen. Thomas was very interested in the whole thing, and even let a strange man put him into the cab of the fire truck (amazing!). He calls fire trucks "ding! ding!" because he has a toy fire truck that Mom and Dad saved from when I was very young that goes ding! ding! And he also makes siren noises sometimes, and mysteriously also whenever he sees fireplaces or candles. Is it possible he makes the connection??

Thomas is learning lots of half-words or sound effects, like "e" for egg or "haaaa" for rice (the sound of blowing on hot rice to cool it down). He is starting to recognize letters and numbers and points at them in books, license plates and signs. The next thing for Thomas is a potty... we're thinking of getting the one that plays music (technology these days!).

The new baby is starting to kick and roll around my tummy, especially when I'm trying to sleep. This leads to some weird dreams. I'm just over halfway, so just over the 4 1/2 month mark! Morning sickness is all gone, and I feel great. Thomas still has plenty of room on my lap, too!