Wordless Wednesday

I was in the bedroom getting dressed and Carter was in his room reading so Harper snuggled up on his bed to keep him company.  I love that she's such a good companion for him!

When I took a picture of her, Carter realized she was in his room and had to go bug her.

Swinging with Nolan at his house.

Nolan wanted to push Carter, but Carter wasn't too sure about it.

Carter was pumped that Nolan had an outdoor trampoline.

 

My naptime snuggle buddies.

 

Ready to play at the park with daddy!

Brushing his teeth like a big boy!

 

Helping build the fire at Uncie Taco's house.

 

 

Enjoying his s'more!

 

My sweet little crew!

 

 

 

Attempting to use my eyelash curler.  I was cracking up!

 

Week 32 Bumpdate

I had been anxiously awaiting our 32 week appointment to find out if Elise had moved to head down or butt down because I knew for sure she was up and down and not sideways.  Yesterday during Carter's nap I got a call from the doctor's office to reschedule our appointment.  I was bummed but glad that they were able to fit me in the next day rather than waiting longer.  Our doctor immediately put the ultrasound wand down low on my pelvis and my heart skipped a beat when it revealed little miss' head!!!!  She is now head down, what a good girl!  He said she's head down with her nose facing toward my right hip.  Her heart beat was around 130 bpm.  Everything looked good and our doctor was pleased.  I got my whooping cough shot and forgot to take the band aid off, so that's in the picture!

 

February 10, 2015

Baby's Size: Baby should weigh in around 3.75 pounds and be about 16.7 inches long.  She measured in at 4 pounds, 4 ounces which put her in the 79th percentile.  Her head circumference was in the 70th percentile.  For comparison Carter was 4 pounds, 7 ounces at 33 weeks which put him in the 38th percentile.  Our doctor said we're looking at an 8 pound baby if we make it all the way to 40 weeks.  Then he went on to ask Carter's size at birth and said for my sake he hopes Elise is born at 37 weeks, 1 day.  I wouldn't mind that a bit either!  At our 28 week appointment she was measuring in at the 55th percentile.  So I hope she just started her growth spurt a little bit early and will slow down a bit from here on out (and hopefully my weight gain will do the same).  She is supposed to gain about a third to half of her birth weight in the next seven weeks.  She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair!

Weight Gain:  I'm up 25 pounds which is great news!  That means my weight gain has slowed down to about a half pound a week.  If it stays around in there I can still be under 30 total pounds gained!  It has really helped me to only weigh in every other week.  I'm feeling so much less stress about my weight gain now that I'm not constantly checking in on it.  I'm so glad I made that decision!

Maternity Clothes: I tried to wear one of the oversized non-maternity tops I had worn before and it was a smidgeon short.  I could get by with it by having a tank top underneath, but it definitely wasn't flattering.  I'm wearing pretty much all maternity clothes at this point.

Sleep: This week I have been so tired!  I've been sleeping pretty hard and slept through Ty's alarm going off pretty much every morning which I never do!  If I roll too far to one side I wake up because my arm is asleep from all the weight pressing on it.  Most days I took a 20-30 minute nap, but I had a few days where I was so tired I napped for over an hour.  Towards the end of the week I felt like I could have slept all the way through the night when I laid down for a nap, that's how tired I was!  Carter must've known how tired I was because he took 3 hour naps most of the week and slept until 7:00 or 7:30 most mornings.  Saturday morning he slept in until 8:30 am which was crazy!  I woke up and rolled over to check the time.  When I saw how late it was I was afraid to move.  I whispered to Ty if he knew what time it was and we both giggled with excitement.  Then on Sunday he slept in until 8:15!

Symptoms: I ended the day with headaches most days this week, but nothing too bad.  Not a migraine, just an annoying little headache.  Those I can deal with!  Saturday night we went to bed around 11:00.  When I laid down in bed all the sudden I felt my muscles really low down in my pelvis tighten and stay that way for a few minutes.  It was really uncomfortable and made it hard to sleep.  It kept happening about every 30 minutes all night until 7 am the next morning.  I was starting to get worried, but I knew they weren't contractions.  They didn't seem like Braxton Hicks contractions either though because they were painful and they were happening while I was laying down, actually waking me up while I was sleeping.  Ty and I decided we'd call the doctor on call if they continued throughout the day, but they stopped around 9 am and didn't start up again.  I ended up laying down with Carter for his entire nap to help everything calm down and because I was so exhausted from not sleeping well the night before.  I had a lot planned for Sunday, but none of it got done other than going over to Thomas' house in the evening for s'mores.  I mentioned the pains to a friend and she said they sounded like round ligament pain.  I asked the doctor about them at our appointment and he said they could possibly be round ligament pain or Braxton Hicks contractions.  He wasn't too concerned since they had gone away and re-assured me I would be able to tell when I was having actual contractions.  My concern was that contractions may feel different and possibly these were the real deal but just felt different than they had with Carter.

Running: I changed it up this week by hitting 11 miles as my weekly mileage.  On Saturday it was beautiful and I was running with Ty.  As I was running uphill and Ty noticed I was puffing, he offered to take the stroller so I got to run most of the run without it.  We ended up running 3 miles because it was so pretty and I was feeling good.     

Food Cravings: Nothing that I can think of.  My appetite has seemed to curb a bit this week.  Although I am starting to really look forward to a Braum's frozen yogurt soft serve once Elise arrives!

Food Aversions: Smoked foods.

Movement: Still moving around mostly when I lay down in bed at night.  She also likes to move around when I sit down during Carter's naptime.  I'm still feeling her in the middle of my belly and have felt some really strong movements down low.

Best Moment of the Week: Saturday morning we went over to visit our friends Roo and Alan at their new house.  Roo is pregnant and due the day before my birthday.  She's exactly 16 weeks behind me, so it's easy to remember how far along she is.  It was so much fun to hear their story of how they found out the were pregnant, to see her tiny little baby bump, and to share stories.   

Roo starting to get a bump at 16 weeks and me with a big bump at 32 weeks.

Currently Loving: I feel like this week was payback for me talking about how great I felt the past couple of weeks.  It was a rough week, but still not too bad.  I'm getting really excited thinking Elise will be here in 2 months or less.  If she's an early bird like Carter we could be meeting her as soon as a month!  I heard a song on the radio Friday during the day that I wanted to dance with Ty to.  That evening after Carter went to bed he agreed to dance with me.  I was all excited afterward thinking my belly hadn't been as in the way as I expected.  It turned out Ty had arched his back all funny to accommodate my belly, so it really was in the way.  Picture the video with a basketball strapped to the woman's stomach and the guy's back arched all crazy, well, and minus the fancy moves!

Miss Anything: Nope!

What Big Brother is Up to This Week: We had some more beautiful spring-like weather this week along with a couple of really cold days to mix it up.  On the warm days Carter enjoyed playing outside and we had a blast at the park on Saturday.  He enjoyed our toddler program at the zoo despite freezing temperatures and found a flamingo feather to take home.  We had a playdate at a friend's house which he enjoyed because he got to play with all new toys.  When I pulled into the parking lot for our doctor's appointment Carter excitedly yelled, "Issy Eese!" because he knew where we were.  In the waiting room he was whispering that we were going to get to see sissy Elise.  It was adorable!  He picked out a butterscotch lollipop and told us his sucker was brown.  So I asked him what color my shirt was and he correctly said blue.  Ty was wearing a salmony colored shirt so I was interested to see what color Carter said it was.  He responded with orange.  Then I asked him what color his shirt was and he looked and proclaimed "Orange, too!"  Week 32 Bumpdate with Carter.

 

 

Weekly Learning Theme: Winter

As I said last week I originally planned to do this learning theme a week earlier, but our weather was beautiful and felt more like spring.  I bumped this week back to the first week in February and added in learning about Groundhog Day.  When I first pushed this week back snow was in the forecast which was perfect because I had lots of snow activities I wanted to do.  Unfortunately for our learning theme, we didn't end up getting any snow.  There was a 30% chance of snow on Wednesday night and I was ever so hopeful, but it didn't happen!  I'll have to save those ideas for a different time!

Listed below are the objectives I am focusing on for the themed weeks.  I have updated our objectives from the original ones we focused on because Carter mastered those skills.  I plan to continue to implement activities to practice and reinforce our previous objectives while putting more emphasis on our new objectives.  Some of them won't necessarily be targeted with specific activities during our weeks, but I wanted to list them to help me remember to practice them continually.  The highlighted objectives are ones Carter received exposure to during our theme this week:

1. Take turns in a simple game.
2. Understand the meaning of mine, his, hers.
3. Group objects based on a category (sort by defining feature).  Since Carter was doing so well sorting by shape and color I already started having him sort by other features.
4. String beads or other objects.
5. Count to 3 and understand what the numbers mean.  Carter can count to 3, but we're still working on understanding what each number means.

Activities/Movement:

• I put together a winter sensory bin for Carter.  I used shredded paper to look like snow.  Then I added cotton balls, a snowman cookie cutter, and dead sticks that had fallen off our tree outside.  Carter had a blast scooping up shredded paper as well as dropping it out and watching it tumble back down.  Then he used the stick to stir everything in the tub up.  He was having a blast until he turned and whacked me in the face with the stick and had to go to time out.  He didn't want to play with the bin again the rest of the day.  I guess he was worried he'd do it again!

Poor Carter man fell and hit his eye on the corner of a chair, his eye was still looking pretty bruised on Monday!

 

• While grocery shopping on Monday we walked past a bin of Play-Doh on sale so I grabbed a container of white Play-Doh.  I then took the Play-Doh and rolled it out on the table so we could make tracks in it like it was snow.  I pulled out the book "Tracks in the Snow" to show Carter the tracks that were made in snow.  Then I used one of his safari animals to make some tracks.  I then let him go on to make animal tracks and even grabbed some cars to make tire tracks.  After a while of making tracks I showed him how to make a snowman by rolling up 3 different sized spheres: a small, medium, and large.  I really talked up the sizes and had him help me decide which one was the biggest and needed to go at the bottom, which one was the medium sized and went next, and which one was the smallest and went on top.  We built a snowman a few times and then Carter decided he needed to make the snowman's eyes and hat so he decorated the snowman.  It was adorable!

Making tracks in our Play-Doh snow.

 

Building a snowman out of the Play-Doh.

More tracks, this time with cars.

• I drew snowmen and made each snowman have a different colored scarf.  Then I made hats in each of the different colors.  I showed Carter the snowmen and asked what color each of their scarves were.  Then I gave him a hat, asked him what color it was and told him to put it on the appropriate snowman.  When he was finished we counted to see how many snowmen there were.  Then I put the snowmen in his winter sensory bin to play with.

 

• To practice lacing I drew an outline of Carter's hand to make a mitten.  I had to draw the outline a good distance away from his hand because he didn't like it when the pencil touched his hand.  Then I hole punched all the way around the mitten and showed him how to lace yarn in and out of the holes.  Lacing is a bit advanced for him right now.  He was able to put the yarn through the hole and pull it through, but then he'd pull the yarn all the way through and never made it to the next hole.  I figure it's something good for us to practice every now and then.

Lacing the mitten.

• I went through Ty and my basket of stocking caps along with Carter's basket and Elise's basket.  I picked out 4 hats belonging to each of us.  I showed Carter the basket of hats.  He immediately pulled out one of his hats and said "Carcar's".  I told him yes it was his and had him say, "mine".  Then I pulled out one of Elise's hats and asked him whose he thought it was.  He excitedly yelled, "Mommy's!" so I tried putting it on my head.  He realized it didn't fit.  I showed him it was smaller than his hat and told him it belonged to Sissy Elise.  We started a pile for her next to his hat.  I pulled out one of Ty's hats and he told me it was daddy's so we made "his" pile.  Then Carter found one of my hats so we made a pile of my hats.  I pulled out hats one at a time and had Carter choose which pile he thought it belonged in.  If he guessed incorrectly, we'd try it out, comparing the hat we had to a hat in the pile to see if they were the same size.  We talked a lot about it being his hat, her hat, or my hat.  I really emphasized using these words as we worked.  I was impressed with how well Carter did sorting the hats.  As we put them away we counted the hats to see how many of each of our hats we had sorted.

Sorting stocking caps.

Adding one of his hats to Elise's pile.  We took it out and compared it to the other hats which made him realize it was too big and he moved it to his pile.

Adding a hat to daddy's pile.

• The P.E. teacher at the school I used to teach at would give the students 2 paper plates each, one for each foot, and would have them "ice skate" on the gym floor.  It was so much fun for them and I thought of that activity as I was planning our winter theme.  I thought it might be a little bit difficult for Carter, but he did amazingly and absolutely loved it!  It was so cute to watch him skate along our kitchen floor.  It didn't take him long to realize it didn't work once he hit the carpet, so he turned around and skated some more on the linoleum. 

 

 

• I bought a bunch of shaving foam on sale at some point in my teaching career because my students loved to practice writing their word work words in shaving foam on their tables as a little treat now and then.  I was way overzealous with how many cans I bought and ended up bringing quite a few home last year when I packed up all of my materials.  I decided to pretend the shaving foam was snow and let Carter play with it, also making tracks with his animals and cars.  He loved watching me make it snow as I sprayed it on his kid table.  And I was amazed that he was able to nicely play with it without making a mess while I made dinner.  I think it was one of those perfect moments that will never again be recreated!

 

• After reading a book about Groundhog Day and talking about shadows we made some in the hallway.  We built towers out of wooden blocks and then Carter shone a flashlight at the blocks to make their shadow on the wall.  There are so many activities you could do with shadows.  I even saw a book on how to make shadow puppets when we were at the library!

 

Craft:

• At the end of the week I pulled the cotton balls out of Carter's sensory bin to use for a craft.  He dipped the cotton balls in paint to make a picture.  He loved it and worked for quite a while on his masterpiece!

 

 

Special Snack:

• One night as a treat after dinner I made Carter a snowman out of marshmallows.  We still have some of the tubed frosting from Carter's birthday so I used that to hold 3 marshmallows together and then to hold on buttons and eyes.  Ty walked by while I was assembling it and said, "Whoa, Carter gets 3 marshmallows?!"  I'm not one to ever give him more than one treat, but Carter knew exactly what I was doing.  He looked up and exclaimed, "NOman!" as I was putting the marshmallows together.  I think he was more excited about it being a snowman than he was about getting a treat.  I really hope it snows enough at some point for us to build a real snowman with how much he loves them!

 

Make Believe:

• As we read Who Am I? Snowy Animals Carter acted out each of the snowy animals.  He loved sliding on his belly like a seal and waddling like a penguin.  Those were probably his favorites.

• At the end of the week when we were ready to clean up the sensory bin and get it ready for the next theme, we used the shredded paper to pretend it was snowing.  I dumped some on Carter's head and then he had a blast dumping it on me and on Harper.  When it was all dumped out I showed Carter how to lay in it and make a snow angel.  He thought it was hilarious.  Then he ran through it over and over.  It was almost as much fun as real snow.

Carter covered in "snow".

Making a snow angel.

Songs:

• I found the song "5 Little Snowmen" somewhere online, but I just wrote the song down and didn't save the link.  I used the snowmen from our earlier activity where Carter matched the colored hats to the snowmen wearing the same color scarf.  At the end of the song I would pull away one of the snowmen, just leaving the hat, as the snowman melted.  We would count to see how many snowmen were left and continued until all of the snowmen were gone.  At the end of the song I asked Carter how many snowmen were left and he said none.  The song goes like this:

Five little snowmen fat,

Each with a funny hat. 

Out came the sun and melted one.

What a sad thing was that!

Down, down, down. (as the snowman melts away)

Only 2 snowmen left!

• I found another song online and unfortunately wrote it down without saving the link because I wasn't thinking.  This song I made actions to go with and Carter loved it.  It was adorable to watch him do the actions as I sang.

A chubby little snowman (Carter held his arms out in a circle around his belly)

Had a carrot nose; (Carter pointed to his nose)

Along came a rabbit (Carter held his index fingers up by his head to make rabbit ears)

And what do you suppose?

That hungry little bunny

Looking for lunch

Ate the snowman's carrot nose

Nibble, nibble, crunch. (I'd lean in and pretend to eat Carter's nose)

• When Carter and I made snowmen out of our white Play-Doh, I couldn't help myself and pulled up "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman" from Frozen on youtube so we could listen to it as we built our snowmen.

Field Trip/Interactive Experience:

• We enjoyed our Nature's Buddies winter session at the zoo.  The day of our program it was definitely winter weather at 19 degrees with the wind chill making it feel like 9 degrees!  We enjoyed learning about how animals collect food for winter and why they need plenty of space to live.  Carter especially enjoyed watching the sea lion swim, I couldn't believe the cold water didn't bother him at all!

  

  Riding a golf cart at the zoo while clutching a flamingo feather he found.

• After reading the book "Let's Play in the Snow" we went out on a walk and played our own version of "I Spy".  Rather than give Carter clues as to what I saw, I told him what I saw and he would look for it and point at it.  It would have been so much fun to do this after it snowed and spend part of the time searching for animal tracks in the snow.

Books:

• The Mitten by Jan Brett
• Go to Sleep, Groundhog by Judy Cox 
• Groundhog Day by Michelle Aki Becker
• Who Am I? Snowy Animals by DK Readers
• I Am Small by Emma Dodd
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• White Snow Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt
• Red Sled by Rita Judge
• Winter Snow by Liesbet Slegers
• Let's Play in the Snow by Sam McBratney
• One Mitten by Kristine O'Connell George
• Straight to the Pole by Kevin O'Malley
• Hibernation Station by Michelle Meadows
• Frozen Noses by Jan Carr
• Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman
• Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
• Where Is Home, Little Pip? by Karma Wilson
• Snow by Uri Shulevitz
• Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
• The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming
• Snow by Manya Stojic
• Under My Hood I Have a Hat by Karla Kuskin
• Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee
• Mouse's First Snow by Lauren Thompson   
• It's Winter by Linda Glaser
• Winter by Cynthia Amoroso
• Animals in Winter by Martha E.H. Rustard
• Gregory's Shadow by Don Freeman     
• The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader
• Stranger in the Woods by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick
• The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
• Mice on Ice by Rebecca and Ed Emberley
• Pip and Squeak by Ian Schoenherr   
• Frosty the Snowman by Steve Neslon   

A Letter to Elise Before She Arrives

Dear Elise,

You haven't made your big debut yet and I already have so much to say to you.  I sit here and picture what your tiny, little newborn body will look like.  Will you get your daddy's sweet button nose that Carter also has?  Will you have a full head of jet black hair like I did as a baby?  Will you have the perfect little lips that grace your brother's face?  I picture your tiny little fingers, your tiny little toes, the glow of your pink skin new to the world.  I imagine the sound of your first cries ringing through the air.  How they are at the same time beautiful and sad.  I love everything about you now and everything that you will be.  I love looking down at my belly, watching you move.  I love feeling you pressed up against me.  I love your tiny little hiccups that let me know you are using your lungs to practice breathing.  When I think of you I feel warm inside.  I love you so much.

This isn't my first time being pregnant, but yet it has been so different.  I can already tell you are going to be a different child than your brother.  You are bigger and growing much faster than he did.  I get the impression you will come out ready to party since you are constantly on the move and putting such intensity into each movement.  I have a feeling you will be the same way with life, putting flare and personality into everything you do, exuding confidence just like your daddy.  I love everything about your brother and, interestingly enough, you could be the exact opposite and I would love everything about you.  Your brother is an amazing little guy.  You are so lucky to have him to learn from, watch, and walk beside.  He is so sensitive and loving.  It's the perfect way for a big brother to be.  I know he will look out for you and do his best to take care of you.  I hope you learn to appreciate what a gift it is to have a brother and what an amazing one you have! 

Miss Elise, thank you for working so hard to grow and prepare for the day we get to meet.  I am looking forward to it with such anticipation.  All of us are.  You may have an amazing brother, but you also have an amazing daddy.  Even though he didn't grow up with a sister, he sure understands girls.  Although lumbering along in his beasticle ways, he is so gentle and sensitive.  You will learn what a loving heart he has and what a great listener he is.  I imagine you going to daddy when you are a teenager and crying on his shoulder because he is so darn good at that kind of stuff.  It makes my heart swell when I think of him holding you close and comforting you, not just as a baby but all through your life.  There is something powerful about being in your daddy's arms.  It is such a safe place.

Your extended family is also so excited to meet you.  Your Oma and Opa were desperate to have a little granddaughter and are already working on spoiling you with a closet full of clothes!  I'd guess they will soon be wrapped around your little finger just as they are Carter's.  I picture you sitting at your Gma and Gpa's table getting your nails painted for the first time (because that's a first I will save for your Gma), giggling as you feel the brush swipe against your skin and leave a cool, wet polish behind.  I know you'll figure it out soon enough, but you are so lucky to have the grandparents you do.  On top of that you have the best great-grandparents who are all beaming with pride simply thinking about you!  Elise, we are all patiently awaiting your arrival, but at the same time it seems it can't get here soon enough.  We love you and can't wait to meet you and begin to learn your face and personality, your sounds, smells, and movements.  I love you, my little peach.  Soon enough I'll get to plant a kiss on the sweet face I've been staring at in ultrasound pictures and I can hardly wait!

Carter is already practicing his big brother skills!

A Letter to Carter Before Becoming a Big Brother

Dear Carter,

As the birth of your sister approaches I am thinking of so many things.  I think of what I want to tell you, what I wish you could understand, what I hope for our lives once a new baby arrives.  You are the sweetest boy and I love you so.  You have always been so snuggly.  Honest to goodness you would still nap in my arms if I let you.  The best feeling is when I pick you up and you snuggle down into me with your head in the crook of my neck and your hand wrapped in my hair.  I just can't get enough of you.  The way you smell, the way your body feels in my arms, the sound of your voice, the way your eyes light up when you smile, how your hair looks all wild when you wake up from a nap.  In so many ways you are still my baby, wanting to be held, calling for me, wrapping your tiny hands around mine.  But you are definitely a toddler, growing up so quickly, demanding independence while at the same time screaming for my help.  As much as I hate you growing bigger because I know eventually you won't fit in my arms, I love you growing up.  We have conversations.  You make me laugh.  You try to blame your poop smell on anyone else in order to escape a diaper change.  You are my beloved baby, my first child.  You made me a mom and for that I will always be grateful.  The beginning of your life was the start of a new life for me.  One that is rewarding and fulfilling in more ways than I ever could have imagined.

You are such a sweet, sweet snuggle bug!

When your sister arrives none of that will change.  The amount of time I have to devote to you will change as I will no longer be taking care of just you.  It pains me to think of you feeling left out or unloved.  Part of me has struggled with the thought of having another child for this very reason.  I want to always be able to pour my whole self into you because you are amazing and perfect and you deserve it.  But then this other part of me wants to give you a sibling for the exact same reasons, you are amazing and perfect and you deserve it.  Having my brothers to grow up with was and always will be the best gift my parents ever gave me.  There was never a day I wished I was an only child.  Although there were days I wished for a third sibling so I could have a sister!  They were my best friends, my constant companions, and I loved and still do love them more than you can love a friend you choose on your own.  We are connected.  We are a part of each other.  Some of that comes from similar genetics.  Some of it comes from spending our childhood together.  Some of it is simply being brother and sister.  When I think of you having that special relationship with Elise, I get tears in my eyes.  I want for you to feel the love of a brother.  To enjoy the love she will also give to you.  It's a wonderful thing.  I know in the beginning it will be hard.  She will be needy and will get a lot of attention.  Attention that you are used to getting.  You get A LOT of attention being the only grandchild on both sides and the only niece or nephew on my side.  You are a bit spoiled and I know it.  But I also know you are resilient and easy going and after some time you will roll with it.

Carter, I've come to find a mother's love is something that can't be described.  It is different than any other kind of love that one can receive or feel.  I wouldn't say I love you any more or any less than I love your daddy, but I love you in a completely different way.  You are both essential elements to my life.  Pieces that if taken away I can't imagine how my life would go on.  No matter what, you are both at the very center of my beating heart.  You are loved and treasured and appreciated so deeply.  We will be adding another element to the center of my heart when Elise arrives and I am so excited.  I already love her so much and I know you will love her too!

I love you forever and for always!