Birthday Recap and Other News

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a very good day. Rob took the morning off from work to watch Rex so I could go to my doctor appointment. It was just a quick check-up (I am on the once-every-two-weeks schedule now) and everything was fine. I'm measuring bigger than I was at this point with Rex and on the bigger side in general. It looks like I will have another ultrasound once we get a little closer to delivery time so we can see just how big this guy is. I had a dream a few nights ago that the baby weighed 24 lbs 4 oz when he was born so obviously I have been a little concerned about this kid being huge. I told my doctor about the dream and we both had a good laugh about a 24 pound newborn. Anyhow, I came home to find that Rob had done all the dishes, vacuumed the living room rug and decorated for my birthday. It was so sweet and such a nice surprise.



They also had my gift and card ready so we opened my presents and then it was time to take Rob to work. Rob really wanted to take me out to dinner but sometimes eating out with Rex is more of a chore than a relaxing thing so I opted to get pizza instead. We ate our pizza and watched Lost which is a great night, if you ask me. I had another good surprise yesterday too for my birthday- our daffodils started blooming!



The weather has been wonderful lately so it was not a big surprise that all our bulbs are jumping out of the ground now. Rex and I have been on quite a few walks now and on Monday, I took him to the park too. I had visions of taking him on the slide this year but I can't quite make it up to the top of the slide and probably going down one isn't a good idea either. We settled for some swinging and running around instead. As I mentioned before, he can count to five and recognizes the numbers too so he had a good time with one part of the playset, in particular.

The Latest on Rex

Rex has been doing so many new things lately. In the past week or two, he learned how to open doors with doorknobs (he has been able to open/close the pocket doors for quite a while), open the fridge, and open all the drawers in the kitchen. AND suddenly he is tall enough to reach all the buttons on the dvd player again- we moved it as high as we could a while back and it worked for a few months but now we have a problem again. The biggest reason for the trip to Des Moines last weekend was a trip to Babies R Us to buy childproofing supplies. I got a dvd guard and fridge latches. We already had some cabinet latches to use for the kitchen drawers so Rob put all those on. They are so incredibly annoying but you only have to find your child with a battery in his mouth one time (as we did) and you realize the latches are worth their trouble. Finally, we went to Lowes two nights ago to get some locks/latches to install at the top of all exterior doors rather than the handle covers (already had some of these too) that we use on the interior doors. Honestly, all these safety features are annoying and a pain for Rob and I but we will deal with it to keep our baby safe.

Rex's vocabulary is really taking off now too. It has increased a lot in the last month but now it is crazy! He counts to five (and recognizes the numbers in print) which is my favorite thing. Some other new words that I like or make me laugh are "homo" for home, "bess-oo" (bless you) when somebody sneezes or blows their nose and "too too" for all busses, delivery trucks, semi trucks, trains and even just big passenger trucks. "Too too" is his way of saying "choo choo" which he learned for train and then adopted for all large vehicles. Oh, and he says that when someone honks their horn too. One of my not-so-favorite new phrases is "I do"- nothing wrong with the words, just what they mean. The boy is going to be two soon and he is figuring out that he wants to do things himself and his way. I try to let him do things himself and his way as much as we can but really, mommy still needs to be the one to put the seatbelt on in the car. I let him do the latch at the chest and that compromise seems to work okay. He loves to push the button for the garage door opener so that is his job now. He has learned "no" but he doesn't use it too much. He would rather just repeat everything you say to him. For instance this is what happens when it is time to change a diaper. He follows me down the hall but stops just outside his room.

Me: Rex, come here so I can change your diaper.
Rex: Come 'ere!
Me: Get in here- let's go.
Rex: Les go!
Me: Now!
Rex: Now!

At this point I usually stare him down until he comes in or I go get him. It's just so wonderful that he has his own ideas about things now. Argh. I told Rob recently that the fun times are getting even more fun but the tough times are a little more challenging now too. We are having a good time with it all.

Speaking of having a good time, it is in the 60s today and I am planning on taking Rex to the park today to run around so I better get going!

Here Comes The Sun

Thank goodness it is finally getting warm. We have been on a few more walks over the past week and have been spending time with Rex in the backyard. It is so fun to watch him explore the backyard and just be able to walk all over the place. So much different than last summer. However, he does try to take off for the neighbors' yard or our front yard so we are now discussing fencing off the last side of our yard. Neighbors on two sides have fences along our property line so it wouldn't take much to finish off the job and have our backyard fenced in. I was promoting the idea anyhow so we can keep the damn rabbits out of the yard and away from my plants but I can see the idea has more benefits than just keeping things out. We are now at a point where we also need to think about keeping things in. Here are Rob and Rex feeding the squirrels and Rex and I walking around, enjoying the sunshine.




Rob's parents went home yesterday. It was a great visit and everyone had a good time. It snowed a tiny bit for them last Friday but it all melted pretty quickly. Marge and I took a little trip to Des Moines on Saturday and had some girl time going shopping. We played Yahtzee and it seems I used up all my Yahtzee luck the last time I played- I lost badly both times. But after you get 531 points and FOUR yahtzees in one game, you really don't care about winning anymore. Rex got a little time alone with his grandparents on Monday night when Rob and I went out to dinner by ourselves. So nice to get out just the two of us AND not have to pay for a babysitter- woohoo! I can't believe that they will be back in just 8 weeks for baby brother's birth- the time is just flying by!!

Shamrock Shake- Finally!

I have never had a Shamrock Shake from McDonalds. Every year, I want to try it but since I never go to McDonalds, I never seem to get one. I think I started talking about trying it a month or so ago and decided I would get one on St. Patrick's Day. Well, I meant to go out in the afternoon to get one but I forgot until about 9:00 pm that night and then I was completely stuffed from dinner. Rob told me they would still have them the next day so I headed over around lunchtime on Thursday, March 18th to get my very first Shamrock Shake. I should have taken a picture of this event but I didn't have a camera with me and I couldn't wait to get it home to take a picture first. I have to say, it was pretty tasty. I like mint flavored things so I enjoyed it. Maybe I'll have another in 32 years but hopefully sooner!

The weather has warmed up this week and Rex and I were able to go on two walks. Now it's snowing today but at least we had some warm weather and we'll get some again next week. Yay for temps in the 60s!



Rex and I actually had a special guest for our first walk- Rob's parents are visiting so Rex was lucky enough to have his Gram join us! Rob and his dad have been busy working on things around the house while Gram and I have been entertaining Rex. Or rather, Rex has been entertaining us. We're all having a great time and Rex and Gram took some time to enjoy the sunny outdoors yesterday afternoon.



I went to one of my doctor appointments yesterday and everything is going along just fine. I have noticed a lot more pain in my hips this time but I think it's from carrying around a 30+ lb child and being 7 months pregnant. Other things seem better this time around, like heartburn and leg cramps, so I guess I won't complain too much about the hip pain. We talked more about inducing me at 39 weeks and it looks like this baby will probably be here on May 19th or 21st. My doctor said we'll figure it out exactly as the time gets closer. Only 61 or 63 more days to go!!

Grapes or Wrath

With Rex, you have two options. Feed him grapes or face his wrath. This morning he confronted me like this while I was making breakfast.



So we had grapes with breakfast today instead of with lunch like we usually do.



We used to have grapes a lot last summer but over the winter, the price got up to nearly $4 a pound so it has been a while since we have eaten any grapes. The price is coming down now so we've had them a couple times in the last few weeks and it is like this every time. Whenever he sees the fridge open, he dashes over and opens the bottom drawer and drags out some grapes or even the whole bag. I keep telling Rob I'm going to start keeping them in the garage where it is cool and Rex can't find them. At least it is fruit though and not junk food!

Photo Shoot

I am 29 weeks along today and decided it was time for another photo. Here it is.



When I was done, I wanted to take some photos of Rex to show off his new haircut. It is amazing how much he looks like a little boy (rather than a baby) when he has his hair cut short. He wasn't really in the mood but I managed to get him to sit still long enough to get one good shot of him.



He quickly became less and less cooperative, not wanting to sit still at all.



Finally, he let me know that he was totally done- AND that he wanted the camera now!

The Cow Says... Beee?

Rex knows a lot of the sounds that animals make. I can only do videos that are 20 seconds long so I got in as many as I could.



They aren't all perfect but most are pretty close. Except for the cow. The cow says, and always has said, "beee" according to Rex. I have no idea why he started doing this but I think I know why it stuck. Rob and I used to laugh and laugh at him doing that and once he realized he could make us laugh, he just kept doing it. I have only heard him say "moo" for the cow probably 3 times. Another funny thing is how he has to build up to make the sheep sound- "mmmmmBAAA!" The dog sounds an awful lot like a duck and cat says "ow" rather than the full "meow". Or maybe the cat is just in pain, I'm not sure. But he does a very good rooster, duck and tiger!

Sick Of It

Rex had a little bug last week, as I mentioned, that seemed to move through quickly and did not keep him down too long. Being the mama bear that I am, we still went to see the doctor on Thursday even though he seemed much better by then. He had a little rash on his neck and I really wanted to get that looked at too (it's fine). Unfortunately, he picked up some more germs while we were there and on Sunday night was sick again. Argh! I had my antibacterial wipes out and I was trying to wipe down everything and anything he might touch. I also sat us away from everyone else in the waiting room. So despite my efforts, poor Rex got sick twice in one week. The second round was quick and he is totally fine again. I'm just glad I didn't get it myself because I can't fight off anything right now. Here's what Rex looked like for a good part of Monday.



There hasn't been too much else going on around here lately. Rex needs another haircut but we have not had a chance to get him in with him being sick. Rob has been really busy at work this week. And I've been busy with growing a baby- we are in the last trimester now. Time is just flying by with this pregnancy. It is very likely that my doctor is going to induce me a week early so really we only have 11 weeks left. Or less if the new kid decides to come before that- yikes! While there isn't much to do to prepare for the baby, we have a lot of work to do for Rex's new room. Rex is going to be moving into one of the other bedrooms so we can use the nursery for the baby. We have an idea of a theme in mind but can't really decide how we want to carry it out. I have set a deadline of April 30th for the room to be done so we really need to get going on this project. This is our problem with decorating- we can agree on colors and a general direction for it but have a hard time actually picking things out and getting it finished. We have some really good ideas for his room though so hopefully we will get it together and finished soon!