Playtime!

We worked really hard on Saturday getting ready for baby. At my appointment this week (I'm 34 weeks along) everything checked out great. This little girl continues to have a strong heartbeat and is a mover and a shaker - my belly is constantly contorting into weird shapes. Since Saturday was a work day (cleaning, rearranging furniture, laundry, installing a permanent baby gate) we spent Sunday as a fun, family-of-three day. After a relaxing morning we explored Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America. We arrived before it opened so that Miles could run around without the crowds. He loved looking at all of the moving parts and bright colors. I diligently researched ahead of time what rides Miles could both go on and enjoy and chose 3. So, we were first in line for the little train ride. As soon as we sat down Miles started to cry and wanted nothing to do with the train. They stopped the ride early for us so we could get off. After one more attempt at riding in a little semi truck with Mike, this time Miles started crying before the truck even began to move, we spent the rest of the morning people and ride watching - which was much more suited to Miles' speed. Here's Miles being traumatized on his first amusement park ride.He had a much better time just watching all of the action.
After naps and lunch we went to the park. Who needs an expensive amusement park when you have a lovely toddler playground practically in your backyard? We almost had the place to ourselves and we all had a great time.

Is this the two-man luge or just Mike and Miles having way too much fun on the twisting slide?As the time for baby #2's arrival gets closer Mike and I have been reflecting on what a great family we have and our sweet boy, Miles. We've come so far with Miles that starting over with a newborn sometimes feels overwhelming but if we love Miles this much we're hoping our joy will be multiplied with this new little one.

Bed Head

Our little nudie with his teddy.

So excited about his big boy bed - this is how he woke up from his nap on Saturday.

For some reason his new bed gives him very crazy hair.

Just as I'm sitting down to write that Miles' transition to a big boy bed has gone very smoothly he pulls out his toddler bag of tricks at bedtime tonight. We caught him standing up in bed banging the picture hanging on the wall against the wall. Then he was calling for Ruby. Then he had thrown his pacifier, puppy and blanket on the floor and was demanding a cup of water. Three minutes of soothing from mommy and all is quiet now in his room. I was a little apprehensive about this change and spent a lot of time finding the perfect blue and white quilt for his bed and choo-choo train pillowcase but this change has gone better than I anticipated. He's still a champion sleeper at night and during naps and looks like a little peanut in this huge bed. I wish I was brave enough to take a picture of him sleeping in it but I don't want to wake him. We're so proud of him for making this big boy step and he's so proud of himself too.

Baby & Big Boy

This is how our sweet boy wakes up from his naps most days.

Happy boy in his crib.

These may be some of the last photos of Miles in a crib. Where has my baby gone? Saturday Miles officially entered the realm of a "big boy" when we went to Slumberland and bought him a twin bed. We'll start transitioning him to this next weekend. This is all part of our master "prep for new baby" plan which we chipped away at more this weekend. Also accomplished - baby girl's clothes (the gender neutral hand-me-downs from Miles) are now washed and put away in her dresser.

This week at ECFE our topic was language development. 18-24 month olds should be starting to say 2 or more word sentences. I knew Miles at 20 months was doing this but I spent the last 2 days recording these little sentences. Here they are:

• No Ruby.
• What's that?
• Where did it go?
• I love you.
• Clean up.
• All done.
• Hi Mommy (or Daddy or Auntie, etc.)
• Bye Mommy (or fill in blank)
• Big truck.
• I'm stuck or It's stuck.
• Thank you.
• Mommy cup.
• Bless you.
• I got you.
• Here you go.
• One more minute.

At my 32 week doctor's appointment this week by regular OB was on vacation so I saw a different doctor. She measured me at 36 weeks! To double check things I had an ultrasound on Wednesday and the baby's measurements all were calculating exactly to my due date, May 13. So either this doctor measured differently then my normal OB or I ate a lot on vacation in Texas (both probably true). This little one now weighs 4 lbs and is looking very healthy. We got to see her little, sweet face in 3D and the ultrasound technician confirmed the presence of "a little hair" on her head. She's already head down and looks pretty squished but comfy.

In case she asks me 15 years from now I thought I better record what I've been craving this pregnancy. Oddly enough turkey sub sandwiches. My normal, non-pregnant self usually stays clear of turkey lunch meat but I always want to eat it now. I can't bring myself to buy it at the store but a turkey sub from a sandwich shop always sounds good. Mike would also say that I crave sweets of any kind - which I guess is true but unfortunately is also true when I'm not pregnant.

Yee-Haw!

We flew to Texas Tuesday morning for our annual vacation to visit my parents on the Gulf Coast. Ahhh, our long awaited vacation was finally here! We had absolutely gorgeous weather and took advantage of every second of it. We went to the beautiful Rockport park where Miles played on the toddler playground.
We listened to the waves outside my parents' front door and Mike and Miles cruised on the pier looking at herons, pelicans and ducks.

Vacationing with my family means lots of good food! Here Miles and Grandpa Nickolay, called Baba by Miles, enjoyed a happy hour snack. Miles also wins the muffin eating contest - he gobbled up the most homemade zucchini muffins during our stay.

Grandma Nickolay, or Mama to Miles (I'm now Mommy), loves giving him lots of smooches. Miles was always on the look out for puppies out the windows.

Here we are just enjoying the sunshine and the water.

Happy hour!

During our trip we went to the Rockport Beach which is rated one of the cleanest beaches in the country. Miles did not want to walk in the sand at first but with some coaxing (gentle forcing) he got his toes a little dirty and his feet wet and had a great time.

We also drove on the beach in Port Aransas and dipped our feet in the Gulf of Mexico.

Miles loved seeing all of the boats and went on a ferry ride across to Port A. According to Miles, "toot toot" goes the boat.

Miles first kayaking adventure. When mommy and Grandpa went out kayaking without him he got very upset not wanting to be left behind.

I don't think that Miles could love his grandparents anymore. When they weren't in the room he would be asking for "baba? mama?" Here's their view from the front deck.

We all had such a great time. It was a wonderful last chance for us to take a trip as a family of 3 and relax before little baby girl arrives.

A huge thank you to my parents for making this trip memorable. We miss you when you're away but can't wait to visit next year (although our family will soon be taking up a whole row in the plane!).

Hat

Everything is a "hat" these days with Miles. He loves putting hats and toys on his and Ruby's heads and saying "hat!" Here's a hat he made at ECFE this week.
Puppy is Miles' new best friend. He totes puppy everywhere with him and has started to feed, water and kiss puppy. This morning puppy got a little more water then he bargained for when Miles dipped him into Ruby's water dish.
Saturday after organizing 7 boxes of baby clothes and continuing our mission of cleaning out all of the closets we hung out with Rachel, Graham and Corey. Here Miles is playing (with puppy) in Corey's clubhouse.Uncle Graham has his hands full of cuteness!
Mike and I are slowly chipping away at our long list of things to do to prepare for this baby and are starting to narrow down our list of names. Like with Miles, we'll wait to meet this little girl before officially picking out a name, but at least we're agreeing on a few options. Mike and Miles came to my doctors appointment with me this week and even though Miles kept telling the doctor "bye-bye" the appointment went well and we all heard the heartbeat which the doctor said is so steady and regular you could dance to it. Yeah for our tiny dancer!

Snow Day

Everyday I think I can't love Miles anymore - but I do! Miles' school was closed on Monday due to another blizzard so we got to enjoy a snow day together! We took advantage of the time by trying 2 new activities. First, I made homemade playdough and Miles dug in making holes with his fingers and squishing the playdough animals that I made him.
Next, I set up a water station so that he could splash. After about 5 minutes all of the water had been dumped on the floor but I think he had fun.
Our little man is maturing everyday. He is very aware when he goes "poo-poo" in his pants and expresses a lot of interest in everything "potty." One night, after bath he wanted to sit on the potty and although nothing happened he was so proud of himself. We really aren't pushing potty training yet because he's still so young but we're taking his lead and if he's interested we're happy to be more then encouraging. We're looking at purchasing toilet inserts so that he can sit on the toilet by himself soon.
Part of our morning ritual during the week consists of Miles helping himself to a breakfast bar and having a pre-breakfast snack before going to school.
Lucky me - I was home with Miles twice this week! (Working only 3 days a week would be my ideal situation - sigh...) In the morning we went to ECFE. I LOVE watching how much the children have grown. These little people used to sit like little blobs on their mom's laps during circle time. Now they are all running to pick out blocks from the bucket for the "bang-bang" song and enthusiastically shaking the parachute to watch the balls jump and bounce. Miles is a great participant. Lately, I have to drag him out of class crying because he wants to stay and play. His language skills are sky rocketing lately too with more phrases added to his repertoire. He now says thank you (and uses it at the appropriate times), here you go, and I love you. Here Miles is flossing his teeth in the morning with me.
Friday afternoon we went to the Eden Prairie Community Center and romped around the toddler area.

Ahh, a little piece of spring during this cold winter. Mike brought home the most lovely tulips for me. Miles and I both were left saying "wow!"
Saturday morning we trekked to Once Upon A Child to buy Miles some 2T summer clothes to wear in Texas. One purchase was this monkey t-shirt which he insisted on wearing today. Very cute.
Weekends are for relaxing and we did a lot of that. We also celebrated Ruby's 7th birthday!
Operation prepare for baby has finally kicked into gear. Luckily, my 3-hour glucose test came back negative so with a renewed spirit we started cleaning out closets, sorting baby clothes, purchased newborn diapers and bought Miles bedding for his upcoming transition to a twin bed. I also got a prenatal massage. The baby to-do list is still long but we're making progress.

23 Hours of Fun

I heart you
The highlight of my Valentine's Day this year was giving Miles a little brown and white puppy he had previously played with at Barnes and Noble. He loves dogs and one day another child's little stuffed puppy accidentally was sent home from daycare in Miles' bag. Miles carried that puppy around all night. So when he opened a little stuffed puppy of his own Monday night he excitedly exclaimed "puppy, puppy, puppy" over and over again while hugging it. He's been toting it around ever since.

Baby girl news
Unbelievably I'm in my 3rd trimester now (28 weeks along). Where has the time gone and why haven't I started preparing? Baby girl is active and doing well. Unfortunately, I failed my glucose screening test so completed a 3-hour glucose tolerance test on Friday. I get the test results back tomorrow and hope that I don't have gestational diabetes. Nothing like a little added stress to the pressure I'm already feeling trying not be tired all the time and preparing for this little one. Despite mixed emotions I'm still excited to meet this little (dare I hope - dark haired) beauty.

Moorhead whirlwind
We make an annual trip to Moorhead to visit my brother, Matt, and sister-in-law, Janelle, every winter. We always have a great time in the great wide open to our north. This year was more baby-centric but no less wild. We were able to leave at 3:30 pm Friday with the car loaded to the gills with baby and dog gear. Miles was a trooper on the way. We took a break about halfway there for dinner at Dairy Queen and there was nothing fast about our stop at this fast food restaurant. Miles was the unofficial greeter saying "hello" to everyone that walked through the door and loved his burger and fries. We finally arrived about 8:00 pm Friday night. Saturday we played, played, played with the babies and did lots of chatting. Of course Uncle Matt and Aunt Janelle spoiled the babies with new Tonka trucks.

We had a lively lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings where Corey and Miles split a burger and fries.

Ketchup is always fun (and messy).

Miles loved eating out this weekend.

In several attempts to take a good group photo (this group won't look the same next year - 2 more babies will be added to the mix) this was one of the better ones.

With 3 dogs in the house most of our group pictures had a dog butt in them.

Here the little buddies are just hanging out in their chairs.

Miles loves his Auntie and Uncle and actually can now say "auntie" and "uncle!" Thanks for hosting us Matt and Janelle!

Rachel, Matt and families surprised me with a yummy ice cream cake.

Due to a pending blizzard we had to cut the fun short and head home early Saturday night. We arrived home by 10:00 pm only to be snowed in today.