Well, Duncan Edward decided to beat his big brother by 5 days and came at 36 weeks and 2 days. Weighing in at a lovely 6 lbs 6 oz, 18.5 inches long he showed up at 7:55 PM on November 5th. The day after my sister's birthday and just 5 short hours after my water broke. It would have been earlier had I not eaten that bowl of ice cream around 1 o'clock. They wouldn't operate until a certain amount of time had passed and since every one seemed healthy and cozy there was no hurry. Cozy being a relative term. Contractions were easier this time but not particularly fun either. I was more than happy to go forward once the spinal kicked in.

Aidan's adjusting well to being a big brother, he can't wait to play with Duncan. In fact that's been the hardest part, explaining why the baby is just too little to play catch right now.

Things this time around feel easier, despite juggling two small men's schedules. Some things came right back to me, although lack of sleep is still hard. Still, I'm thrilled to now be a family of 4.



Awake
Originally uploaded by apg

Last post as a family of 3

I officially have 4 weeks left before surgery. Unofficially, things could go down at any time. 10 days from now will be the point at which Aidan decided to make an appearance. If his little brother decides the same...well, then we have 10 days until we're a family of 4!

Aidan's been doing some phenomenal things lately. Maybe all kids do these things at this point, but they seem pretty awesome to me anyway. He's been singing along with songs for a little while and knows and can sing almost all of Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle, the ABCs, and Itsy Bitsy Spider. He just needs a little prompting here and there, but he knows all the words in the right order.

He can also count to 10 and lately has been adding on 11 and 12. Sometimes 4 and 5 get left out, but who needs them anyway, right?

Aidan's also been pretending. This one flabbergasts me. I had no idea it started so young. A few months ago he handed me one of his toy cups and announced "soup!" and wasn't satisfied until I'd taken a sip of it. This progressed into "hot dog" and sitting and pretending to make coffee with Daddy. Yesterday, he was carrying around two of his stuffed animals and suddenly announced "bear, sleep! hedgehog, sleep!" and laid both of them down. Then he looked at me and said "blanket!" and ran back to his room. Seconds later he came back with the arm covers from the rocking chair and laid them over top of each animal. After patting each one and announcing sleep again he grabbed my hand and made me leave the room.

Clearly the life of a stuffed hedgehog and bear is tiring, they needed their rest.

He's done so many other adorable things lately, but I can't post them all. Well, I could but who'd have time to read them? All in all I think he's going to be a wonderful big brother and I can't wait until we all get to meet Duncan.

Holy Crap! Is that an update I see?

I know, I know, it's been forever and nearly 3 months since I've posted anything. A lot has happened, with us, Aidan and the new baby. Here's generally where we're at.

I'm at 25 weeks, a little more than half way and just about to the point where I remember, Oh yeah pregnancy is uncomfortable. So far everything's looking good. We found out that the baby's a boy (YAHOO!!! re-using clothes, toys, blankets, everything!) and overall I'm doing fine.

Aidan has been picking up millions of new words and has started pairing 2 or 3 at a time together to make "sentences." They're usually pretty simple like "Mama come" with a different inflection to mean he wants me or that he's happy to see me. We've also been experimenting with potty training. He's shown an interest repeatedly, so we bought a potty seat that he's managed to use several times. No big push and certainly no big concerted efforts on our parts. No since rushing him to have a relapse when the new baby gets here. But when he asks, we make sure to get him straight there and praise him afterwards. I'm probably breaking all the potty-training rules, but since I haven't bothered to read any, I don't really care. It's working for now, and I'm going to be changing diapers for next few years regardless so what difference is changing two kids worth?

We've also been doing some needed work around the house. Some, ok who am I kidding, all unpleasant but definitely necessary. The next big goal is to clean up the spare bedroom to turn into Aidan's room. It'll all be wonderful when we're finished, just wish we were already finished.

I know there's been a lot more going on, but that's all for now folks. Meanwhile, enjoy a recent picture of me and Aidan hamming it up in front of the computer.

A bottle a day

I've been working on phasing out the bottles from Aidan's routine. A few "easy" goals before the next one gets here. Get Baby 1 off pacifiers, bottles, and out of the crib. We got rid of the pacifiers months ago, and I've got Aidan down to just one bottle a day now at bedtime.

I could probably get rid of that one too, but I have noticed that it's harder to get him down for a nap now that he drinks his milk from sippy cups. So for another week or so we'll keep that last bottle.

Next step? Introduction to toddler bed. Yipes!

18 Months - A Year and a Half!

We've been trying to figure out how many words Aidan can say, so I thought I make a list here. The one's with a star are those he also signs.
In no particular order...

1. Arrow
2. Mama
3. Dada
4. up*
5. down*
6. blanket
7. bear
8. lovey
9. star
10. moon
    
11. book
12. door
13. diaper
14. chair
15. light*
16. fan
17. car
18. fish*
19. ball
20. window
21. outside
22. truck
23. bird*
24. geese
25. coffee
26. bean
27. cup
28. stir
29. sugar
30. food*
31. hungry*
32. eat
33. cookie*
34. apple*
35. more*
36. spoon
37. bib
38. off
39. nose
40. ear
41. eye
42. toes
43. knee
44. arm
    
45. shoes
46. ride
47. keys
48. snap
49. no/nope
50. "copter," ie. helicopter*
51. soft
52. hole
53. hide
54. music
55. milk*
56. dog
57. hurt*
58. trash
59. tv
60. Elmo (heaven help me)
61. cold
62. hot
63. water*
64. bath
65. wash
66. watch
67. hat
68. glasses
69. grass
70. dirt
71. sheep
72. knob
73. help*
74. nice
75. dip
76. please*
77. banana*
78. mess
79. bee
80. ni-ni
81. hi*
82. bye*
83. juice
84. love*
    

Some he's been saying for quite a while and others are newly picked up, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. He claps when a song or tv show is over, brushes his teeth reasonably well on his own, will bring me something when I ask, and can point out his head, eyes, ears, nose, chin, cheeks, mouth, teeth, elbows, arms, hands, feet, toes, and knees. Even though he can't say all of the words for them yet. Aidan loves watching me sign the alphabet while we sing, and has started recognizing some of the letters and some of his numbers. We're still working on colors. I got him to say yellow once but haven't been able to repeat it or have him consistently point it out. Aidan also says lots of sounds that things make, like 'honk' for geese or beeping his nose. He also knows dogs say "woof" cats say "meow," and when Arrow licks him "eww." Elephants say "pphhtb" cars go "vrroom", and any unknown motor sound in the distance is a helicopter.

Aidan also just had his 18 month checkup this morning and is average for weight and above average for height. Only one shot today (hooray!) and the doctor said he's doing great.

I guess that's about it for this month, more on the new baby in the next few days.

The Adventure Continues

Who needs full nights of sleep? Who needs spit-up-free clothing? Who needs both hands free?
Clearly, not us.


Our newest arrival will be making an appearance late November/early December.

Happy Mother's Day!

Month 17

Heading out to plow the back 40
Originally uploaded by apg

This has been another full and exciting month! As witnessed by the lack of posts. Aidan's still picking up tons of new words and gestures, running all over the place, and generally getting bigger by the second. He's also started showing signs of getting ready for potty training, so that new adventure is ahead of us. We've also been debating about the move to a toddler bed, but until he shows signs of climbing out of the crib, I'm happy to keep the hallways baby-free for a few more months.

Month 16

This month Aidan's language skills have exploded. He's definitely in the mimicking stage. All of a sudden he can both say and sign 'more' as well as banana, apple, please, milk, down, and others that I'm sure I'm forgetting right now. He's started saying mama, dada, hi, car, toast, up, and just about anything else that I spend just a few minutes coaching him on. He'll shake hands with you, blow you a kiss, likes to bounce on the beds, and in general has become a TODDLER. How did this happen?

Everything is suddenly fair game, and a whole new set of limits has to be created. It's not okay for him to play with the door on the vcr anymore, because he knows now that it has an 'in' and things can go in that 'in.' Aidan's discovered under as well, and lots of toys wind up under the coach, or the runner in the hall, or some mysterious hidey-hole he has in the basement which I have yet to be able to find. I looked for a wooden block for three days, he toddled over to a corner somewhere and magically produced it last night, and I was all "KID, where did you get that from??"

This has to have been the most fun month so far, and the most tiring, and challenging. And just when things hit a stride, suddenly he's going to learn that there's an out instead of in and shouldn't we all be out? No, mama not in. OUT. And toys don't go under mama, they go on top.

See you all in another month!

NICU Tour

We've been invited to tour the new NICU at Shady Grove this evening. It's a hard hat tour since construction is still underway. Which is both good and bad. I'd love to see the sparkling new NICU all kitted out, but also don't think I could maintain any sort of composure seeing all the equipment in it's familiar place.

We haven't been back to Shady Grove since dropping off the digital camera kindly donated by the AFT and stopping in to inform the nurses about Stuart's memorial service. I both want to see the nurses and avoid them. A reaction I'm sure they're only too familiar with.

I'm thrilled that the donations made in Stuart's name are working towards a bigger better place for other babies like him; better equipment, more space, more staff...and I truly hope I'll never, ever have to experience it up close and personal again.

In the Midnight Hour, She Cried More, More, More

HURRAY!!! Aidan said "more" today along with signing it. He also started saying "no" and shaking his head a few days ago. I think we are on the road to full on speech very shortly.

Heaven help me.

Month 15

This month was the month of the teeth. Aidan's cut almost all four of his first molars. Just one left on the top that hasn't quite finished poking through. He's also learned how to go down the stairs backwards, and most importantly if we ask him a question he thinks about it, and answers. With a sign and possibly part of a word.

The other day while Andy's mom was watching him, she asked Aidan if he needed a diaper change. He raced over to the stairs, signing change and saying "Di! Di!" He's repeated this at home and if he's already upstairs, races towards his room.

Aidan also started saying "Arrow" to the dog again. He had stopped for a few weeks, we weren't sure why. But yesterday he started right back up again. Maybe it was because of the new teeth, talking just wasn't as much fun for a little while.

That's about all on the progress for now. Hopefully things will warm up around here soon and there'll be trips to the park, the pool, etc.

Month 14

This has been an unbelievable month for Aidan. He started walking right after New year's and has been on the go ever since. Just this past week he's managed to stand up on his own without pulling up on anything. Considering a month ago he couldn't walk at all with out help this is a huge achievement!

This past month we also made our very first family trip. Aidan's very first flight, and his very first passport stamps. Oh yes, my one year old has already been to Scotland, and Ireland. I'd say Amsterdam too, but you can't count the airport as actually having been in a country. Otherwise I'd have about 8 more in my own list.

Aidan handled the trip incredibly well, except for the last two days when he got sick for the very first time. With a fever of 102. And we were in Falcarragh, Ireland. I didn't handle it with quite so much calm. But, we got him to a doctor, turns out it was an ear infection, got some antibiotics and some Motrin and by the time we were on the flight home from Amsterdam a day and a half later, the fever broke and he was starting to feel much better.

By the way, antibiotics tend upset babies stomachs. And changing tables in airplane bathrooms are not particularly easy to maneuver with. I think I can truly handle anything at this point.

The latest in Aidan news is his shift in nap schedules. He seems to have overnight switched to a one-nap-a-day kind of guy. This nap has been 3 to 3.5 hours long so I'm not complaining! Just need to readjust my own schedule to accomodate. I used to shower once I got him down for his morning nap around 9. I simply cannot wait until 12 to shower. So once we all figure out the new patterns it'll be a lot easier.

And the very last bit of news for this month (I told you it was a big month) is that Aidan now has two molars. This is great, but a little weird, since he hasn't cut his canines yet. But now he can chew food a little easier, and once the other two come in he'll sleep a little easier at night too I think.

My little man is quickly becoming a big one, I can't get over the fact that this time last year we were happy if he held his head up for a while and didn't cry to much when we put him on his belly.

Month 13 - No I didn't forget

With all the Christmas-ing and the New Year-ing, and the packing for the trip I did let the update slide. And what an update! Aidan is officially walking. On his own, without holding on to anything.

This is as thrilling as it is terrifying.

He's also been babbling up a storm, but unfortunately no words yet. He's been able to say "Arrow" and "Uh Oh" for months, but beyond that nothing. I'm sure he'll manage it like he's done everything else and will spout out about 5 new words in one day.

Aidan also had his first haircut, shortly after his birthday. He looked so much better without that extra shag it really made me wish I'd let Andy cut it before. Ah well.

Otherwise, not much has been happening. We'll be making our first major trip as a family at the end of this week, I'll be sure to let you all know how that went once we're back. Fingers crossed!