Oh Boy!

As most of you have probably heard by now, I am going to have a little brother! We found out one week ago that the little peanut in Mommy's belly is a boy. I am so excited to have a little brother to be best buddies with, play with, teach, love, and push around (just kidding Mommy and Daddy!) I still catch myself calling the baby, "Lilly" thanks to Mommy who brainwashed me into thinking we were having a little girl. Daddy was quite proud when the ultrasound tech exclaimed that the baby was CLEARLY a boy. The picture below proves the point!
My baby brother is approximately 12 inches in length and weighs 14 ounces. Mommy feels the little guy especially at night. He is a mover and a shaker! During the ultrasound, he moved the entire time, but was very cooperative and photogenic.

Here is his profile, which Mommy says looks just like me (round head, little features, cool hair... I made that part up!) He is waving his hand out towards us. He already can wave, "Hello!" Quite advanced for a 21 week old.

This picture is a bit scary... he is looking right at us in the picture. During the ultrasound, he made swallowing movements and almost looked like he had hiccups too. I think he looks like a little alien here myself. I hope he is cuter in person :)

Our baby is a thumb sucker. This is new, since I never leared to suck my thumb in Mommy's belly and I have never to this day, sucked my thumb. Mommy thought that breaking me from my pacifier was tough. Wait until she has to teach the baby not to suck his thumb. They are going to wish I was an only child!

The ultrasound tech found out that Mommy was a scrapbooker and since my brother was such a good little guy during the scan, she gave us lots of photos to scrap and keep. This picture is also kind of funny/strange. He did a great big yawn in the middle of the ultrasound, so we captured it in time to print off.

The ultrasound shows Mommy's due date as June 23rd. The calendar due date was June 20th, early ultrasound said June 26th (which Momy disagreed with) but the 23rd is exactly the date that Mommy thought it would be. So, we are going to keep the 26th as the due date, with hopes that June 23rd is the actual arrival of my brother.

In the meantime, we are thinking of boy names, trying to decide what the nursery theme/decorations will be, and my parents already ordered my bedroom set this past weekend. I won't transition until mid-April, but the furniture was exactly right, so the order was placed. We are also going to decide on my bedroom theme... tractors, construction, or trains are what come to mind right now.

Backing up a week and a half ago... we went to the Sullivan's to have a dinner and playdate on Friday night. Mommy and Heather rarely get to do "fun stuff" since they mostly are dealing with job-share duties. We decided our families should get together more often! Finley has super fun toys at his house and we did a good job of sharing. His parents are nice enough to let him keep his John Deere in the basement, along with a ball pit and metal firetruck. I love new toys, so I was a busy boy while there.

Finley is showing me how to use his CAT. This dumptruck made sounds and I quickly became obsessed with it. It will most likely end up on my "list" of wants, although we don't have a nice playroom to store all of these fantastic toys.

It was my turn to ride the CAT. Finley was a good sport about letting me use his toys around the house. I seemed "fine" all night while we were there... played well, talked some, ate a lot of pizza, strawberries and a cookie. At 2:00 a.m., I woke up throwing up everywhere. All of the delicious foods I ate for dinner were all over the crib. Mommy and Daddy came to my rescue and let me stay in their bed the rest of the night. I threw up for four hours on and off and then it came out the other end the rest of the weekend. Mommy felt queasy, and feels she probably had a slight flu bug. Luckily, the flu didn't put her in the hospital this pregnancy, like it did when I was in her tummy. Daddy then got the flu on Sunday. Mommy was ready to go bananas. She disinfected the house, washed a million loads of laundry, and tried to stay healthy, which she did. We had to tell the Sullivans that we had the flu and fortunately, no one at their house got sick! Whew! Mommy did not take a lot of pictures for about a week. We were all resting and taking it easy since the recovery was a bit longer than expected.

This past weekend, we made a little jaunt to the cities to see family for Valentine's Day. Daddy and Mommy left me with Grandma and Grandpa (oh darn.... ) and they went shopping. They found my bedroom set and bought a few items they have been wanting for the house. I am not an easy boy to take shopping, so I am glad I was spoiled with cookies, hugs, and lots of attention at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Mommy and Daddy went to Buca's for dinner and finally went to see Blind Side at the movie theater (they loved it!) This was the extent of their Valentine's Day, but both said it was a perfect date! On Sunday, Lexi, Sam, Uncle Bruce, and Aunt Stefanie came over to have a Valentine's breakfast. Grandpa made some awesome blueberry heart-shaped pancakes and we had lots of other yummy breakfast items too. We attempted to get a photo of the cousins together... Mommy isn't sure why the lighting is so off and of course, I wouldn't smile for the picture.

I love to say, "SAM" when I see him and just before he was leaving, we had to blow a million kisses to each other. Sam is 5 years old and he likes to show me the ropes. I wish we lived a bit closer!

"Mmmmmuh!" Right back at you Sam! I get to see Sam again next weekend when we return to the cities to visit family and friends.

When we returned home, I gave my parents a special gift that I made with Jenny (daycare Mama). I had my hand stamped and I colored the middle section of the heart for 15 minutes! Mommy cannot believe this story because when I color at home, I mostly just bite the tips off of all my crayons. Mommy is quickly learning that I am better behaved at Jenny's than at home. Funny how kids figure this out so early!

I helped Daddy open his gifts... we gave him Reese's Peanut Butter Hearts (his fav.), Marley and Me DVD (reminds him of Liberty), a new book to read, and a photo collage for his office. He sent Mommy roses to work on Friday and he had her diamond band fixed for Valentine's Day.

It was my turn to open my Valentine's Day gifts... I am quite good at opening packages and have this whole thing figured out. My first gift was a pair of shoes. I LOVE shoes and I LOVE to wear shoes around the house. Mommy thought I needed a new pair of blue ones, so she wrapped up a pair, knowing I would think this was a completely normal Valentine's Day gift. She figures she has a few more months before shoes become a not-so-fun gift for boys.

Yup, they fit me alright. I am now wearing a size 5 shoe. My feet seem to be growing like weeds these past few months! Both my parents have smaller shoe sizes, so they told me to not plan on needing big honkers for my feet.

Next gift... new crayons! Mommy decided to give the jumbo crayons a try, hoping I wouldn't bite the ends off like the cute little round, animal crayons that we have bought in the past. Did it work....

Nope! I had to taste the green crayon first, and then, Mommy took my crayons away for another day. I had green crayon all over my face and green chunks in my mouth for a while.

One of my last gifts was a travel aqua doodle. This is a pad that I can draw on with a pen that you fill with water. Uncle Matt and Jill had a huge floor mat at their house for me on Thanksgiving, so Mommy thought this would be a perfect gift for the car and for home. I love to suck the water out of the pen, but I still do pretty good with drawing.

My last gift, no pictures yet, were cute little construction eating utensils. Heather told Mommy all about them, so Mommy and Daddy went to Creative KidStuff to buy them last weekend and ironically, so did Grandma! So, now I have TWO sets of construction eating utensils. They are a lot of fun. Of course, other family members sent me candy, books, a McDonald's giftcard, some dollars, and a Life is Good t-shirt. I really like Valentine's Day because it reminds me of how loved I truly am! Of course, it also reminds me of how much I love my parents, extended family, Liberty and my new baby brother, "Lilly."

This week, in Kindermusik, we had a fun "ramp" to throw cars and trucks down. Our music class is learning a few new signs each week, along with a song. So far, we have worked on clean-up, a greeting song (signs for "Hello" and happy), more, all done, bubbles, and ball. Each time I wanted to zoom the car down the ramp, I had to sign for "more" which I am quite good at.

After we zoomed cars down the ramp, we were given permission to zoom our bodies down it! Of course, I loved this part and wanted to leap right up on the ramp. After this activity, I couldn't keep my feet away from the folded down ramp, so Mommy eventually just leaned it against the wall (Mommy is a downer sometimes). My parents realized that I am tall enough to open the latch door at music class too, so the next few weeks will most likely pose a challenge as they are trying to confine me to the classroom.

Our music class is very different in the sense that we get to play a lot. We have learned "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" and "If You're Happy and You Know It" for songs. Otherwise, we do a lot of play and sign. Jillian brought a water tub and ducks to float in there. We were supposed to learn the sign for duck, although all toddlers in class were way more interested in splashing in the tub of water. In case you are curious... my bear sweater was perfect for our new song "Bear Went Over the Mountain" and it was made by my Great-Grandma for Christmas. I had lots of compliments on it... gotta love those crafty Great-Grandmothers (no one else will be able to carry on this tradition!)

Uncle Matt (Daddy's youngest brother) came home with his fiancee, Jill, for a quick weekend visit. Great-Grandpa John (Daddy's Grandpa) has been in the hospital for a week now with pneumonia, heart problems, and is currently on dialysis due to the amount of fluid in his body. He is not doing so good, so we are saying lots of prayers for him. I am the only grandchild, of three, that lives in WI (the other two are in GA), and I get to visit with Great-Grandpa often. He loves to give me high-fives and we have a special bond. I am hoping he can pull through this!

Anyhow, Matt and Jill came home to see Grandpa and to see family. We went to dinner on Saturday night at a local restaurant, where I enjoyed mac and cheese, fries, and a grasshopper (ice cream treat... see below).

Daddy played darts after dinner just for kicks (he is definitely not a professional dart player, by any means!) As an FYI, these were the plastic darts not the sharp dangerous ones. I liked how the scoreboard lit up and made lots of sounds. I even walked around this little area, touching all the gambling machines and arcade games and was lucky enough to find a skittle on the floor, which I nearly ate before Daddy fished it out (gross, I know!)

Before leaving for the night, we all shared ONE huge grasshopper (they split the enormous thing into two glasses for us). This is an ice cream treat with creme de menthe (alcohol) but Mommy was sure not to give me any of that part. I really didn't care too much about the treat anyhow since I was obsessed with the arcade area.

We headed back home that night to sleep in our beds and to have a quiet Sunday around home. Daddy took a few pictures of Mommy's ever-expanding belly. She is now 19+ weeks and is one week away from the BIG ultrasound! We can't wait! The baby is starting to move more, at least Mommy thinks so. She says she is starting to feel uncomfortably big already... yikes! She still has 20 weeks to go! I love to give the baby kisses and hugs, which is what the pictures below show. I call the baby, "baby" and also "Lilly" since Mommy has brainwashed me into thinking it is a sister. If it is a boy, I don't think Lilly is masculine enough.

Kisses to our baby

Giving the baby a hug before saying "Nigh, Nigh" and covering Mommy's tummy with her sweater, which she is happy about.

I have a talking toilet that we bought a month ago. It sings a little jingle about going potty and doing a "good job." I mostly just sit on it backwards and practice flushing the toilet. It has a little purple arm to put TP on, but Mommy says I am NOT ready for this... too much fun! I must spend a lot of time in the bathroom with Daddy, because in this picture, and often when I sit on my toilet, I make farting sounds with my mouth. I say the words, "potty" and "poop" and can even tell my parents when I have poop in my diaper now. Mommy is so very hopeful that I can be an early toilet trained toddler. We will keep working on it.

One of my favorite games these days is hide and seek. I just give my little smirk and start to run, hoping I will be chased. I have two very sneaky hiding spots in our house....

My favorite spot is a little corner in our dining room. I still can't believe that it takes my parents SO LONG to find me here. I just love this little spot.

My next spot is under a chair. This is another awesome spot, where I curl up and become invisible somehow. Again, my parents just can't seem to find me here either.

It is hard to believe that February is here! The long days of winter, will hopefully get shorter. I hear that it will be cloudy on Groundhog's Day, which would be good and bad news. We are back on the snowmobile for daily laps around the backyard and golf course, but I also look forward to the days of "John" and my own little riding lawn mower too. Mommy is looking forward to more walks in the neighborhood and warmer temp.'s for us to get outside to play. My next post will be an important one with special news about our baby and with other fun events happening this weekend!

Boo hoo!

Boo hoo! I first must pout because the MN Vikings team lost tonight in a nail- biter of a game. Daddy even cheered for the Vikes tonight. I was in bed after the first half, but I could hear lots of cheers, shouts, and words that I cannot repeat, coming from the basement.

Daddy did some shopping today and came home with this little kid's table for me. Mommy is not sure where it will go since she had planned on putting one in my bedroom once it was turned into my "big boy" room. In the meantime, it will adorn our living room or family room.

I love to help Daddy with projects. I was excited to pass him the screws and washers for my new table. Sadly, after we assembled the chairs, we noticed that the table was cracked. So, I now have two chairs and no table for a day or so. Daddy put together my kid Craftsman electric drill, which is now my favorite toy. I enjoy drilling into my forehead.

Last Monday, we started Kindermusik with Jillian. I started music class with her about a year ago and was excited to see my friends return from last session. Ethan, Kenny and Reese were all there and so was a surprise newbie...FINLEY! Mommy and her job-share partner, Heather, didn't know until the day before class that Finley and I would both be in music together. Daddy says Mommy will have another reason to "talk shop" instead of pay attention during music classes.

I was surprisingly shy for the first half of music class. I felt comfy sitting in Daddy's lap and happily chewing on the plastic balls that Jillian let us play with . It is a sing and sign class, which will be great, since I only know the signs for "more" and "all done." I am quite verbal, so my parents haven't pushed the sign language component, but felt this would be a fun class anyhow.

Jillian brought bubbles to class, which I LOVE to play with. Daddy is an excellent bubble blower and I had a blast trying to catch these little guys. Mommy thinks she should bring some bubbles inside of the house to help me focus and stay preoccupied for 5 minutes!

Earlier in the week, we met Shauna and Maddy at the Children's Museum. I love to play in the toddler park and I really LOVE this red car. I was not too happy to share it with Maddy when she tried to climb in. You can tell by my death glare that I did not feel like sharing at all this day. Daddy says that someday I will welcome girls into the front seat of my car.

Mommy says we will definitely be working on sharing in the months ahead.

I love to talk on the phone, as you all know, so Mommy and Shauna helped dial the phones in the post office and dentist office for us to answer. Instead, it created confusion, as the picture shows above.

The Museum still had their water exhibit up and running so we headed downstairs to play. I love to throw water way up high in the air during bathtime, so Mommy knew this would be a huge mess. After 10 minutes or so, I was very wet and I was crying hysterically because I didn't like this huge water wheel. Mommy took that as a strong hint that I was tired, overwhelmed and ready for a nap. We headed home after our two hour visit.

Grandma bought me this monkey suit for Christmas. She thought it would be an easy way to transport me to daycare. Mommy decided to try it one day and I was ready within 30 seconds. It was convenient, all right, but I sure looked like a huge "baby" trying to squeeze into a jumpsuit. This snowsuit was made for a 24 month old, but it reminds me of those funny outfits that I wore when I was a little baby. Mommy appreciated not having to put on my shoes/boots, coat, hat, and mittens. We will probably try this a few more times, although I really hope I never wear this in public.

My latest craze is to wear Mommy's shoes around the house. She rarely keeps her shoes at the backdoor (pet peeve of hers), but last week, I had three opportunities to put on her shoes. The first try was with her Ugg boots and it was a cinch to put these on. The second try was with a pair of high heels which Mommy quickly heard my feet coming down the hallway in these noisy things and took them away in fear of a serious injury. The third shoe I tried on for a spin was a clog of Mommy's and these were also very kid-friendly and fun to walk in. I haven't tried Daddy's shoes on yet, but that is b/c Mommy makes sure his shoes are either in his closet or in the garage.

It was Mommy's b-day on the 16th and sadly, we left our camera at Jenny's house (daycare) over the weekend. Mommy had a nice birthday weekend with family and friends. I bought her some nice gifts which she appreciated and she said I was the best gift of all, as always. We don't have a baby update right now since it has been 3 weeks since our last appt. The ultrasound is in two weeks and we can't wait to find out if the baby is a girl or boy. Mommy calls this stage, "Calm before the storm" because once we find out the gender, the nursery and other preparations will begin. I am looking forward to getting baby toys out and getting the room ready. Have a good week everyone!

Caffeine Junkie

The week started off with a quick trip to Grandma Lois' house to see Uncle Ben, Auntie Erin, and cousins Kyra and Bennett before they flew back home to Georgia. Kyra celebrated her 8th birthday that night with us as we had a dinner, cake and presents for her. We can't believe she is already 8 years old!

I haven't learned the "Birthday" song yet, but cousin Bennett belted it out as loud as he could! The grown-ups were relieved that he covered up their voices with his!

Grandma sure loves her time with her boys! It only happens twice a year when we are all together. We won't see Ben, Erin, Kyra, and Bennett until our baby comes in June. It is always fun to be with them and everyone predicts that Bennett and I will be up to "no good" next summer together!

How do families with three children ever take a "good" picture together. This is proof that it would be a small miracle to get all three to look and smile at the same time. Good job, Kyra!

Mommy is somewhat relieved to see another little "monkey" who likes to climb furniture and who is also "on the go!" She knows that this stage will last at least another year or longer... Bennett is 12 months older than me and he is a ball of fun energy! I love to laugh at him and copy the tricks he does.

Here is one of those rare moments... two toddlers sitting down together. I just LOVE Baby Einstein DVD's and Grammy had one at her house. Bennett and I settled down a bit to watch the video for a few minutes. Daddy says I need to work on my posture! After the video, it was time for hugs, kisses and sad goodbyes. We headed home since Daddy had to work the next day. We will see Uncle, Auntie and cousins on Skype, but otherwise, it will be summer before they come back home (miss you guys!)

Our next big outing was on the weekend. We had ONE last Christmas gathering with my Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa. We headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house in the cities for this.

While visiting with everyone, Maggie (Grandpa Jamie's daughter) thought it would be funny to give me a taste of Coke. You know that my extended family is notorious for giving me junk food, right!?!?!? Well, I LOVED the Coke so much, that I just didn't want to let go. I sat there in the kitchen for a good 5 minutes with my lips sealed around the top. I had this little "puppy" look in my eyes, begging for more and more sips. Pretty soon, everyone was in the kitchen laughing hyserically at my facial expressions, my persistence, and my arms that just dangled at my sides. Eventually, I let go of the Coke bottle and moved on to the next random act.

Still hanging in there...yummy!

Great-Grandma loves to smother me with hugs and kisses. As you can see in this picture, I am more concerned about my socks that are shoved in my mouth. I am seriously cutting my canines and had an explosion on the way to the cities. Luckily, we stopped at Babies R Us, to pick up my new toilet (pictures will be on future posts), and Daddy was the lucky parent who had to clean me and change my clothes. Besides my daily dose of Tylenol or Ibuprofen, there isn't a lot we can do. I like to D-R-A-G out the teething process and my parents just can't wait for the disgusting diapers to be over! Mommy also can't wait for my desire to clamp down on her shoulder, fingers, and even her lips (I gave her a big surprise open-mouthed kiss this week and clamped down). She was NOT happy. I immediately started to cry because I knew this was naughty. I went to Timeout on my own.

Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa own a bookstore and Grandma loves to tell me stories. Here we are, doing Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the "Couch!" I love that Great-Grandma knows all of my favorite stories and it was fun to have Lexi demonstrating an excellent jumping monkey.

We headed back home that evening and I wrapped up my goodbyes by giving Duke hugs and kisses. He is a little King Charles Spaniel and used to be Auntie Stefanie, Uncle Bruce, Lexi and Sam's dog. They realized how much work a dog was (Mommy warned them) so they gave their dog to Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa to take care of. The dog is seriously spoiled and has seriously put on some major weight. I think Great-Grandpa feeds Duke pancakes and bacon for breakfast....lucky dog!

Another birthday celebration was Grandma Lois' Dad, my Great-Grandpa Bud. He turned 88 years old and lives in an assisted living home. He is close to our house, so we get to see him often. I was given even MORE caffeine when cousin Mike thought it would be funny to see how I liked coffee. Well, what do you know... I love it! He put some cream in it, but still, I LIKE COFFEE! Mommy doesn't even like coffee and she is completely perplexed by this finding. I don't like most meats or vegetables, but I like random foods like black olives, spicy foods, and coffee. Go figure! I was all jazzed up after my caffeine fix. We watched the Packers lose that day (sorry Daddy). I was endlessly walking around, visiting and talking to everyone at the party, and of course, had to throw in "TOUCHDOWN" from time to time.

Still sitting with my Great-Grandpa. Must be the coffee I was having with him. I think Great-Grandpa and I should have weekly coffee get togethers.

Here is my fish tank that Santa brought me for Christmas. It is on our antique sewing machine, which makes Mommy cringe a bit, but since it is out of reach, we figured it was a safe spot. I picked out two cute little goldfish from the pet store last week. I don't have names for them yet, I just yell "FISH" when I see them. I also like to say, "Nigh, Nigh" to them when I see that their light is off or when I am heading to bed. The plant is glow in the dark which is pretty cool. We want to put a little statue or something in there, but didn't find one yet that we liked. One of the fish is starting to get black spots. We are trying to figure out if that is what happens to baby fish, just like what happens to baby cows. If anyone is a fish expert, let us know if we should be concerned! We have a 15 day guarantee in case he doesn't make it.

I am showing off my tank. I learned how to flip the little port-hole open where we put the food into the tank. My parents won't let me feed the fish quite yet, but maybe when I turn two I can help with this job.

Since John (riding lawn mower) is safely tucked away in the garage, Daddy pulled the snowmobiles out for my daily riding pleasure. I call the snowmobile (Four Lel-La) which is my special version of Four Wheeler. Mommy is trying to convince me to say snowmobile, but has had no luck yet. I like to make revving noises when I see the snowmobiles parked outside. Mommy has her own, but she has not jumped on it yet and doesn't have plans to unless the weather gets up to the 40's this winter!

In case you are wondering, yes, that is our crazy dog, Liberty, in the background, and she likes to bury her head and look around under the snow. She is a weird dog.

I no longer have my pacifier at night. It has been TWO weeks since I saw my favorite little guys. I had a few ROUGH nights of waking up and screaming. Mommy didn't know how long the trend would last and lucky for my parents, it was short-lived. Mommy took me to get my moppy hair cut this week and she gave me those delicious pacifier suckers while I had my haircut. I even sat still long enough to have the top of my hair scissor cut this time instead of buzzed. Mommy was super proud of me for not wiggling out of my seat and embarassing her to no end. I still miss my pacifiers and I will not get to see them until the baby is here, because Mommy made sure they were safely placed in a tub as high as you can put a tub in our storage room.

Here is Mommy's 16 week pregnancy photo below. She commented to Daddy that he hasn't taken a picture of her belly yet. Daddy is somewhat embarassed by this, so he quickly snapped one, even though Mommy said she was tired and not picture ready. When I was in Mommy's belly, Daddy took pictures of her belly every week or two. Funny how things change!

Baby Update: My brother or sister is now about the size of your hand if you spread it out wide. The little monkey has fine hair all over his/her body. Mommy still thinks I have this fine hair on my back and swears she will give it just a little more time before she waxes or shaves me... ouch! The doctor saw Mommy this week and said everything looks great...her blood pressure is perfect, weight gain is on track, and the baby's heartrate was in the 150's. Compared to my heartrate, which was always in the 130's, this is high. Mommy is convinced she is carrying a little girl this time. We will be happy with a boy or girl and the doctor ordered the 20 week ultrasound which will take place on Monday, February 8th. We do plan on finding out the gender and look forward to solving the mystery of it all! In the meantime, Mommy had a blood test done this week to check for any possibilites of Spina Bifida or Down Syndrome and we will find out if all seems well in the next few days. We feel very excited and blessed that baby and Mommy are doing so well so far! My parents hope to get a little video clip for the next blog that shows my little routine with the baby. When Mommy says, "Where's the baby?" I lift up her shirt, give the baby a kiss, lay on her tummy for a minute, say "Baby" and pull her shirt over her tummy and say, "Nigh Nigh" to the baby. It is so cute of me and it makes my parents smile and love me even more. I will be one awesome brother!