Number 1 or Number 2

Don't ask how the topic came up.
I don't know.
But the other day I explained to Matthew that when you go to the washroom, pee is called #1 and poo is called #2.
I should have known Matt would be fascinated by this. He loves numbers. He loves bathroom humour. The combination was just too much not to become enamoured by.
Since Wednesday he's been somewhat obsessed with the topic. It's hilarious.
He used to run to the bathroom and say "I have to pee."
Now it's "I'm just doing number 1!"
And, of course this has spilled over to daycare. Instead of telling his teachers he needs to use the bathroom he tells them that he has to do number 1 or number 2. Apparently his one teacher, Denise, finds it funniest. And he thinks nothing of running through the classroom screaming "time for number 2."
Yes, the teachers are thanking me daily!
I'm sure the other parents are also.
And, in our home the excitement continues. If I'm in the washroom, no matter the time of day, Matthew usually shouts our "you doing number 1 or number 2?"
We're now teaching him this is a question only for home or daycare. With kids, especially when they are toilet training, potty talk is such an easy conversation. But, we're trying to explain to him that people don't like being asked about what they do in the bathroom.
We'll see how well that conversation goes!

Pink or Blue??? I know!

I do. I know what I'm having.
After the world's most bizarre ultrasound experience on Wednesday, I left feeling dejected. I was so hoping to find out and they were idiots.
But, then I called my OB's office yesterday.
I called fairly early in the morning. The receptionist there is incredible. When I explained to her that I was dying to know the gender, she said she would see what she could do, and told me to call back at about 2pm.
Of course I did.
It turns out that on her lunch hour she walked over to the ultrasound clinic to pick up the results. How amazing is that? So when we spoke again she was able to tell me the gender.
Mike really wanted to know, but I told him we had to wait another day.
And then I called my sister. She decorated our house in a colour appropriate theme. And, to keep Mike out of the house, I convinced my mom to call him and have him come over to her house to help her with a bizarre computer problem. (which didn't exist).
Meanwhile I went to Baby Gap and picked up a colour appropriate hat and socks.
It was a busy afternoon!
When we got home I made him go buy bread for dinner, and locked him out of the house, just to buy time, while I taught Matt to say "Surprise we're having a baby _______"
It was so cute.
Mike got home, and when he did Matthew shouted out his line. It was a little confusing, but he ended up saying "Happy Birthday! Surprise! We're having a Baby ________" and then handed him the stuff from Baby Gap.
And I cracked open the sparkling apple juice.
It was an evening of celebrating.
My sister and I have already planned out all the bedroom details. I'm warming up my credit card. I'm excited.

I'm not saying te gender today. Feel free to e-mail me if you're curious. We haven't exactly told ALL of our relatives yet, and we want to share the news with some people who read this blog a little more personally first. But, it's not like I can wait 4 more months before blogging about it.

Truthfully, my whole mindset changed after I found out the gender. Honestly, as much as I say I'm happy with either, in the back of my mind I knew what I wanted. But, either way, for me, knowing what I'm having is freeing. It hit me yesterday that this is another baby. I'm excited. And, it's no longer just about the obsessive planning. It's about having another little baby. And, despite some of my anxieties I'm getting excited.

When I tucked Matt in last night I told him that he's going to be hearing more and more about the baby in the next few months. But, I told him that I want him to know how much I love him. And, he told me that he knows, but he knows I'll love the baby "so much too". It was adorable!

Lunch For One (plus one)

Yesterday, in the middle of various medical appointments, I had a break for lunch.
Thankfully all went well yesterday, and I feel a lot better about a lot of things. But, it was pretty stressful. Really, I find all these doctors appointments stressful.
But, I had a lunch break.
I debated all sorts of things. I walked around a few stores, and I walked around a busy food court and nothing appealed to me.
And then it hit me.
I was going to have a nice lunch - by myself.
I don't do that often.
I have to admit, it's one of my favourite things to do. I discovered my love of a table for one when I used to be a tour guide. For a few summers I would take grade 7 and 8 students on trips to places like Ottawa and Quebec City. And, we would often have a couple of hours when the kids would be eating lunch and shopping, and we could have lunch, a break, etc.
With some of the nicer schools the teachers would invite me to join them for lunch. Sometimes I hung out with the bus drivers. On the odd occassion the kids would ask me to have lunch with them. But, my favourite thing by far was, specifically in Quebec City, finding a quiet little restaurant and having a delicious lunch.
My all time favourite was a steaming hot bowl of French Onion Soup at this little bistro in Old Quebec.
The first couple of times I went for lunch by myself I hid behind a book or some work. But, then I stopped caring. I loved people watching. I loved listening to the waiters and waitresses discussing patrons. I loved the peace and quiet of it.
And I loved that people left me alone. I loved that it didn't bother me to be sitting alone. I knew I had friends. I knew I had options. But, this peace and quiet was new to me. I like to be surrounded by people. It shocked me that I embraced this.
And yesterday, while stressing about way too much stuff, I stopped and had lunch with myself. No book. No blackberry. No friends. Just me, some pasta, and a lovely break.
And within minutes I remembered what I loved so much about the quiet. For a few minutes I thought about what was on my mind. I stopped worrying about all the stuff that has been bugging me and stressing me out, and I realized that sometimes it's nice to just sit and be alone.

Okay - so I'll admit, it didn't bring peace to my entire day. An hour or so later I had a meltdown of EPIC proportions (that only a dramatic hormonal and overly tired pregnant woman could have). But, that's another story for another day!

And, in case anyone thought that I may be announcing the sex of the baby today ... HA!!! You make me laugh. I have NO freaking clue. As part of yesterday's fun I went to probably the worst ultrasound clinic in the world. And not just worst. Weirdest. And they told me nothing. I finally had to ask if there was a heart beat (there was). Ugggh.

The good news is it's a baby. It's still 50/50 whether it's a girl or a boy. Feel free to guess. I'm thinking I'll have to go with psychic predictions.

But, last night I talked to Matt about it. I said that I was waiting to hear from my doctor to find out if the baby in my tummy was a boy or girl. He looked at me so seriously and said, "But Mommy, you already have a girl in there. Why would it become a boy."

Ever since we told Matthew I'm having a baby he's been 100% convinced it's a baby girl. It's a little freaky how sure he is. Time will tell, I guess.

Have I mentioned I'm frustrated with not knowing?

Bad Words

Matthew's daycare has a bunch of forbidden words. We don't know the whole list, but as far as Matthew is concerned some of the big ones are:

• stupid
• shut up
• pee
• poo
• penis

The latter 3 are allowed to be spoken in the bathroom, but cannot be used in the context of calling someone poo or saying they smell like pee - that kind of thing.

He loves using these forbidden words, and so we got into the routine of letting him use them just around us when he's in the van. (I'm not saying we let him use words like the "f word" in the car) So yesterday he told me he made "stupid pie". I knew this had to be the use of a forbidden word.

So, I said

"Matthew, are you allowed to say stupid at daycare?"
His voice took on the tone of a very annoyed teenager and he said "Yes, Mommy of course I can. It's only a bad word if my teachers hear it."

Oooookay.
I'm not sure the bad word concept has really stuck.

At least he's smart.

We also got his report card from swimming lessons. It was pretty neat. He's graduated to the next level (that would be small fry 2) and he's beginning to master the basics of swimming. I guess I'll be pulling out my maternity bathing suit more than I had planned on.

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On another topic, today I have some tests/meetings for this pregnancy. Wish me luck. I've kept pretty quiet about them because I'm not terribly worried, and I know everything will be fine. But, at the same time, I'm kind of nervous. So .... wish me luck!

Sick Day

I didn't make it to work yesterday. I went to bed feeling like crap. And I woke up feeling like crap. And I had a headache. And was fluish.
So I stayed home.
And, since Mike had the same symptoms he stayed home too.
We did nothing. We didn't even have afternoon coffee. We just hung out trying to get better, enjoying the quiet, and sleeping. I slept for 4 hours straight and was still tired.
It sucks that the only drug available when you're pregnant is Tylenol and Tums. Oh how I miss Nytol and Gravol!

We weren't the only tired ones in our house.

Sunday night my parents came to visit. And, since Matt had no interest in dinner we let him play downstairs. When it suddenly got quiet I went downstairs to check on Matthew.

He got very tired from playing with his toys...

No wonder. A mess is an exhausting thing to create!

Even Rosie came to inspect it!
I thought it was kind of funny. This, to me, is how a playroom should look! I'm leaving it.

And, on a totally unrelated topic, I've been somewhat fascinated (or obsessed) with my weight during this pregnancy.
When I had my last visit with my family doctor, she said that my goal this pregnancy should be to gain no more than 40 lbs. To me that equates to 1lb per week. But, my last pregnancy I gained 87 lbs!!! So that's about half.
Granted I still puke on a regular basis, so that kind of helps me not gain weight. But, so far I've gained only about 8lbs. My OB says this is fine. I find it fascinating. Especially since the baby is growing, and I'm definitely getting bigger. And, as of Thursday I'm halfway through this pregnancy. And even though I don't want to gain 30 lbs in the 2nd half, I still sort of feel like I don't need to be as concerned as I have been.
Who knows.
It's just something that's been on my mind.

There's Nothing Hotter ...

Than me, at 18.5 weeks pregnant, and totally showing, in a bright blue maternity bathing suit at the public pool.
Seriously.
My lovely new hairstyle nor the fact that I haven't gained tons of weight this pregnancy didn't help this look one little bit!
Matthew just finished 10 weeks of swimming lessons at daycare and has been enjoying his swimming lessons immensely. He asked me to go swimming with him. So, out came my stunning blue bathing suit (which matches his bathing suit), and off we went to the public pool.
Actually, it was a lot of fun.
The thing about swimming with a preschooler is that you can't exactly dwell on your own appearance when you're trying really hard to keep up in the pool.
And, it's a lot easier to float after a 3 year old than run after a 3 year old.
I was pleasantly surprised at how much he has learned in this recent series of swimming lessons. Because he goes to his lessons during the day, I don't get the opportunity to watch and see what he is doing. I just pay the fees and the daycar teachers bring him to the pool (where he is taught by proper swimming teachers). I mostly only hear if he is listening well or not, and whether he put his head under the water.
So, it was pretty neat to observe.
The first interesting thing was that he loves using the flutter board. He went right for it and hopped on and started kicking. He was really moving. He was also able to sort of swim on his back, and had no fear about going down the little slide and landing in the water and putting his head under.
In fact, he went on the slide about 20 times.
I was really proud.
He's always enjoyed the water, but now he's confident.
It's not like I would EVER take my eye off him, but I am finally feeling a lot less nervous. I know drowning statistics and they terrify me. But, I could see that he is finally getting strong enough to sort of keep his head above water. I'm seeing that if I turn my head for one second he actually has enough resources to paddle for a second. He knows to keep his mouth shut in the water, and has learned to blow bubbles.
One of my greatest joys growing up was swimming. We had a pool, and I was a very confident swimmer. I've often wondered how I'll let Matthew be a confident swimmer when I'm terrified of letting his hand go for even a millisecond.
Today I had some peace about it. Don't get me wrong. I'm ADAMENT that my child is always safe in the water. But being safe isn't just about me hovering. It's about giving him the tools and teaching him to swim, and I'm finally seeing that all these lessons are finally paying off.

And ...

Before Bill (very few layers)



















After Bill - still long, just more layered (ps this was hours after)



















What do you think?

Thanks for your input. I went with the flat black boot. He was impressed.

Who Needs the Playground when there's Mr. Lube?

I'm so not kidding either!
I decided to take Matthew out on Saturday morning since we had a few errands to run. Since the oil light in our van was flashing, and since I vowed to change the oil regularly, we stopped by Mr. Lube.
There was no lineup, so in we went.
On the list of fun activities this has never been up there for me. I find car care boring, and I never know whether the need to replace stuff (like today's PCV valve) is necessary or if they are just trying to get me to spend money.
Regardless, a fun outing was had.
I let Matt get out of his car seat and come up to the front of the van. He was thoroughly entertained by the people fixing our car. He asked about 1 million questions and they answered every single one. It was fascinating. He asked questions that I would never think to, but that were somehow less annoying because they came from a 3 year old.
They brought him balloons and candy.
For him it was right up there with a trip to McDonald's. It was slightly more expensive. But, on the plus side much healthier (except for the lollipops).
He was so cute throughout the entire visit. He rolled down the windows and kept shouting out "do you hear me?" and they would all say yes.
It was hilarious.
On the downside I realized I know nothing about my van.
For instance, we have this setting for our headlights where they go on an off automatically. They asked me to test the lights and I didn't know how.
Then there was the opening the hood issue. I hadn't needed to do that yet. So, when they asked me to open it I set the emergency brake instead. And then didn't know how to turn it off. Nice.
I also had no idea how to rev the van to 2000 (rpm?) nor did I know what to do when the guy pulled the oil stick out of the car to show me it was clean.
In my defense, I've always brought my car to Canadian Tire or the Dealership, so they do all of that while you sit in a waiting room. So, it's not like I ever had to look at an oil stick.
At least they explained it all to Matt as well, so in 13 years he can take care of all the oil changes. Afterall, he really did seem to have a good time!
Maybe I'll have his next birthday party at the oil change place. Afterall, it was fun, short and they have balloons and candy. Genius!