May 6, 2007

Who the hell is Ryan? And what's so special about his life?

Time for Updates. You know you wanna know, right?

NewKid on the Blog
Official Weight Gain, Week 31: 10 pounds.
Official Stretch Mark Status: None to report for this period.
No lie! I am very happy with the weight gain because it means I am on track for keeping the gain under 25, although truth be known, I'm gunning for 20 (I gained 22 with Arun). Nope, not proud, just RELIEVED. Everything else is looking good, heart rate is good. I could SWEAR she turned during the weekend. She was ALL OVER the place on Saturday and now, I can feel teeny feet on my right side. The same side a HEAD used to be just last week. We still have a ways to go, so yeah - she could turn back, I guess. Also, regarding the stretch marks - I'm still thinking it is the flaxseed because I got stretch marks when I gained weight after quitting the cigs. Why am I not getting stretch marks NOW? That's crazytalk.

Arun Macaroon
I'm sure there are sweeter things than hearing your child say his name for the very first time, but frankly, I'm drawing a blank. I have to get some video of him saying "Ahhh-oooo. Ahhhh-oooo" He's also starting to display the whole Peculiar Toddler Behaviour for which all toddlers are famous. Like, if I get the can of sparkling water out of the fridge BEFORE I dig the straw out of the cupboard, that shit just ain't kosher. My understanding is that his jabbering is probably along the lines of "Good god, woman - straw before the water! STRAW BEFORE THE WATER." Fortunately, once he gets both the water and the straw, all is right with his world again and he lets it go. Thus far, he just doesn't "hold on" to stuff, so we are still Tantrum Free. Although we have had some that approached Category 2 levels come our way - really in the realm of Fits, not Tantrums, though. They usually happen just when he has gotten up in the morning or if he has gotten up in the middle of the night. He cries inconsolably and then hides behind the toilet in our bathroom. Overall, right now, he is just a joy. He is SO much fun these days, loves learning, and is very excited about EVERYTHING. Life is his oyster. The only semi-challenging thing on right now is the schedule that has manifested itself from all the teething activity. In the last few weeks, I have discovered no less than FIVE teeth in various stages of eruption - and those are the teeth that I can SEE. No wonder he was so out of sorts several weeks back - poor kid! His sleep is so out of whack these days that he goes to bed at 10pm and doesn't get up until about 10am. At least he is sleeping for a solid 12 hours, but our schedule is really funky right now because I made my appointments for the doctor, Parents As Teachers, playdates and such based upon the understanding that he would be up at his normal time of 8-8:30am. Jeepers.

9 1/2 Weeks
I feel like utter crap all of the time now. Between nausea, exhaustion and breathlessness, it's not pretty. I can never fully get comfortable now, either. However, I am totally cool with it because this is normal 3rd trimester agony. I am so grateful to not be sick with something, that I'll take Totally Normal Pregnancy for 500, Alex. THANK GOD. I don't even give a crap about all the projects that won't get completed now before NewKid arriveth. They'll still be there waiting. For the next 9 1/2 weeks I've decided to just focus on getting the house organized, reading books, and spending time with Arun. The important stuff. NewKid-wise, I am actually ready. I probably should buy a pack of newborn diapers and dust off the bassinet, but that's it. We will go with co-sleeping so there was no point doing a room because I'd like Arun and NewKid to share a room for awhile until they get older. Preschoolers don't seem to care about their rooms or personal space anyway. When Arun gets to be about 8, we'll do separate rooms then. In the meantime, I will be adding some decorations to Arun's current room to include Anjali - for example, I've purchased the letters to her name so that I can paint them and hang them opposite the wall to Arun's letters (Sidenote: The letters come in handy when you are teaching the alphabet. We've been working on A, B, C so I've taken down the A down a few times for Arun to play with. He has a puzzle alphabet and some magnets, but this adds another texture to the mix - a nice tactile way to learn).

Taco Bueno Es Muy Bueno!
Um, yeah. A Taco Bueno opened up near to us. Apparently, this chain is some Texan transplant and oh my, they are beating the pants off of Taco Bell. I mean, not that we have been eating any Party Burritos from there. NOT US.

BlogHurt
Unfortunately, X is putting the kibosh on BlogHer this year. It seems, he is not entirely comfortable with my taking our newborn precious progeny on an airplane (although, a newborn is physically capable of flying). X is the not normally the type to be like this and I have to respect his opinion on this since I guess NewKid is HIS kid, too. I'm still working on it (What, me give up??), so time will tell. However, it's not looking very promising. Sniff.

Book it, babycakes.
I've read before how Baby Books can cause massive amounts of guilt in mothers. I never understood this and thought it was silliness until I went shopping for NewKid's baby book yesterday. I didn't really shop around much for Arun's book - I picked one off of Amazon called A Baby Book for You that the Boston Museum of Fine Arts was selling. That book has served its purpose - it's got all the basics you need, and I hijacked a few pages for other things (i.e. the gift list was used to track his weight so I could do the silly graph for his first year - and YES, the intent was to be goofy - I had planned the graph all along.) Anyway, I looked at some of the baby books at Border's yesterday and HOLY SHIT - apparently you can write an entire NOVEL about your child's first year. Cripes. I love my kids, but I would never be able to keep up with all the pages provided and frankly, I don't need something like that hanging over my head. Therefore, I am getting another copy of the same one I got for Arun. It's simple, easily updated and actually includes pages for up to 5 years for basic memories.

Oh, Snap.
I would LOVE to take photos of my precious progeny to show off. However, said progeny gets excited whenever the camera is presented and immediately comes over to sit on my lap so that he can see the pictures on the camera not quite understanding that a picture first needs to be taken. Also, am I the only fool that likes the house to be clean BEFORE I take snaps? I suspect my adult-aged kids are going to look at their baby pictures thinking "Criminy, why was the house so CLEAN when we were babies? What happened back then? GAWD, it's such a pit now!"

17 comments:

Christy said...

AHH! You only have 9 weeks left until the new kid arrives. Can you believe it? WOW!

Arun sounds absolutely adorable - with that whole straw/water episode. Too funny. I glad you're taking these last 9 weeks to spend some quality time with Arun. His little world is about to change.

Lisa said...

Wow. I am amazed that you've kept your weight gain down. And envious! heehee.

Yes, I can see your hubby's POV. BUt there's always next year right? Right!?!?

Cagey (Kelli Oliver George) said...

Christy,
The little persnickety behaviours on the part of toddlers ARE adorable. For now. Maybe later, they won't be. We've just been lucky so far that nothing has morphed into full-on tantrum.

Lisa,
Don't be envious of my weight gain! I didn't have much choice because I was already overweight. Bah.

Monkey McWearingChaps said...

Wow, 9.5 weeks and you've kept your weight to the classic textbook progression. Does that mean the gestational diabetes thing is out the window? What was your doctor talking about measuring large for then??? It seems like you're on track for the textbook twenty (my sis calls it that, she's on OB right now).

How do you take the flaxseed? Is it through the supplement pills or what? I've heard it's also good for digestion.

Btw, I hope everyone you know is okay what with the tornadoes and all. I've been busy moving into the apartment.

Cagey (Kelli Oliver George) said...

Monkey,
ACK! I knew I was forgetting something!! I forgot to include the update for the gestational diabetes test. It came up negative! Then, I celebrated with a piece of pie and a scoop of ice cream. Okay, maybe not, but I was SO relieved it came back negative. I measured large at one appointment, but haven't since (having lots of amniotic fluid can make you seem larger, too). I haven't really tried to keep my weight gain down, but have tried to eat responsibly (Taco Bueno excluded. GULP). It's very irritating when folks say "oh, eat anything you want! You're eating for two!". Um, NO, I am not eating for two, I'm eating for ME and a 3 lb fetus. During pregnancy, you only need about 300 extra calories a day. That's not really very much.

I take flaxseed capsules and drink soymilk that has flaxseed oil in it. Actually, I started taking it regularly while pregnant with Arun because it helped to prevent the prenatal vitamin from hurting my stomach. I can report that it also helps with digestion. And even X has noticed his own skin is softer and he doesn't have problems with winter dryness since he started taking it regularly.

Dee said...

I just recently tried Taco Bueno out for the first time and I think I am in love with it. Now I just need them to put one a little closer to my house.

Leah said...

I'm impressed by how good you are at being pregnant. Want to have my next baby for me? I'd love another baby, but the thought of another pregnancy makes me feel ill.

Cagey (Kelli Oliver George) said...

Dee,
Um, be GLAD that Taco Bueno is not close to your house. Seriously.

Leah,
I may play a HappyGoLucky Preggo online, but I suspect my husband will attest that I am anything BUT in Real Life. Sigh.

Monkey McWearingChaps said...

I'm getting in on that flaxseed action. You're the third person who has mentioned it within a month in regard to skin and digestion. I've heard it also does wonders for the heart. I've seen the pills at Whole Foods but they're a little bit expensive so I wasn't sure if it was all hot air.

Awesome news about the test.

My sister says that she is caught in horror between pregnant women on an actual diet (i.e. not trying to be responsible with the recommended calories, but like ON A DIET) and the people who come in with 50 lb. weight gains. Oddly (and this is her statistically half-witted sample), it's the SAME demographic, just the way they react to the pregnancy-basically the ones who starve to keep themselves super super thin when they're not pregnant. About 1/2 go insane when they get pregnant because they deny themselves all the time and then 1/2 get worse about the starving of selves when they're pregnant.

The psych ward stories are better. The OB/GYN stories are scaring me through and through, though my sister says delivering a baby was an absolutely amazing experience and every last baby looks the same ('cept some come out with more pelt).

Hard life though, apparently. She's batsh*t right now due to the hours.

PS: Watched TLC's "A Baby Story" on Friday and I teared up. WTH? I always said I didn't want kids and I don't want one right now but I feel the alarming stirrings of a biological clock...

Cagey (Kelli Oliver George) said...

Monkey,
We get our flaxseed from Costco and it is very reasonably priced!

re: Pregnant women on a diet - there is an incredible amount of pressure in this day and age for women to still look Hot n' Sexy while pregnant. Nobody wants a baby BELLY anymore, and instead, everybody wants a baby BUMP. Crazy!

Moderndayhermit said...

Congrats on your minimal weight gain!

:::

Anytime you want to send Arun to me, just let me know. Next time I go visit my parents I'll just swing by the KC way. What a doll!

:::

Those teeth are crazy! I discovered that if Alex won't open his mouth for me to have a peek - he's teething, which seems to be all the time these days.

:::

Taco Bueno is damn good, yummo. I miss all the good food in Dallas *sigh*

:::

Thank goodness for my blog or I'd never be able to finish Alex's baby book. Yikes.

Anonymous said...

I am right there with you on the feeling like crap part. Between the horrible indegestion and the swelling, I am just done with being pregnant. I even tried desparately to get my OB to move my due date up by 10 days but he didn't bite.

Totally random question, about how many newborn diapers should one buy? We looked at a case of them but that just seems like too many but I can't really remember either so if you wouldn't mind giving an old/new mom some tips, I would appreciate it :)

Monkey McWearingChaps said...

What is the difference between a baby bump and a baby belly? Write us a rant on it, please!!

Cagey (Kelli Oliver George) said...

Flybunny,
I am just buying one package of NB diapers. It's always a dicey purchase!

Also, it's hard to believe how much I've forgotten since my last pregnancy and it wasn't that long ago!

Bethany said...

How do you pronounce Anjali? I have Arun down so I need to know about the princess's name.

I read more easily if I can pronounce the words. Does that make sense?

Anonymous said...

Wow, I can't believe you're already in the home stretch! It has gone by so quickly (well, for me at least). : )

Anonymous said...

I"m not going to blogher either. Basically my husband has said unless its free its not for me. Maybe we can have an online blogher?