Loving this Fall Weather!

Fall is my favorite season: it's finally cooling off, the leaves are changing color, I get to unpack my sweaters, and comfort foods start being made! Then two years ago I got to add another reason for loving fall - Seth's birth! And now, this year, I'll be adding yet another birth. Caleb is due November 20th, but we're really expecting him to come any day. I'm just too big to go the full term.

I have my 36/37 week appointment tomorrow to see if Caleb is in the head-down position. I'm expecting my weight gain to be about 15 lbs at that point. Seth was born at 37 weeks exactly and weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and was on target for growth. Caleb has been measuring a week ahead of target for the last six weeks, so my guess/fear is that he's already at that 8 lb mark. Let's hope he doesn't get too big!

Seth has been growing a lot lately in terms of development. He tries to be a lot more vocal and will now say "Mama" and "Daddy" to refer to us appropriately. He also says goodbye and go. He tries just about everything they ask him to do in therapy. Of course, OT is mostly playing, so that's easy enough. But he was struggling with using certain facial muscles for speech and would refuse to make certain sounds or oral shapes, like pushing his lips out. HOWEVER, all on his own, he started giving kisses a few days ago. I don't mean pushing his face against ours like he has been doing forever. I mean, pushing his lips out and making the smacking sound to go with it! And when he kisses, he gives lots of them! Oh, he's just been so sweet lately!

I guess the only other thing to mention at this point is that we took Seth to "Boo at the Zoo" and he dressed up as an astronaut and had fun. He also helped clean a pumpkin, which he didn't enjoy quite as much. He still doesn't like to get sticky, but he was ok pulling out one seed at a time. He was very happy with the finished result, though, and points to the jack-o-lantern several times a day. We have also had several family outings to Chuck E Cheese and he LOVES it there. It's hard to reign him in, but it's totally worth it.

I guess that's it for now...just waiting (impatiently) on Caleb...

And the Time Just Flies By...

My baby boy turned two years old this past Monday and it still boggles my mind. It seems like just a few weeks ago we were bringing him home from the hospital, fighting the sleep battle, watching him make his milestones. It really does just fly by.

Seth had his check up yesterday and is 35 1/2" tall and 35 lbs 4 oz. He is definitely my big boy! lol He wears a 3T - 4T shirt for the length and 2T bottoms and a size 9 shoe! It's funny to see him around his peers because he appears so much bigger.

He's making great progress in therapy and really enjoys going. It warms my heart to see how willing he is to work on his goals (of course, it is done through play, so it's not too difficult to imagine why he enjoys it). Everyday he does something to surprise me and make me smile. Yesterday morning he showed me that although he looks like me, he acts just like Michael. I heard him wake up, so I got everything ready for him and went into his room. He stumbled from his room to the frontroom, grabbed his milk, stumbled back into his room, and laid back down in bed. He really does crack me up how much he's defining his personality.

We celebrated his birthday today since he was sick last weekend. Not everyone was able to make it, but his Grandad and Nada and Uncle Marty and Memaw came - and it was a special time. I'm so glad Seth is surrounded by those that love him. It's such a blessing.

In other news, I'm now 32 weeks and feel ready to pop anyday. My maternity jeans are stretched to their limit, the heartburn and cramps have become much more common, and I actually had a ripple effect of charlie horses this morning - 7 in a row! Ouch! And, I can't be certain since my labor with Seth was so quick, but I think I may have had some Braxton Hicks contractions today. People think I'm odd because I'm so unobservant of my body, but I really do believe I'm just not as sensitive or aware of feelings. Michael will often tell me how tight my muscles feel and I can never tell. Other people tell me when my hands or feet are swollen and it comes as a surprise to me. I guess I should be thankful for that, but I'm hoping that I'll be aware of when labor begins this time. Seth's labor and delivery came so quickly, I'd like to be able to enjoy the (although painful) special miracle that it is.

Summer Fun

Leaps and Bounds

A lot of things have been happening since the last post. We've been keeping pretty busy between working on the house, doctor appointments, beginning the new MOPs year, and regular daily life. However, Seth has been doing some pretty amazing things.

First of all, if you don't know Seth, I guess you'd almost have to imagine a child who is deaf most of the time. He hears, of course; he's just very, very quiet. Even while playing, he makes nearly no noise. His hearing is great, he just doesn't find the need to communicate yet. Over the last few months he would become more vocal in the evenings or sometimes when he got really excited. He would shriek and do a little bit of babbling. But it was still minimal. We've been working on getting speech therapy in place for the last four months - that's right, Folks - four months! It seems like everything that could go wrong with the process did. In the meantime, we did get a play therapy set up for him, which includes a little bit of speech in it. He's had three sessions and seems to enjoy it. He had his third speech and occupational assessments just over a week ago, which came to the same results. Seth is above average on his understanding of language, but very much behind on his using language. So now the therapies have been ordered and we're on a waiting list at Children's Rehab. They said it would take one to two weeks to hear back from them. It's been a week and a half and I'm hoping the call will come this week. We're quickly approaching Seth's second birthday and I would love to have him started before then.

However...

Seth has become much more vocal (by his standards) as of late. As I said before, he will mirror the words "mama," "dada," and "baby." He doesn't use them to identify us yet, but I think the time may come soon. If I had to say what Seth's first real word was, it would be "more." He's been using the sign for months, but now he'll actually say, without any provocation, "mo," which makes me so happy! If we prompt him, he will also say "ca" for car, "pa" for popcorn, and "wa" for watch. This is pretty amazing stuff for us, because he would never even try syllables before and now he's very willing to. I figured the beginning parts of words are better than no words at all, so we'll see how this progresses. If we ask Seth a question, he will also say "uh-huh" for yes. This isn't all the time, so we're not sure if he's actually using it as a word or just an affirmative noise, but I love it just the same. I've been waiting for so long to hear his voice, it's just such a miracle to me.

Physically, Seth has been developing, too. He has a few sensory issues he deals with, which I think made him progress a tad behind schedule. Now he's a little monkey and climbs on everything, though! Most impressive to me is how he behaves at the play area we go to. I can honestly say, without any prejudice, that Seth is one of the best behaved children there. He's patient, waits his turn, doesn't get mad when others cut in front of him or hog a piece of equipment, and he listens well. Anyway, there was a bridge you can climb on and Seth decided to climb over the side and lower himself with his arms. I didn't even know he was that strong! He also climbed over the "tent", that's a good six inches taller than him. He just pulled himself up, straddled it, and lowered himself down the other side. I was so proud! Oh, and he's decided he can take his bottoms off whenever he pleases; we've had two diaper-less issues in the crib already!

We're adding a few more signs into his vocabulary, and Seth will now use "please" semi-regularly. He is a whiz at puzzles and is pretty good at identifying colors and some shapes and knows all of his body parts. He's becoming a little more social with kids and will even play/interact with them a little. He's enrolled in Mothers Day Out this year and I'm hoping that will really help him on that field.

One really funny thing that Seth does is smell everything! He really surprised me with one thing, though. He's finally become used to the idea that Baby Caleb is in Mama's belly. (We're still struggling to get him to stop being so rough, though.) When I ask him where Baby Caleb is he will pick up my shirt and sniff my belly! lol I joke that the bun must still be baking in the oven.

One unfortunate event lately is that Michael, Seth and I all caught some kind of virus last week. Seth really didn't start showing symptoms until Saturday evening, but they hit him fast. Any time he gets sick it goes straight to his chest. So, I took him to the doctor first thing this morning and they did what I expected. They prescribed him a nebulizer. He's had three treatments and cries through the whole thing. It breaks my heart that he hates it so much, but I can already see a little bit of a difference in his breathing. I'm hoping that he may even be able to sleep in his crib tonight instead of in my arms. I know eventually he'll get used to this and I hope it's sooner rather than later. That being said, Seth will be missing his first day of "school" tomorrow, but I think it's for the best.

I know this post is mainly about Seth, but I don't want to leave Caleb out either. Boy is he different than Seth was! Of course, everything happens sooner with him than it did with Seth - the back pain, pelvic pain, heartburn, the huge belly - but also the good things. Caleb is a mover and a shaker. At first I only felt him in the evenings, but now I feel him at nearly any time. And he really pushes, because Michael has no problem seeing his movements. It's going to be crazy having two boys and I'm really anxious to see how similar, and dissimilar, they really are.

Back to Basics

We've been pretty busy this last month. We took our first family vacation to Florida, visited family, did some major work on our house, and Michael has had some crazy busy times at his job. Needless to say, the thing most on my mind (in place of blogging) is sleep. Oh, glorious sleep, how I dream of you from morning to night! But enough of that!

Michael took us, including my sister, to New Smyrna Beach for a week. We had a condo right on the beach and were fortunate enough to have nice weather the whole time. There were no problems with oil that far north and everything went pretty smoothly. The only down side to the trip, other than the fact that there wasn't much of interest for a near two year old, was our trip to Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure. We were supposed to be there for the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Long story short - five hours of waiting and we didn't even get halfway there. It was a poor set up (no shade, fans, or drink stands) within reach of the lines) and a big disappointment. After all that waiting we didn't really feel up to visiting the rest of the park. At least Michael and Rebecca got to visit Universal Studios the day before.

While we were away, we were supposed to have our house worked on - the dining room and living room. That did not go as planned and we were stuck living in my in-law's guestroom for most of a week. The house was still not even livable, so Michael and I took over the project. It's not perfect, but I think it looks pretty nice. We had to pull a few all-nighters and lots of late nights, but we're now to the point of just little things.

The biggest problem to come out of all this is Seth's attitude change. Taking him away from his normal schedule really messed with him. He was pretty good at going to bed, but now it's at least an hour of screaming before he finally will go to sleep. And boy, does he not want to obey anything now! He has definitely been trying my patience. The good news is that we're "supposedly" going to start speech therapy in August. I'm really hoping that will help, as Seth still isn't talking. He will mimic "mama", "dada", and "baby," but won't speak voluntarily. He is becoming more expressive with his noises, though. He yells "oh" when he falls or when his blocks fall over. It's cute and I love any noises he makes, except for the crying/screaming. I can really do without that.

On to our second child - we found out two days ago that we're having another boy. I have to admit I was a little disappointed at first, since we only plan on having two children, but God knows what He's doing and I'm not going to pretend like I know better. This way Seth has a little friend to play with and we don't even have to do any shopping. It should work out very smoothly. We've been juggling a few names around, some we liked until we found out they were very popular or other people were using them. I think we've finally settled on one, though - Caleb Martin. Michael and I both like it and I think it may be the one - but who knows!

9 months of catch up

Yes, before anyone makes the comment, I realize it's been a long time, 9 months, since I last updated this blog. Mostly this is because no one reads it! lol But then I realized what a great place this was just for me to reflect over time. I'd forgotten some things about Seth already and this blog is a sweet way to remember them. The other reason I wasn't blogging was because it seems like I never have anything interesting to say. But then I thought, no one's reading it anyway, so I can say whatever I want: boogaloo shrimp and buckaroo bonzai!

So, take that! Seth is doing great. He is now 20 months - 34" and 34 lbs. He is walking great, running a little, but still a little clumsy. He still loves to throw and enjoys reading time. His favorites for now are Dr. Seuss books. He loves to help water the flowers and sweep the floor. He loves to brush his teeth and is finally starting to enjoy bathtime and even a little pooltime. Seth still is not talking. He will mimic "mama", "dada", and "baby" but doesn't seem to associate them properly. We're currently working on getting speech therapy in place as well as possibly some occupational therapy. This is a slow and incredibly frustrating process. I just can't wait to hear my baby boy speaking.

In other news, and also the main reason for starting this blog up again, Michael and I are expecting another baby. We are currently 16 weeks and due mid-November. There isn't much news to report on this yet. It's a little different from Seth, but not bad. I got sick a lot more with this one and felt exhausted for about a month to six weeks, although that was also due, in part, to Michael's erratic work schedule. I definitely started showing a lot earlier this time around. I think I started wearing maternity clothes around 12 weeks. I'm also pretty sure that I felt the baby moving last night. There have been a few occasions where I thought I felt it, but I'm nearly positive that last night was the real deal.

Everyone wants to know what we want to have. We both want a girl this time, but we also realize how convenient it would be to have a boy. Either way, it goes back to the cliche of us just wanting a healthy baby. We'll find out in 4 weeks what we're having. We have two names in mind if it's a girl: Sarah and Lorelei. We're a little less sure on names for a boy. I know for sure that his middle name will be Martin, after my uncle and cousin. As far as first names go, we've bounced from Biblical names, to Irish names, to family names, and back to Biblical names. In all honesty, we're no closer on a name than we were in the beginning.

Because it's cute!

My Family from WiddlyTinks.com