Polaroids

It's been a whirlwind of a month, what with finishing up some projects, the arrival of baby Theo, and adjusting to being a family of four :) Rather than try to cover all of the details, here are several snapshots of the past few days.

We went for a few (very slow) walks since it was about all of the activity I could handle at 37 and 38 weeks

pregnant. Levi loves his Tiny Car, borrowed from our neighbors.

For Tim's 29th birthday, we went bowling for the first time with Levi. They make tiny little bowling shoes for him! I won, even though I was carrying a bowling ball myself :) And of course, after about a half hour, the little slide for bowling balls ceased to be used for its original purpose and rather became a climbing challenge.

We also went for a picnic at the Conestoga House, a beautiful estate in Lancaster that has its grounds open to the public in the summer on Wednesday afternoons and evenings. Levi enjoyed the fountains and running around the grassy areas.

On Friday, Aug.2, I managed to wrap up everything at work because my midwife (who then immediately left for a three-day vacation) told me on Thursday afternoon that at three centimeters
I was on my way. I was hoping Theo would wait until Monday to appear so she would be able to make it, so I planned to sit around all weekend and boss my family around - certainly a stretch for my personality. We headed to a potluck picnic for some of the volunteers at church, and I stuffed my face with all the delicious things people bring to potlucks (which should be required at least biweekly at all churches, I think).

Around midnight, I woke up with what felt like a cramp in my lower back. I immediately started regretting eating all of that food :/ At 2 a.m. I'd had two more of those cramps, and was Googling Braxton Hicks to see if I could find more clues other than "longer, stronger, and closer together" - three contractions in two hours is hardly close together and they were only about 15 seconds long and hardly strong at all.

Well. Then. From 2 to 3 a.m. they were 20 minutes apart and 20 seconds long, and by 4 a.m. they were 10 minutes apart and getting, well, stronger and longer. Since the general rule of thumb is five minutes and nearly unbearable to head to the hospital, we waited until 5 a.m. to call our brother-in-law (who had conveniently arrived home from an extended stay with our in-laws hours before) to come and stay at our house with Levi while we headed to the hospital.

This is where things got dicey - My contractions started coming faster and faster without much breathing room in between. We left our house around 5:40 after we threw everything in the car and called the doctor on call and told them I was coming in whether they liked it or not. Theo was born at 6:35 a.m., less than an hour after we got to the hospital.
There wasn't time for an epidural, which was frankly one of my biggest fears, but with Tim's help on a pressure point on my back I made it through the contractions and was already at 10 centimeters when the doctor checked me shortly after we got to the hospital, and I could start pushing, which for me seemed easier than just counting and breathing through almost two-minute-long contractions. Focusing my efforts and hearing the nurses, doctor, and Tim telling me the progress with every breath was somehow less painful. Four contractions later, our 8 pound, 12 oz. bundle arrived - already rooting around for some food.

Recovery has been exponentially better this time around, even with Levi at home with ,me two days a week.

Theo is of course adorable, decently calm with the occasional bit of indigestion....and mostly sleeps :) Which is good - I can function on two-hour shifts of sleep pretty well if afternoon naps are in the cards! Theo has dark blue eyes and is a very grunty and noisy baby. Levi has been pretty casual about folding him into our routine so far, and likes to give Baby Theo kisses :)

Levi is just as entertaining as always - and somehow becoming even more of a boy. The other night at dinner, he picked up a piece of cilantro that was in his dinner and held it up, saying "a spider!" We assured him it was not a spider, but an herb in his dinner, and he just kept saying "a spider!" And then he ate it.

Levi also has started to sing songs at random while he's playing or eating. I don't know them all, but he'll suddenly break into a rather accurate rendition of twinkle twinkle little star, row your boat, or a song about a bumblebee.

We spent some time meeting the most adorable little kittens while we had newborn photos taken. And, true to form of Levi's fear of most pets, Levi was terrified by them. We worked on standing closer and closer to them, and eventually the kitties could walk right up to us and sniff our shoes without him losing it.

More and more every day we can see Levi's sense of...learning? curiosity? He not only wants to find out how things work, but how they can work. Case in point: Truck monster. Or multi-cup functionality.

And lastly, a dialogue from tonight:
Levi: (finding some sort of dirt on his person) "Ew. Yucky. Gross."
Tim: "Yeah, that"s nasty."
L: (biiiig smile) "Eat it!"
T: "No, I"m not going to eat it."
L: "You! Eat it!"
T: No, I'm not gonna eat it. I should pull something out of my armpit and make you eat it."

A weekend with Levi

This past weekend, Tim was gone on a youth camp weekend, and I wrangled the toddler by myself. Certainly had its ups and downs, and also some quintessential toddler moments. 

Friday: We visited a local bounce place with some friends. Though certainly a small fry by the standards of a

lot of kids racing round, Levi enjoyed both the toddler-sized bouncy obstacle course as well as one of the giant slides. He went in all by himself (8-months pregnant lady + bouncy house = turtle on its back law, I think) and figured out how to climb up little steps to go down the larger-than-life slide. And then he'd climb down, and race as fast as his little legs could carry him, arms flailing, to do it again. and again. and again. and so on for about an hour ;)

After we got home, we needed to drop Tim's car off at the mechanic's down the street for a weekend oil change. It was raining lightly, but that felt pretty refreshing after the nasty mugginess and sunshine of the past few days and weeks. We brought "tiny car" - Levi's name for his push-buggy car we borrow from our generous neighbors, which is like a car-shaped

wagon that you push instead of pull. However, I underestimated Levi's sense of importance in the tiny-car world -- he did not want to ride in the car, no no, that is for only the small and unpowerful. He wanted to push the car. Which, even at only three blocks away from our house, it quite a time-intensive endeavor. Also, he's two. and it was raining. Which means there were a lot of puddles. Which also means that every time we passed one, he had to stop and splash in the water. So a half-hour later or so we made it home, and I counted the soaking wetness as a bath. 

Saturday: to the grocery store we go, always a bad idea being this pregnant with a two-year-old, but, you know, food and stuff. We managed to snag one of those carts with the little car on the front, which resulted in Levi being occupied for most of the shopping trip. He started losing his ability to listen/behave as we headed toward the checkout. I taught him how to swipe through the photos on my phone while we waited for the lady that looked like a poodle waver on whether or not to purchase a block of cheese for several minutes (both are 100% true). But by the time I got up to the checkout, Levi had lost all patience and started climbing on top of the tiny car. I decided I'd take it over running away and screaming, especially since he couldn't get very high. But then he figured out how to climb most of the way up via the side faux-doors, and then, right as the cashier handed me my receipt, he was

kneeling entirely on the top of the car. I just told him he was big and strong but he had to get down before we could go find Daddy's car.

We had, of course, several incidents of not listening to Mommy. Unfortunately, Levi seems to have inherited my (and Tim's I bet) gene of not even caring about being naughty until I warn him not to. So if he holds a plate full of half-eaten food over the floor and I warn him gently not to drop it, he grins wickedly and not just drops, but chucks it as hard as he can. And then he goes in time out and has to say sorry for not listening and has to help clean up his mess. We're trying to teach him to say what he's sorry for, which goes something like this: "Levi, are you sorry?" L: "I'm sorry mommy." "Sorry for what?" L: "Sorry for what" (very contrite, very serious)." Yes, good job child. 

Also, Levi says "ready, set, go!" constantly. to walk out the front door. to go to school. While playing with his toys. 

A big room for a big boy

I think Levi is getting taller every day. Even though my belly is also (by appearances) getting lower every day, pretty sure his head has moved a good deal higher in recent weeks. His big-boy bed -- most recently occupied by one of my 6' 2" brothers -- when stretched out he's a good half of the length of it. We spent some time this weekend with a good friend of mine who measures at close to 5 feet, and as she phrased it "He's half as tall as me. Levi is now half a Brittany."

Although some of it could be his (super cute!) curly hair, which, I confess, I let grow long before we cut it uber-short again because it's just so darn adorable.

First, something I've been forgetting to do for a couple of months now: a tour of Levi's big-boy room.

Confession: His room is mostly decorated with things that mommy and daddy like ...

One of my favorite quotes from Harry Potter, along with Tim's Roger Clemens
and dinosaur cross-stitch from when he was little. 

A car rug is one of the necessary accouterments for any little boy's
room, especially one who is obsessed with anything with wheels 

The minions from Despicable Me - perfect for a room that will eventually
be shared by two brothers. Now...to determine which will be which...

My brother Shawn carved this little block and it fits perfectly on Levi's headboard

Tiny shoes!

Do these trucks take up half a wall? Yes, yes they do. They're Tim's from when he
was smaller (though, truth be told, he still plays with them) 

Are the chairs pink and purple? yes. 

Apropos for a two-year-old, no?

Cars. 'Nuff said. (Levi says "thank you for cars" most nights during prayers. And
also shouts "Yightning Queen!" and "Mato!" most mornings)

The owl theme is pretty much because I think owls are cute. 

Levi's quilt from Nannan has trucks and trains and all sorts of colors. 

And now, for the Levi pictures, of course :)

We spent the last three weeks building a fence. Which Levi was clearly handy at doing  :)

At the Barnstormer's (minor league) baseball game in his tiny chair

Apparently, sitting in the pool and splashing around is not on the agenda when you're two.

Truck + pool = awesome.

Climbing ladders also = awesome

Levi helped mommy paint several of the posts. With no pants on.

blowing bubbles at the (very foggy) beach

Brittany wanted to build a castle. Levi wanted to crush all structural development

Then Brittany dug a hole. Levi checked its size against his...head.

These are the Days

I'm not sure how that title made the cut, since today it was easily 90 degrees, humid, with no breeze. I'm a solid 26 pounds heavier than pre-baby, with at least 10 more weeks to go that can be about a pound a week in more weight gain...I spent a good half of it in and out of the sun, I think got a sunburn on the back of one of my shoulders when I couldn't handle having my hair down anymore, I'm pretty sure I have to start wearing sneakers regularly to get the support I need to carry this very low and comfy "down there" baby around at 30 weeks and counting, and even with not getting up until after 8 a.m. and taking an hour nap, I could still go to bed at 7 p.m. I'm sweating more than a pound a day in this weather, I'm sure of it, and my face is generally a shade of pink or red just from the effort of walking in the heat/sun/doing some chore/carrying Levi.

I stayed in my big-boy bed all night! But rolled off in the morning :)

But. Nonetheless. I feel like we've entered sort of the joyful days of summer. Even amidst the ridiculousness of a busy and stupid hot Saturday (and it's only June 1! this child will clearly be my one and only summer baby), things seem happy, if also hazy :)


We walked around market this morning and Levi helped me carry one of the very heavy bags I was carrying (OK, I bought apples, a pineapple, and several other hefty-ish items while shopping at market by myself without a stroller....), did not walk away from me once, and even climbed in an out of his carseat all by himself, saving me the awkwardness of bashing his head trying to stoop down while lifting him high enough to put him in it!

Playing with Jeeves, Gigi's (faux) butler

 At the carwash (Gigi, you'd be proud of how beautiful my car is now!) He stared out of the big picture window in awe while they cleaned the inside of mommy's car, and even repeatedly pointed out my car to the man standing and watching his own car.

At naptime, he immediately began taking out the train tracks I'd so carefully put away so I could take cleanish pics of his big boy room, but then acquiesced to climbing in his big-boy bed with his "truck blanket" from Nannan, and actually fell right asleep without the usual shenanigans.

 He was absolutely delighted with the slip-and-slide at his friend's birthday party, chock full of smiles the whole time.

He helped me put the vegetables away in the fridge after market.

He chatters about motorcycles and trucks and dump trucks and buses and also motorcycles anytime he sees/thinks about one of the above.

Playing football in Gigi's yard

He fancies himself a techie, going around plugging the end of my headphones into anything that could be construed as a jack, including mommy's belly button (decidedly an outie at the moment).

He politely brought me several pieces of his plastic train tracks while I was in the shower this morning, because I must have been bored without tub toys like he has, apparently.

He pushes not only his dresser drawers closed, but also Daddy's (Anybody seen that Tina Fey/Steve Carrell movie date night, where the husband can't close a drawer ever? yeah. Tim's vice also includes cabinets along with drawer fronts).

He also fancies himself quite the craftsman, using things like daddy's (small) clamps and screwdrivers to "fix" things. Or just...bang on things.

He loves to give hugs, and while he doesn't quite seem to understand kisses, he at least makes the "muah!" sound if you ask him to give you kisses.

He loves to give high fives, and is even very fair about it - if he gives Daddy high fives, he must immediately find mommy to give her high fives also.

I realize this sounds like he's the most calm and intentionally nice child ever, at all times, and that's certainly not the case. But he's rarely rigid, tends toward laughing instead of crying when he's tired, and is pretty easily distracted by "let's go find mommy's car!!" or "let's go look at some trucks!" if we need to leave/stop doing something and go do something else. He still has his moments - even with dozens of words, his first response is ALWAYS to whine instead of talk, he freaks out if you misunderstand what he meant (he wanted to FLUSH the POTTY by HIMSELF even though he clearly said "HELP!"), he hates when tubby or shower time is done and will express himself with kicking or hitting when he's worked up, and he'll cry and say no when he really means yes please I want that. He'll scream this angry little scream when he can't figure something out or it doesn't work like he thinks it does. All completely normal for a

Petting Gigi's pet dragon

two-year-old.

I know two can be terrible, but I try to remember that at two, most things are either terribly exciting or slightly scary, and it seems like grownups always say no to the exciting things and think you should be fine around the scary things. So if I can let him enjoy the exciting things as much as possible without them being dangerous, and remember that he does just need a hug or to hold my hand sometimes for no reason, it makes it easier to just recognize those happy moments throughout busy, whiny, sweaty days :)

Sighting planes overhead at Gigi's