Happy Halloween 2012!

Well, we knew Jane was going to be a princess, because she LOVES princesses. So we figured that Colin would make a great dragon.

But I didn't realize how cute he would look!

Sooooo cute!!

The dragon costume came with pants, but they were about as big as his ENTIRE body, so we decided to go without.

Jane enjoyed trick or treating this year as Belle.  She didn't quite get the hang of saying "Trick or treat!" at the doors, but she said thank you when people gave her candy so that's good.  Everybody thought she looked SO beautiful!

Mommy and Jane went around the neighborhood until it was too dark and cold to keep going, but it sure was fun!  We can't wait to go again next year. =)

Here's the pumpkin that Jane and Daddy carved!

Welcome Baby Boy!

I need to do an official post to say we had our baby and he's wonderful.  =)  We named him Colin James and he came just after midnight on 9/11.  I have been doing daily photos on the dayswithjane blog but forgot to say anything here for those of you who are subscribed.

Colin is almost two weeks old now.  Jane is a fantastic older sister to him, very sweet and always wanting to help take care of him.  She often says, "ohhh, cuuuuuute," when looking at Colin, it's hilarious.  I should try to get it on video.

So far Colin has been a laid back little guy who fits right in to the household.  We somehow feel more like a family now with Colin here.  We were missing him and we didn't know it!

Like most newborns, Colin likes to be snuggled by everyone.  He likes it when his big sister strokes his head which she does several times a day.  We spend lots of time everyday with Colin laid out on our bed and usually all three of us around him, or at least Mommy if Daddy and Jane are off playing.  We like to talk to him and give him kisses, and Colin likes to move his head around to try to find who's talking to him.  He is curious about the things around him, but in a quiet way.  

Well, speaking of Colin, he is trying to eat his hand right now, so I am going to go save him!  Hopefully we'll have some more updates here, soon.  =)

Jane loves me!

I've got some really cute videos to post, but I realized that I should probably mention that Jane told me she loved me for the first time a week or two ago.  I was leaving for work in the morning, and I went into her room where she was sitting with Michael and told her I was going to work and gave her a bye bye hug.  While I was giving her a hug she said, "I yuv you," in a very contented way.  I cannot tell you how many endorphins must flood your body the first time your baby tells you they love you!
She says it almost every day now, at some point or other, and it is always a rush.  She has told Michael, too, and I can tell he gets the same kind of thrill, it is wonderful!  It's usually while she's giving us a hug.  She also gives wonderful kisses and snuggles with us and gives us big squeezes.  Today we were sitting on the kitchen floor playing when a song came on that she liked, and she just suddenly laid her head down on my leg and stayed that way for a few minutes.  Until I started scratching her back, and then she had to adjust positions so I could scratch more effectively.  And then she needed her arms scratched.  But basically: you never know when a snuggle is coming.  It could hit anytime, anywhere.  But sometimes that girl has just got to snuggle!

I can relate.

20 weeks

Well my ultrasound was this morning. I've put the video here (there's no sound). It's 10 minutes long, and again I don't expect anyone to watch the whole thing except maybe very excited grandparents. But it's sort of fun to skip through.

   

 The very first thing we tried to do was see the sex first. Because we all know Michael, and Michael can't wait for big news or surprises. When we did Jane's ultrasound, he was in agony until the very end when the doctor finally showed us it was a girl. So we asked: please show us if it's a boy or girl first. The only problem was that we couldn't quite tell. The umbilical cord was between the legs and it was hard to see what was what. You can see in the video where the doctor tries jostling things around by shoving the ultrasound thingy in and out of my stomach quickly. He had to stop when I almost creamed him - it was really painful! I begged the boys to leave off the gender search and check out some other stuff so my belly could rest.

 So we looked at the brain, and the head, cute little face (no cleft lip), the arms, the profile of the face, heart, the spine. He showed me a dark spot where there was fluid in the tummy, and another where there was fluid in the bladder. I'm sure we looked at some other stuff, too, it's all kind of a blur. Michael kept getting excited partly because he could actually tell what we were looking at, and partly because he kept recognizing stuff from his anatomy and medical terminology classes. We saw the cute legs and little feet. The doctor thought it was funny when I said, "Hi cutie patootie!" Sometimes you see the camera wiggle when I'm laughing because Michael and the doctor kept cracking jokes. Finally we swung back between the legs. For a minute both the doctor and I were agreeing that we couldn't see anything between the legs, and then taa-daa! Little baby boy parts. We checked and double checked and it was pretty clear.

So there you go! As far as names go, we don't have one picked out and we won't for awhile.  But we're always taking suggestions =)

We find out next week

I had fun seeing people's answers when I was pregnant with Jane, so I thought I'd do another poll to see what the general consensus is about whether I will have a boy or a girl! I find out next week. If you want my opinion, I am pretty sure it's a boy. It only occurred to me last week that there's actually a possibility that it's a girl. So when the doctor tells me it's a boy next week, it will still be a little bit of a surprise. =)

So what kind of routine do you have with your toddler?

I guess this question is for parents who don't have older kids whose routines supersede the younger kids'.  So for you parents with one or two kids who are pretty young, I often wonder, "What is your schedule like?"

Some days I feel like I'm just making it all up as I go along and I wonder if we had more of a set routine if Jane would like that.  Do you have activities that your kids do at certain times of the day?  Like a "crafts" time or an "outside play" time?  Do you have certain things you do on certain days of the week, like classes or visiting family members?

I buy the parenting books for my library, and if the number of toddler-activity books out there are any indication, I'm not the only parent scratching her head and wondering what to do with this silly kid.  What are some of your toddler's favorite activities?  For Jane, it's coloring and reading.  We have an aqua-doodle, a magna-doodle, and lots of crayons, and she will use them all in one day, probably more than once.  She also loves reading and being read to.  So what about your kids?

Misc. February and March, 2012

*Written 10/19/2013*

Here are some of the random things that happened in February and March 2012.

Jane discovered taking photos with my iPod. She took a couple of pictures with Mommy on the couch.

Rocky continues to make himself at home in our house.

We did some sledding down the gentle hill in our backyard with Jane.

These next photos are from March.  It snowed again and Daddy and Jane made a snowman:

Jane enjoying some books in the big chair:

Not sure why I took this one but isn't she cute?

One day I painted Jane's nails and took some pictures of her in the front room.

Wow she is cute.  Here's a cute video of a little conversation of ours:

Muffin #2

These are pretty hard to interpret, but basically there's a baby between the two plus signs in the middle.
=)
Due sometime during the 2nd week of September.
Yay!

Cuteness log: February 2012

Jane and I have so many cute conversations these days, and I keep wanting to write them down.  It's amazing to me that I even have conversations with her, she has grown into such a smart, cute two year old girl.  Here are some interactions that I remember lately:

Jane saw a bandaid on my finger and said, "Whassat, Mama?"
Me: "It's a bandaid, Mommy got an owie."
Jane, very sympathetically: "Sorry, Mama."

Bedtime is pretty adorable all around.  We sing her songs, and she whispers, "More," so quietly when we finish a song.  Finally we say, "One more song and then it's time for bed, okay?"  Jane says, "Okay," just as quietly.

So when we lay her down in her crib she might say, "Shaka?" which means that she wants scratches on her arms or her back.  So we might give her some "scratches."  Or she might say, "Song?" and if we're feeling particularly generous we might sing her one more song for bedtime.  The kitty song goes:
Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur
Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr

Lately I have been interchanging the names of our cats into the song, so I'll sing "Soft Rocky, Warm Rocky" or "Soft Abba, Warm Abba."  Jane loves it.  When we sing the kitty song she might say, "Rocky?" and then I have to do the Rocky version, invariably followed by the Abba version (not the Swedish pop kind).  If you get that joke you get a gold star for the day.

If I am near her at all while she's coloring, she will likely hand me a crayon and say, "Mama turn."  And then I have to draw for the next ten minutes.  If I draw a star she says, "More stars."  If I draw a flower she says, "Flower!  Peeetty flower."

Most of the time if I ask her if she wants to go somewhere or do something, she says, "Okay, Mama!"

If she's alone in her room for a minute she runs down the hallway and says, "Scared!"

If I ask if she wants to go to Jacque's house she giggles and shouts, "Okay!  Jackeeee house!!"

If she comes in from outside and I ask her if she had fun she says, "YUP!"  She still says, "It's COLD ousside" pretty frequently.

Today in a store she couldn't find Michael and walked around the store calling loudly, "Daaadaaaa, [where] ARE YOUUUU?"  The where is implied, but not said. =)

She's got a lot of personality.  I know we have longer conversations than I've listed here, I can't quite remember one at the moment.  I think I might do little posts whenever I can remember one of the cute things she says.  Mostly it's the way she says them.  She has such energy and excitement for life.  It seems like people are drawn to her wherever we go.  Today in a restaurant Jane wanted some of my soda, and when I said, "no" a little too quickly, she got her pout on and did a little cry.  Just when we got her calmed down, I turned around to see one of the employees asking, "Does she want a cookie!?"  It broke my heart to tell that poor lady that we had already bought one for Jane.

Anyway, Jane is basically our dream child.  Who could ask for more?

Get your "awww"s ready

I got this email last night from Michael after he put Jane to bed. The last few days I've been singing her a "kitty" song at night, and now she asks for us to sing it to her nightly.


(Jane is in her crib and snuggling her bunny and blankets ready for sleep)
Jane - Kitty?
Me - No more Kitty. Time for bed. Kiss goodnight?
(Jane rolls over giggling. Kiss request is denied.)
Me - Goodnight. Love you, Jane.
(Start to walk out. When I reach the doorway.)
Jane - Daddy?
Me - Yes, sweetie?
(I walk back over to the crib)
(Jane has lips puckered, we give each other goodnight kisses.)
Me- Goodnight, Jane.
Jane - Goodnight, Daddy.

AHHHHHHHH. Cutest thing ever!

Jane's 2nd Birthday, January 2012

*Written 9/1/13*

Jane's second birthday was a really full day.  We were still in the midst of Mommy and Daddy's hard work schedules (working all 7 days of the week), but Mommy took work off so that we could all spend time together for the entire day.

We did a bunch of stuff and I have some really long videos on here.  I won't blame you if you don't watch them all, they are basically just our home movies and this blog is kind of like a record of our family, so they should go here.  But feel free to skim those or just look at the photos.

We started off by videoing us waking Jane up in the morning, but I think she was disoriented and got a little scared.  We decided after that that the first thing we should do is watch Jane open some presents!  It was pretty fun for everybody.

Jane loves books!  She calls them "gooks!"

Opening presents requires the utmost concentration

I hope you don't think I'm mean for getting my kid a broom
for her birthday.  But she is always trying to use the big one
and it's so unwieldy!  I think she'll have fun trying this one out

Jane also really likes trucks or "Tucks!"  So we got her a bunch!

She also likes these blocks and the little truck that they go in.

Daddy helping Jane learn how to use her broom

Mommy and Jane getting some snuggle time after breakfast

After breakfast we went to the Kangaroo Zoo, which is a big jumping-house place near where we live.  Jane had a blast jumping around and sliding down the slides, keeping up with the big kids.  The first few times we brought her here she was a little nervous, but she is really getting the hang of running around!

We can't believe how she can climb some of these steep ladders

Sometimes we were a little too nervous to let her
go unaided

See?  I told you she would like that broom.  It
has a little button on it that plays the "Clean Up" song
when you press it.  I guess it also helps to be
wearing Mommy's shoes when you're sweeping.

After the Kangaroo Zoo, we went home and Jane had a good nap.  But we weren't done! 

Mommy had a little rest with the kitty during Jane's nap, too.

When Jane woke up we took her to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point.  We weren't sure how it would go but Jane really enjoyed running around and seeing all of the big dinosaur bones.  She kept saying "GRRRR!"

I love how she is dwarfed by all of these big skeletons

They have a big sand/water landmass/erosion exhibit that
kids can play with.

Craning her neck to see up to their heads.

This picture is so great.  She looks like she might be startled, but I'm
90% sure she was saying, "ROOAR" at this moment.

Back home at the end of the day, it was time for cupcakes!  After a bad cupcake experience at her first birthday, I had a lot of hopes riding on this cupcake.  But Jane was really tired after all of that fun today!  Really tired.  She wasn't sure about this whole cupcake thing.  But after Daddy helped her with the first few bites, she decided it might be worth her time. :)

After today, we were pooped!  But it was a great day, we loved being together and doing so many fun things.  And we love Jane!