Where's Mommy?

J and I went to Edo for lunch today. We were both feeling under the weather, so we thought their Udo Chicken Soup would be good for what ailed us. T, who continues to be on bed rest and suffer from morning sickness, stayed home just as she should.

The staff at the Edo were very taken with J. They told him that he looked just like Santa in his little red coat. Despite his being somewhat shy at first, the Edo staff pressed to carry on conversations with him. Conversations such as:

Edo Employee: Where's Mommy?
H: She's at home, sick.
Edo Employee: Oh. Does she have the flu?
J: She vomits in her pot.

Things you never thought you'd hear yourself say

"Snuggling does not include umbrellas."

Quick baby update

Saw the obstetrician today. I'm still on bed rest - at least until my next appointment, mid-January. And I've had morning sickness so bad that I have actually lost 4 pounds while pregnant. Unless things change quite dramatically, I will be on bed rest until baby is born. At best, I may at some point prior to baby's arrival be allowed limited activity, but it sounds like it would be very limited. The prognosis isn't great just now. We hope baby doesn't come too early. I'm staying very still.

At least baby's growth is on track, and things seem to be going well from that end. My body is creating the problem. But there does not appear to be any problem with our child. So we sit tight and hope that I can hang on.

Things have been quiet here lately

I am aware. Time for a few updates.

I'm about 16 weeks pregnant with #2 now. Already on bed rest, and have been for over a month now. I'm bed resting until at least 20 weeks, and we'll see from there. There are complications and, if they do not resolve, I'll likely be on bed rest until delivery. I'm due end of May. Bed rest is boring. There's not much that I can do. I miss work. It's hard to get to the computer. It's tough to blog. The worst part is that I can't pick up J. I miss cuddling my little boy. Thankfully, I have a supportive husband who has been taking good care of me and J. I just wish I could contribute. But I can't.

We went to Maui for a week in September. That's where we learned that we were expecting #2. It was a fantastic trip! Thankfully, the morning sickness didn't start until we returned. It's been pretty bad, though. I can't keep down even my prenatal vitamins. I'm concerned about proper nutrition for baby. But I'm doing my best.

On the J front, potty training is going well. J is rewarded with a sticker for sitting on the potty, and he receives an extra sticker for peeing. He usually gets two stickers. But he's not yet telling us when he needs to go, so he's generally wet between trips. I hope he will be trained soon. It would be helpful.

Also, we have managed to wean J from his "Ne-naw" (aka soother). He was only having it during naps and night. But we explained to him on Monday that Ne-naws are only for little tiny babies, and he's a little boy now and much too grown-up for a Ne-naw. He barely even squawked about it. Honestly, it was more tragic for me - my baby is growing up!!! But it needed to go, so it is gone.

J likes all kinds of books and toys now. He will often play with things that aren't really his toys. We have to monitor for safety. He has claimed one of our Halloween decorations - a silver skull - as one of his new toys. Apparently, J does not find this gross-looking thing particularly scary. We are having trouble getting it back into storage, since J keeps hiding it among his other toys. J also loves the design that is on the back of one of our rocking chairs. He thinks Design looks rather like a face, and he has conversations with it, shares toys with it, etc. Ah well, a couple of imaginary or inanimate friends never hurt anyone.

J enjoys singing. His favorite song is still "Mighty Machines", but he also enjoys "Jingle Bells" and "Mister Golden Sun", among other little tunes. He prefers to sing in a gruff and grumbly voice rather than his usual sweet little voice. He sounds rather like a Sesame Street monster when he starts up, I swear. But it's very cute.

Now, onto the school front: I'm almost through my stats class. Thankfully, when I was put on bed rest, the teacher turned it into a distance ed class for me, and I have managed to get good grades while lying still on my couch. It has not been a really tough class. I've got enough marks to pass the class already, and a couple more projects to complete still. Hopefully I'll be able to complete them. I've gotten doctor permission to take a winter class also, provided it too is distance ed and can be completed while I lie down. So I'll be taking Finance next. It's a long process to get my designation, but I'm sure it will be worth it once it's all done.

I'm tired. I'm bored. Send emails. Phone me. Whatever you've got to do. I'm relying on others for entertainment now. So go on ... entertain me!

I will now end this post with a things you never thought you'd hear your child say:

J: Kitty is eating my skull!!

Things you never thought you'd hear yourself say

H & T: (Singing)

Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday dear ... skull ...
Happy birthday to you.

Birds of a Feather

J loves birdies. Sometimes, he gets confused about what they are, but he loves them nonetheless.

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J: (Pointing excitedly) That's a penguin!
H: (Looking where J is pointing) No, J. That's a magpie.
J: Ooooh ... magpie.
H: Yes. Magpie.
J: No magpie! PENGUIN!!
H: Okay, fine. It's a penguin.

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H: J wanted to tell you that he gave rocks to the birdies on the piano.
T: Oh. ... Wait. What birdies on the piano?
H: Well, he thinks those wooden monkeys up there are birds.

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H: Are you magical?
J: No!
H: Are you magnificent?
J: No!
H: Are you magnanimous?
J: No! I'm a magpie! ROAR!!!!

911 Emergency

My friend, Morgan, posted this on her blog. It was so funny, I just had to share it here.

Enjoy!

911 Emergency

Camera shopping

Lazy salespeople bug me. I swear, the woman was standing about 4 feet away, doing absolutely nothing. She was pointedly eavesdropping on our conversation, noticing that we were serious shoppers, and observing that we were having trouble with floor models that were not working. And she didn't even say "May I help you?" She deserved what she got. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

H: I think this camera looks good.
T: Me too.
H: Good price, huh?
T: I think so.
H: Should we get it?
T: No.
H: No?
T: (loudly while staring at lazy salesgirl) I refuse to buy a camera from a place where no salesperson comes to ask if we need help! Look at her, just standing there staring at us! Listening to us talking about how the batteries in the display models are dead so we can't see how they work, and doing absolutely nothing! And we're the only people in here! What is wrong with her?! You know, we're friends with the manager. I'm gonna go call him right now, so I can tell him that she's a great big ...
H: Uhhhh ... We should go.

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No camera case requires weatherproofing that badly.

H: Look at this camera case!
T: Well, it's nice. But ...
H: It has a raincover!
T: Uh huh.
H: Check it out! See? It has a raincover!
T: It's $500.
H: Yeah. But it has a raincover!

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So many modes, so little time.

H: Interesting. This camera has a "Food" mode.
T: Quick! Throw it at the food court! Maybe it'll fetch us a snack!
H: No. It's for taking pictures of food.
T: If it doesn't make me dinner, I don't want it.

**********

Eventually, we found a suitable store. We bought a new digital camera. It's nice. It has a case. The case has a raincover. The case was not $500. Because we are not crazy.

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Yes, Holly, I see the irony. We have a camera, and absolutely no time to upload pictures, burn CD's, or send an email. Cry me a river.

Discussions and Desserts

We'd eaten dinner. We were having apple pie for dessert. H and I were reading sections of the paper. J was playing with his food and not really eating it. Jazzy and Jiver, the kitties, were scrounging under the table. All a normal evening. And then ...

J: (singing) Three blind mice! Three blind mice!

T: This ad really irks me.

H: (referring to a help wanted ad we saw last night) Why? Does it have a prostitute in it?

T: No. But listen to this:

"Cherished traditions and simle pleasures! $585,000
Over 2700 sf of ... "

H: SIMPLE pleasures?!?!?!

T: Oh, you got that, did you? Was it the $585,000 or the 2700 square feet that got you?

J: Three blind ... uh-oh ... J dropped apple pie on Jazzy!

Puppy-Hit-You, and other animal tidbits

J's Memaw stopped by the other day. She gave J a boxing kangaroo from Australia.

T: Is that a kangaroo?
J: No! Puppy!

J has affectionately named his kangaroo "Puppy-Hit-You". Even though he now seems to accept that it is in fact a kangaroo rather than a puppy, he still calls him "Puppy-Hit-You". He loves his kangaroo, and uses it as a pillow when he sleeps. Such a sweet little boy!

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On the subject of naming conventions, we found a second smaller snuggly stuffed panda for J to hold and play with. He loves both of his pandas, though the original Panda is still his favorite. He went to visit his Grandma, and he took both pandas with him.

G: (Pointing to the newer panda) Oh! And what's his name?
J: Other-Panda.

My son, folks. Cute as all get out, but not terribly creative just now.

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J has learned all kinds of animal sounds. He has learned that sheep say "Baa", and pigs say "Oink". He has learned that lions say "ROAR" (and since this is his favorite animal sound, he has attributed it to any silent animal, also. Who knew giraffes and kangaroos say "ROAR"). He has learned that goats have horns and that sheep have no horns. And he has named his little stuffed sheep "Sheepy-No-Horns" just to bring that point home. But he can't quite get the goat noise down.

T: What does a sheep say?
J: Baa!
T: What does a cow say?
J: Moo!
T: What does a piggy say?
J: Oink!
T: What does a goat say?
J: Sheepy-No-Horns!

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J can consistently count to 4 on his own. But then he often gets confused. It is clear, however, that his favorite number is 7.

J: 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 7 ... 8 ... 7 ... 5 ... 7 ...

While we know that he can consistently count to 4, he doesn't really seem to know what the numbers mean. He does not relate "one" or "two" to the actual number of objects present. We trust that will come eventually.

We were out for a short time this evening. We passed a woman. She was walking her dog. Just one dog. And she was by herself.

J: (Pointing out the window at her) Two puppies!
H: J, that's not very nice.

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J answers any "Are you a ..." type question with "No! I'm a baby!" For example:

T: Are you a big boy?
J: No! I'm a baby!

The other night, we were driving in the car. J was trying to order us around ... typical 2-year old.

H: Stop being so bossy.
J: No! I'm a baby!
H: Are you bossy?
J: No! I'm a baby!
H: You're bossy.
J: No! I'm a baby!
H: You're a bossy baby.
J: No! I'm a ... I'm a kangaroo!