Big Scary Alligator

Last night Lennox was yelling "Mommy! MOmmy!" from the shower so I ran to see what was wrong. He was standing in the doorway of the shower (he knows not to get out b/c it is very slippery) saying "Mommy! Dat awigator care me!" I asked what alligator he was talking about and he said "Dat big carey awigator was in the shower... I wanna hold you!" I picked him up and asked where the alligator went because I didn't see it. He pointed to the corner of the shower (which is completely sealed) and said "it just weft right dere." Later we said his prayers and I asked him who he wanted to pray for. His response? Aunt Debbbie. Erica. And "dat big carey awigator care me." ha. The power of the imagination cracks me up! He is dead set that there was an alligator in the shower. I didn't try to talk him out of it. We did pray that God would help him understand that even if he saw the alligator in the shower again, it wouldn't bite. What else do you do?

Random Thoughts

• I will be 36 weeks pregnant tomorrow. I have gained about 19 lbs. I don't think I will make it to my due date. I really don't. I would love to make it 2 more weeks. That would be excellent. Maybe even 3 more weeks. I think next week will be my last week of work. I can work, it's not that. I just can't sit this long. Not at my desk. I feel like my hips are being pulled apart. Plus, working 40 hours and commuting 10+ hours is just not leaving enough time in my day to get things done. Important things. I did clean my house really well this weekend. Now, if we can only maintain... which is our biggest challenge. I washed almost all of the baby's clothes. I have to hang a few things on the wall in the nursery. I need a lamp and table. My mother in law said she needs me to give her a weekend to go shopping so she can buy them. Ok... That's so nice. But. That's SO not going to happen. I barely have time to turn around much less spend the day shopping.
• We still haven't thought of a name for this baby. We don't even discuss it. If something doesn't magically come to me when I see her, I am going to be highly disappointed!
• Lennox kept telling me that baby sister could not live with us. Now he has agreed that she can indeed live with us and people can come to visit her. He can also climb into her crib and jump around. He lays down like he is a sleeping baby and declares that he wants to sleep in a crib. He also said he is going to rescue baby sister from her bed. PLEASE tell me that doesn't mean he is going to attempt to throw her or carry her out of the crib on his own. Please God, don't let that happen when my back is turned. Scary!
• My friends and family are so incredibly sweet and thoughtful. They invited me to a Pampered Chef party on Monday night and it turned out to be a surprise shower for the baby. It was so nice but I have a major issue with the "2nd shower." It just makes me feel greedy because people were so generous when I had Lennox. I don't want anyone to buy me more thing but they did it for me anyway and I really do appreciate everyone's thoughtfulness. That was my first surprise party and I seriously had no clue! I will post pictures soon.
• Has a baby ever actually kicked it's way through a woman's abdomenal wall? Just wondering. I think I may go down in history.
• So, my "must get this done" list before the baby arrives is slowly getting checked off. I am 1/2 way through my application with an ECD of Saturday. I did some shadowing this weekend at Urgent Care. I have requested all of my transcripts. I have requested all of my references (including the extremely painful process of asking a person I barely know to write one). I am not making much progress on my class. Oh well. I will get to it. I am taking the GRE on Saturday and I am NERVOUS! I opened the review book, this week... because that's how I do things... and it is not quite as easy as I had imagined. My sister asked me why I do this to myself. This, meaning, procrastinate to the very last minute and then spin myself up into a whirlwind of worry and stress only to come crashing down into tears for days on end. Well, that's me. That's how I have always been. That's probably how I will always be. I have always pulled it out in the end but I must say, that is getting more and more difficult. This PA school process maybe the biggest failure yet.
  

26 months

This month Lennox's imagination has gone wild. For a long time he has barked like a dog or ooo-oo--ahh-ahhed like a monkey but now he pretends he is the dog. He was crawling around in the shower yesterday saying "I'm a puppy dog" and he was panting and pawing the ground. The other day he put a blanket around his head and said "Wook... I'm a wion! RRRRROOOOOAAARRR! Wion care me!" ha. So I took the opportunity to make him lots of different animals with the blanket. His favorite is the Diplodocus. Apparently all you have to do is tuck the blanket in your diaper and run around and eat grass to be a Diplodocus!! Who knew? Good thing I'm about to save some money on Halloween costumes... I'll just throw a blanket on his head and let him imagine he is whatever he wants to be. :) Lucky me. Also, at night when he wants me to sing and I'm all tapped out I ask what he wants me to sing. He has been saying "sing dat back hoe, bulldozer song." Ok, I don't know a back hoe song so I tell him to sing it. He makes up his own little song with a tune and words... it mostly goes something like La-La--- A backhoe_----Bulldozer---digging dirt---dump truck - lala--- dumping----lala. Pretty huh?

This month he is really into hiding too. He likes to hide under the covers or in the cabinets. He thinks no one sees him or knows where he is "hiding." It's pretty cute. He also likes for us to hide and jump out to scare him. I think that could be slightly damaging, especially when Jay hides in the closet of a dark room, but he keeps laughing!

He is doing really good with the potty. I am hoping one day he will just stop going in the diaper. Is that an effective potty training method? Probably not. I hope while I am home on maternity leave I can really buckle down and get rid of the diapers. Maybe.

He loves school so much and has only gotten in a few scuffles. One child did go home with marks but his teacher swears Lennox was just defending himself and his property (a pot from the play kitchen). Not that it is ok to use force to defend yourself... I don't condone that. But I would probably do the same thing if someone came and took my pot. Especially if they hit me in the head with it!

He loves to paint more than anything in the world. Maybe even more than he loves dirt and shaving cream in the shower. He was introduced to paint at school and that's all she wrote. He wants to paint everything, anything, more paint, more stuff to paint, paint all day. Hopefully he will be creative. He also likes to draw. His specialties are "roads" (known to some as scribble) and zig zags. We are working on circles and sometimes he ends up with something that looks like a football... which pleases him to no end. He draws big roads and tiny roads and mama roads and daddy roads. When his roads are complete he would like for you to draw any number of heavy equipment on his road. Then he can draw the dirt in the back hoe or dump truck or whatever you may have the talent to draw. My talent ends with those two and bull dozers. He never gets tired of drawing... or asking you to draw. He is a bit like me with the markers too. If they don't work like they did the day they were opened, they are "not working" and go in the trash. That can be an expensive habit but who likes to draw with markers that skip?! Not me. Not Lennox either.

He has started counting again. There were a couple of months that he refused to count. He counts to twenty but there are only about 16 numbers between 1 and 20.

So, I think that's about it for this month. He may have grown a little taller... or maybe it's wishful thinking. I think he is definitely heavier... or I am weaker. Either way, I'll have to check that for sure and update. So 26 months is a really fun age. I can't believe how big he is and how perceptive he is... Of course I think he is just too smart but don't all of us think that about our kids?!

"Daddy tiny, Mommy BBBBIIIIIGGGG!" - Lennox

Where do butterflies come from?
"Butterpies come from powers."
Really? What do caterpillars turn into?
"Caterpillars turn into caterpies. They ugwee" - Lennox

Lennox, are you sure you don't want chicken nuggets?
"No, I want a cheeseburger."
Lennox, here is your cheeseburger.
"Here Mama. Dis cheeseburger ugwee. I need a chicken." - Lennox

"Here bunny wabbit. I got a cawwot." - Lennox (sticking his hand out of the hole in the laundry basket he was sitting in)

Lennox, when baby sister comes out she is going to live here.
"Nope."
Yes, she's going to live here with you and me and Daddy.
"No. I can't wike it. I can't wike it a baby sister... now. Because, I can't wike it." - Lennox (who has since agreed that she can live here)

Pregnancy - The Ups and Downs

Yesterday started out rough... like most work days. I got to work at 515 and found in my inbox a picture of my team from the day before. Most of the time, I hide when work photos are being taken but I did not manage to escape this photo op. Poor me... why didn't I hide better? Anyway, the picture was less than flattering of me but, like they say, pictures don't lie. So... I cried at my desk, feeling like the ugliest, fattest pregnant person ever. That was a down. (Then I ate a bowl of ice cream and felt better)

On my way home from work, I stopped to pick up something from my friend who I haven't seen in a while. He said, Wow. You are not as big as I expected. You were REALLY big last time! Ok, so that's an up (i guess).

Today, I got to work at 515. I was sitting at my desk minding my business when one of my co-workers declared that I was definitely "going to pop!" Hmmm.... I think that's a down. So, go with what works... I ate another bowl of ice cream.

My doctor congratulated me on Monday because I weigh exactly what I weighed at this point with Lennox. I thought that was good... until I was told I was REALLY big the first time. I guess that would classify me as REALLY big this time too :(


UPDATED:
So I was in Hudson's checking out the awesome baby gear at 40% off and a new grandmother asked me "what did you have?" I said, I have a 2 year old and have 5 more weeks before this baby arrives. She acted so surprised and said "oh, I thought you already had the baby!!" ha ha. Ok, I realize she must have been smoking crack but I said, Oh thanks for making my day. I turned the corner to the next aisle, minding my business, calculating my discounts. A lady came up to me with a knowing smile on her face and said "You're having twins aren't you?!" ha. no, but thanks for busting my bubble. I really don't get it.

interpretations

My friend Laura posted about the interchangeability of her son's words. It made me laugh because, as parents of a toddler, we all go about interpreting what they say and eventually it makes perfect sense to us... With Lennox, I would say he is conversational but that's probably because I understand his language. Others, on the outside, may understand most of what he says but I doubt they get it all like I do. Some things he says do throw me for a loop.

• He was demanding "pork whips" from his carseat the other day. I had no idea what he was talking about. I thought fork lifts? pork lips? huh? After a frustrating ride home and allowing him to show me what he wanted, it was chap stick!? Pork Whips - chap Stick? What?
• Waygo - translation: Is Diego on? Can I watch Diego? I see Diego.
• Wibia - translation: Olivia his friend, Olivia the pig, Lydia the name (we were practiciting)
• sunshine take away - translation: Will you please sing "You are my Sunshine"
• I can't wike it - translation: I am totally frustrated. I don't like it. I am not doing it. I can't make it work. I don't know how this works. I am about to throw a fit if you don't help me. I am about to throw a fit if you do help me. I need help. I am going to spit this chewed up food in your hand, thanks.
• I need to use potty - translation: I will do anything for candy
• I can't see moon - translation: I am tired. I want to go out side in the dark. I don't want to go to bed.

I'm sure this list could go on and on....

Gas?

Yesterday I picked Lennox up and squeezed him really tight and he tooted (maybe a little too tight). Then he tooted 3 more times and laughed. I said, "You have gas, boy!" His response? "Gas for wawnmowers!" ha ha... yes, that's true too. This kid kills me.