- I would like her to start getting rid of the "fussy" (her new word for the paci), but it's slow-going, mostly on my part. It's hard for me to say no when it's such an easy way to get her to calm down! She has shown only a slight interest in potty-training: I put her Elmo potty-seat on top of the big potty & she will say "potty" and ask to sit on it, but otherwise, she really doesn't tell me when she has to go (or even if she has gone). I think we'll work on this, the paci, and the toddler bed after the baby is born, because I'm expecting some regression anyway once he's here.
- She is a bit obsessed with Elmo (has been for awhile). She always asks for her "Elmo movie" (we have about 8 different ones, thankfully!) and will sit still to watch a 45-minute program, as long as Elmo is the star. She will kiss any picture she sees of him (including the one on her diapers) and sometimes just wanders around saying "Elmo" just for fun! I think an Elmo birthday party is in this kid's near future!
- Leah is so full of life & energy-- non-stop talking from morning till night. Yet she still has her cuddly moments and her "still" moments where she puts all her focus on an activity. She makes me laugh every day as she discovers new words and new concepts. I love to watch her dance around the living room, and I also love how she just wants to be held when she wakes up from her nap.
- It really makes Brett & I excited to see how excited she gets about our newly-started family devotion time. She loves to hear us sing from the hymnal. She can say the word "hymnal" too, by the way, and recognize one-- she will open it up & flip through the pages, "singing" her own songs-- she even adds her own "dancing" to the hymns sometimes. She knows, too that we always pray before we eat, and as soon as we sit down to dinner, she holds her hands out for us to grab so we can pray. She likes to look at the pictures in her little Bible, and always enjoys the "Jesus" book we have-- she can name Jesus, Mary, and even John. It is so excited to see her already developing a love for the Lord at such a young age!
Meanwhile, after my 35-week dr. appt. last Friday, I'm pretty convinced that Andrew is perfectly content where he is. I am not at all dilated and the uterus is still pretty high. I remain convinced he will not be quite as early as Leah was, although I would be okay if he was to come any day. Of course, his room is not nearly ready, but I have been able to get his clothes washed and hung up or put away (since we got Leah a new dresser), and his bassinet is ready & made. This next week or so I'll probably put in his car seat & finish packing bags for the hospital. Then I will feel mostly ready, even though I would love for his room to be done!
I thought I had been feeling Braxton-Hicks contractions (false labor) once a day or so, which I never really felt with Leah, but the dr. said it could also be the way the baby is laying, like he's on a nerve or something. I do get some sharp pains through my upper leg, too, so that is probably what it is. Regardless, he is still moving around a lot, esp. right when I lay down at night. I don't remember (or maybe intentionally blocked out) waking up every 45 minutes at night to go to the bathroom the 1st pregnancy, but that is happening now, and I dread 4 more weeks of that! With the temperatures being in the 90's around here the past few weeks, topped with the normal exhaustion of being 9 months pregnant (that's another thing I forgot about being pregnant, or perhaps it's worse this time since I have added a 2-year-old to the mix), I haven't felt motivated to do much of anything lately, although I do get bursts of energy here & there.
4 weeks to go!
