Breaking the News

We broke the baby news to Daniel tonight. I was expecting one of two reactions - either excitedness or extreme anger. We got neither - it was really more like indifference! He asked a couple questions and wanted to see my belly (which, he commented, looked like a "roll"). Then he said that he had a baby in his tummy too! So now there were two babies! He seemed more excited about his baby than mine. He also mentioned that he thought the new baby should have Grandma and Grandpa as its Mommy and Daddy. As in...."Then the baby could go live in Albuquerque with Grandma and Grandpa." I think the grandparents will be more excited than he was when they find out in the next few days!

I have to add that the next morning I told Daniel, "Maybe you can help us call Grandma and Grandpa later tonight and tell them about the new baby." Daniel replied, "What baby?" Apparently it hasn't even phased him.....

FYI - I went back and published a few posts I had written about the new baby if you're interested!

Teeth Brushing Buddy

I loathe brushing Daniel's teeth. It is, by far, one of the most stressful things I have to do with him everyday - twice a day. He wiggles all around, won't open his mouth, swallows the toothpaste instead of spits, spits it onto the counter instead of in the sink, etc., etc., etc. until it drives me absolutely batty. Lately I've been asking David to handle the night brushing. I can't get away with him doing the morning one too because Daniel and I are usually too lazy to get out of bed before David leaves for work. I had tried everything to make this job easier on both of us (singing songs, dancing, threatening).....or so I thought.

I stumbled upon a dog puppet that Uncle Luis gave us in a towel set before Daniel was born. I had used it a couple times in the bath, but it seemed to freak Daniel out at the time, so I put it away and hadn't thought about it since. I pulled it out the other night and had the dog brush Daniel's teeth. I have never had a more cooperative child. The dog has that child wrapped around its little paw, and Daniel will comply to any request, including opening his mouth at all the right times, spitting the toothpaste into the sink, and not wiggling like a monkey. Thank you, God......and dog puppet.....and Uncle Luis.

Uninvited

Yesterday afternoon while I'm helping Daniel in the bathroom:

David (talking to both of us): "Who wants to come with me in the car to look at roofs?"
Daniel (running to David with his undies and shorts still at his ankles): "I do! Mommy, don't be sad. Don't cry. We'll be back in a little bit."

Guess I wasn't invited.....

Multiplying Bunnies

Daniel continues to have his imaginary friends. His most frequent visitor is Tacky, who does things like pee on the floor. He also morphs into a chimpanzee, dog, etc., depending on Daniel's mood. A group of bunnies has recently joined our household too - luckily, all imaginary. We can find them in the window blinds, under the table, and in the crib. I frequently get asked if I remembered to bring them in the car with us or if I remembered to give them water. I think they're well taken care of - Daniel spends a lot of time petting them gently.

My Budding Chef

Daniel loves to help me cook - maybe just because I'm in the kitchen a lot. He helps me most nights to make dinner, although his specialty is "trash boy," and he busily takes all the scraps of veggies, etc. to the trash for me - one piece at a time. He really is getting more and more helpful. Now he can open the fridge or pantry and find things for me, though it usually takes longer for him to find it than it would for me to get it. I try to give him jobs throughout the course of cooking to keep him interested.....and busy. He's learned a lot about food and cooking.

He likes to make pretend food too. The other day he had a pan out in the living room. He filled it with pecans, covered it with a towel and then asked me to help him put it outside so that it could "rise." (Can you tell that's where I put dough to rise sometimes?) He's also turned the entertainment center into his own little kitchen center. One of the cupboards is the refrigerator, and the area where the DVD player goes is the oven. I can frequently find pans, bowls, etc. in the "oven" where he leaves them to bake.

He helped me make David chocolate chip cookies for Father's Day. His favorite thing to do is stir the dry ingredients. I catch him sticking his fingers in the flour all the time. The chocolate chip cookies were supposed to be a secret, but David told me later that Daniel spilled the beans several times the day before Father's Day. That was too good a secret to keep quiet!

Uh-Oh

Tonight we were talking about who was whose mommy and daddy. (Is that how you'd say that??)

Anyway, we were teaching Daniel that Aunt Cristi, Uncle Luis, and Daddy all have the same mommy and daddy. And that Uncle Brian (with hair), Aunt Pam, and Mommy all have the same mommy and daddy.

We told him that someday, if he ever had a brother or sister, they would share the same mommy and daddy.

He said, "No. When I have a brother or sister, I will still have Mommy and I will still have Daddy. They will have their own mommy and daddy." He repeated this multiple times, assuring himself that it was true.

Of course, we haven't told him yet about the new brother/sister. He would spill those beans in approximately 2.5 seconds. He's in for a surprise!

Buzzing Bees

Last night Daniel had his first nightmare - or at least the first one I know about.

I woke up at 11:49 pm to the sound of his voice on the monitor, "Mommy! There's bees in here! Mommy! There's bees in here!"

I jumped out of bed, but before I even got to his room, he was high-tailin' it out of there with blankets, teddy bear, and pillow in hand. I picked him up quickly and said, "What's wrong?" He said, "Mommy! There's bees in my room!" I said, "Baby, it's okay. That was just a dream. You're okay. You're okay." He said, "No! I saw them! They were in there!"

It took me awhile to convince him that there were no bees and to lie back down in bed. I tried to explain that it was a dream and that it was all in his head, but I don't think he quite understands that abstract reality just yet! He kept saying this morning, "No bees are coming out of my head right now, Mommy."

Slow-Poke

My son's the kind of kid (so far anyway) that takes awhile to "warm up" to new things. Sometimes this frustrates me because I want him to enjoy the new fun thing we're trying to get him to do instead of sitting on the sidelines watching, but I'm trying to be patient with him. Here are a couple examples of his reticence.

Last weekend we were in Lubbock. Abuelo & Abuela took Daniel to one of those jump-around places with all the inflatables. It wasn't a huge one - it was aimed for kids under nine years of age, so there was nothing super scary. But Daniel refused to get on any of the jumping things for probably an hour - instead choosing to play on the little toys in the corner, meant more for little siblings (maybe 1 year olds) that weren't big enough to play on the inflatables. He spent far too long spinning the hands on the little clock in the pretend house versus jumping like a wild monkey in the inflatables. He finally warmed up to it an hour later and played on one of the inflatables. He wouldn't go on any of the others, including the really cool looking slide, but I felt like it was at least a small step.

We've been going to the library almost every week, probably since Daniel was about 6 months old. They have some great programs. Anyway, we've switched classes a few times, and we started going to the pre-school age class about 6 or 8 months ago. They play some of the same songs that were played in the younger class, but there are a lot of new ones too. Daniel refused to take any part in the songs (though he knew the songs as was evidenced via the monitor at nap time) while at the library and would instead sit on my lap and watch all the other kids have a good time. Finally, today (after 6-8 months, remind you!), he joined in the fun. He jumped around, carried a bear on his head, and even fell on the ground at the right spots. I hope he realized how much more fun it is to join in than to sit on the side and watch!

Pray for my patience as my slow-poke picks up new things!

First Ultrasound

I went in for my first prenatal appointment today. My official due date is 1-15-12. My doctor did an ultrasound, and everything looks great! The little baby was moving around a lot, and you could see him/her flapping his/her little stubby arms. I got to hear the heartbeat - 193 beats per minute - which is just miraculous. Can you believe my tiny baby (1.97 cm - just under an inch) has a heartbeat? Crazy how God works!

Not much else - just the basic "dos and dont's" of pregnancy from the doctor. She also said at the end of my visit, "So I guess you're hoping for a smaller baby this time, right? Wasn't your baby over 8 pounds?" I said, "Yeah, 8 lbs, 6 oz." She said, "Well, usually 2nd babies are bigger, but we'll watch you closely." Bigger, bigger?? Now I realize that there are many women (my mom and my sister included) who have had bigger babies than mine, but it's just not right! Here's hoping that we come in under 8 pounds!

Can't wait to share the big news with friends and family. This is the hardest waiting part now. After seeing that sweet little baby and hearing his/her heartbeat, I want to share with the world! But I think we'll wait a few more weeks.....

Aggie Love

Daniel: Who does Jesus love?
Me: Jesus loves everybody.
Daniel: Does he love Abuela and Abuelo?
Me: Yes.
Daniel: Does he love Grandma and Grandpa?
Me: Yes.
Daniel (smiling and laughing as if the idea was absurd): Does he love Aggies?
Me: Yes, he even loves Aggies.
Daniel: Jesus loves Aggies?!? That's silly!

Best of Cousins

So I found out this morning that my sister-in-law, Heather, is going to have a baby! Hooray! She called to say that she was pregnant, and she's due January 23! About a week after my due date! We haven't told anybody about our pregnancy yet....for some reason that always makes me nervous. So I had to work really hard during the whole conversation to not spill the beans! I'm so incredibly excited that we're going to get to go through this together and that we're going to have two little cousins that are so close in age! I think that Heather will be excited when we announce it in another month or so!

She told me that her first prenatal appointment is this Thursday - the same day as mine! It's going to be fun sharing this experience with her. :)

What Did You Say?

Two quick stories about word mix-ups.

This weekend:
Daniel was on the phone with Aunt Cristi. Abuelo and Abuela were trying to get him to tell Aunt Cristi that we'd see her on "the 4th of July." Daniel said, "We'll see you before your life." :)

Tonight:
Daniel: Do you have any M&Ms?
Me: No, we don't have any.
Daniel: Do you have any penis M&Ms?
Me: What!? No!
Daniel: Do Abuelo and Abuela have any penis M&Ms?
Me: Oh! Daniel, it's peanut M&Ms, not penis. Peanut M&Ms.