Family Vacation

Well, we'll be gone for a little while so I won't be blogging in the next couple of weeks.  We are off to Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York and we are all very excited about it.  I wish it were coming at a time when all three of us weren't sick, but you can't predict when colds will strike.  And I wish that Jack was in a "happier" place but everyone will just have to witness his Terrible 2's phase.  I'm just hoping that one of his epic temper tantrums doesn't hit mid-flight at 30,000 feet with no where to go.

I know I'll have a ton of photos when we get back so I hope it doesn't take me too long to go through them!

Photo Dump...aka What Jack's been up to the last few weeks

 

"Hi". I am so behind at posting pictures. So here are a lot of random ones that will show you what Jack's been up to. First, as you can see, he can write "hi". He delights in it and writes it over and over again in chalk on the patio concrete.

 

Jack's way into playing catch lately. Well, into throwing. He can't catch yet but his arm is getting pretty good.

   

 For better or worse, this kid is OBSESSED with music. More specifically, John's indie rock music that he can access on John's iPad. He will scroll through John's iTunes for an hour. It's kind of cute that he knows all the indie rock bands like Bon Iver, Califone, and Japandroids.

 

Still loves water.

   

 We did a scavenger hunt the other day in the backyard and Jack had to fill his bag with leaves, rocks, and sticks. He had a ball!

 

 

 He still loves swinging.

   

 What a nerd. I'll find him tucked away in parts of the house (like the hallway) reading a book.

   

 Jack is currently obsessed with fruit smoothies. He requests them almost every day. And he'll drink an entire kids size.

   

 He also loves pizza. More specifically, laying on the grass at a party and shoveling bite after bite in his mouth. Charming.

   

 He's gotten into building towers with his blocks.

   

 He LOVES escalators. He rode this particular escalator literally 25 times.

 

 

 We got free tickets to Sesame Street Live which is a live stage musical that was in a giant theater downtown. Apparently people paid like 50 bucks a seat for this show! I am super happy we didn't because Jack was not interested in the pre-show where you got to meet the Sesame Street characters. He only wanted to ride the escalator. When we made our way inside and the show started, Jack seemed totally in awe. I guess it was all the lights and lasers and singing characters. Of course, he wasn't so amazed that he didn't fall asleep halfway through. John and I realized we didn't need to hear Elmo sing some pretty grating songs so we walking out with our sleeping toddler.

   

 The show did give us an opportunity to take Jack on his first subway (metro) ride. He seemed a little wary about a train that was underground.

   

 He does love miniature trains though. Even is his expression doesn't exactly show joy.

   

 We went to a farm about 45 minutes out of town and picked strawberries! He really liked it and the strawberries tasted amazing! Can't wait to go back later in the summer when they have more berries and tomatoes.

   

 And, of course, he still loves his daddy.

This pregnancy? It's not the greatest...

Soo, yeah.  This 2nd pregnancy?  Kind of sucks compared to the first.  (Sorry about the language).  I mean, obviously the first pregnancy is special because it's the first and all the ultrasounds and everything else are just amazing.  But with Jack, I feel like my symptoms were pretty mild.  I had nausea the first trimester but I got to sit in an office all day about 20 feet from a stocked kitchen while kind assistants brought me lunch every day.  Now I'm nauseous or headache-y quite often and Jack doesn't seem to care.  In fact, he insists that I still feed him and play with him and give him a bath and put him to bed.

The entire 9 months with Jack?  Never sick at all.  Not one iota.  Now on week 17 I'm already on my second sinus cold.  If you were wondering, it's really not that fun to have stuffed up sinuses and have to blow your nose every five minutes while it's 90 degrees outside and you're as big as a house.

My first pregnancy? My face and skin totally cleared up.  This lil' bugger?  Making me break out like I'm 14 years old.  Last time my hair got all full and nice...but not this time.

With Jack my fingers never swelled up and I could easily wear my wedding rings the entire 9 months.  This time?  I am shocked and saddened by the fact that my wedding ring is almost unwearable even before I'm halfway through this pregnancy.  Lame.

But I really shouldn't complain too much.  I know people that throw up for three months.  People whose feet and ankles swell so they can't wear their normal shoes.  Luckily I don't have anything quite as bad as that.  I just wish that it was a little bit easier.  :)

Jack reads his favorite book

The past few weeks I've noticed that Jack prefers grabbing some books from me and "reading" them to me himself.  Obviously he has just memorized them but it is so damn adorable.  He has this series of Mo Willems books that he absolutely adores and I finally caught him on video on day reading "I Broke My Trunk".

I assume this very long 2 1/2 minute video is solely entertaining to grandparents but I'll let you make the call.  :)

 

Oh, yeah, by the way, I'm pregnant.

 

 I realized somewhere along the way that I've neglected to do a post about baby #2. And obviously after around 13 weeks it wasn't because it was a secret. And now I'm sure everyone reading this already knows. So it was just pure laziness. But here it goes!

We are (or, let's be honest, I am) 16 weeks pregnant with baby #2. I was pretty sure that I was pregnant so the morning that I took the test, I had a shirt for Jack all ready. "Soon to be Big Brother" Jack awoke at his normal ridiculous 5:30am time and I got him up and threw the shirt on him. Then we killed some time on the counter as usual until it was time to wake up daddy.

Jack bounded into the bedroom and climbed up on the bed and asked John to read him a book. John, not wearing his glasses, was completely oblivious to the shirt.

 

Like, seriously, oblivious.  He thought he was just having a nice read with his son.

But I gently nudged him to get his glasses and then he figured it out.  He was pretty darn surprised.  But Jack wouldn't let him stop reading.

I have to say that my immediate reaction to the positive test was quite a spectrum of emotion.  First shock, then happiness, then sadness that Jack's entire existence was gonna change, and then just complete fear about having a newborn and a toddler.  And going back to no sleep.  And spit up.  And bouncing on a ball.  Sigh.  But, I eventually bounced back to being excited.  

So far this pregnancy has been a bit different than with Jack.  I mean, the basic fact is that I have to take care of a toddler during the day so obviously I don't get to sit at a desk all day like last time and have snacks at my disposal and sleep in.  But I did feel like I was more sick.  But maybe that's just because memory fades over time.  The shock of having my belly pop up at like EIGHT weeks hasn't worn off though.  With Jack, I didn't switch to maternity pants until 20 weeks.  Didn't even tell anyone at work until then.  Wow.  It couldn't be more opposite this time.  I had to switch to maternity pants at like 10 weeks and, currently, at 16 weeks I would gather I look the same as I did at 26 weeks last time.  Oh well.  I guess that's how these things work out.  Looking forward to being as big as a whale in the 100 degree Burbank summer.  

And did I mention we're having another boy?  I'm excited for Jack to have a brother even though he told us he wanted a sister.  Sorry Jack, you can't always get what you want.  Let this be a life lesson for you.  It does make it easier since we have all the boy clothes, and boy toys, and sort of know what to do with a boy.  

So, there it is.  We are due November 19th.  Right before Thanksgiving.  Definitely something to be thankful for.  :)

A Jack Update

Well, I have literally 100 pictures to post of Jack from different activities and events we've done.  I'm so behind on blogging.  It's just somewhat time consuming and those two free hours I have between Jack's bedtime and my bedtime has been full of paying bills, doing things for my MOMS Club, and catching up on emails, etc.  But let's skip the pictures and just do a little update on my boy.

Let's start, of course, with the positives so I can brag a bit.  That picture of him above is him drawing the number 101 in chalk.  It's not bad, right?  He can really only do 1's and 0's legibly but that's pretty cool.  He still loves his numbers and counts at any chance he gets.  Up to 100, past 100.  In Spanish and in Italian.

He adores his books.  I can't even say he has a favorite one because he just loves them all.  My mom got him a science series on the planets, and Earth, and the sun, and solar system and he's really taken to them.  Some of his favorites (ie "One Little Blueberry") he has memorized and will read to me, word for word.  Other times I'll leave him alone for a second and come back and find him curled up on the couch with a book like "Sammy the Seal" or "Harry the Dirty Dog" and he'll be reading them silently to himself, turning the pages at an appropriate rate.  We will have our playgroup here and there will be 10 toddlers running around like crazy and making a mess and having fun and Jack will be in the middle of all the noise, sitting on his chair, reading a book.

Not pictured - 10 crazy toddlers and a lot of noise

He knows his alphabet backwards and forwards and I'm amazed at all the words he can read in his books.  I'll read aloud and stop and point to a word for him to finish the sentence and it's amazing.  I'd say he can read probably 50 words or so.  So clearly he loves his books more than his friends.  Oh well.  

He's still incredibly shy and reserved in big group settings.  Or even small group settings.  Pretty much anywhere outside our house or outside our family.  He will sit quietly in music class, and only on my lap.  No dancing or running around for this kid.  Quiet, determined drum playing in his mommy's lap.  But he is enjoying it in his own way so I can't complain.

I CAN complain about his recent behavior.  This I definitely don't have pictures of.  For the past two weeks or so, Jack has exhibited the worst signs of the "terrible twos" that I have ever seen.  At any minute, he can meltdown and throw the worst fit you've ever seen.  The triggers vary.  It could be me denying a fourth juice box.  It could be him wanting to hear a song that's only on daddy's computer and he's not home.  It could be nothing.  But watch out.  Because suddenly he's screaming and sobbing and writhing on the floor.  And nothing will pull him out of it.  He doesn't want to be touched but he doesn't want me to leave.  He doesn't want to play with my phone and he doesn't want his favorite food.  He doesn't want to be inside but he doesn't want to be outside.  It's just a nightmare.  And he throws things.  Anything and everything in his reach.  The other day he somehow got a hold of a glass and threw it at me.  Luckily it landed on the couch but still.  When he gets that way, it can last literally up to an hour.  

Now, I know this is part of being a 2 1/2 year old toddler.  And I know his friends are going through the same thing.  Sadly, I think Jack's tantrums tend to include more throwing and hitting (my shoulders are bruised) and physical manifestations and that's a bummer.  We are worried about taking a 5 1/2 hour plane ride this month because if he has one of them tantrums on the plane, that'll be it.  Game over.  The poor other passengers.  

I guess the most frustrating part is that there seems to be nothing I (or John) can do during these meltdowns to help him or stop it.  It just has to play out.  And that makes me never want to go outside to a public place.  Ever again.  So if you don't see me for a while, you'll know why! :)