Two!!

We celebrated BB's 2nd birthday with a Mumbey Pampate breakfast, in honor of his current love of Curious George Makes Pancakes.

J and I sent out these digital invitations to family and a few of BB's favorite people.

We had a pancake bar with different mix-ins for guests to fill a bowl with and then Professor Flapjack (J demanded to go by this moniker during the party) would mix them into some batter and griddle up custom pancakes for our guests.


Mumbey decor



The pancake mix-in bar


Professor Flapjack at work


BB ready for his pancakes - I filled his mix-in bowl with every mix-in we had! This is how our conversation went:
"Do you want blueberries?"
"Yah"
"Do you want bananas?"
"Yah"
"Do you want strawberries?"
"Yah"
Etc.


BB pancaking it up!


GG took over on the griddle for her own pancake - it didn't go so well :)


Ready to sing Happy Birthday and open gifts!
We sang Happy Birthday and BB was totally stone-faced, and then at the end he clapped and smiled and said "Moe", so we had to sing it again :)

Opening gifts

Strong Face makes an appearance during gift time

BB also got a couple of early birthday gifts that were enjoyed at the party - a sand and water table from GG and a tricycle from Nacky and Papa!



Playing "This is the way the gentleman rides" with Jon

Mumbey Cupcakes for "dessert" (yes, after pancakes...)

J said that BB said "Mumbey has blue eyes"

BB had lots of loved ones at his birthday party, including people from far-away-lands like friends from Chicago, cousins from Las Vegas, Uncle Kyle who is at sea for several months at a time (and therefore has to live his life four times as fast as other people, as he informed us while he was here :) ), and, of course, his GG.


Some of BB's little friends playing with bubbles


Cousins and GG at the post-party dinner


Cute cousins

Playing with Nacky

Happy and full of mumbeys, pampates, presents, friends, and family

Turning two, BB is forming complete three-word sentences, with subjects and verbs, like "Mama blow nose" and "BB throw cup". He loves when we are all home together and gleefully pronounces "Daddy home, Mama home, BB home!" He counts 1...2...3, especially when he's about to jump onto/into something. (And this week we learned he knows 4 is next!). He knows his colors and loves scribbling with crayons - Daddy draws pictures of dogs and cows and Mama makes alphabet worksheets and BB loves to fill them all in, and actually tries to stay within the lines. His birthday gift from Mama and Daddy was his first coloring book. He had been swimming a few times this year and loves splashing in the water and jumping in to Mama or Daddy, counting "1...2...3!" before he leaps off the edge, and this is how we spent his actual birthday morning at a community pool in town. He loves to play outside - bubbles, exploring, his grandparent's sandbox, his new sand-and-water table, and his new tricycle. He continues to love to read and was gifted several new Curious George stories, including a special recorded story from his Auntie, Uncle and cousins in Washington. Curious George (who he is now requesting by name) and Dr. Seuss' Hop and Pop and Cat in the Hat are favorites, and he also loves Goodnight Gorilla and Goodnight Moon. BB recently starting experimenting with the different sounds he can make and now has a fierce growl, which he uses for dinosaurs and lions. He remains a very passionate little boy - his feelings and frustrations are right at the surface all the time. It's fascinating seeing someone so honest with their emotions. He is in a hitting stage when he's frustrated right now, and walks to the time out corner and stands there on his own, and then comes over for a hug and a "sowee mama" when time out is over (sometimes the "sowee" takes a few tries though, and it's back to time out we go).

At his two-year check up, BB weighed 29 pounds, which puts him in the 50th percentile, and is 35 1/2 inches long, which puts him in the 75th percentile. People (still) always comment on how tall he is.

Happy 2nd Birthday BB!

(I know this pic is shadowy, but I love how happy BB is)

Big Boy Bed in a Big Boy Room

BB's room was transformed into a Big Boy room this weekend, complete with a Big Boy bed! BB was so excited about his Big Boy room - it was so sweet to see how much he genuinely liked it. And now that his toys are on display on the bookshelf instead of hidden in the bins, he is excited to play in his room (which he didn't really do before), and he is obsessed with playing with toys he's never been into before, like his cars.

So I forgot to take Before Pictures of his room, but you've all seen it here and there. Here are some empty room Before Pictures:




Aaaand the Afters:



Thanks to a pre-owned bookshelf and twin mattress (stored in our garage), a curbside chair (from our neighbors, so we know it's clean!), and finding a comforter in the PERFECT color scheme for $12!!! at Ross, and reusing our former media console from the living room as a "dresser" in BB's closet, we hardly spent anything! (Oh, we did get him a new basket for his blocks - I think it was $8, also at Ross.) We would still like to get him some new sheets, but we had these on hand for now.


Celebrating his new room at bedtime


Chairs for storytime


Putting Monkey to bed


This is what he did when we told him to lay down in his bed - I don't know why he is so stiff, but I think it's hilarious.

Big boy bed trials have been...tricky. The first day I think he was just too excited about his new room to stay in the bed (which is kinda sweet). After a lot of laying in bed next to him reading him books, and then when we finally thought he was asleep sneaking out and then finding him in his room playing with his cars at 10:45 pm or opening and closing the door repeatedly, we have instigated the one-strike-and-you're-out rule (starting last night at bedtime), which means he gets one chance to lay in the big boy bed, and if he gets up then he has to sleep in the pack and play. Luckily, he wants to sleep in his big boy bed and not the pack and play, so we're hoping he will get motivated to stay in the bed quickly.

Praying

At dinnertime we say a prayer to give thanks to God for our food, our day, and whatever else comes up in that moment. BB is learning about this time as we do it, and will sometimes fold his hands and lower his head with us, declaring "Paying!". One of the first times he was praying with us, I peeked and had to stifle my giggles as I watched him keep his head bowed and keep one hand curled under his chin, while the other hand reached out and grabbed a bite of dinner to start munching on. It just cracked me up that he didn't just stop "praying" altogether to start eating, but rather kept up the posture until we said Amen.

A few weeks ago in church, BB was sitting on J's lap during the music worship in the service before we took him to the nursery. The congregation all bowed our heads to pray together and a few moments into the prayer I felt a little body drape itself across my lap. BB leaned over, grabbed my clasped hands and, smiling, announced "Paying!" into the relative quiet. I think this was one of my proudest parenting moments so far.

At dinner a few nights ago, we let BB sit at the big boy table in a big boy chair (or in our case, ottoman) with Mama and Daddy, and before dinner, BB requested to pray. After our prayer, BB said "Da-din?" (again?). So J said another prayer, this time giving thanks for Mama and praying for me. When we said Amen, BB still wanted "moe pay?" and we said "You say a prayer! You pray!". BB bowed his head, folded his hands, smiled and looked at me and said, "Mama...Amen."

You know, the time surrounding age two so far has been full of challenges - J and I are getting hit with little hands, kicked against, managing fits all day long, monitoring time outs for all of the above, and saying "No" over and over and over. As the parent you have to win - every time. It's exhausting. And sometimes, especially when BB turns his head and scowls when you try to give him kisses, you wonder if your kid even likes you anymore.

Hearing that little "Mama...Amen," prayer at the dinner table, well let's just say that it was just the affirmation I needed from my boy to recharge my Mama-battery.

I couldn't hold back my tears.

Bumpdate: 31 weeks+

Friday night we were finally, finally prepping to paint the nursery (and I of course wanted a commemorative belly shot with the paint and other room inspiration). J was all ready to paint on Saturday while I worked and BB went off to Nacky's house.....and then poor BB was up all night with a fever, and while I went to take care of sick people at work, J took care of sick BB at home. (I hated that.)

The nursery mid-prep - yes, those are stripes, just like on the inspiration-bookcover!

So today Mama is back on duty, and J is donning his coveralls and wielding roller brushes - IF IT KILLS US. Seriously, I'm 32 weeks tomorrow. It's TIME to get the nursery together. We painted BB's nursery at 30 weeks and I felt like that was WAY too late to finally be getting the nursery together and vowed that we would never do that again. (Awkward pause.....) Especially because this time around we have a lot to do in BB's room too, adding a big boy bed (aka a mattress on the floor with a faux headboard to make me feel less like he's sleeping on a matress on the floor) and adjusting his clothing and toy storage (since his dresser is part of the changing table). But here we are. The good news is that other than paint and new baby linens and a few accessories (just for fun), we aren't really buying anything for the nursery, so it is an economically-friendly redo. And while I say that we haven't done anything, that's not true, because we have cleared the room out, which means that we have found new storage for a lot of stuff. My favorite is the dresser we redid - other than the hardware (for which I need to do some serious googling), it has been complete and fully functional for a couple of weeks now.

I can't wait to accesorize the top (ignore the stuff piled up there right now) - I already have a few books and a picture and an idea for a painting I want to do in mind. And yes, the drawers are the same color that the office is painted. I love that color and was a little sad we are painting over it, so now it lives on in the hallway. Plus, it was free (leftover) paint!

Other good news is that so far I love all of the changes - I love the dresser in the hall, I love the desk in our bedroom, I love how convenient the storage in the linen closet is. Our home feels cozier with those empty spaces filled in.

And now for the pregnancy update - not so good news is that Friday they called to tell me that my 3-hour glucose tolerance test came back abnormal, which I guess means I have gestational diabetes. Two of my three blood draws were elevated, but both were elevated only 2 measly points above the cutoff. And I did the 3-hour test the day before BB's birthday party, so I had some added stress, which makes your blood glucose go up, and I think that is part of the reason. 2 measly points seem so ridiculous to worry about. But the logical side of me recognizes that if I had come in 2 measly points under the cutoff instead of over, I would still have been at the very high end of normal, which isn't ideal. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow so I know we'll be discussing it there, but in the meantime BFF Dr. A assures me that because my numbers are so low I will just be diet-controlled (rather than adding a medication). I am going to have to go in for some kind of Gestational Diabetes education appointment - I was like, I'm a Cardiac ICU nurse, I think I know the drill (I'm bratty when I'm grumpy). But actually now I have some questions - like am I supposed to eat NO sugar, or just limited sugar? Day One of Gestational Diabetes was yesterday when I successfully did not eat any dessert all day - or night. I think I will be totally fine during the day, it's just those late night after dinner treats that are going to stretch my willpower to the max - I LOVE dessert - specifically, chocolate. I must have it. And I have CRAVED sweets this pregnancy, which I totally didn't when I was pregnant with BB. Ironic. So this is where you send me all of your best sugar-free-but-you'd-never-know-it-splendarific dessert recipes so that I survive the next 8 weeks. More serious googling ahead.

Otherwise, our littlest is very active, more active than I remember BB being, and I feel like he's bigger than BB was too. I am still having leg cramps and good and bad nights sleeping. I am having contractions pretty frequently the last few weeks, and they are getting harder to just walk through (even though they're not painful yet, just tight). I am SO looking forward to being off in July - Have I told you all that I am going to be off in July? It doesn't affect my maternity leave, I will still have 12 weeks off with Baby Boy, and this way I will have a whole month to nest and just spend quality time with BB. I am hoping to dedicate a few days to potty training, but otherwise I just want to spend some special time with him. And do a few fun projects for the nursery while BB naps.

Okay, I hear a little man stirring...hopefully I will be posting a picture of the painted nursery soon!

Strong Face

BB's 2nd birthday party pictures are soon to come, but in the meantime, I wanted to show you his "strong face":

The facial strain is accompanied by shaking fists and body tension - one of these days he's going to pop an eye out doing this face! (Probably after his parents beg and plead with him to do it as a party trick for visitors.)