the big 3-0

Eddie is 30 months today, that's officially 2 and a half. I cannot believe that in 6 months he will be three. I say this wholeheartedly because there are so many moments when he still seems like my little baby. He is my special special (this is a Thomas reference, which I also cannot believe I am stating). It is hard to measure your toddler's growth when you see him every day and his actions and words become predictable and commonplace; don't get me wrong, there are always a handful of things he does on a daily basis that amaze me, but in general it is hard to note development when it is unfolding before your very eyes.

Verbally he is making some progress, although I still feel like he has a long way to go to be comparable to his peers. He latest phrases are " Ba Da, See Me" which translates to "Bye Dad, See you later!," "Mama two babies" and he is really into the verb "do" and will say "Me/I do" or "Mama do." He says "I sit," "I eat," and "I stink" when he goes poop. He still talks about "Ho ho" a lot and will say "ho ho down chimney." I feel like we can have full conversations with him and he totally understands, and yet his expressive language lacks the ability to completely talk back to us. And yet he is so expressive in so many other ways, through his nonverbal gestures, nosies and facial experssions that there rarely seems to be an instance when we do not understand each other. His latest words are "boards," as in the hockey boards, "coal" as in what the tender of the train carries and "water." He is interested in how the snow melts into water. The speech therapist is very impressed with his play skills and thinks he is making good progress and so I guess I should not be as concerned as I am.

School is going well for him. He has struggled a tad more with the separation and there have been some days when just getting out the door has been a challenge, but yesterday I think we overcame a huge hurdle because I did not sneak out when I left him. I clearly made eye contact with him and told him "ok Eddie, I'm going to go. See you later." and he did not shed a tear or seem distraught at all. This is huge. They say that he is relatively shy and respects other kids' space; which means he does not like getting too close to others nor does he like it when another kid gets close or touches him. He likes gym class the best, but also seems to enjoy music and computer time. He made his first BM while at school yesterday, which is a good sign because it means he is comfortable there; Eddie typically never goes poop away from home. Can you believe that in 2.5 years I have yet to change a poopy diaper in a public setting?! I have never used one of those changing tables in a restroom. Ok, wait, clarification. We did have to change a poopy diaper at Old Orchard Beach in Maine...a poopy swim diaper...not fun.

Right now he is "in" to putting on his hockey equipment (thanks Uncle Will!) and parading around the house, putting on his "Bob" hard hat and pretending to fix things with his tool set, playing with his choo choos, puzzles (yes, he finally is getting into them and doing a very good job and juxtaposing the pieces into the right space), matching objects and finding hidden pictures ( he has always had a very astute eye for finding really small pictures of objects amidst others), counting (the only number he can say is "two" but he will point at items and make a counting noise). He enjoys reading and asking me "what's that" to every little detail on the page, even things like sky and doorknobs and bows in girls' hair.

He still loves to play outside. We took advantage of the 50 degree weather and sun today and he spent over an hour literally rolling around in the mud, shoveling the thawed out earth. We walked down our block and he picked up every stick he could find and threw them in the street. We are both excited for spring.

a true Chicagoan

Eddie had his first taste of Chicago-style stuffed pizza last night. He loved it. I was shocked because so far he has been quite picky about the kind of pizza he will eat. He loved it so much that he asked for more as his late night snack before bed, AND he also asked for it for breakfast! He cannot say the word "pizza" yet but he basically demanded it this morning by opening the fridge and pointing to the box and then throwing a temper tantrum when I told him he couldn't have pizza for breakfast. Alas, I gave in. Pizza for breakfast it was!

more cars or barbie shoes?

The other day I stepped on a toy car that Eddie had left on the bathroom floor, and I couldn't help but think what my future holds: more cars or barbie shoes scattered across our floors? I have been convinced that we are having twin boys, and every reliable indication seems to point in that direction too. My acupuncturist has a pretty good track record for predicting the sex of babies and she has said "Boys" the last two times I have gone. But I still feel so awful, and there is scientific evidence proving that girls cause you feel worse because of the hormones, so the past few days I have been thinking that maybe Baby A and Baby B don't have penises after all.

At 26 weeks now, about 6 months, I cannot believe that I have three months to go. My goal is to carry these babies as long as possible, but recently I have started to feel so off that I cannot imagine carrying them for a full term. Sleep has become a challenge. My constipation has turned into loose stools, multiple times a day, I have intense pelvic pressure at times, lower back ache that radiates down my thighs in a dull ache and it is getting difficult to maneuver and do simple things like pick something up off the floor or put my socks on. I had to reschedule my last doctor's appointment because of the blizzard, but I go on Monday and I am for sure going to mention all of these "off" feelings because they are all associated with pre-labor signs; well everything except the annoyance of putting on socks. My heartburn is in full force and unfortunately I am still throwing up every once in awhile, which does not feel good at all because the gut contracts and then puts even more pressure on my cervix. I have accepted the fact that I will not ever feel good during this pregnancy; no spurts of energy to get house projects done in the classic nesting fashion that most pregnancies allow. It is hard enough just picking up toys, washing dishes and cooking dinner. Gone are my goals of cleaning the oven, reorganizing closets and "spring cleaning." I guess I will just have to focus on accomplishing the bare minimum...maybe I can get the old baby toys washed and all the bassinets, bouncy seats and car seats in decent form...