Only 2 More Months To Go!

Dear Maximus,

Two months from now you'll be a big brother! The time is winding down. Soon you'll have to learn to share mama's time with your baby sister. There will be plenty of big changes for you to deal with. I think you'll do pretty well, but it will probably be a challenge for all of us for a while.  You seem to understand the idea that we will have another baby soon, but the idea of it is much different than the reality.

I'm already trying to teach you how to be nice and gentle to your baby sister. I tell you when she's moving and you come over to touch my belly, however you've never actually successfully felt a kick. She either stops or you don't have the attention span to feel for very long. But at first you'd push on my belly, now you correct yourself and know to barely touch so it doesn't hurt her.

So what has been going on since the last time I wrote? Nothing huge. You've just been hanging out with us, learning and having fun. You're definitely a smart kid, which is good since you're so small still. You haven't really gained any weight in two months, but you did grow at least an inch and a half. The doctor isn't currently needing to see us. Your head size is good, your height has improved and as long as you keep eating well, your weight will catch up eventually.

You're not having a very good time with potty training lately. You have gotten stubborn about it and don't want to sit on the potty because, if we're going to be in the bathroom, you'd rather take a bath. Unfortunately, you've had two bathtub accidents in the past two days and a big diaper accident this morning so we're going to need to step up our potty training efforts now.

Let's see what notes I've made:

On May 13th I wrote:

"First sentence: "Mama's baby is inside mama's pouch". He just learned about Kangaroos and their baby pouches and I compared it to my baby belly. After seeing a picture of a Kangaroo and her Joey, I think he gets it.  

Every morning he will talk to himself for a little while and then he will start whining and saying "I'm done" *whimper* "I'm done" *whimper* over and over until I let him out. Then he immediately asks for juice.  After that, he has to go "wake up papa" with besitos. 

Today at the doctor, we find that his head growth is doing very very well. He's hit the 70th percentile. His height is still around or below 1% and his weight is not good, he's just barely above the 0%. However, the doctor says that generally, calories and growth will prioritize the head development first, then focus on length and lastly put the reserves into weight. He has weighed in just below or above 18 pounds for the past month and hasn't really gained any weight. But in just one week he grew half an inch! He's at 31.5 inches now. He was 30 at the end of last month, so since his head is good, his length is finally starting to catch up. Next is weight!  The doctor is impressed by his intelligence and said she isn't worried about his size at the moment. Yay!"

On May 17th I wrote:

"The last two mornings, one of the first things he will say to me is "Baby sister inside mama's belly!" And then he'll point to my belly, touch it or kiss it.  

While in the bath he suddenly exclaimed: "Uh oh! Purple monkey's hand broken. Tape!" He knew the color, the animal, the body part and how to solve the problem! This kid's too smart! 

He's also learning how to work us.  If he wants candy, he'll come up and kiss my leg while we're in the kitchen. He tries to butter me up by asking me "pick up me" then cuddling my face and being super sweet so I'll have to give him his treat."

On the 20th, my brother came to visit for a few days. You liked Uncle Kevin. Immediately you climbed in his lap to investigate his handheld game he had. You played Pokemon together for a while and had a good time. On the 25th, we set you up with your own computer so you could watch your videos on there instead of commandeering my tablet all the time. You're not so good with using the mouse yet but you'll learn soon.

On June 9th, we went to the park to play. You love the swings and the slides, you'll even climb up the play gym thing by yourself and go down the biggest slide! That was all good and fun but when we were going for our walk back around the pond to get to our car on the other side, you spotted a mud puddle and let go of our hands. You ran toward it and my natural mama instincts of "oh no he's going to get dirty and hurt!" kicked in so I ran after you to grab your hand and stop you but you were so quick. I never actually grabbed you. The next thing I knew, I was in pain and laying in the mud. My shoe hit the wet muddy grass and slipped out from under me. Of course I landed right on my tailbone. Even a week later it still really hurts today.

You were sitting in the mud crying. Your shoes were soaked and a lot of it went down your pants and diaper. You were freaking out a bit. Papa couldn't reach either of us in time but he made sure I was okay and then picked you up before helping me get up. I'm sure that was quite a sight if anyone saw it happen. We tried to walk the rest of the way to the car but you were still crying and I ended up having to hold you and make sure you knew that it wasn't your fault and that we would go home to clean you up now and that mama was okay. I wasn't all that okay but I had to deal with it and carry you the rest of the way. You calmed down and laid your head on my shoulder. I stripped off your clothes and we put down some blankets for us to sit on so we wouldn't make a mess. I guess I should have known better than to chase you through the mud while pregnant but it just happened so fast.  Your baby sister is okay, by the way. She kept kicking like normal as if nothing happened.

We had a big hailstorm the other day that woke you up from your nap. It was so loud. We all stood by the window and watched it. You always get excited about the ice, thinking you could actually eat some since you like ice so much. The next day was a block party on mainstreet. We went and walked around for a little while but it was crowded and there wasn't all that much to do besides buying

food and drink. We didn't have any cash so we didn't get anything. You liked the bubbles they had blowing everywhere. If we stopped in one spot too long you'd say "mas go go" while atop papa's shoulders. We went back out later to see the fireworks show but you weren't very interested. It was too loud and you kept saying no. Oh well!

I guess that brings me to today. Right now you're taking a nap which is nice. Mama is starting to get real tired of being pregnant and feeling limited about the things I can and can't do with you. Sitting on the floor in your room to play is nearing impossibility. It's hard to explain that to you though. Only two more months! Then you'll get to see all your grandparents and meet your new baby sister and we'll have a new set of issues to deal with, but I'm ready for it.

Keep growing and learning, baby boy. You sure talk a lot these days. I love you :)

Mama

--

Dear Baby Girl,

We do have your name picked out but we haven't officially announced it. Most of our family already knows but for now, you're baby girl.

You'll be here in about 2 months! I'm at 31 weeks today, only 7-9 more to go! We can't wait to meet you. I'm so ready for this pregnancy to be over. It's been rather easy but I'm just feeling so big and tired. You've been moving a lot lately! It's so strange to feel you kick way down practically against my leg and way up near my ribs at the same time. I think you're starting to run out of space in there. I'm sure you can't wait to get out of there too!

We went to the doctor the day after I fell down in the park with your brother. She said that there's nothing that can be done about my tailbone since taking X-rays is very bad during pregnancy. All I can do is take some Tylenol, which I don't want to do, and keep heat on it and rest a lot. She said that you're fine since there is so much cushion inside to protect you and I didn't fall on my belly.

30 Weeks

We had an ultrasound again to double check everything. You're still definitely a girl! I made sure to ask, haha! The lady said that you're only 2 days smaller than what is expected based on the due date which isn't bad. It means that you're basically right on track with your growth. I somehow passed the glucose test this time around and do not have gestational diabetes like I did with your brother, so that should already help you to grow right. We wanted to double check all of these things since Maximus was so tiny in the womb and at birth and still even today. We wanted to see if the same problems with the placenta might be happening with you too but it looks like everything is normal for now!  So that's good news!

I don't think you move as much as your brother did. He was all over the place. You've been rather active lately though, but it feels more calm somehow. It's hard to explain. You do react to noise though. Papa likes to talk directly to my belly and you'll start kicking like crazy in response to his voice. You also move when there's some pressure on my belly, like if your brother pushes on it or sits on it or something that he's not supposed to do, you'll fight back, haha!

Right now, all 4 of your grandparents are planning on coming to visit us when you're born. They cannot wait to meet you. Your gramma got two huge bins of clothing for you recently that should fit until you're about 8-10 months or so, depending on how big you grow. If you're like your brother, you'll still be able to wear size 6 month outfits when you're over a year old so we'll have time to find more clothing in larger sizes. Unless we get a bunch in gifts or something, but I'm not counting on it.

Little squished nose! 30 weeks

Other than needing some girly blankets, towels and bed sheets, and perhaps a new bed for your brother, we're doing pretty well. We'll mostly need a ton of diapers and wipes more than anything. I'm planning on breastfeeding you for about a year. I went for 18 months with Maximus but it ended up being a little too long since he wouldn't really eat other foods to supplement his diet at the same time. I don't want you to be dependent on it and not grow very well too. But we'll play it by ear. If we need to go longer, that's fine, but you have to be a good girl and eat your rice cereals and mashed bananas too.

Oh man, we're starting all over again. Brand new baby! It is exciting but I'm also a little nervous. I just  hope I have enough energy for you and your brother. I'm sure I will. We'll make it work :)

Keep growing! Now is the time to pack on the pounds! I'm hoping you'll come out and be at least 6 pounds. That would be good! Yay! I'll see you in 2 months, baby girl. I love you!!

Mama