Over half-way!

This is day number 148 and you're 21 weeks pregnant!
You have 132 days or 19 weeks left, and are 52.9% of the way there.
Baby's age since conception is 134 days or 19 weeks.

Can you believe it? We're over half-way to meeting our little June Bug. There is so much less time to focus on this pregnancy than we had with Maia. I'm greatly enjoying the fact that I felt movement earlier, and that this one is not shy with the kicking and punching. I've even felt a somersault or two.

I have had the same sciatica-type lower back pain that I had at this point with Maia, as my center of gravity shifts, and my ligaments loosen and all that good stuff that just puts your body a little out-of-whack. I should take a belly bump pic soon. I've been trying to lay low with my pregnancy at work as I'm in the midst of trying to convince my CEO of investing a lot of money in my department for some new (and much needed) software. And I don't want him to factor that in as a reason not to do it this year. But I've been finding maternity pants MUCH more comfortable since about Christmas, and moved into them full-time in mid-January, while trying to wear looser fitting tops at work. But I think it's getting to be time to move on there too.

Did you notice?

We put a "guess the gender" poll out for June Bug.
<---- over there. Feel free to vote!

Maia and her color book

Okay. Look at my posts of the last couple days. She's "starting" to identify colors, letters. Well, she surprised the heck out of me with this one. She has been identifying all the pictures on the page for quite some time, and usually gets the star without any problem, but she was tired and over it. So I apologize for the end of the video, Maia decided she wanted to check out the camera.

Parent Teacher Conferences

How bizarre is it that we have parent/teacher conferences for such a little person? Although, this one didn't feel as weird going into it as the one we did when Maia was still an infant! I do check in with them on a routine basis about issues that we might need to work on, or funny stories they want to tell me (and I love hearing!) Still, it's nice to get a little one-on-one, uninterrupted time with her teacher to get an idea of what goes on with her every day.
And (wouldn't Ray be pleased) the conference started out with her teacher, Andrea saying: "She's so advanced!" A phrase that irks Ray (but I hope he's getting used to!). Our argument being: every child has strengths and weaknesses (no kid is good at everything), and so we try to look at her as an individual who needs to be challenged, praised, and encouraged based on her own arc of development. That said, it's hard not to notice how much more verbal she is than her peers, how well coordinated she is for her age, and her own little quirks that make her unique.
So we completed an "Ages & Stages Questionnaire" for the center at their request, and they filled one out too. This is the first time we've filled one out in a while... they were completed more often when she was an infant, and generally coincided within about a month or so of her age (i.e., completing the 9 month form when she was 8 months, etc.) In this instance, I was given the 22-month questionnaire when she had just turned 17 months. That's 5 months difference! I think the expectation is that they're above 45-50%. She scored in the 85th to 100th percentile for everything:
- 100% for communication
- 100% for gross motor
- 85% for fine motor
I agreed with the assessment that "sometimes" she puts a spoon in her mouth right-side up. They scored her as "sometimes" on an exercise neither they nor I could try with her: threading a shoelace through a large bead. I don't have such supplies, and neither did they. They gave her "sometimes" credit for being able to put the pieces back in a chunky wood puzzle instead.
- 92% for problem solving.
This one I actually scored her lower on because she wouldn't let me try this exercise with her. If she watches you draw a line from the top to the bottom of the paper, will she draw a single line in any direction without scribbling back and forth? She has done this with her teachers at school "sometimes" but not with me. She gets mad at me!
- 85% for personal/social
I'd argue this, they scored her "not yet" for "uses a fork". I gave her half credit "sometimes" She can, she just chooses not to! And she used to. Not sure why this is a personal/social issue, either. I scored her at 92%

On to her "Conference Record." These are the Teachers' notes basically about strengths and weaknesses.
Student Effort and Academic Progress
- Very Smart: catches on quickly to things, lots of words, very curious
- Interested in activities: art, sensory, group time
The comment here is that she LOVES art time, and waits anxiously for her turn to participate
- Follows directions: knows general routine
- Caring friend: interested in her friends, knows their names, gentle with them.
Student Behavior and Social Skills
- Continue using words with friends: gets frustrated/mad: work on deep breaths
- Follows what other friends do: work on if issue is addressed for one friend
(i.e. no screaming), it is same for her.


This evening at home, her letters were a little mixed up. She identified them anyway as an A, I, W and V.

She usually sees them like this.

"Daddy shoe... I walkeeen?" "I keen it?"

Random Recent Funnies

Overheard this morning after Maia had a small, pointless tantrum...
Maia: "I crying"
Ray: "Yes, you're fake crying"
Maia: "I funny!"

It's true, though... she really is getting pretty funny.

From Maia's recent Daily Sheets from daycare

Maia is doing very well with her colors! We practiced them in circle today and she was very interested in the books that we read about colors.

She had fun climbing the piles of snow with Celia.
She watched me while I wrote our friends' names on the artwork on our wall, and repeated the name after I wrote it.

We went to visit the grandmas and grandpas today. Maia climbed into one of the grandpa's laps.

In other news...
Maia has been having some issues with trying to bite her friends at daycare. Often she will go to bite a friend and if her teachers catch her, she will stop and ask "I bite?" Today, however, she got very upset with a friend who took her toy, and went in for the bite... missed, and bit herself. She was shocked! And her teachers tried very hard not to laugh.

She is seeming to have a little explosion of development of late. Language, concepts, ability to follow more complex directions. She is doing very well with identifying shapes, but is hit and miss with colors. She is very, very interested in letters... She will randomly identify them correctly. If you show her one A, she can find another. When the alphabet song is playing, she will randomly "sing" the next letter. She'll actually do this with words of songs, too. She will also answer some of her own questions with our usual responses. For example, when in the car and listening to her favorite CD, a song will end and she will ask "More? more?" And we will say "You wait, it's coming!" She will now say "More? It coming, it coming!"

She is also continuing to show pretty good understanding of what her little potty is for... but I don't think she's completely ready to really start potty training, so I am not pushing it yet.

At daycare, her teachers are sending her over to the infant room for 10-15 minutes a day to get acquainted with the newest baby... who is currently about 9 weeks old. This is fortuitous, as it will help Maia get some exposure to what newborns are like. So far, the only new babies in the infant room have been older, and already on the move. So I appreciate the timing! So far, she has been fairly interested in the new baby (she has always loved to visit the infant room anyway), and enjoyed petting him (like a dog!) today.

Also, Maia is getting really good at stairs, and can alternate her legs going up if you hold on to her hand. Otherwise, she will walk up with one hand on the step to support her. Her favorite way to get down the entire set of stairs is to slide down on her belly. However, she's certainly able to go down them holding on to your hand.

Art O' the (last) Month...

Clearly some of these are Christmas decorations. I have to admit, I've held on to them for a few weeks before finally getting around to snapping the pics and moving them on.

Candy cane on red construction paper with white paint. This was from their Nursery Rhyme week... As Maia would say, this is her

"baa baa bahsheep!" Red construction paper stocking with pieces of felt.

Blue construction paper dove with pieces of decorative holiday cardstock

Fingerpainting!

This one was hard to get a picture of, because it was really really textured, and frozen into a wavy shape.

I believe it's glue and flour thickly applied on pink construction paper.

Ah, more bingo markers on plain paper. They LOVE the bingo markers!

And, finally, markers on paper plate. As you can see, Maia is really starting to get enthusiastic about her scribbling! When she scribbles at home, she likes to pretend that she is writing letters, and will call out the names of of random letters (but usually, M... A... I... or some combination of those)

Ultrasound at 19 weeks, 2 days

Ultrasound day! It actually seems like we spent a LOT of time with the ultrasound tech today, and it seemed like she took a million images, however, I'm noticing we didn't get nearly the variety of perspectives on this set. No spine pictures (I always think those are so cool), no arm close ups... and my favorite 3d/4d pic we have in print, but not on the CD. So I'll have to scan that eventually. This is a 3/4 face view. You can see the eyes, nose, lips... a little bit of a hand, some of the spine and the abdomen.

Here's the front face view, with a hand over one eye. Part of the way into the ultrasound, the baby rolled over and snuggled his/her face in between her/his hands and wouldn't let us take a look. So these are the 3d/4d digital images we have... skinny little legs!

As for the important part of the ultrasound... all anatomy signs are looking good. They saw what they were hoping to see. Brain parts, spine parts, heart parts, abdominal parts. But no, we decided not to ask to see the boy or girl parts. We're thrilled with a healthy baby!

Heartbeat during the ultrasound was about 160, which was faster than it had been, but seemed a little slower when we met with the doctor later. All the measurements were showing right on track with a 6/11 or 6/12 due date. The baby was average, average, average... which is exactly where they want the baby to be.

Interestingly, this time, the placenta is attached to the anterior (front) wall, which means that while I will feel the baby's kicks, punches and somersaults; Ray probably will not until the baby is MUCH stronger. That also means that should something hit my abdomen (like Maia's kicking feet on the diaper table), this baby has a little extra cushion than usual in there.

As for me: My blood pressure is continuing to be lower than it usually runs when I'm not pregnant... which seems to be my trend. I've gained more weight than I'd wanted to by this point, but the OB thinks I'm doing well (that's right... tell the hungry lady what she wants to hear...). The headaches, he thinks, are probably more related to an inconsistency with my daily caffeine levels. He tells me I need to dose the same every day. Either none every day, one every day or two every day... he's not worried about my consumption, just the fluctuation. Oh, and more fluids would probably help too.

Next OB visit is the yummy, yummy glucose beverage and some difficult blood drawing (difficult because I'm difficult to draw, not because it's supposed to be a challenge). I will be half-way through this pregnancy in just a few short days! It's going soooooo fast!!!

Comparisons

Between Ray and I, we don't have many pictures of ourselves as infants in our possession. But I thought it would be interesting to compare the three of us.

Washing Her Hands...

Maia loves to wash her hands. It's partially about playing with the water... and partially about using the towel to wipe up her mess (I keen it?) Between Santa and all the generous grandparents and aunts and uncles (and over-spending parents), she had plenty of gifts to open for Christmas, so this step stool I ordered just sort of stayed in the basement and didn't get put together for a few weeks. I liked this one because it looked like it was nice and tall and sturdy... and, well, she's still fairly short, and needs more height than the average step stool can provide. Not to mention, they have a similar one at daycare, so Maia is familiar with it. So, considering the fact that I'll have two who will probably use it a LOT over the next few years, it seemed like a good investment. So I finally put it together and showed it to Maia, who was delighted!

Even with those nice tall steps the sink still hits her at her armpit level.

Ray's Birthday

Ray's 39th Birthday.

I asked Maia if she'd like to write her name on the card. So she sat down and scribbled... ... Mmmm.... Aaaa.... Maia! We had family over for cake & ice cream.

Aunt Kathleen and Maia

Maia is finally able to say something resembling "Kathleen" (it sounds more like "afeen")

And for Ray's special birthday dinner... Calzonies!!

The dough had a lot of extra time to proof, as we didn't eat until rather late. So it was nice and light and fluffy. And it made a really crispy outside.

They turned out really really yummy!

Although I think it's really good that I only make them once a year. Not to mention, all that frying really smells up the house. =( ... but they sure taste good!!! MmMmmMMmMmm!!!

Maia says her ABCs

We love to play these games with her: She will do some of her own versions of her letters. I've heard her get as far as "a, b, c, d, e" and then she won't do it again. Or she will pick up somewhere in the middle, and they'll be a little out of order, so you're not sure if she's actually saying letters or just babbling. As far as her 123s goes, she had counted up 1 2 3 and down 3 2 1 on her own on rare occasions, and loves to do it with prompting. Outside of that, while playing, you might hear her count "one... twooooo... one... twooo...." She's so good at aping, though... she will also gladly repeat when you count in Spanish. The spelling of her name part of the second video... she of course didn't do it like she usually does. Generally speaking, she will repeat: M.. (m)... A..(a)... I.. (i)... A...(Maia!!)

Independent Girl

How time flies! Our girl is growing so quickly. She imitates so many things and loves to try new words. She is improving with stringing together two or three words. She's got a mouth full of teeth and is growing out of 12 month clothes (especially in pant length) and into size 4 shoes.

Like these "pah-key shooo!" (sparkly shoes) she needed to try on with her jammies.

The next milestones we are considering for Maia are transitioning to a convertable car seat (rather overdue, although I think we will continue to leave her rear facing for a while yet) - which I hope to buy this weekend. Also for this winter/spring perhaps a toddler bed, and potty training. Earlier this week, I finally decided on a potty that didn't seem too much like a toy, however, Maia still decided it would be fun to put her sippy cup in it and push it around. Last evening, as Ray prepped Maia for her bath, she was playing with her potty and managed to pee on the floor (whoops!). This evening, however, just before bed, I brought Maia to the bathroom, took of her pants and diaper to sit her on the potty for a few minutes while we got ready for bed. She stood up in about 10 seconds. As I was telling her to sit down, I looked and she had, in fact, peed in her potty! I was just stunned! I imagine she may have the idea of what needs to happen because of the other kids who are probaby going through potty training at daycare. They have a (very short) toilet in the diaper changing area in the room. That said, however, she hasn't repeated the feat, and isn't all that interested in sitting on it. I suspect it's probably not really all that comfy for her. She has no shortage of personality, and she knows what she wants. And if you don't get it... she will tell you "NO!" or, less adamantly, "nah!" with lots of head shaking, until you figure out what it is she does want. Like when she asks "ah-seeng?" - I have to remember that means she wants me to sing, and then I have to go through a list of about 15 songs to see if I can figure out which song she's looking for. If I get it wrong, she'll tell me "no, no, no" until I stop singing and keep going through the list. If I don't stop, she starts to get mad. A little drama! But on some times, she'll tell me which song: "Baa baa bahshee?" (Baa, baa, black sheep) "Up-a-bah.." (up above, which means Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star), or "Teapah?" (I'm a Little Teapot). I can't wait until she can communicate more! I'm sure it will save us all some frustration, as she often knows what she is saying, but we can't understand it all. She has spoken a paragraph, and we didn't catch a word!

A gift for Maia or Daddy?

I can't tell you how I laughed when I found this in the store!