One Year Old

Today wee little M is one year  old. I took a monthly photo of her with the same toy, starting at 2 months old.

One month old, without the toy:

Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

Five Months

Six Months

Seven Months

Eight Months

Nine Months

Ten Months

Eleven Months

One Year Old!

In Which I Do Not Reveal the Gender of Boogaloo

We've been living here in St. John's for three months now, and every once and awhile, G will look up and say "Where is [toy we had in Winnipeg]? Other house?" I'm amazed she remembers these things she barely played with. She had a black sock monkey that I think she touched maybe twice, but I'll be darned if she doesn't keep wondering where it is. She thinks they still live back in our apartment in Winnipeg, assuming it's all still there for us to return to someday.

In other news, we had an ultrasound on Monday and Boogaloo is healthy and snuggled in there, about 5.5lbs at this point, so it's likely to be another 6lb-ish baby. We also got a look at the gender, which was pretty exciting! We've told our families and some close friends, but I think we'll leave it as a surprise to the rest of the general public... plus there's always the chance that the tech was wrong.
I'm technically full-term, so the birth could be any time in the next month or so, but I'm guessing it'll be closer to the due date, since there's still some fattening up to do.

Life without buses or a car is frustrating, but not as bad as I thought. I've only had to take a cab twice (to Drs Appointments), other then that I just walk (really slowly) everywhere. I can accomplish exactly one outing a day. The hardest thing is missing my favourite playgroup on Wednesdays, but it's just a bit far, and the homeward walk would be all uphill.
I'm hoping the transit strike is resolved soon so I can get some more stuff for the baby, but if not, I'm just going to start ordering online!

Things nobody told me...

I wish there were more books out there for 2nd (and etc) time moms. I present to you, Things Nobody Told Me About a 2nd Pregnancy:

• So tired all the time. There was no energetic 2nd Trimester for me, I'm just tired for the whole 9 months.
• I just can't care as much about this time around. There are too many distractions.
• It will not be exactly the same. I was much more sick this time in the beginning. Last time I was able to drink milk, this time, not so much.
• No matter how hard I try to read pregnancy/birth books again, I can't help but feel like I know it all already.
• Nobody else cares about kid #2 either - not in a bad way, just that there's very little literature/support for subsequent pregnancies.
• It goes much, much faster. I can't believe I'm only 6-9 weeks from delivery! 
• Did I mention the tiredness? I've yawned four times while writing this.
• Things that are the same: The left side of my uterus is apparently the comfy side. Both G and Boogaloo have camped out there, the right side feel practically empty. Maybe that's where my organs should go. 
• It's really hard to convince myself that the birth will go differently this time. It went so well last time that I assume it will be the same, but I should know better! My sister had a C-Section with #2 and not with #1.

That's enough. I need a nap.

Thanksgiving

I love thanksgiving food. Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, stuffing, pumpkin pie, stuffing...and did I mention the stuffing? 

So, this year, even though it is just the three of us, I decided it would be good for my mental health to have thanksgiving dinner anyway. We usually have some sort of big meal, but often it's been chicken, since a turkey is pretty big for two people, plus we've always seemed to get turkey from some other source (church, friends houses, etc). This year I knew there would be no turkey for me if I didn't make it myself! 

Anyway, not to go on and on about the food, I took all of Monday to cook. I made a schedule beforehand so I could relax between making things and I wouldn't get overwhelmed. 

It worked out really, really well. 

G was my little "helper" for a little while:

You also get a sense of my 32-week baby bump. Oh, you can't see it? Yeah. I have tiny babies. It was the same way with G. I just don't get big. I know it's actually a blessing and that lots of women would like to be in my shoes, but... dangit! Nobody realizes that I'm... pretty darn close to giving birth. No sympathy for me. 

But I digress. 

Thanksgiving was great. We went for three family walks in the brisk fall weather and stuffed ourselves full of yummy food. G is a big turkey fan. She ate more turkey then I did! We told her that Thanksgiving was a time to say thank-you to God as well as to the people we love and about halfway through the meal, she spontaneously said "Thank you Mommy for making the food." 

That makes everything worthwhile.