Jayden's Latest Tricks

Jayden has many new tricks these days. About a couple of months ago, he started to turn around in circles until he got dizzy and would begin to lose his balance and eventually fall. He found this very amusing and of course, I did too. Esteban didn’t think so. He was always worried that Jayden would fall and hurt himself. I never corrected him because I didn’t want to stop what I deemed to be a stage of discovery. He stopped doing this on his own.

Recently, Jayden has moved on to bigger and better tricks. He now enjoys walking backwards without looking to see where he is going. This is hilarious to me of course because the look on his face is just priceless. You can tell that he’s really enjoying being so very adventurous. I do get nervous when he does this outside because our home sits on a small hill and the driveway has a slope. I can just see him now crashing into the concrete. Thankfully, this hasn’t happened (yet).

About a couple of weeks ago, he started walking with his eyes closed. This is yet another source of enjoyment for me. He closes his eyes really tight and then runs from one sofa to the next. He usually crashes into the sofa and then has himself a good chuckle about it. He could go on forever I think. He’ll run back and forth between sofas several times before moving on to a new activity. He’s very cute.

Last week, Jayden learned to drink from a straw. Thanks Daddy! Mommy loves to put a straw in her drink, but now he always wants to drink from my straw and he pushes away the sippy cup. So now, I am going to pick up some new sippy cups for him with a straw instead to see how it goes. I wonder if those are leak proof? Hmmm…

Jayden is also getting better at opening doors. He first opened doors a while back so we went to the store and got some baby proof handles for the front door and the garage door. One thing you have to know about Jayden is that he loves the bath. Nothing drives him crazier than mommy or daddy going into the bathroom without him and closing the door. The other day, I was taking advantage that Esteban was home and went into the bathroom to shave. Well Jayden heard the water running and just went nuts. He started to call Mommy!!! Then he knocked. Then he banged on the door. Then all of a sudden I heard a bang and looked behind me. There he was standing in the doorway.

I wanted to kill Esteban. Can’t he give me a second of privacy to shave? Does he have to give in to Jayden's every whim? Golly! Esteban came to the bathroom and I asked him if he opened the door for Jayden and he said no. I thought you did. So there you have it. He now opens the door. This will be great fun (not) and add a whole new dimension to his game of closing every door in the house. I can imagine it will be open the door, close the door, open the door, and close the door… Now we have to lock the door when we go into the bathroom for a moment of privacy!

Shower Pictures

Awww. Hanging Fruit Plushes for the Carseat or Stroller!

Cute Duckie Hooded Towel Set for My Girl

Matching Duckie Bathrobe and Booties. Jayden thinks this is for him.

Awww! They even have pink wipe dispensers? That's so cute!

Strawberry Dress for my Strawberry Shortcake!

Beautiful Cake! Yummy!

A Second Baby Shower!

I had a baby shower throw in my honor today, at work. It was so amazing. I could only work a half day because of Esteban’s new work schedule so he dropped Jayden off to me at work so I wouldn’t have to drive to Clermont and back for him. Then, my co-worker and I took Jayden to lunch at Olive Garden. Afterwards, I dropped her off and decided to take Jayden to a nearby park. I hoped to lay in hammock with Jayden and get him to fall asleep. On the way there though, Jayden was falling asleep so I decided to head to a quiet shaded parking lot instead. Jayden napped for about 1 hour and then we headed back to my office.

The shower was at 5pm. When I got there, they were still working on setting up, but there was a good amount of people all working together to make the conference room come alive. They did such a sweet job of decorating the room too. There were tons of snacks and appetizers. There was a beautiful cake. I thought, "This is what all showers should be like." The mommy to be arrives and enjoys. Jayden was with me and was very well received by the group. He was shy for the first 15 minutes or so, but then he got over it and soon was eating and playing and going through packages and eating some more. By the time we left, he was talking to everyone and waving bye-bye and even hugging the ladies. I was so very happy.

For such a small work group, there were so many gifts. I received diapers, wipes, baby towels, washcloths, clothes, gift cards, a book, bibs, tons of baby toiletries, sheets, blankets, onsies, teethers, pacifiers, a photo album, a baby record book and so much more. (I even got Butt Paste! That was hilarious.) I was shocked and amazed and overwhelmed at the abundance of items. As I opened gifts, Jayden entertained the crowd with his silly antics and he organized the gift bags, moving them here and there, playing with the tissue papers and so forth. It was just awesome. Afterwards, I thanked everyone for their gifts and gestures and then we cut the cake.

It was getting late and fast too. Everyone quickly began to clean up and organize. I was so thankful because it had been a super long day for me. I hadn’t had a nap, which I feel like I need on a daily basis these days. The room was really warm and I was starting to feel badly. But before I knew it, we were headed towards the car. By the time we got outside, I was feeling worse. It was really cool out and I was so warm from being inside. I had a lot of pelvic pressure and felt like running to the bathroom, yet again. I had a cold sweat and wondered how I could make it home. The girls loaded my son into his car seat for me, packed my trunk with all my little treasures and folded away my stroller. And then, I was off.

Thankfully, I did in fact make it home safe and sound. Jayden played with balloons and baby talked the whole way home. As my body temperature stabilized, I felt a lot better. I was now just exhausted. I let out Rio and then fed him. While he ate, I unloaded the car, and got everything including Jayden and Rio back inside. I then focused all my attention on Jayden and his bedtime rituals. Even though I was tired and he was too, I tried my hardest not to lose my patience with him. And he was so happy tonight. He was just chattering away and playing with the balloons and smiling at mommy. He even let me hug him and kiss him over and over again. I felt so lucky to have had this moment.

37 Weeks Down, 3 Weeks to Go!

This is my 37 week update. I’ve got 3 weeks to go. The hospital bag still isn’t packed, but I’ll get there. It was a busy weekend with our shower and organizing gifts and writing out Thank You notes. My feet are really starting to swell now and I have a lot of discomfort in my wrists and finger joints. I’m still doing as much walking as possible, even if I have to stop every so often due to a contraction or pelvic pressure.

Now for my stats! My weight was at 218 1/2 which is up 2 ½ pounds from my check up last week. We had the ultrasound. After not seeing the baby since the 21 week ultrasound, I was so excited. However, there wasn’t much to see. We didn’t get a face shot. The head looked huge. I saw the vital organs, including the heart. I caught a peek at her hand and a leg. She’s in position (I felt her turn yesterday). According to the ultrasound, she’s weighing about 6 pounds 14 ounces, give or take a pound. She’s measuring about 5 days ahead of schedule and I am currently about 2 centimeters dilated. If I like, he can induce on April 2nd. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I think we will wait and see. Doctor Casavant thinks I should keep exercising and having sex. Thanks for the tip. I’ll keep that in mind.