Saturday, May 31, 2008

How to Tell...

that you are pregnant and living with a toddler?

I am not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination. Henry has recently started getting up at 6am so I have had to adjust. This morning as he was happily bounding about, hollering for his milk and peering into my half closed eyes chirping "Hi!"

Adam was making even more discouraging signs of getting up so I decided to be nice to him and get out of bed. I was wondering what the heck I was going to do with Henry until my Adam woke up and polite society was out and about.

I suddenly got a craving for donuts (a definite sign that you are pregnant ) and decided to go to the farmer's market in Inwood where they have the most delicious hot apple cider donuts. So there we were, Henry and I, boarding a bus at 6:45 am to get fresh eggs and strawberries for breakfast and of course a few donuts for me. Of course my fresh little son refused his donut and only wanted to eat the berries. Clearly Adam's genes have won out there.

If you want to know my special trick for eating donuts, here it is. Buy an unusual number of donuts so that your husband has no idea how many you have already eaten. For example, if there are three people, buy five donuts. You can eat two on the way home undetected.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Henry's Trick

A while back I posted that I taught Henry a made up sign for "I Love You." Here he is demonstrating it


More Video

Henry Live!

After many months, I have finally figured out how to move video from my camera to my computer. I got some cute footage of the little guy that I thought you would enjoy seeing.

The first is a video of a few of Henry's sharing his knowledge of his body parts. The second is him saying the few words I could think of on the fly. I just love hearing his little voice, it is adorable


Friday, May 23, 2008

Casanova

As I have mentioned, one of Henry's parents likes to let him chill in front of the TV before bedtime. Henry was sitting up, entranced by that wholesome program "Deal or No Deal." All of a sudden he started wildly blowing kisses at the screen. We couldn't figure out what precipitated this burst of affection until the D.o.N.D. Model Search commercial was repeated where you can text your vote for a new girl to hold one of the cases. One of the models blew a kiss as her information was read.

If you have a cellphone, please text Henry's vote for Model A.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Our Big Announcement

Adam and I are pleased to announce that we are expecting another baby on December 14th, 2008. We are thrilled and nervous at the same time!

To answer a few questions:

I am currently 10 weeks, 2 days. We have already had a few ultrasounds and seen the heart beating which was exciting

I was sick initially but am feeling pretty well overall. Nothing as bad as I had with Henry. Just really tired, but chasing a nineteen month old could be the cause of that too!

This was another IVF induced pregnancy. We had one left over that our insurance would pay for and are so happy that it worked because I have no intention of ever doing that again.

We are going to torture you again and not find out the sex.

Next appointment is June 2nd for the Nuchal Translucency scan.

I'll keep you posted!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Is this the Terrible Twos?

Henry has been a pro at throwing tantrums in the past, but today definitely took the cake. We left the park this afternoon and I let him walk for a bit to the grocery store. I even let him walk in the store. On the way home, I saw a bus and hopped on it because I didn't want to carry him and the groceries. I picked him up which of course made him mad. He was hollering something that sounded like "Bus" and the lady behind us started to talk to him. He looked at her, stood on my lap and started SCREAMING at her. Not crying, just going nutso.

Then he attempted to throw my metrocard (bus pass) out the open window. We got home and he had a fit that I only gave him five minutes to play at the mailbox. Once in the elevator he threw a screaming fit and refused to get out because I took my keys away from him. Totally embarrassing because there was someone else in the elevator and I needed to forcibly remove him.

He ran screaming down the hallway (total echo effect) and I had to practically fireman carry him into the apartment kicking and screaming. He then proceeded to scream on and off for the next hour and a half over EVERYTHING. Hopefully he was just tired, my nerves can't take another year of this.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there, pat yourselves on the back for another fine year. I am sure you deserve it!

We had a great day. Adam and Henry hit the store early to get the ingredients for my special Mother's Day Breakfast. They made yeast risen blueberry pancakes with special maple-berry syrup, bacon and berry-lemon spritzers. Everything was delicious! They also got me a gift certificate for a facial and some flowers.

We had every intention of going to the Bronx Zoo after Henry's nap. I laid down at the same time he did and remember Adam putting him in the bed with me about a half hour later. Fast forward FOUR hours later and Henry and I woke up! Oops! I can't believe both of us slept that long.

After a late lunch, Henry and Adam hit the park and I went for a haircut. All in all a great day. We are so lucky to have our little guy. I would post some pictures if Bam-Bam didn't throw the camera earlier in the week and break it.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

More Henry Tales

  • Henry and I were at the park yesterday. As he normally does, he buzzes from one end of the park to the other without ever stopping to rest. Suddenly he made a beeline for the exit. He was walking down the sidewalk and appeared to be looking for something. He finally stopped and walked over to the curb. Right in front of the ice cream truck!
  • Although Henry has been napping like a champ (sometimes for a whole THREE hours) and sleeping in his own bed the entire night, he is very difficult to put down. He stands in his crib crying and holding his pillow. When I go in there he points to the door, motioning that he wants to watch TELEVISION. We usually cave and let him lay on the couch for a few minutes. I give him the lecture on the way out that he has to lay down, he can't run around and that he needs to go to sleep. He nods very somberly and pretends to be relaxing. Of course we are usually watching one of his very favorite shows like Dancing with the Stars. Tonight I looked down at him and he was clapping his little hands along with the audience, albeit very sedately.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Sad Milestone

Today marks twenty years since my father died.

He was forty-three years old and I was fifteen. He has been gone now longer than I knew him. Although it is always sad when I think about it, for some reason having a big milestone like twenty years feels especially poignant.

I have always felt sad for him that his life was cut so short. Who would he have become? What would his interests have been when he didn't have to concentrate on making a living? What kind of grandfather would he have been? It is only now that I am thirty-five do I truly realize how young he was and how much of life he missed.

Of course, I have mostly always been sad for myself. Losing a parent at such a relatively young age leaves a constant, yawning gap in your life. The happiest of occasions have always been marred by his absence. I can't believe he had to miss my high school and college graduations, seeing my first apartment, my wedding and the birth of my first child. I can't believe he will never know any of our spouses or his grandchildren. But mostly, the loss is most acute during day to day things. Whenever I see people with their fathers I am reminded of what I have lost.

Now that I am a parent myself, there is a new dimension to my sadness. I always knew he loved us, but now I know how much. I cannot imagine every having to leave Henry before he was ready for me to go. The thought of leaving him without a mother to love him just tears me apart. I know that when my dad was ill, his greatest fear was not dying but leaving us. He didn't want us not to have a father or ruin our lives.

Although he was ill, his death was unexpected. It gives me some relief that he didn't know he was going to die so he was spared the anguish of leaving us. I have always tried to live my life so that his worst fear did not come true. I have always tried to be happy and make the best of things. Although losing a parent brings a sadness that never goes away, I have tried not to let it define me. I have always thought the greatest tribute to him was to become the person and have the life that he wanted to me to have.

So that is what I need!

Forget a babysitter, I need to rent a four year old.

We went to our friend's house today for a Kentucky Derby Party. They live in the burbs, so Henry had tons of fun running around their back yard and playing on their mini-playground. About halfway through the party, their four year old daughter Emma discovered that Henry was fun to play with and that he would let her boss him around.

We didn't see Henry for the rest of the afternoon. They chased each other round and round, ate dinner together at her little table (well, Henry ate his dinner AND hers) and generally had a ball. He called her something that sounded like "Elmo" and thought it would amuse her if he took off his pants in the middle of the living room. She looked at me once and said "Henry's funny!"

It was the most rest I have had in weeks!