Monday, December 15, 2008

She's Here!


Sorry for the late posting! I will add her birth story and more pictures later.


Molly Anne Schnell was born on Tuesday, December 9th at 7:52pm. She weighed 8lbs and was 20.5 inches long. We are all home and doing great.


Sunday, December 07, 2008

Fun Henry Facts

  • Henry will only wear one pair of shoes. He is on his fifth pair of the same navy Stride Rite sneakers. Unfortunately, he is in the largest size, so he is going to have to switch soon! He won't even try on other shoes. Or slippers. Even Adam has finally accepted that buying them is futile, Henry has an iron will.
  • Henry insists on picking out my shoes every day. I get two choices, shoes or boots. He makes the selection and lets me know before we leave the house. He isn't overly concerned that they match my outfit.
  • His favorite fruit is still the apple, but is close to being surpassed by the "numna" aka, the banana. He generally wants to eat two bananas back to back.
  • He still loves to cook and is very accurate in his pretend play. Today he was trying to measure vanilla with one of his silver spoons that looked a lot like a measuring spoon.
  • He can now peel a clementine and a banana on his own.
  • He is an expert vegetable washer
  • He loves to empty the dishwasher and narrates what each piece is as he hands it to me
  • He is very particular about how things are done. We have to follow certain "rules" that he has set up when getting ready for bed, brushing his teeth, after naps. Otherwise, things get ugly!
  • Henry is easily bribed. I got him to pick up his toys today by offering to let him vacuum. It is amazing what he will do for Skittles.
  • He has an aversion to button down shirts and gets very upset when I try to make him wear one.

Milestone Day!

Henry said his first curse today.

I have been making felt Christmas ornaments for the tree and found the adorable ladybug I had just finished floating in a cup of cold coffee. I exclaimed "Oh shit!" and Henry took that moment to improve his articulation and repeated it as clear as a bell. I laughed, so he has been repeating it this afternoon. Of course I can't stop laughing yet. Oops!

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Still Pregnant

Update: Last appt was on Thursday, doctor said the baby was low and I am 3cm dialated. He said I could go at any time or it could be a while. Total crapshoot. I have advised the baby that it would be in their best interest to wait for Grandma's arrival on Friday.

Henry has finally started talking about "Da Baby." We have been putting together toys, chairs etc and washing clothing and he points out what is his and what is for the baby. We are missing the spring from the baby's sleep hammock and had to put in an emergency order for a replacement so the child has someplace to sleep. Who am I kidding, I might as well start sleeping in the crib and just give the bed over to the baby, Henry and Adam.

We still don't have a boy's name picked either. Oops!

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Tick tock

I am now under the two week mark before the baby is due. Although I am very excited to meet the baby, things are certainly different the second time around. I feel like I have a ticking time bomb on me that I don't know when it is going to go off.

The arrangements for Henry's care are spotty at best. My mom is due to arrive on 12/12, two days before my due date. I have a good chance of lasting until she gets here because I was late with Henry, but you really never know. Our original fall back plan was to have Adam's Dad come in. He just started a new job on Monday, so his availability is now severely curtailed.

We have various friends, neighbors and relatives that have offered or been "recruited" to help. Although I know everyone is very willing to do what they can, I am cognizant of the fact that they all have lives, children, jobs and schedules that may cause conflict. Especially since we don't know when we will need them, for how long and how much notice we can give them. If my water breaks and there appears to be a problem, we will need to go straight to the hospital. Although this is unlikely, it is certainly in the realm of possibility.

I also worry about having to leave in the middle of the night. Henry has never been away from me for more than a few hours and certainly never slept in the house without me. If he wakes and neither of us are there, he is going to have a heart attack. I wish there was some way we could prepare him better, but I don't know how to do so without scaring him.

Worst case scenario is that we could always bring him with us to the hospital until someone is available but that certainly is not ideal. Adam and I were laughing about me trying to have the baby with Henry standing next to me saying "Ma...Ma...Get up...Draw Dora's Backpack...Chase Henry..."

I'm sure everything will wind up working out as well as it can, but of course I still worry.

Freedom!

We have recently started to be able to do more with Henry. For example, we can go to restaurants and be assured that he will act somewhat human and that we can find him something on most menus. We can bring him on longer car trips and even if he doesn't sleep he can sit for longer periods. We brought him to see the Thanksgiving balloons being blown up on Wednesday and he seemed to get it and have fun. We can even bring him shopping and he will sit in the cart or be content in the stroller or walking with you.

Whenever we are doing something fun, I always think why we haven't we done it sooner or more often. And then I remember various stages that he has gone through and am reminded why. For example, when he was an infant he would scream like he was being murdered whenever he was in his carseat. So, even though we are crazy first time parents, we have always had a kid that really didn't give an inch (but of course we love him!)

We were walking through Chinatown on Saturday night, having successfully finished an evening that didn't involve screaming, a kids menu, a high chair, sippy cups or special dishes or even a stroller. We didn't wake him from a nap and weren't rushing home for bed. I was very excited thinking of all of the things that we could do now. And then I remembered that we could do whatever we wanted with our newfound freedom...as long as we could squeeze it into the next two weeks! Ahh, reality...