Snippets (34 weeks)

Sometime in the next 3-6 weeks, a baby girl will be joining our family. That's like a month, people. We're slowly getting ready. We need diapers, but the clothes have been washed and put away. We have a bassinet, but it still needs to be put in its spot. We need to re-install the infant car seat. We've bought new pink receiving blankets and a video monitor. Owen is getting ready too. Last week he stopped sleeping in the crib and started sleeping in his big boy bed. He'll pull out a bottle out of the cabinet to tell me it's for the baby.

We need a name! We can't seem to figure it out the right name for our girl. We don't like crazy names, but don't want a common name either. This is the first time we've struggled with names. We've come close a couple of times. The name has been my biggest stress this week -- especially as I'm realizing how much time we've had to pick a name and how little time we have left.

As the pregnancy is coming to an end, I'm trying my best to make the time to just treasure this pregnancy and our new baby girl. It seems our life is pretty chaotic right now, so sometimes it's hard to find those moments. I love feeling the kicks and watching my stomach roll around. While my body has been more uncomfortable throughout this entire pregnancy with Owen, I try to remember that this could very well be my last pregnancy. The kicks and the hiccups and the stomach rolls are something I may never get to experience first hand again. So this is it. 

We're looking forward to meeting our baby girl and to touch her toes and smell her new baby smell. We're excited for Owen to finally understand what the baby is all about. We're looking forward to being a family of four. We can't wait to meet you, baby girl!

 J.B.

August Snippets (21 months)

• Last week, Owen pooped in the toilet for the first time! Dave and I weren't even considering potty training Owen yet, but perhaps he is more ready than we think. That night, I went to the store and bought a potty chair. Unfortuantely, there hasn't been a second successful attempt -- yet.
• This month we took a vacation to visit Dave's family in North Carolina. Owen loved spending time with his cousins, aunts, uncles and Pappy and Grandma! We spent a day at the ocean -- Owen's first time really spending any time in the water. He loved swimming with Dave and I as well as having the chairs at the shoreline, so he could kick the waves as the came up to his feet. We spent another day at the aquarium. It was a short, but fun trip.

• Owen usually calls Otis by the name, Puppy; Cooper (Coops) by the name, Oops; Gracie by the name, Kitty.
• Owen recognizes my parent's neighborhood, and yells out, "Papa's house" when we turn onto their block.
• We celebrated 22 months by getting Owen's first haircut. He tried so hard to be brave for mama and dada, but a few crocodile tears slipped. So long baby curls, hello toddler!

• The word "no" has finally made its way into Owen's vocabulary. Morning conversations with Owen often go like this:
• “You’re going to go see your friends today.”
• “No.”
• “Don’t you want to see your friends?”
• “No.”
• “Put your paci in your crib.”
• “No.”
• “It’s time to put your shoes on.”
• “No.”
• “Do you want me to get your neck?” (tickle his neck.)
• “No.”
• “Do you want your train?”
• [silence] (hasn’t quite figured out the word for yes yet.)
• Owen's understanding of language keeps growing every day, and it's really remarkable to watch. He follows instructions when he wants to (brushes his teeth, leaves Baba and paci in his room, puts trash into the garbage). He is also starting to put two words together at a time -- some examples: Dada bye-bye, bike loud, Papa house, Dada bike
• He got new shoes for fall, and he loves wearing his socks and shoes.

J.B.