Smarty Pants

Well we all knew that once he started talking there'd be no stopping him! And it has happened. He literally picks up at least one new word a day and rarely loses one but does occasionally. As of today we count 20 words or so that he says! We made a list for you. Also for those of you that don't see him often you will be very surprised by all he says the next time you talk to him. It seems to go so slowly here since we are with him all day every day and constantly trying to teach him new ones but looking back it really is going very fast. Most of these have come up in the past 2 or so weeks.
Dada
Cat
Uh oh
Mom mom
bubbles
baboo – nurse
pop
ew
ock – socks, chocolate, rock, chalk (this sound means all these things depending on the situation)
go – also means green because I say "green means go" when we read a certain book
hello
yellow
up
down
poop
bobop – powder, both baby powder and baking soda
out
juice
hot
op – water

Some of these "words" are hard to understand unless you know what he means like water, but we've figured out what he's saying by asking him to show us. We always say things the right way after he says them his way and I have complete faith he will figure it all out soon enough. For now his little baby words are about the cutest thing in the whole damn world! I absolutely love it!

And for those that have yet to hear him call me when he needs me, it is very funny. Sometimes he just says Momom. But sometimes he screams it with a very raspy scratchy sound to his voice Mom MOM! It is so funny! I giggle about every time.

And honestly that list is incomplete. I swear he says more than that but we can't think of them all and some of the things we hear him say he's only said maybe once. Tonight he was working on banana. He was asking me for a mananana and just kept making those sounds, but he'd been making them all day I wasn't sure if he was meaning something yet or not. I finally got him to point it out to me and then Andy and I tried to work with him on the right sounds for banana. But he's very close!

In addition to all of these verbal words he says he also has many animal noises he can make and he does sign language for many of the more simple things, please, eat, drink, more, to name just a few. He doesn't really try to say these words and we don't push it. Again, he'll get it when he gets it! As long as he says please in some way I think we're doing pretty well.

I know we may be a bit biased but I really think he is pretty smart. Even if he can't say all the words he knows most of what we are saying. And sometimes when I think he isn't understanding me, I realize later that he did, he just didn't agree with me! He totally has a mind of his own and is very independent for the most part. Unless he's sleepy!

He got a very high fever last week and scared us a ton but we got it under control easily and he didn't really seem to out of sorts for long. It did take him a little while to recover like get all caught back up on sleep but he is back to his usual self for sure now. I think whatever little bug he had, his system was strong enough to wipe it out quickly without him getting too terribly sick. It also forced me to do some more research on fevers and look in to things I haven't read about since he was a baby. I feel we handled it fine and did exactly what we needed to but next time I think we will have more trust in his body and feel more confident in his ability to fight off whatever is in him. He's a tough little guy!

As for me, eh, I'm big! I feel like I am farther along than I think I am and I can't imagine my belly getting any bigger than it already is. But as much as I think this I know deep down this baby will not appear until October and by then I will be truly enormous not just a little uncomfortable! Feeling the little one move is the best. The position he's (we say 'he' for the sake of convenience it could be either way!) in isn't the best. Oh he's head down but his legs or something sticks right into my right hip. Which is my sore hip from a high school injury and the place I had the most pain when I was in labor with Andrew. It almost feels as if this baby is laying on my hip at times. I have even considered chiropractic care but I'm not completely sold on it yet. For now I do stretches and we go for nightly walks even in this God-awful heat. The heat bwt is a whole other issue for me. The days that got up to 103 around here were killer. I could barely even move around the apartment even with the AC on. I was so exhausted and so hot. I wear nothing more than a giant Vneck men's Tshirt and still feel like I want to just lay under a fan with a mister. I am so grateful we don't have to leave the house every day! I would be miserable.

Those are really my only gripes though and I think that is pretty darned good! Pregnancy is tough on the body and mine seems to handle it well relatively speaking. It's different this time around because i have a toddler. Also because I feel more excited about the end game. With Andrew I had little idea of what to expect so I was just enjoying my pregnancy. This time I know what's coming. I know what it's like to have a sweet newborn baby to hold and nurse and care for and I can't wait! Oh sure I am still very much enjoying this pregnancy but I am also much more looking forward to labor, delivery and the baby than I did with the first one.

Speaking of the first born son! Here's a couple of pics I wanted to show you all that make me laugh!

One is from January 2007 (3 months old) and the other is from last night (almost 22 months old). Same chair. Tough to tell which is which! ;)





More videos are ready to go but I'll wait a day or so and let everyone get caught up!