Getting There!

I had an ultrasound on Tuesday...they wanted to measure Melody because they thought she might be a bit small. But nope, she was already 6 lbs and 5 ounces!! I was never worried, she certainly feels big to me! The baby can gain as much as an ounce a day, so by the time I have her she'll probably almost be 7 pounds. Theo was born 7 pounds...or 6 pounds, 16 ounces as it said on his medical chart! Hahahaha!

I'm still about 1 cm dilated..haven't progressed since last week. My weight gain is at about 25 pounds, my blood pressure is good...all is well! I'm ready to have a baby! Well, after tomorrow. Tomorrow I have to see the premiere of Sex and the City. ;)

When a Sonogram Just Won't Cut It...

Ask your best friend paint your belly.  I turned to Stacy to do the deed, knowing she'd turn out something incredible. I arrived in Brooklyn with my special belly-baby-safe paints and requested a mermaid... but I couldn't have imagined this! WOW!

It was nice to hang in her apt. with Linda lookin' on, getting my belly painted with Knocked Up on in the background. Melody kept kicking Stacy's hand! The artist was frustrated, and I thought it was hilarious


The whole thing took about 2 hours. If you click on the photo and zoom in, you can see all the intricate detail she put in. The colors of the hair, the different fleshtones. I mean, this girl knows what she's doing!

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

My friend from college, Lauren Ford, was in a children's theatre production of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." I ordered the book and we read it with Theo all week before seeing the show. He loves it! We still read it every night. Joe has taken to singing the book to Theo, and Theo insists on singing it now. No matter what we read, of course, Knuffle Bunny still has to be the final book before lullabies and bedtime.

Theo was really into the show. He laughed at the giant props, and really understood what was going on since he know the book so well. This is a great thing for him. I'd like to take him to more live versions of books we've read. He'd have been a bit lost if he didn't know the book. But you should have seen the way his eyes lit up. He paid attention to every detail. Joe and I got a little choked up watching Theo watch the play.

Theo and Knuffle Bunny sit in front of the giant glass with the straw...you can see the book opened to the page with that scene.

Theo loved meeting the mice. That's my friend Lauren on the left. She was the musical theatre star of Emerson. She also directed me in a Chekov scene for one of classes. She's a real sweet girl, and amazingly talented.

Then we headed to the Museum of Natural History where the ASPCA was displaying a horse ambulance from the late 1800s.

This is Thumbelina, just 17 inches tall!!

The cutest jockey.

Theo was very mad at daddy for putting Knuffle Bunny there.

They let the kids put on little jockey outfits for pictures.

Is That Jealousy I Detect?

Every morning when the alarm goes off, Theo gets out of bed and gets into ours. He brings Knuffle Bunny and sometimes one or two other toys or books, and he squishes in between me and Joe, getting under the blanket. But he insists on being the middle of us!

Yesterday morning, Joe made a good point. He asked Theo where he was going to lay when Melody is here and we're four friends. (Right now we call it being three friends when we lay together. Theo started that a while ago!) Joe said, "Theo can lay with daddy and Melody can lay with mommy."

Theo actually started to whimper! He put on his sad face. "Theo lay with mommy!" He whined.

This was unexpected and delightful. I'm still beaming over it. Let the jealousy begin! Jealousy is good for a mommy and daddy's ego!

The Bright Side

I'm 36 weeks today! 9 months. Look up top at the countdown ticker, see the baby is in the last month? I put that ticker up when she was only in the fourth. How cute, it says she's being finalized!

At this point I'm uncomfortable and anxious to just have the baby already. I find myself complaining more and more, which I don't like. So I thought to keep me sane for the last few weeks I can try to appreciate what I do love about being pregnant. After all, I don't plan on being pregnant again. (Plan being the key word!)

o Every time I take a bite of food, Melody moves. I picture her swimming in my belly and trying to catch everything I eat in her mouth! It's so weird that pretty soon I'll eat a meal and nothing will happen with my stomach. It will just be still.

o I love getting kisses on the belly from my husband.

o I love the attention I get at work. I can't walk down the hall without someone squealing and getting excited. Soon enough I'll be just another employee walking down the hall.

o I love people giving up seats on the subway for me and letting me take their spot on line for a public bathroom. I'm in NYC, but it does happen!

o I love dreaming about what Melody will look like, even though it makes me even more anxious to have her now!

o I love the love I'm getting from friends and family...my shower is coming up this weekend, so I can't wait!

o I love playing "the pregnancy card." I got a free scoop in Baskin Robbins the other day, and people are just plain nicer to me.

o I love telling Maow not to worry, that she'll always be the first special little girl in my life.

o I love doing something mundane like lying on the couch with Joe and Theo, and then picturing a baby with us.

o I love being able to justify almost anything I eat.

o I love getting to say "it's the hormones." I won't have that excuse for much longer!

o I love getting creative with maternity outfits.

o I love this bond that right now belongs only to Melody and me. Very soon she'll be everyone's baby, which is wonderful. But for now, she's just mine.

More Updates

• Our visit to the School for Language and Communication Development in Long Island was great. Our application is in! Phew, it was like applying to college! A $125 application fee, plus I had to gather all kinds of reports and evaluations and materials. If he passes the first phase, and gets in on paper, he then goes in to meet with them and have a mock day at school.
• I got to see Melody last week! I had a surprise ultrasound when they wanted to check to make sure she's facing head down. She is! She has assumed the position...that's my girl!
• I gained 5 pounds in two weeks! That's about 23 pounds total weightgain so far.
• Our "nursery" is almost ready. We ordered handmade letters to spell out Melody and Theo to go over the crib and his bed respectively.
• I still haven't packed my hospital bag! I'll get cracking on that in the next couple of weeks.
• We thought of a perfect day for her to be born! June 7th! Her birthday would be 06/07/08. Fun, huh? So let's see if she cooperates.
• My excitement is matched only by my fear of labor. It's much worse this time knowing what to expect than it was not knowing what to expect. Last time I was at least able to say "how bad can it be?" Yikes, now I know! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah :(
• Life is crazy and overwhelming between school searching and baby prepping and distributing my responsibilities at work. It keeps me sane to just remind myself that it'll all be over soon. I'll be home relaxing and cradling a baby, the school will be picked, and I'll be on maternity leave. Oh, how I long for those days! Soon, soon...

Mother's Day Weekend

Theo and Knuffle Bunny kneel at church at Ethan's communion on Saturday. Theo was a good boy at the service; he liked all the sitting/standing/kneeling. He flipped through the prayer book backwards. Perhaps that's the quarter jew in him?

Ethan is one cool dude in his mom's new convertible.

Me and my handsome nephew.

Sharing ice cream with my boy on Mother's Day! I have a photo of me in front of this wall when Theo was in my belly!

Theo in flight!

Theo made this for me at school, it's a little treasure chest/jewerly box

This is a photo I took of a photo. We did this at Babies R Us for mom's bday/mother's day presents.

For these two photos, Joe set up the lights and did the retouching, but mom was the photographer. Go mom, good job!

Mother's Day was wonderful. Joe made breakfast and gave me lots of massages throughout the day. I'm always asking him to rub my lower back, since that's where I feel a lot of pressure. And it's really cute how Melody responds to the massages, it always sets her in motion! We had a laid back family day; went to the playground and out to lunch. We all took an afternoon nap, then Joe brought home dinner from my favorite steakhouse and we watched the Survivor finale. The thoughtful hubster also replaced the jewelry box the cats had broken!

I feel very loved and fulfilled these days. I'm so used to saying I spent the day with the boys; soon it will be Joe and the kids! Can't wait. :)

School Photos

Theo's school picture

Theo puts on his belt in the morning to get ready for picture day

Daddy helps his little man with his sports jacket



Theo would rather be wearing his blue sweatshirt.

This is a photo I took of the class picture, hence the terrible quality. Everyone in Theo's class looks miserable. As you can see, they took off Theo's jacket; I am really mad! I killed myself running around Manhattan to find one, and he looked so good in it!

How it Went at the Clinic

Sorry I didn't post sooner, I realize some of you checked the blog frequently to get results from Thursday's visit to the clinic in Staten Island. I didn't mean to worry anyone.

The waiting room was sad; a few autistic adults were waiting, and they were pretty far gone. One woman kept letting out random bellows for no reason. I was grateful, needless to say, that Theo is nothing like this and is so highly functional.

We met with three female doctors at a table. They had a gigantic booklet of questions for us to answer. The women were extremely perceptive and by the end of the evaluation seemed to really "get" Theo.

He got an IQ test at school (I didn't even know about this, how nice of his school to inform me) and they estimated his IQ at around 94, which is about average. One of the doctors said "I don't think your son is autistic. He's somewhere between PDD and...whatever. We can label him as a giraffe, it doesn't matter, what matters is getting him the services he needs."

So we talked at length about schools and updating his Individual Education Plan, and they told us about a school in Long Island. We are visiting the School for Language and Communication Development tomorrow. We are very fortunate; they give tours once a month, so we're just in time for the May one! I'll let you know what we think of the school.