Non-Disney Stuff

In our time since being in Disney World and getting over the flu, we've been taking care of business.

-Last week, I went to my 16 week OB appointment.  All was good. Heatbeat sounded strong. I can't remember much that she said at this point.  I've only gained about 2 pounds so far. Although truthfully since my appetite kicked in this week, I might be up another few pounds.  I'm way under my weight gain for this point in my pregnancy with Emma! Being sick for 3 months has a few perks.  So all is status quo at the moment.  Hopefully, it will continue that way! I go again in 2 1/2 weeks for my anatomy scan ultrasound.  Hopefully the baby will cooperate and we'll be able to find out whether we need to shop for pink or blue!

My first baby in a robe that MY Grandma Marjores (my mom's mom) made for me when I was little.  I can't believe how perfectly it fits Emma.  So hard to believe  I was ever that small. Or that my baby is big enought to wear it now! Or that it looks so good after 30 years! My mom said Grandma Marjores would have been really happy to see Emma wearing it. I'm sure she's watching and smiling from Heaven.

-We found renters for our house.  After being on the market for about a month and a half, we haven't had much traffic.  No interest in the last 3 weeks actually.  Not to mention that in the last few months, two houses have sold on our street - one in short sale for about $30,000 less than what we are asking for ours and one in foreclosure for about $80,000 less.  SO that does not bode well for us.  We even bought our house in foreclosure so when people look at what we paid, that's what they want to pay.  We just can't afford that! So luckily, we found out about a family who is coming to the shipyard in April.  Jeremy got in touch with them and after some consideration we've decided having them rent our house is the best thing for all of us at this point. As of right now, we will be 'Burgh bound by the 8th of April!

-Emma had her last neurology appointment at Children's Hospital Boston the other day.  It was a surprisingly sad moment.  Emma was so well behaved at the appointment which was absolutely SHOCKING! She was even excited to go ahead of time!  Her doctor didn't know we were leaving though and was bummed.  He's such a nice guy!  He gave us the name of a doctor and Pittsburgh and said it was an excellent place for pediatric neurology especially neonatal which is the category Emma falls into.   He was amazed at Emma's development, said there were clearly no concerns either cognitively or physically, and said she was way above her peer group in her development!  He joked that she probably didn't really need a doctor as long as her shunt was working. 

Emma was wearing a toy stethoscope that the nurse had given her earlier so we told him Emma said she wanted to be a doctor.  His response was, ' You'd make a great doctor! We need smart doctors and you're very smart.  We need lots of smart, well dressed doctors just like you!'  (Mommy's head may have swelled just a little!)

Dr. K has these little finger puppets that he uses with her to check her vision and eye movements.  We've been talking about the puppets for a week at home because they were how I got her to understand who she was going to see and that he was a fun doctor.  I told him about her constant mention of the puppets so he gave them to her! He told her to take them home and show them to her new doctor when she sees him!  We will really miss Dr. K!   He was the first neurologist to see her in the NICU and has followed her all this time.

The new little friends courtesy of Dr. K.  Notice that the faces are wearing off. These were well used.  Not given out to just any kid who comes in the office!

 Leaving the hospital, knowing we would never (most likely) be there again was a very bittersweet moment for me.  We've spent so much time there and it's been such a big part of her life. We stopped in the gift shop on the way out and got Emma a pink Children's Hospital Boston baseball cap as a momento.  And some M & M's for being such a good girl!

- Emma is really becoming a big girl this week.  Or maybe I'm just letting her.  She's been drinking from an open cup at dinner. Although, she likes to let her 'fingers go swimming' and has had a few spills (Does pouring it on your plate count as a spill?), but overall she's doing well.  She may have put her edamame beans in her apple juice yesterday, and then drank the juice afterward, but that's what kids do, right?

Emma discovered Nutella this morning for breakfast.  Babies don't get to have Nutella. Only big girls! Especially big girls with pregnant mommies who have Nutella in the house because of cravings.
Not really interested in the waffle. Just ate the Nutella off the waffle with a spoon. That's my girl!

She has started wanting to brush her teeth on her own standing at the sink instead of having me do it in her high chair after eating.  She's trying to teach herself to spit the toothpaste out too.  We've been trying for awhile, but she just swallows it and then pretends to spit.  Thank goodness for safe-if-swallowed training paste.

We are also starting to potty train.  The first two days went fairly well as far as getting her to sit on the potty during the course of the day.  She hasn't made any sort of 'deposit' yet though.  She's worn underwear at a home a couple times and kept them dry for a few hours, but we had our first real accident Wednesday morning and she didn't even notice that she was wet.  So it's been downhill from there.  We've spent a lot of time out of the house the last few days and haven't been very good about getting her on the potty.  She also cries when we try.  I don't think this is going to happen very quickly.  Well, we'll keep trying. I'm not in a rush.  I just want it to be done by the end of August so she can start pre-school in September. She sure looks cute in her underpants though!

It's important to wear your shoes with your training underwear and pj top.  It really dresses the whole outfit up.

Just checking out the Easter section of the new Pottery Barn Kids catalog.

So that's the news for now!