Twenty two months

At twenty-two months, Sal has really come into his own. I feel like this last month has seen him grow by leaps and bounds. Here's a list of some highlights of being 22 months old:

- Sal weighs in somewhere around 26-27 lbs

- uses his toilet 80% of the time without accidents

- sleeps for 2- 2.5 hours each afternoon, and from 7:00p-6:30a each night

- goes to town on Greek salad

- will dip anything and everything if given the chance. He is learning my motto of "ranch makes everything better"

- has mastered his wooden puzzles and loves the "tozzle" iPad puzzle app

- loves taking "selfies" with my iPhone and iPad if left unattended

- hangs his coat and puts his shoes away when we come in from outdoors

- said his first string of words " no big deal" on his 22nd month birthday. This came after spilling a cup of milk on our floor and hearing me tell him, "no big deal." 

- loves loves loves dogs and "titties" (kitties). I bought him a stuffed yellow lab toy at IKEA one day just because he saw it and called it Tess (which is my dad's golden lab's name). Melt my heart. Mama is a sucker for every new word.

- identifies pictures like sunshine, eraser, yo-yo, etc on a set of flash cards we were given

- insists on "Duce" (juice) morning, noon and night. I had to instill a "no juice if it's dark outside" rule, and water it down even more than before, but he is still a drinker!

- has a thing for "Mickey" and will choose to wear his Mickey shirt 9 times out of 10 if it is clean.

- prefers to play along side kids (parallel play) vs with kids. Also digs the attention of older kids.

- has the greatest laugh/cackle. My friends say he has a future as a "laugh track" recording artist. 

- can roughhouse for hours on end with his dad. One Saturday, he accosted NZ from the moment he got up, to the moment we put him to bed. 

- reads books with us and points things out. He stunned us when we were reading "brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?" And he exclaimed "teacher!" when the picture of the "teacher" came up. We had no idea he knew what a "teacher" was. 

Every day it is something new. I am so thankful to be able to be his mom.

Pompom garland

I brought back more Pom poms from the USA than any single human should. This morning Sal and I opened the autumn colored pompoms and made a garland together. 

I wasn't sure how it would work out--trying to be crafty while he was awake--but surprisingly enough, he was really excited to find the colors as I called them out. He'd pick a pompom, hand it to me and then I would thread it. 

So, it doubled as a learning/color recognition activity. That's a win in my book! 

Looking forward to making a Christmas one and valentines one. Maybe by valentines day we can work on some pattern recognition. 

Happy November!

Mama needs a favor

Dear Denise,

I know it's been a while I've posted a blog letter to you, but I hope you know not a day goes by that I don't still think about you, your birth, and what you might be like today. Your little brother is quite a handful--and sometimes I find myself thinking about what life here in Wuxi would be like with you here to play with him. 

As much as I wish you were here with us today, I understand it's all a dream. I tell myself you are in Heaven with all the other babies (ahem, sorry--big kids) whose parents are down here missing them, along with our other loved ones who have passed.  I picture you being a little spitfire, yet still polite, caring and welcoming to all those that arrive. I'm sure you're loving having both grandpa's spoiling you, and I'm pretty sure you and Esmay have them wrapped around your little fingers.  

Mama has a request for you-- please keep an eye on little W. He was born too soon, just like you, and he went up to Heaven last week. His mama is one of my besties, and my heart aches for her and W's daddy. Do you think you could show him around, make him comfortable, and give me some peace of mind knowing my baby is looking out for her baby?  

As always, I love you and miss you and wish you were here.

Love,

Mama

Donglin academy, Wuxi

This past Friday, Sal and I joined the Wuxi international club for a guided tour of a historical "famous" academy located in Wuxi. Donglin Academy, built in AD1111, was the place for Yang Shi, a well-known scholar at that time, to give lectures. 

                                          [entering the academy]

                [Pan pool- built for peaceful reflection]

                 [ enamored with the circular doorways]

                 

                 [ sitting in wancui house, a lecture room]

                                [star student]

                  [ playing outside on a beautiful day]

All in all it was a beautiful tour, although, I have to admit, the educational message of the tour was lost on me, as it is impossible to listen to the guide while chasing a toddler away from ancient artifacts and open waterways. 

I've always shied away from doing these types of tours, but I really enjoyed getting to see a little bit of Wuxi's history, and think that we will sign up for more in the future. I'd hate for my time here to be spent holed up in our apartment, or only seeing shopping malls, grocery stores and indoor playgrounds. Sal is so little he won't remember any of this life in China, so it's my duty to get out and take pictures for him to look back on as he grows up. 

Plus, an afternoon with friends?

Can't beat that.

Interested in learning more about the history of the academy? 

Check out this link: http://www.wxdlsy.com/eabout.htm

29 weeks

How far along? 29 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 25 lbs (the weight gain finally evened out a bit)

Maternity clothes? Thank goodness for H&M mama leggings and oversized sweaters and shirts. I live in them. 

Stretch marks? Still clear, but my skin is itchy and tight. 

Sleep: I find that I'm sleeping through the night better this pregnancy. I attribute this to only being able to take an hour nap instead of sleeping all day like I did while pregnant with Sal. Plus, hell-ohhh, toddler in the house! Of course he wears me out (in a good way, of course). 

Best moment this week: feeling her start to roll around and change positions. NZ booking my sister's flights so she can be here for two weeks to spoil Sal while I deliver the girl and adjust as a mom of two. I'm not sure how much work NZ will be able to take off following the birth, so just knowing my sister will be here to help out is a weight off my shoulders. 

Miss Anything? Seeing my feet.

Movement: she doesn't move as much as Sal did, but she lets me know she's there.

Food cravings: Ice chips & Citrus.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.

Gender: Girl.

Labor Signs: Braxton-Hicks.

Symptoms: Peeing non-stop, aching hips and back. Thought I had a UTI, but it ended up just being the girl putting non-stop pressure on my bladder.

Belly Button in or out? In. 

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody?: I am thrilled to have hit 29 weeks!!! There were times early on in the pregnancy that I just KNEW something would go wrong and end this pregnancy...but here we are, still going strong. I do worry that she isn't growing enough, although I have no facts to base this on, except for my anxiety. Now that we are starting to purchase things and I have a baby shower in a few weeks, I am having some heightened anxiety that I am going to jinx ourselves and be stuck with a house full of baby gear and no baby. That is one of the most graphic images in my head of coming home without Denise, and I never want to go through that again. I'm a bit more emotional, especially since  I worry about cheating Sal out of all the attention he deserves when the girl arrives. 

Looking forward to: My next OB visit. We are going every two weeks now.

For like ever (her nursery)

Living in a furnished rental makes decorating a nursery a challenge. Since the furniture is not ours to get rid of, we must do some re-arranging to make room for our little-sister-to-be. Our apartment is a three bedroom, so we have space for her in what has been our "office". This means moving the office desk into our pantry (which I think will work well as extra counter space near the kitchen), the bookshelf to our entry way, and the entry way armoire into the baby's room to use as a makeshift closet. The only bedroom in our house with a closet is the master, and it's tiny itself. I've had to be creative with my storage solutions. There is a futon in the office already, and it will stay and serve as a place to nurse and read stories in her room. It's quite Chinese, so I'm hoping to make some throw pillows to disguise it's chrome accents.

I'm stressing about moving furniture and making sure my "plan" works, but I've refused to do any nursery work until I hit 30 weeks-but now that it's just around the corner-I'm starting to get excited about decorating for my girl!

I love browsing for fabric online, and as soon as I knew it was a girl, I ordered three fabrics for crib sheets that my sister sewed up for me. 

          ( fabric)

We have an IKEA in town, and that's where we bought Sal's crib, so we will do the same for the girl. I'm also going to buy an IKEA expedit bookcase as it will be just the right height for a changing table. I like the idea of having the compartments below for diaper storage, etc. 

As for the walls?

I've been smitten with the "for like ever" print since the first time I saw it, so naturally, it's the main attraction in the new room. I also found some inspiration in Cyndi Lauper's song, "girls just wanna have fun", and plan on making a canvas with lyrics from that song for the wall as well.

        For like ever, IKEA cot, IKEA expedit, clock, print

I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished product when we've got it all together. I'm sure some things will change along the way, but I am excited to see how it all comes together. 

The reason we're here

We visited NZ at work for the very first time in his China office. I can't believe it took me over a year to get the driver to take us out to meet NZ at the end of the workday but it was pretty cool to see what he has accomplished in the last year. 

Here Sal and NZ are in the main reception area.

I'm so proud of him ( and so is Sal!)