Pregnancy quiz: 22 weeks

How far along: 22 weeks

Size of Baby: I mentioned last week that Baby Girl was measuring a bit small (19 weeks, 5 days instead of where she should have been at 20 weeks 6 days). They want me to come in for another ultrasound in four weeks to make sure she is growing well. Seeing baby girl in three more weeks seems like ok news, but it totally freaked me out that they were worried enough to schedule another ultrasound. Let's hope all is well. The news (along with my cervical length is a touch short) really upset me. :(

Sleep: Mine ok. James's naps are only an hour this week. Uggg....

Movement: I feel little kicks on a daily basis. Not strong enough to bother me yet, just make me smile.

Pregnancy Symptoms: My sciatic nerve can go to hell and burn.

Food Cravings: Nothing unusual.

What I miss: Feeling like I can pick up James without my sciatic nerve yelling at me. Not being winded all the time.

What I am looking forward to: E's next big Japan trip (9 days: two weekends plus the entire work week between) to be behind us.

Weekly Wisdom: James is super smart. We've had a few timeouts and it seems to be working. He is sweeter and smarter every day, and if we go outside near the road, he lifts his hand for me to hold it. Yea for that!

Best moment this week: Going up the mountains on Saturday was pretty awesome.

Milestones: Nothing big this week.

Onto photos: I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that there was some road work happening near my house. Well James is mesmerized. He LOVES big trucks. First thing out of his mouth in the morning? Bulldozer. First thing he wants to see after a nap? Bulldozer. This means we've been spending a lot of time down the road watching the digging and dumping and scooping and banging.

I've watched more construction vehicles in the last two weeks than I have in the 30 years perviously. I love having a little boy. I really do. :)
On Saturday all the diggers were off, so James got to "drive" one.
This thing really is huge.

Black and White Wednesday {eating lunch}

No words needed. Just my big boy eating lunch.

For the love of the mountains

I mentioned in the last post that James is now telling us what's on his mind. This includes his favorite thing in the world: gagas (waterfalls, or fallfall). The other day he told me in a very clear way that he wanted to go up the mountains and see a waterfall.

I of course agreed.

On Saturday E and I fulfilled our promise and brought him to the Lake Blanche trailhead. The first part of the trail is paved and follows the river up the canyon. There is also a beautiful little waterfall that spills from the Lake Blanche canyon and meets Big Cottonwood creek.

The colors are just starting to turn down near the river, but high on the mountains the reds and oranges are ablaze. It is breathtaking.

James is quite a good hiker and not a huge fan of the stroller. He leads the way on most of our outings, it is rare sight for him to be in the stroller anymore.
The colors. Oh my the colors.
The main attraction was of course the river. My kiddo loves rivers.
E spotted a big fuzzy caterpillar on a rock. He was fast and so interesting.
James was in love. We had to remind him quite a few times not to touch (aka squish).
The waterfall. Brilliant.
My two boys watching the waterfall. I love this shot because it was not posed. I don't think either of them even knew I had my camera out. Love how E looks at his little boy.
Black wildflowers were something I hadn't noticed in Utah before. Bizarre and beautiful.
Mama and son. You can see my baby belly quite easily here.

Back down the trail. I thought it would be such a nice photo if James was holding my hand. You see I'm reaching and James charges forward. Such is life.
Last year I took James up the same trail. It was also the end of September. I love seeing how things have changed in a year.

James is 22 months

James is 22 months and he is amazing.
Yes, we've had a difficult month with pushing limits, some hitting, some biting (um? ouch!) and lots and lots of me telling him no.

But also, he is amazing.

He is understanding, repeating, talking, telling us what's on his mind and making me grow more and more in love with him by the moment. He is funny! And he knows it. He does silly thing all the time, wants to impress me with how "huge" he is, and is always doing or saying something new.

It is awesome to know what is going on in his head. We take a drive and he tells me what he's thinking about. The other day on the way to a playdate he motioned to the mountains. I asked him, looking in my review mirror, if he'd like to go up the mountains soon. He enthusiastically nodded and said "gaga!". "You want to go up the mountains to see a waterfall?" I asked. He grinned from ear to ear. So that is just what we did today. Took a drive up the mountains to visit such a beautiful little waterfall it takes your breath away.

Here are some silly things I don't want to forget:

• He's decided he loves Yo Gabba Gabba. Have you heard of that tv show? It is horrible but something about it is like toddler crack. He loves it, and knows all the characters by name. He'll point them out (correctly) during the show and it blows my mind that he can remember such trivial items.
• He'll beat box (you know, use your mouth to sound like drums and such). Again, this was from Yo Gabba Gabba and he does it all the time. I say "hey, are you beatboxing?" and he gives me a shy grin.
• He loves to smell flowers. When we take walks he'll stop to smell the roses, literally. He stops at almost every flower to take a huge sniff (most the time he only sniffs out, and never actually inhales the fragrance). Lately he's been wanting to smell the silk flowers on my mantle. He'll point at them and sniff. When I let him smell, he gives an enthusiastic sniff out, and continue on his day. Cracks me up every time.
• He shows off his big boy chair (his booster seat). He'll walk over to it multiple times a day and point it out to me. I ask "is that your big boy chair?" and he gets the proudest little smile.
• I am his favorite. Especially right now. He is going through a major Mama phase. Although frustrating at times, because he doesn't want me out of his sight, I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts. He asks for me first thing in the morning. I know he's ready to get up when I hear "Mama! Mama!" through the monitor.
• He LOVES big trucks. Bulldozers and diggers are seriously his favorite things in the world. When he sees one working he claps and laughs. Melts me.
• Will run towards the tomatoes in the back garden any time we are outside. I allow this. With all the no's he hears every day, I figure him eating as many tomatoes as his tummy can hold is not the biggest deal. He knows how to pick the red tomatoes, pull off the stems, and pop them in his mouth. Sometimes he'll point to a green tomato and say "green!". So cute.
• Two weeks ago I took a hot bath and came out with super fuzzy hair. I said "oh my, look at my hair, it's fuzzy!". He quickly repeated "fuzzy". I told him not to tell anyone though, my fuzzy hair was a secret. He said "shhh...". Later in the day (a good four hours later) he said "ssshhhhh.... fuzzy!" It was hilarious. Now if you ask him what's his secret he'll tell you "fuzzy" quite happily.
• He still loves trees. A lot. I love this about him.
• Has really started to snuggle. Some days when he's crying or feeling scared, all the wants to do is sit on my lap, curled into a little ball and have his back scratched. He'll hug me tight, and I just know he adores me.

Amazing, right? I can deal with a hit or bite every once in awhile (even deal with the dreaded running into the street) when he is totally awesome and funny too. I love this little person so so much.

Wolfy photos were a little silly this month. He was in a super silly wiggle mood (aka lots of blurry photos) and he didn't want to put Wolfy down. He kept picking him up and hiding his face behind him. So there isn't one of him sitting next to Wolfy like he once did, but that's ok, I love this stage even more.

And from month 1 until now:

Pregnancy quiz: 21 weeks

How far along: 21 weeks. I even had my 20 week appointment on Tuesday (the big appt. with the big ultrasound!) and everything looks awesome. However Baby Girl is measuring a week small. Late due date? Let's hope not...

Size of Baby: They were able to measure her in ultrasound (how awesome is that!), they said she weighed 12 oz., as much as a can of coke! Not sure her length.

Weight: I was weighed at the docs and I'm up 8 lbs. Seems about right, right?

Sleep: This week it's been pretty good. Makes me feel a lot more sane.

Gender: Confirmed, we are having a girl!

Movement: E felt her this week! She was kicking up a storm on Monday night so I grabbed his hand and after a few hard kicks he said he had definitely felt something. So fun.

Pregnancy Symptoms: Earlier this week I did a lot of crying (remember last Wednesday?!). Now I'm feeling pretty good other than my darn sciatic nerve.

Food Cravings: Nothing notable this week.

Belly Button in or out: In.

What I miss: Being able to run faster than James. He's passed me up.

What I am looking forward to: Nada. I freaking love September, and am enjoying every moment of it.

Weekly Wisdom: I feel much more at ease now that the twenty week appointment is behind us and Baby Girl did beautifully.

Best moment this week: It's all about the weather baby.

Milestones: Dada felt baby's kick.

And as you've noticed, I'm blogging again on a more regular basis. I've already posted my favorite photos of this week (this being my most favorite), so today I only have a couple of cell phone photos, and a video, to share.

Above: James has been such a helper in the garden. He knows how to pick only the ripe tomatoes, and the other day, instead of eating them as quickly as he could pick them, he helped me fill his little green bucket to the brim. Then he picked it up and carried it to the house. So extremely cute I had to get a photo, and although the photo is blurry and full of sun flare, I absolutely adore it.

After nap time yesterday James was in a very silly goofy mood. He was practicing couch gymnastics and when I ran to get my phone so I could send a photo text to E, instead of him stopping what he was doing, he just ramped it up a bit. I love his grin.
Training for the summer Olympics in this freestyle couch routine.
And taken this morning, again, to send to E while he works the day away. Love my little boy so much.
And I posted on Facebook earlier this week that James's three favorite words of the week are bulldozer, salsa and waterlily. Waterlily comes out all mixed up, but I adore it anyway. Here's a video we took just this morning. :)

Black and White Wednesday {booster seat}

James is growing by leaps and bounds. He is asking for things using words. He is wanting to be involved. He is adding to my conversations when I had no idea he was listening.

He's also been asking to eat at the table instead of in his high chair (which was next to the table). I realized that he was ready for a booster seat.

Ever since he started eating he's eaten directly off his high chair tray, so in addition to the new booster seat, he now has a plate. He wants to lift the plate and play with it, but we are working on teaching him that the plate isn't a toy.

How's the tradition going? Pretty swell, actually. He loves his big boy seat.