NICE!!!

Since we have a mini tape recorder named Ramey, who repeats everything, I try to control my potty mouth... GD/D it are popular ones for me. I've managed to replace it most times with "NICE"

I would have to say I've been successful in keeping Ramey from saying "GD" but when something falls/spills/drops she says "NICE" and in that sarcastic way too. This morning some milk dribbled onto her leg and she promptly said "NICE"

Guess it's better than the alternative!!

Another new favorite word is "stuck" If she falls or somehow gets into a weird position, she'll start saying "stuck, stuck..." or if a ball roles under a chair/couch and she can't reach it, she'll say "stuck"

Everyday she surprises me with new words and how's she is starting to make 2-3 word sentences. She still generalized a lot of things... any fruit/veg that is red and round is an apple... pancakes are waffles... shorts, skirts and pants are pants (or her version of the word)

I'm really bad at calling Ron "dadda" when I need him or his attention... thus Ramey has learned dadda's name "Ronna" Which she likes to yell (wonder where she learned that) and has a certain attitude about it.

I love how she has renamed objects.... a camera is now a "cheese"... a phone is now a "hey yo" (hello in Ramey speak)

She makes me laugh everyday!!

37 Weeks... Full Term!!!

Let the count down begin!! We have 2 dates... July 23rd we are on a wait list, hoping we get a time slot but if not we are all set for July 26th at 830am... either way we are under the 2 week mark.

I know I'm ready to be done being pg but not exactly ready for 2 under 2!!

Little Mommy

I know Ramey is going to make a great big sister!! She has been taking excellent care of her baby doll.

For the past week or so Ramey has become attached to her baby. She found some of her old shes which she insisted on where, but because they are too small we had to put them on the baby, now it's baby socks... The other day I caught her trying to feed baby, she was sharing her snack with her.

Have video of her putting the babies to sleep (still need to download it). She laid them down covered them with blankets and started to pat their backs (just like they did at school)

Since we've started getting some of the baby gear out, Ramey either sits in it herself or puts her baby in it... Hopefully she'll share everything with the little guy when he arrives.

Potty Training... the beginning

We haven't completely/officially begun the process, but someone is starting to show some sings of readiness...

I know I'm not ready (mainly because I can't bend over to clean up the messes LOL!) If I could bend over, now would be a great time to potty train, being that I have to pee every 20 mins!! Plus would be nice to have only one in diapers

A while back I got Ramey her own potty chair... she wouldn't even sit on it!!! Over time we worked on that, first with clothes still on then just diaper... I only let her play with stickers while on the potty, so that was/is a big motivator for her, by the end of the day the dog and I have our fair share of stickers on us

We are at a point where she asks for the potty and takes her pants off (just started taking the diaper off too! I'm in trouble now!) She has the process down: pants off, diaper off, sit, ask for toilet paper, wipe and wash hands... Now we just need to catch the pee! We have been going thru a lot of diapers because once she takes it off, she says "yucky" and throws it in the trash... So basically if she asks, we go sit... when I go, she tends to follow and wants to sit too... We've only hit the mark once (pure luck) I'm just following her lead for now.

She won't put her Elmo underwear on yet, but we're working on it. She does only want to wear the pampers with Elmo on them. (Luckily she hasn't caught on to my switcher-oo.) Once I can get her to wear the underwear, I would like to go diaper free (except nap & night) but that depends on how I'm doing. I have a feeling I may have a newborn and be potty training a toddler at the same time (Or may be Nana and Aunt Donna will be here to help!!)




Cute story:
A few weeks ago we were in the bathroom, she stood up and peed, looked at me and goes "juice!"

33 weeks

At my last apt the OB said she wasn't able to get an accurate measurement on the little guy since he was sideways and having a history of big babies, she wanted me to get a growth u/s.

I stressed and worried a bit, thinking he was too small... boy was I wrong, he came in at 5-12!!! He is growing just fine and getting bigger each week (and I have 7 more to go!!) No pictures as he had turn head down and she couldn't get any good profile shots.

Overall great appt, did talk about setting a c/s date of July 23!! (another possible member of the 23 club) They currently don't have any open slots, so crossing our fingers someone goes early or they open a super early slot. Will have to ask what the alternative plan is...

Road Trip!!!

One thing about having a baby at the end of July it makes taking a summer vacation a bit tricky... We decided that if we were to make it to the lake Ozarks, we would have to do it in May or early June or wait till early fall (and I wasn't keen on traveling with a 2 year old and new born) so we went with the May time frame... Plus we would be in St. Louis celebrating Great Grandma Betty's 90th birthday so we were already halfway there!!

We left Chicago on Saturday and spend the day in Bloomington and got to spend some time with the family and my mom for mother's day, sadly we needed to be on the road before the BBQ at Cindi's started. The drive to St. Louis wasn't too bad and Ramey was taking a good nap, that was until I needed a bathroom break... from that point on she wasn't to thrilled about being stuck in her carseat. Once in St. Louis, we picked up Grandma Betty and continued on our way (after letting Ramey run about for awhile) Grandma did a great job entertaining Ramey the whole way to the lake.

It was so nice to get away and relax, just wish the weather would have cooperated a bit... We had a number of rainy cool days. Donna and Bruce came out on Tuesday and took Grandma back with them on Wednesday. The rest of the week Ron and I tag teamed "walking" with Ramey. She would have spend every minute of every hour outside if we would have let her... Good thing the porch is covered and easy to close off.

Saturday was Grandma's 90th Birtday party back in St. Louis. She had a great turn out of friends and family.

Hope to add pictures one of these days...

Four pillows and a throw

When I was pg with Ramey I had to sleep with so many pillows that I took over the whole bed and Ron was banished to the guest bedroom...

Thankfully we got a new bed, moments before we found out about pg #2. This time we went with a king (tempurpedic... LOVE IT) So far I've slept great but things are definitely starting to change... I counted the other night and I had 4 standard pillow and a throw/decorative pillow (2 for my head, one on each side and a throw between my knees) Good thing the new bed has limited movement to it as I'm constantly switching from one side to the other. Better enjoy my sleep now as I'm sure pretty soon I'll be up all night peeing!

One year eight months and five days

That's how long it took to get our first "MINE"

The ceiling fan in our room has a remote... Ramey likes to gather various items and place them in Ron's side table. Well she got a hold of the remote and kept turning the light on while we were still trying to rest. Ron went to take it away and she very loud and clearly said "MINE"

Terrible two's here we come!!

When we went to leave for breakfast this morning, Ramey told me "No... down" (as in no, you stay here and sit down, I'm going outside with Dadda) She's getting a bit bossy too!! She tells us "NO NO NO NO" quite often with a little head shake

Her vocabulary has really started to grow over the past few weeks, so much so that it's hard to keep up with her new words. She does still use the same word for a number of objects: cracker applies to any cracker shaped object, including cookies and waffle is either a pancake or waffle. She repeats everything and understands so much more... we have entered the world of spelling words (outside and juice are at the top of the list)

Monkey see... monkey do

Ramey has started copying anything she sees and a lot of what she hears.

While walking the other day I took my foot to move a stick out of the way... a few steps later my monkey started moving sticks with her feet too...

While at Millennium Park, she saw some big girls leaning against the bean... look over at Ramey and she is putting her arms up on the bean and leaning in...

We have to start watching what we say as she is repeating EVERYTHING!!! and is understanding a lot... I know longer say a variety of words, they are only spelled. My replacement "bad" word has been NICE, needless to say I've been hearing a lot of "nice" from Ramey

Happy Birthday Dadda!!!

This weekend was Ron's birthday weekend.... Happy Birthday Honey!!!

We had a very full and busy weekend with great weather!
(warning... picture heavy)

Ramey and I let Ron sleep in a bit and walked to the store to pick up a few things, including coffee. He was up when we got back, so we then walked to our usually breakfast joint and sat outside, enjoying the beautiful morning.

After breakfast we made a quick stop at home, took care of some business at Ohio and then it was off to enjoy the day.

Ramey had a day full of first...

We started out with her first CTA train ride... Dadda felt it was important to protect her delicate ears... She wasn't too crazy about the idea to start but soon appreciated his concern

Here comes our train

she was into watching all the people, just like her Dadda... I wasn't too surprised when I caught her sitting on her hands so she wouldn't touch anything.

Next up was a visit to Millennium Park Faces...

Ramey wasn't too sure what to think at first

I couldn't get my phone out fast enough for this shot... she was holding her feet up, like there is no way you are going to set me down in that water... luckily a screaming fit did not follow:It took only a second for her to realize how much she loves playing in waterI have a video as to why she ended up dress as she is, have to figure out how to download it from my phone... She had a blast running and jumping
Dadda's turn to run/play too

Off to "the bean"Monkey see, Monkey do:

Ramey has entered a stage of copying actions... notice the girls to the right "holding/leaning" into the bean. Ramey was fascinated by them and started "copying" everything they did

We then spent some time just walking around before Ramey started to enter melt down mode, we then opted to walk somewhere for lunch and the little monkey crashed on the way.
We walked back up to Chicago Ave (about 1 mile north) where Ron and I were able to enjoy a nice lunch while Ramey took a cat nap...

Then it was time for the bus!! We got luck with an empty bus when we boarded, so we headed to the back where Ramey had fun people watching and looking out the windows.

Whenever the bus would stop or go (which happens A LOT) Ramey would say "WEEEEEE!!!" I'd say she really enjoyed the bus ride.

That night Uncle Brendan came over to stay with Ramey while we went out for Indian for Ron's birthday dinner with friends (plus got some gelatto for dessert.) It was great to get out but I may have over done it a bit as I started to get some Braxton Hicks cx that evening and was pretty useless Sunday as would get uncomfortable/crampy whenever I did much of anything (much better today!)

Overall, I think Ron had a great birthday weekend (no red velvet cake this year but did pick up a slice carrot cake for him, chocolate for me ;-P )