5 weeks left!

We’ve been in preparation mode around here! This last weekend we got the baby’s room all together for her. The crib is re-adjusted and clean. All of her clothes and toys are washed and ready for her. Now we just need baby sister. Maisy keeps getting more and more excited about her arrival. We think she’ll be the sweetest older sister there ever was. All that’s left to do is to get all the cloth diaper gear ordered and ready and to pack the hospital bag. Oh and a name- we’ll have to for sure decide on a name. We are working on that and hope to have a for sure name prior to bringing her home from the hospital. I know the suspense was just too much for some last time, if you remember we didn’t decide on Maisy’s name until she’d been home from the hospital for 5 days!

I had my last routine OB appointment today. My weight is good- I’m actually below what I was at this same point with Maisy- although, one might never know by that bootylicious picture above!

The doctor says baby girl is still measuring about a week behind and guesses she’ll be a smaller, although healthy, baby. She thinks she’ll be below what Maisy (7lbs 7oz) was- YAY!! I go back in two weeks (8/10) for an ultrasound and my Group B strep test. Then I go every Monday after that until the baby is born (8/23 and 8/30).

It is amazing how quickly this pregnancy has gone. It really has been a breeze and much smoother than Maisy’s. Just this week I decided that I was ready to go ahead and get this baby going! Prior to that, I was happy to leave her inside for as long as she wanted, but now that we are ready and I’m getting slightly more uncomfortable, worn out and am not sleeping well anyway- I figure we might as well get to meet her!

Maisy continues to do well at her afternoon learning sessions. Her retention on what she has learned is pretty good too! We are up to letter P today. Below are some pictures of past Letter days. I was surprised at how much she enjoys her lessons and looks forward to them. Often when we are done, she still wants to keep going.

Maisy and her Kite on “K” day

Addressing Envelopes for “M” Day for our Mail Carrier Activity

Getting ready for our mail route

Mail Delivered!

A "N"est made with Dada

More later!

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

In the aquarium tunnel

Lots of fun stuff happened in March. Kim (my sister- also pregnant due end of Sept.), Rigo and Elijah came for a long weekend and we had great trips to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and to Children’s Fairy Land in Oakland. We were so happy they could come. We miss them lots!

Maisy meets Snow White

Maisy and Elijah got along really well. Maisy looks up to Elijah very much and now knows who Michael Jackson is and asks about him (MJ) often.

Kissing cousins

Since the weather has been more pleasant we took a trip to Tilden Park to ride the steam trains. Maisy is a big fan!

Steam Trains in Tilden Park

Waiting to take off

We celebrated Uncle Steven’s 30th birthday as well! Maisy was very excited to show off her “Happy Birthday” singing skills and especially enjoyed the happy birthday cake. She wishes every day was Uncle Steven’s Birthday.

Happy Birthday Uncle Steven!!

Maisy and I are doing a lot more fun projects at home. We’ve done maps, play doh, wand making (out of a stick and yarn) and baking. She is learning and learning- She can now confidently count to 3 and can pick out about 5 letters. She got her last two canine teeth as well. So now she has a full set of chompers. She is very into “baby” and loves reading books about babies and older sisters. It’s adorable- if you ask her how old she is, she replies, “Older sister.” Also a cute Maisyism- we have a Buddha on our window sill in our kitchen. She likes to kiss the “baby Buddha”. One day Maisy and Todd were dancing to some music and Todd said, “Yeah, shake your booty!”. Maisy said, “Yeah, shake the Buddha!” So she now refers to dancing as, “Shaking the Buddha.”

Little Geographer

And last but not least update on the baby to be news. We had two appointments in March, the last one being today and they have both gone very well. They had to up my thyroid medicine because my levels were a bit high. The doctor will have to test me every 6 weeks to make sure my levels stay within the normal range. Maisy comes to the appointments with me in her stroller and is a very good girl. She wants to know exactly what everyone is doing and where they are going, usually saying, “Who is that guy?”. That’s her statement for pretty much anything, (What is that? Who is that? Why?). So, we are working on that. Maisy holds the doppler for the doctor while we listen to the baby’s nice strong heartbeat. She is a very proud big sister helper! We go on April 15 for our big ultrasound, where we will find out the sex of the baby. So more then!

Here is a picture taken today at 18 weeks. I’m finally starting to look a little big pregnant and a little bit less like I ate February.

Self Portrait (the best I could do) at 18 weeks pregnant

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Side view of new baby at 12 days 6 weeks

We had our nuchal translucency (NT) ultrasound on Friday, Feb. 25. The appointment was bright and early. Todd and Maisy were both able to come. Maisy was a perfect big sister and just hung out with Todd on the couch while we all watched the baby TV. It was a long appointment because the baby was being quite active, so it took a while to get the right measurements. It was fine with us, it meant we got a longer peek at the baby. The tests all came back fine and the baby is doing perfectly well. The baby’s heart rate was 140 beats per minute (BPM). I have another regular appointment on Monday and we find out the gender on April 15th!

Face shot of the new baby- I’m told the baby will get cuter

In other news, we ventured up to the mountains to visit Todd’s parents who had a vacation spot there. We made a long weekend of it. Unfortunately, it took us 8 and a half hours to get there (it should only take 3 and a half). There was a huge storm and we had to put chains on (ok TODD had to put chains on) and I could only drive about 15 MPH up the mountain. Slow going! Boy were we glad to finally get there, especially after a few slippery slidey times trying to get up some steep snowy passes. Todd was happy to get some ski days in with the boys and Maisy was happy to get to visit with her Mimi and Papa J. She got to play in the snow and go swimming at the pool.

Maisy all giggles with Mimi on the swing

Papa J and Maisy swinging

Maisy’s language skills are really blossoming. She understands pretty much everything and can speak in sentences. Her vocabulary is growing each day. She is becoming much more assertive and she will let you know exactly what she wants and how she wants it! We are working on “please”, “thank you” and “no, thank you”. She has suddenly become EXTRA picky about food. (No idea where that would have come from)! She pretty much just wants to eat waffles, fruit, PB&Js, applesauce and yogurt. I suppose she could want worse things. We still encourage her to eat other things, but if you aren’t careful or quick enough- she’ll send the plate sailing to the floor. We are not pleased with this trick at all. We are working on breaking this horrible habit.

Way messy yogurt face

Just today I also noticed two more teeth coming in (the canines). After she gets these two, she’ll have only two more canines to come in and then the big molars.

Maisy has now gone potty on her potty training toilet 3 times. Each time has been right before bath time, but she’s really good at letting us know when she needs a new diaper, so we are hoping it may be possible to get her good and potty trained by the time the baby arrives.

Today we turned Maisy’s car seat from rear facing to front facing. Although technically we could have turned her at a year old. There is mounting evidence that keeping a child rear facing for as long as you can is most safe for a baby. We decided that Maisy would like to see the world- her legs were also getting pretty cramped!

Family driving home from Tahoe with a big girl!

More next time!

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Big sister in training

We are lucky enough to be adding another member to our family. The new little bean should arrive around September 5th.

New Baby’s first photo shoot

Our first ultrasound was Monday and it was very exciting to get to see the baby on the “baby tv”. Everything looked good and the baby is growing on schedule. Maisy and Todd were there for the visit. We kept trying to explain to Maisy that it was a picture of the baby in Mommy’s tummy. She looked at us like we had obviously lost it. She did take an interest in the baby on the tv screen and wanted to kiss and hug it. Then she pointed to my belly and wanted said, “Oten”- which in Maisy language means open. We explained that the baby had to stay inside for a long long time to get bigger then it would be ready to come out.

Maisy giving the baby kisses

We asked her if she liked the baby and if she could point to the baby and she did, then she quickly named it, Nemo. I doubt that name will be on the birth certificate.

Maisy and Todd find Nemo

We have our next ultrasound, the NT scan, on February 25. Other than that, I’m just tired and feel kind of nauseated a good portion of the time- but that should all resolve in a couple of weeks.

More next time!

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

let’s roll, dad!

A fter a short trip to REI and local bike shop, the Missing Link, I returned hands full with a child carrier, bike rack and helmet for little miss. It’s about time.

You can’t hear it in the video, but Maisy was laughing almost the whole time we were riding. She loved it, and I can’t wait to go on a longer ride – next time as a family. :)

A nother milestone!

Maisy did her first wave March 8th to Grandma J- at lunch! We were all pretty impressed. Her wave is a simple very “royal” wave. I’m so happy that Maisy was able to share her first wave with Grandma J. It’s so special especially because they live so far away! We are hoping that this means Maisy will finally start to use baby sign language with us. We have been signing to her since she was only 4 months old. So far- the fancy royal wave is the only “sign” we’ve gotten.

“Howdy-do”

We’ve had a great 9th month. Maisy is cruising all over and getting more and more sure footed. We were lucky enough to have Todd’s parents come stay with us for the second week of March. We did lots of fun things! We all went on a fun trip to the Steam Trains in Tilden park to ride on a train. I think I may have been more excited than Maisy- but we all had a good time!

Choo-chooo!

Just in the last day Maisy has really started babbling and babbling. It’s like she’s actually speaking complex words- it’s just not from any language we have heard of. It is adorable to listen to. She has also become very excited by dogs and bigger walking kids. She SQUEALS in delight on walks at dogs from down the street. So, I take her to meet the doggie and she squeals gleefully the whole time until the dog is out of site. It is just hilarious!

Because she’s taken such an interest in dogs, we thought she’d dig some big farm animals, so we took her to Little Farm again. We started off with a fun picnic in the grass.

“Lunch outside always tastes better”

“uh- not so sure about this huge Moo Cow!”

“Yay- Daddy!”

The day was so warm and nice that we finished it off with a walk to Berkeley Bowl with Abby and Evan and topped that off with a burger and dining out in their backyard.

As for other updates, Maisy’s next doctor’s appointment is Monday for her 9 month well baby check up. After that visit we’ll know her new stats.

She is eating all sorts of table food now. There really isn’t anything she refuses to eat. She eats, deli turkey, plain grilled chicken, broccoli, grapes, potatoes, peas, all cheeses, egg yolk omelettes, bread, cheerios- it’s really cool. She is also sleeping through the night regularly, which means a whole new world to both Todd and I. Maisy has turned into such a happy girl, providing we keep to her schedule of sleeping and eating.

Ballerina Maisy

We can’t wait for all the fun new things she’ll do in her next month!

Love,
Todd, Becky and Maisy

“Hello There!”

We have had a major break through this week. Maisy slept through the night for the very first time. She didn’t do it the next night or the next, but we are working on it! We are doing what is called “sleep training”. We are no longer reinforcing night time waking with picking her up or with milk and the theory is that she will realize there is no need to get mom and dad up in the middle of the night because they can’t do anything for me anyway- and then she will just fall back to sleep and sleep like a little baby. Right?

Nap times have gotten a little bit more difficult now that Maisy can stand. She thinks it’s much more fun to have a standing party than to nap. She has also discovered the blinds that we had custom made for her room. She thinks they are perfect for sharpening her two tiny teeth on!

We had a very lovely first family Valentine’s Day together. Maisy made Todd a card. It was her first art piece.

Baby Painter

Maisy and Todd started the day with a nice book on the couch.

Reading time!

As Todd got laid off at the beginning of January, he is now working a temporary job in the city through the end of February. We hope that a full time position will come along soon! Maisy and I ventured into the city today to meet him for lunch. Meeting for lunch was such a treat. Todd doesn’t always get home before Maisy is in bed for the night, so it was good to give them a bit more time together. It helped that it was a beautiful day in the city and a fun day for a walk.

Later in the day Maisy and I met with Angie and Rowan at Lake Merritt for some play time in the park. It was the first time Maisy had been involved with duck and geese feeding. She thought it was okay, but then that one goose got a little too close and she started to get nervous.

hmm birds eating bread… interesting.

Tell that silly goose to back the duck up!

Maisy is a swing fiend- which is so adorable.

This is Maisy’s happy place

Maisy continues to become more steady when she pulls up on EVERYTHING. She is doing very well eating larger chunks of food and is feeding herself like a champ even though she only has her bottom two teeth. She’s gotten very quick too! It’s difficult to expect her to stay in one place these days. The good thing is that she understands when we tell her not to touch something and she so far respects that. We’ll see how that progresses.

She goes for her 9 month appointment the second week of March, so we’ll have more height and weight updates then.

Much love-
Todd, Becky and Maisy

“I loooove bath time- hey check out my two bottom teeth!”

Maisy has been growing by leaps and bounds before our eyes. It truly is amazing.

Last Tuesday January 27th, Maisy learned to do the big girl crawl instead of a an army scoot.

Finally crawling with belly off the floor!

She’s moved onto bigger people finger foods like, small pieces of cheese, whole wheat bread and very cooked carrots. This week she managed to feed herself her first zweiback toast-mmm.

Okay, but how do I eat this?

1st Zweiback down

We knew she was getting close to being able to pull herself up on things, but yesterday when I went to get her from a nap, she was standing in her crib and holding onto the side. She now tries to pull up on everything- which means, we really can’t take our eyes off of her- as she is really not that skilled at this new trick.

Our standing Maisy

Happy girl

This week Maisy has actually shown interest in a book that you read to her- by responding to the pictures and trying to touch the images. This is much more than the tactic of eating the book she was so fond of just a week ago.

Maisy likes to go to the park and swing. Last week we met a little friend there. We are completely taking advantage of this amazingly warm January!

Maisy having a laughing good time!

Today, she mastered putting cereal in her mouth without our help. This has been such a crazy developmental week for her! She has mastered eating out at restaurants. We have to go early- but she sits in her highchair and eats her dinner, just happy as a clam.

Out for a steak dinner with Mike, Angie and Rowan mmmm tasty!

Today was a beautiful day out. We took a nice walk before heading over to Matt, Abby and Evan’s for the big game.

Todd and Maisy getting their shades on for a sunny stroll

Just too cute not to share!

We are loving all of the new stages Maisy is going though- If this is this much fun, I can’t even imagine what the future has in store for us.

Much love-
Todd, Becky and Maisy

Happy Maisy watching Obama’s inauguration

Maisy and I woke up and headed straight for the television to watch the big event! I was so proud and utterly pleased to share this moment with Maisy. I know she is way too young to understand what a huge moment in history this is, but it made me feel good and gave me such a feeling of hope for the country and for Maisy’s future.

Proud mini American

Much love and happy new President to all-

Todd, Becky and Maisy

Happy Maisy sitting in our livingroom- better known as Maisy play world- Do you think she has enough toys?

M aisy just keeps on growing- faster than we can even fathom. She is already outgrowing her 9 month old clothes even though she’s only 7 1/2 months old.

She had her two bottom front teeth break through on Sunday, so she’s very busy with all the teething. She’s also busy with all the new foods to try, some she likes and some she has to get used to.

Yogurt was a bit of a shocking flavor to her at first. She’s used to it now and even likes it.

Cottage cheese had a rocky beginning, but now she’s cool with it.

Ew…cheese that comes from a little cottage!?

Maisy got her last flu shot a couple of weeks ago and now she’s all up to speed with her shots. She doesn’t love them, but does pretty well with them. (It’s getting easier on me too!)

Maisy post shot

Maisy took it out on the informational pamphlet

Not much else is going on here. We’ve had strange and unseasonably warm weather, so Maisy and I have resumed our walks to the park and strolls to the grocery store. Gotta love winter in California!!

More next time.

Much love to all-

Todd, Becky and Maisy