Every couple of years (or maybe once a year, it depends on what else I have going on) I read the Harry Potter series. The last time I read them from beginning to end was the week I got pregnant with Jack. I'm taking my time this read around so that I can stretch them out to last longer than a week. Once I finish them, I'll focus on Lemony Snicket, Hunger Games, probably Twilight. Not the Sookie books, though, because I will want to read them closer to when the next book comes out in May.
I am also going to focus on spending more one on one time with Jack. We've pretty much been doing this nonstop for the last 2 years, but I want to get as much time in with just the two of us as possible. He does get disappointed when he grabs my hand and tries to pull me off the couch. "Go, go, Ma! Go!" and I have to explain that mommy is kind of sick and cannot go go. I think, after the last couple of days, that he's starting to catch on. He's being a tad bit more independent. While he's not incredibly verbal, his imagination is definitely starting to develop. He plays with his trains in elaborate chases, he parents his stuffed animals. He is always tucking Mickey Mouse in on top of the toy box.
He has also been bringing me more and more books to read. This is what the nurses and doctors suggest I do during the day instead of active playtime with Jack. I'm not sure they've met my son. This kid went on a 5 month reading strike. NO books. NO bedtime stories. We were not allowed to read to him. I was barely allowed to read my own books. Try getting a kid to sit still on the couch to read a book when all he does is scream bloody murder when you even attempt to open a book. I'm not sure why he started acting that way. We read to him almost every night from the time he was about a month old. Todd got through the first 5 Harry Potter books before Jack went on the first reading strike. That wasn't so much of a reading strike as it was Jack just wanting some boob and then to be put to bed to fall asleep on his own; he didn't have time for distractions. That was at about a year old. We couldn't get full chapters in. At that point we switched to short kids books. Todd would still read while I nursed and rocked Jack. It worked. Around February of this year though, he just wanted to be placed in his crib and he talked himself to sleep. Now that we've reached the procrastination stage, he tries to bring us books to read. I've (disgusted to admit this) actually said the words "no, Jack, no books tonight. It's bedtime." While Todd doesn't really like to read, we both think it's important that Jack enjoy books and reading. We are glad to see an interest returning.
I like series books. I think my next series is the Divergent series (I think that's what it's called. Insurgent? Supposed to be set in a dystopia like Hunger Games.) Also, Chrome is telling me that dystopia isn't a word. I like being smarter than my internet browser.
We're watching a LOT of TV. We watched plenty before, but now it's on CONSTANTLY. Combined with Jack's love and genius regarding navigating the Netflix and YouTube apps on my phone and he's been watching a surprising amount of what I would consider "educational" videos. There's this color video on Netflix that he absolutely adores. He's learned to say "brown" and "orange" this past week, so I'm encouraging that particular show. He is excellent at identifying his colors. He can say red, blue, green, yellow, brown, and orange. I am trying to figure out if he knows more colors, because they're coming faster than any other words. He will especially tell you the colors of candy. Yummy, delicious candy. He knows that when I go to the OB office he gets a lollipop. He points out the color he wants and then he can have it. Right now we're pretty much at the point where we will give him anything he wants if he asks for it directly. Identifying by colors works. The only thing he doesn't get on demand is Cars fruit snacks. He is limited to two packs of snacks a day and only after he eats the majority of lunch. He is gaining more weight now that we've cut out the snacks.
Last week, as we were walking in from the car, he looked up at the sky and said "I see cowds!" His language is certainly improving. It's a little garbled, but we're getting to the point of being able to understand about 25% of what he's saying (for reference, at 26 months, non-caretakers should understand closer to 50+% of what he's saying). I've been working on getting him to sign or say help, please, but he's not having it. His "help me" whine is obnoxious. Am I supposed to admit that? Can I expand with he's really not terribly whiny in general, and this is really the only behavior issue we've been working on lately? He does normal toddler stuff, like throwing toys that shouldn't be thrown. We worked on that over a couple of weeks and he's much better now. It's just this one whine. Every time he starts, Todd or I emphasize on him saying "help, please" and sign help to him. I suppose I would say this whine is his worst character flaw, and for that I'm thankful.
Nina is still extremely active. I'm excited to start the once a month ultrasounds. I can't wait to see her again. I desperately want to meet this little girl who keeps me up at night and NEVER EVER stops moving. EVER. Kick counts aren't even necessary because she just never stops. I notice when she doesn't move for 30 minutes. I keep reminding myself that we have to keep her in for X amount of weeks (5 weeks at the time of this post) and then she is free to come. I'm hoping to make it to my c-section but I'm not 100% confident that's going to happen.
This whole post went somewhere beyond goals. I just can't help bragging about my kid. I'm sorry about that. I keep saying this whole bed rest thing would really suck if Jack had a different temperament. As I'm writing, Jack decided he was done with his breakfast plate. He put it on the coffee table and I said "sink, please" so he picks it up and says "uh oh! okay!" and put it in the sink. He's excellent at following directions.
I'm sorry. I just can't stop. It's mommy blogger word vomit. I will be done now. Look for an all new exciting update tomorrow complete with NST report and belly picture. I will probably update tomorrow's post on Tuesday, so make sure to come back and check for some ultrasound pictures!
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