- I got Matthew a kid-sized broom and dustpan, because this boy is crazy about sweeping, and it’s always nice when he sweeps and doesn’t poke his mother in the eye because his aim is that of a drunk on a highway at 3am. “Matthew, can you help Mama sweep the dog hair?” Of course he could - he chased our elderly Ava girl all over the apartment with a maniacal laugh and finally Ava succumbed and laid down on her back and he swept her head and belly.

- “Matthew can you give the baby a kiss?” He reaches up to me, lifts my shirt, pulls down my pants and carefully kisses my belly, and then pats it before covering me back up again.

- We went to a bookstore today and sat in the kids’ section. He picked up a few books but wasn’t terribly interested, until he saw Goodnight Moon and then demanded to read it. Because reading it EVERY SINGLE NIGHT for his entire life wasn’t enough. I’d put it back, he’d want it again, so I acquiesced. “Good night light and the red balloon; Good night bears, good night chairs…” All those books and still Goodnight Damned Moon.

- Scene: Matthew wants milk. This is how he tells me he wants it. If I am at my desk, he will physically roll me back, turn me around and then pat my hand gently saying, “Wah! Wah!” very patiently. “Use your words, Matthew!” Pat, pat. “Wah! Wah!” Then he’ll take my hand and attempt to pull me to my feet and walk me to the kitchen where he will point up to the cupboard where we keep his sippy cups. I get one. Then he opens the refrigerator (side note, we need childproof doohickeys on the fridge) and yanks out the gallon of 1% milk and hands it to me. Ah, so you wanted milk. Got it!

- “Matthew it’s time to take a bath!” Matthew runs into the bathroom, gently lays himself down on the throw rug and lifts his legs into the air so I can get him undressed and his diaper off.

- Matthew loves walking down the street lately. Apparently when Josh picks him up from daycare, it can sometimes take nearly an hour to get home if Matthew walks most of the way (about a mile!). It’s not necessarily that he is slow, but he is pokey. He likes to hug the lamppost, inspect gravel, grass, and other things on the ground, burst into tears when the buses go by and they don’t get on them.

- He still loves kissing, hugging and blowing kisses. It is too cute for words. Sometimes it is too sloppy and gross for words too. That’s my boy.

Good:
- Baby Girl Cajo has all requisite chromosomes and not a single one more. Yay! Now I wait to worry about other things.

- Heirloom tomatoes. I made caprese salad today with two gorgeous and tasty heirloom tomatoes, a nice hunk of mozzarella and fresh basil. Yummy.

- Minute Maid’s Light Lemonade.

- receiving a Goodmama grape soda diaper in the mail (thanks Kandi! Yours will be out tomorrow or the day after, because I forgot this weekend and suck).

Bad:
- age 2 - and related, the word “MINE”, the action “feet stomping” (which is kind of funny but it is also annoying as sin), and the explosive frustration. (counterpart to that, after time out Matthew runs and gives the best full body hugs ever)

- weekend already over, heading into twelve days straight of work without break (yay?)

- baby girl clothes. Look:

Dear Mama:

Wasn’t it fun when I let you sleep in this morning, until 8am? I thought so - I had fun amusing myself! I figured I’d change my own diaper in the crib - so I got naked, pulled off the cover, unsnapped all of the snaps after I pooped, and helpfully wiped it on the sheets and pillow. ROCK ON! That was super fun!

Buzzkill: when Baba heard me calling out for you guys when I got bored and hauled my naked butt out. Dang. Then you tossed me into the tub and scrubbed me head to toe. I like baths, but not when you actually wash me. Sheesh.

Love,
Matthew
TODDLERS REPRESENT

Update! Got a call earlier; the initial FISH results are back in and Baby Girl Cajo only has 2 copies of the 21st chromosome! YAY! The test is not conclusive and the full results will be back in a little under 10 days, but the geneticist says that this is a huge positive sign in the right direction and I believe it! YAY!! Cheer with me!

I’ve spent the last two days weepy and crying because I was worried and now I want to do the same because I’m relieved, at least, that the chromosomes are okay. Of course the little twerp will make me worry about other things, but that’s her job!

OK, all pregnancy entry up and coming! Beware!

I am now 19 weeks along. This pregnancy is going by so fast - it is amazing, in retrospect, how much time I had to navel gaze when I was pregnant with Matthew. Now, things are blazing by at an amazing speed, which is just as well! We are all quite excited about Baby Girl Cajo’s arrival…

That’s right! The baby is a girl! Here is a picture of her foot, where she has been heartily practicing the best ways to kick her mama’s butt (she’s doing a great job of it in utero, I will have you know):

Everything looks great and she’s on track gestationally, so that’s always a plus.

Diabetes - while pregnant, is a pain in the tuchas. My insulin needs are increasing as per expected as the placenta grows, I feel like a human pin cushion (Josh affectionately calls me a heroin addict), and it’s always a game - “Good morning! Let’s see how much two slices of whole wheat bread, peanut butter and sugar free jam will spike you now!” Otherwise, we’re okay in this area now. I gave Matthew an old insulin pen to play with after I was done with it and he saw me injecting one morning and uncapped his pen, lifted his shirt, and pressed his against his belly. Too cute. Let’s hope he never has to do that for real.

Other symptoms. Still exhausted. Still nauseated (this is actually lessening as of this past week, fingers crossed). Anxious for this phase to ebb!

My word, how big are you? I have a belly. I have had a belly since about 12 weeks but now it’s not as squishy anymore. And amusingly enough, I am actually down about 4 pounds from the time I got pregnant.

Way to help me lose my shit: tell me that the integrated screening came back “screen positive” for Trisomy 21 (Downs Syndrome). These last two days have been slightly excruciating. I had an amniocentesis today to get some more information about the baby’s chromosomal structure, but wow, talk about stress - that combined with pregnancy hormones had me bursting into tears every twenty minutes. Lame. Anyway, one fun thing did come out of this entire deal - Baby Girl Cajo (no, we are not sharing her name until she makes a final appearance) today at the ultrasound right before the amnio yawned and the tech caught it on film.

So, right now we wait - we elected to get the FISH results (a faster way to get initial data - within 2-3 days) and the final complete results will come in 10-12 days. I am feeling better, statistically, about everything happening, but I think we will still be anxious until we find out definitively one way or the other.

Matthew has been cracking us up lately. His latest favorite thing to say is “baby” while he looks for pictures of babies on the computer or in one of his books. When we ask him, “Do you want to kiss the baby?” he’ll lift my shirt and kiss my belly.

Lest you think he is ready and understands that his little world is going to tip upside down in four months (!!!!!), he is still hugging and cuddling his Gloworm and then hurling it on the floor and walking away. Troublemaker.

Cute, though:

He’s now over 3 feet tall, weighs over 37 lbs, and is wearing size 3T and 4T. Huge. And because of the amnio, I’ve been instructed for the next couple of days not to lift anything heavier than 10 lbs. Ha!