Giant child

Assuming I am measuring correctly, which is sometimes a big assumption, Jayden is huge.  He's about 44" tall - only 4" short of 4 feet, and not even 3-1/2 years old.  I don't know what's "normal," but I pretty much know Jayden is abnormal.  He is solidly in size 5 clothing.  There are still some size 4s that he can wear, but if he continues at this rate, he'll be out of those in a matter of time.  We went to the mall today to get him some new underwear, since he's also outgrown those.  And I ordered him some elastic waist shorts (since apparently nobody keeps shorts in stores in January, even in Southern California).  I honestly don't know how we're going to keep up with him.

I've worried that he's going to think it's time to give up his nap sometime soon, which I think is a really bad idea, especially with Number Two on the way, but I actually think his crazy growth will help us.  Even if all he's doing is growing, he's going to wear himself out and need that extra rest (I really seriously truly hope).

Yesterday since Julia closed early and my schedule wouldn't allow me time to go get Jayden in the middle of the day, he came to work with me all day.  He came to my bankruptcy clinic in the courthouse in the morning, to the office for a bit, then home for a meeting.  He was a little distracting at the clinic, and it was maybe a little unprofessional, but you do what you have to do, and weall survived which is what matters.  My motto for these two weeks is "survival."  Luckily my co-workers wanted an offsite meeting and luckily my house is close to the office so everyone could come to me.  Jayden of course took a short nap, but he was really good.  After he woke up he sat in my lap for 30 minutes or so and then he got to watch three (yes, that's right, three) shows while the meeting finished up.  Everyone commented on how well-behaved he was and how little he bothered me - especially those will younger kids themselves.  I pretty much just agreed that we are very lucky, because we are.

Today was normal.  We "slept in" until 7:00 am and got started a little slowly.  By the time we got back from our walk with Jasmine we were running out the door and made it to swimming with about two minutes to spare.  Jayden was pretty cooperative, but a three year old just really doesn't get the concept of "hurry" and "walk faster."  Jayden has two speeds: walking verrrrry slowly or running.  And since I can't run at the moment, and really can't even walk very fast, he gets discouraged from running.  But we made it, and that's what matters.

Playing in the pool before his lesson.  Ms. Stacy had him working on frog kicks today.  Partially because of his long legs, each time he kicked he'd propel himself so far.  It was cool.  She also had him working on roll overs, where he rolls from his back to his front again, and uses big arms, like he would in the freestyle/crawl stroke.  His keeps his arms so stiff, they don't really do much - but it's funny to watch him.

At the mall we encountered a carousel (which Jayden called something along the lines of a "carris wheel" - a mix between ferris wheel and carousel).  He reallly wanted to go on it.  But he doesn't like to ride the horses.  I told him I couldn't go with him, because I had all the bags and our drinks and everything, and he said "that's okay.  I know how to jump on and jump off by myself."  I was actually impressed because usually he demands company.  But we went over, paid our $1, got our ticket and he ran straight to the bench.  And he sat there happily the whole time it went in circles, playing "So you wanna build a snowman" from Frozen.  It was really cute.

Playing it "safe" but still taking a risk.  Baby steps, for sure.

He of course did not fall asleep on the way home (which I was sort of planning on), but fell asleep pretty quickly once we got home.

The picture I sent to Carmen (via Instagram) to convince him to come home - sleeping children are so cute!
Sadly this nap ended with potty all over the carpet that I then had to clean up.  I was explaining to Carmen that what hurts the most is having to get back up after bending over or squatting - so, having to kneel and bend over to clean a carpet, to change a 3 year old whose clothes are soaked in potty, etc. really causes me more pain than I care to endure at this moment.  I am definitely better (I can cough/sneeze without yelping in pain), but there is still a long way to go.  

One thing I am completely grateful for is what a good eater Jayden is.  There are times when he is picky or demanding, and if you give him a choice pasta or cheese-ga-burger are usually what you'll hear, but if you put something in front of him, he usually eats it, or eats it if you feed it to him (but not force-feed him).  Tonight I made sweet potato bisque and he tasted it on his own, turned around to me and said "Mommy, this soup is realllly good!" and then ate the whole bowl (not on his own, but at least it all made it to his stomach).  I love that I'm not restricted to the same four meals over and over and over again.

On to the baby.  As of yesterday, I am 19 weeks.  The kid is the size of a large heirloom tomato.

 It weighs about 8-1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches head to bottom.  Its arms and legs are in proportion to each other and to the rest of the body.  The kid's sensory development is "exploding" according to my daily update app - specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision and touch are developing in its brain.  Its kidneys are continuing to develop and the kid is growing hair on its scalp.  The vernix caseosa (the waxy coating protecting the skin from pickling) is forming on the skin.  

I'm apparently going to explode in the next few weeks as well.  I guess this is around the time the kid is going to start quadrupling in size, which means I will as well.  From my original pre-pregnancy weight I've gained about five pounds so far (but it's really about 10 pounds since I lost about five pounds the first trimester).  I have no idea how that compares to the first pregnancy, but I feel bigger than I remember feeling.  And not exercising for over a week doesn't help either.  

It's possible the kid can hear my voice now.  So the kid will probably mostly know the words "Jayden."  "I am not going to feed you for the rest of your life."  "I need you to cooperate."  "If you don't go to bed tonight you are not getting any books tomorrow night."  Oh, and some other nice things too I'm sure.  I just can't think of them right now.  I actually hope the kid can hear Jayden's voice too.  Since I can feel the kid moving from time to time, I at one point thought it moved in response to Jayden's voice - but I'm 99.9999999% sure that was a complete coincidence.  Oh well.  Someday soon, I'm sure.