Holding on, and missing birthdays

We are on day three of five without Daddy.  We're surviving, but we're not all happy about it.  Jayden really wants his "family hugs" at bedtime and he regularly tells me he "really misses" daddy.  I asked him about why he wakes up early when one his parents is gone (he woke up at 5:30 am most of the days I was gone and has been waking up at about 6:00 am the past couple of days).  He didn't really understand the question, so I asked him if he worried when one of us was gone and he said "yeah, I worry that one of my families is missing and so that's why I wake up early."  There was a little more to the explanation, but that was the gist of it.  Very cute, but I still wish he'd sleep in more.

It has been a decent week.  Definitely busy, but Jayden is just such a trooper and has been in such a good mood, despite the changes and ways in which he's had to adapt.

Jayden has been picking his own outfits recently.  First I just had him pick his shirt out.  I thought maybe he would have fewer accidents if he had a stake in what clothes he put on.  Either it's working or he's just figuring things out on his own, because he hasn't had an accident in a week or two at Juju's.  He pretty much never has an accident at home, just at Juju's.  And they make him wear a pull-up at naptime, even though he never wears one at home.  I understand, mostly because cleaning it up if it does happen is not fun.  But part of me is a little frustrated too.  Oh well - that's part of the deal when your kid is in daycare, I guess.

An outfit he picked out last week.  Sparkly jacket and hat!
Apparently they had been talking about it at Juju's the day before, which is what inspired him to wear the ensemble.  His daycare buddies loved it.  

Another one, just because the pose is cute.

Hanging out upside down while Daddy puts his shoes on.

Floating with Ms. Stacie.
A couple weeks ago we learned that Ms. Stacie is leaving Blue Buoy.  Her last day is a week from Saturday.  I gotta figure out what to get for her.  And what we're going to do when she's gone.  I'm so sad.  And I think Jayden is going to have a really hard time understanding also.  Part of me wants to follow her (she's going to another swim school), but the other school is so much further away, it doesn't really make sense.  He's only had her as a swim teacher for the two years he has been in lessons.  And he really enjoys and trusts her.  The transition is going to be difficult for all of us, including me!

Floating to the shallow end with his swim buddy Maxwell and Ms. Stacie.

Being sad together after naptime.

On Sunday, Blue Buoy had a swim safety event.  The kids had to accomplish a series of tasks, including jumping in the water and swimming to the side, floating on his back for 30 seconds, swimming the width of the pool, swimming the length of the pool, learning how to float with a life jacket, learning how to rescue someone and swimming 50 yards or more.  Jayden sort of made it 50 yards, but that was about it.
This is him floating on his back with his life jacket.  It was hilarious; he couldn't figure out how to stay on his stomach in the life jacket.  He just kept flipping over to his back.  But he did look peaceful on his back.

Picking up balls at soccer class to throw at his coaches; it was part of a game, I promise.

Jasmine wearing Jayden's shorts.
Neither Jasmine nor Jayden were amused.  

Jayden rediscovered the ball tent we bought a couple years ago as I was rearranging the house for the 80th time trying to figure out how to have the baby's room as clear as possible so that it can be painted.  We've played with it at least once a day, if not twice a day, since then.  He loves laying down inside the tent, throwing all the balls out and making us go get them.  Sort of like fetch, but with grown-ups.  It's awesome.

Sitting in a (parked) car with our sunglasses on.  It's been ridiculously hot (and bright) here recently.  Grossly so, actually.
Also, celebrating Carmen's birthday from a couple thousand miles away.  Carmen and I went to dinner and a comedy show last Friday to celebrate, and we'll go out all three of us this weekend to celebrate since Carmen was (and is) in Chicago for the actual day.  It was sad to miss the birthday, but Jayden did a good job of spreading the word at daycare, and we did get to talk to him for a few minutes in the morning.

Check out his eyelashes.  I love taking pictures of him like this.  

(Sort of) angelic.  ;)

And as for the baby, everything is going well.  I go to the doctor every two weeks now, and at my last visit on Monday I was still right on track.  I've been getting lightheaded quite a bit, but the doctor said everything seemed pretty normal.  My blood pressure was lower than 120/80, but not in an actually "low blood pressure" sort of way.  My measurement was exactly 32 cm, which is what it's supposed to be at 32 weeks.  The baby's heartbeat was strong.  She's been moving a lot still, but still in stronger movements than I remember with Jayden.  She takes my breath away sometimes because of the way she kicks/bumps inside.

Tomorrow will be 33 weeks.  She's about the size of a pineapple, about 17 inches long and weighing about 4 to 4-1/2 pounds.  She will apparently gain about half a pound a week until she is born.  Scary!

She is losing the wrinkled, alien look and becoming more and more baby-ish.

Her skeleton is hardening, but the bones in the skull are not fused together.  This is so I can deliver her (in case she has a large head like her father and older brother) and why some babies are born with a "cone head."  Her skull bones actually don't fuse together until early adulthood, allowing her brain and other tissues to grow and expand during infancy and childhood.

She will soon move into a head-down position to prepare for birth.  At this point my doctor said it's a little too soon to tell if she's in the right position, because her rear feels an awful lot like her head at this stage of development.  But at the next visit (34 weeks) or the one after that they'll start checking more closely.  Being in the head-down position also allows blood to flow more directly to her brain, promoting brain development.

Her immune system is not fully developed, so if she were born now we'd have to be extra careful to keep her in a sterile environment.

The best prediction I read is that I will now begin waddling.  I do feel less on top of things physically and mentally than before, which has been interesting.  The other day, at 2 pm, I realized I had been wearing my underwear inside out the whole day.  Awesome.  And today, somehow, two potty-filled diapers ended up in Jayden's laundry basket and I didn't realize it until after the washing machine had finished.  So now I'm working on the second wash cycle of the same clothes.  Yup, that's about right.  And I might as well give up on sleeping more than a few hours at a time.  It's just not going to happen until maybe 6 months from now.  Good stuff.

I forgot to take a picture of myself this week.  I'll try to get one this weekend.  Some people are saying I look cute.  But I'm at the point where I can't bend over properly, putting on shoes is difficult, some of my maternity clothes are just not comfortable, and sitting for more than a couple of hours is really difficult on my back  I'm not saying I'm ready to have the baby, but I might be ready to be on maternity leave, at least!