Lewis the Truest, Volume XII

Lew has a stool in the kitchen that he uses to get in the cabinets (for snacks) or to stand and watch/help me cook. The other day, he'd turned it around to sit on it to watch me make dinner. When he tried to step off of it, he semi-fell down (since it was turned around, with no step to step on to). In what have to be his teacher's (Kathleen) words, he said:

Lew: That was not ideal!

I totally lost it. He has also been saying 'That was close' and 'That was a close one,' which I think he picked up from her, too. Cracks me up.

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I can't remember if I've shared this or not, but, for a while now, Lewis has been saying how he wants to ride on certain vehicles with me one day. Not now, but 'one day.'

Lewis: I want to ride a _________ with YOU one day, Mama.
Fill in the blank with tractor, school bus, airplane, fire truck, etc.

Lew: I want to ride a snowplow one day with you, Mama. I'll ride a blue one, and you ride a pink one. That's your favorite color!
Me: Oh, it is? Pink is my favorite color?
Lew: Yes. Pink is your favorite color.
Me: Ok.

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While Lewis was spending the day/night with Gma and Gpa T. a few weeks ago, they visited a playground. When it was time to go, Lewis said:

Lewis: I want to play for THREE more minutes!

I guess I've given him a time limit enough times that he thinks '3 more minutes' is just about the right amount of time to play. ;) He was just saying 'a few more minutes,' so that was the first time he has put a specific number on it.

Also, if I'm giving him a snack, he'll either say he wants THREE pieces (for a normal amount) or FIVE pieces (if he wants a lot of something)--still working on just how much (or little) that really is. It's adorable.

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He has a little handheld fan/light-up Lightning McQueen toy that had stopped working and just needed new batteries. Once it was up and running again, he was so amused by it. He walked it around, showing it to me and Kevin so we could feel the air blow on our faces and see the lights, and he said/did a couple of really cute things in doing so:

Lewis: Oh, LIIIIIGHTS! (as he was holding it right up to his face, staring at the lights)

Lewis: Look at this, Mama. (showing me the fan/light show, up close)
Lewis: Look at this, Dada. (same show for Kevin)
Lewis: Look  at this, Freezer. (as we walked over to show it to the freezer/refrigerator)

:)

Pregnancy Musings

My doctor's appointment went well this week--I am measuring on target now vs. 'big' last month, so that's good to know. The biggest news this time was that I PASSED my 1-hour glucose screening!! I failed it last time (with Lewis), so I was nervous that I'd fail again and have to sit through the terrible 3-hour test again. I had to be below 135, and I got like 83 or 85 (yay!). I was so relieved to hear that--my doctor and her assistant were cheering with me, after I'd told them both how nervous I was that I wasn't going to pass. I go back in TWO WEEKS! 

Kevin and I had an oh $%&@, we-have-entered-the-every-two-week-appointment-mark moment. We'd better get more serious about preparations!

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While I don't think I had that many specific cravings when I was pregnant with Lewis, I remember having very strong, very specific food aversions last time (i.e. Chinese food, hamburgers, cheese, etc.). They started in the first trimester and lasted the entire pregnancy and beyond. 

This time around, it's sort of been the opposite. There have been aversions (pure maple syrup, most fast food, etc.), but I've had (mostly brief) time periods of cravings, too, which I wanted to try to remember and list:

The Bread phase (aka all of the 1st trimester)
The Dip Cone phase
The Simply Raspberry Lemonade phase
The Jimmy John's phase
The Root Beer phase
The Mashed-Potatoes-and-Brown-Gravy phase
The Tootsie Pop phase
The Water phase
The Raw Fruit and Vegetable phase
The Cole Slaw phase
The Burger phase
The Vanilla Diet Coke phase (ongoing)
The Butterfinger Blizzard phase (ongoing)

And I *still* have 11 weeks to go!

The Indiana State Fair

As I mentioned in my previous post, Lewis and I drove up to Indianapolis on Monday morning to join Emily, Juniper, Otis, my mom, my dad, my brother, Dietgard, Mathilda (her daughter), and Emery (her son) at the Indiana State Fair. We were over an hour late to meet everyone, but we jumped right in when we got there, starting with the tractors:

 :)

They were everywhere, and I knew Lewis would have a fun day.

We walked through the pioneer village, followed by the animal barns. We saw sheep, goats, pigs, horses, and cows:

 Lewis wasn't as much into seeing real pigs, but he wouldn't move from this concrete one. :)

 The Three Amigos, watching the horse show :)

 We found a horse they could pet

And then the girls and Lewis took to petting and snuggling sweet Otis:

 :)

In the cattle barn, we went into the baby cow petting area (I'm sure that's not the technical name for it). ;) Lew was particularly fond of this black/white one (aka Holstein, if I'm reading the sign correctly):

 Sweet baby cow

We ate lunch and decided to head back towards the pioneer village. From the moment we arrived at the fair, Lewis saw these tractor shuttles and asked to ride one, so off we went:

 One happy buddy

 Brief pit stop to check out the forklift

 I thought this mid-jump was funny/fitting, since he was literally hopping from one tractor to the next

 He became fixated on this little, old tractor and wouldn't leave it.

 He had his first sprinkle cone, which was a bit of a fail. 

He tried eating the sprinkles with his fingers, and, within minutes, the whole thing had melted down over his hand. Thankfully Uncle Dave was willing to take one for the team and eat a 2nd cone. 

 Juni, willingly holding hands with Lew?!?

That doesn't happen often. :)

 One of the few times Lewis sat still all day--he was very patient in waiting for his turn to ride a pony

  Thank you, Copper. :) 

 Mmm...milk!

He went through a farmers' market area with Mom and Juniper, and he came out drinking a carton of milk. I think she said he sold fruits and vegetables at the market and got $1 to spend on a drink--it sounded like a neat exhibit (I was resting in the shade).

 Thanks for the carrots, Gramma!

 Either right before or right after this picture, Lewis ate one of the carrots intended for the goats. I'm sure they weren't meant for human consumption. :/

One last stop for some faux fishing

Finally, saying our goodbyes, for now:

Bye-bye, Sweet Otie Man :)

And, of course--no better way to say goodbye to Juniper, than by tackling her to the ground (by accident). :)

We'll see you again soon, Bergstroms! Only next time, we'll have a BABY in tow (oh my!).

The Bergstroms Do Louisville

My sister, Juniper, and Otis all came down to Louisville to visit last week. They got down here mid-day, so we headed out later in the afternoon to Cherokee Park to play. This time, it was NOT overrun with summer campers, so it was easier to keep track of all of the kiddos. Juniper was a big fan of the fountains, and Lewis and Otis eventually got in on the fun, too:

Otis was like, 'Wait a minute...I didn't mean to get THAT close!'

The next morning, we headed out to the Kentucky Derby Museum since Juni is a lover of all things horses. It was also on the Cultural Pass, so Lewis and I got in for free: 

 Lew and Juni raced--Juniper won!

 Whoa, there!

 Otis really wanted that antique horse truck/trailer.

The temporary exhibit is Horse Play, so they have a lot of horse-themed toys, games, etc. on display.

As well as some ride-on horses, which all three kids got to ride together:

 Oat was having a good ol' time :)

 All three were interested in watching the video about baby horses

We stopped for lunch and then headed onto the zoo: 

 On the train :) 

 Look! A big bug!

I think that's what he was pointing at...we have bugs placed all over the zoo as a temporary exhibit.

Lewis in the old truck at Glacier Run

There were two grizzlies out that day, wrestling around and swimming.

 Our final stop was the splash park:

The best!

 Otis kept crouching down at these sprinklers that turn on/off at random. He would get sprayed in the face, stand up (acting a little upset/annoyed that he got sprayed), and then he would crouch down again for more. It was too funny.

Lewis on the slide

Juniper and Lewis had an incident towards the end, in which they bumped heads with each other. They both were crying and holding their heads, and I think Juni ended up with a little goose egg. We had to fill out an incident report and everything--thankfully they were both back to happily playing afterwards.

We had a really nice time with them and are so glad they made the journey down to Kentucky. Our visit with them wrapped up with one more trip to Indianapolis this past Monday for Lewis and I, to the Indiana State Fair. More on that to come!

A Little Bump Comparison at 28 1/2 ish Weeks

Kevin finally forced me to take a belly picture today, which I guess I should thank him for.

28  1/2 ish weeks with Baby #2

30 Weeks with Lewis

This pregnancy is chugging right along, and, until just a few days ago, I have done absolutely nothing to get the house ready! I knew we had plans to have Emily, Juniper, and Otis down, so I wanted to leave the guest room (Lew's future room) intact until their visit was over. We did decide one night last week to go ahead and move the office space out of the guest room, which didn't go quite as planned. I'd had the cable company out to add a cable outlet, which went fine, but Kevin and I broke the computer desk as we tried to move it downstairs ourselves. We set everything up temporarily on my old sewing table, so we just need to move it over to the new desk. [which we got yesterday and Kevin assembled today]

If moving the office was Step 1 (fail), Step 2 would have been to move the queen guest bed downstairs to the basement in a newly created Bedroom #4 (by moving some big bookshelves to partition off a space in our large basement). Upon realizing that the computer desk wouldn't fit down the stairs, we realized/decided that that queen box spring wouldn't either, so we're no longer doing Step 2. Plus, we don't have that many guests, so we can just use an air mattress when need be. I guess Step 2 can still be redeemed by just moving the bed out of the house and calling to have it picked up for donation (it's a really old bed).

Our next steps will be to assemble the new dresser we got for Lew's new room and to decide whether or not we want to paint an accent wall in his room. I got THE CUTEST bedding yesterday at IKEA, so I feel I have much better direction for the rest of the room. Lew has camp this week, so I hope to get a lot accomplished while he is there. After we get him moved into his new room, we'll have him help us set up the nursery with what was in there before.

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Back to the pregnancy itself, having only 12 weeks left sure seems hard to believe. I remember feeling like the nausea would never end, yet now that seems so long ago. Everything is going well--last month, the doctor did say I'm measuring big, but she said that I just have big babies. I go back this week for the regular monthly appointment and glucose test, and then I think I start going every two weeks.

It IS kicking my butt a little more this time around! Over the past few weeks, I've had some back pain on one side of my body and hip pain on the other side. That makes for some funny hobbling around at times, but for the most part, I'm still getting around ok. I did 5 weeks of prenatal yoga through the hospital where I'll deliver, but that ended towards the end of June (before I was really having any aches and pains). I tried doing a prenatal yoga DVD I'd picked up at Goodwill, but the instructor was whack and went at a much faster pace than I'd prefer. Instead, I'm just trying to do stretches and am still figuring out the proper pillow placement for sleeping. Hopefully those things will help.

Our September and October are looking semi-busy, so the goal is to get Lewis' room and the nursery both together this month. Mostly so that they're finished, but also so that Lewis has plenty of time in his new space before the baby's arrival (so he doesn't feel kicked out). He seems pretty excited about moving into the bigger room, so hopefully the transition goes smoothly.

Lewis the Truest, Vol. XI

At Kroger the other day, we walked past an end cap with some crackers that I spotted but didn't slow down for. (Lewis has a bit of a cracker problem.) I wasn't sure if he saw them, but then he said:

Lew: Well, it's my lucky day! They have cheesy crackers!

I said something like, 'Oh, yeah?' and just kept walking. :) I laughed so hard at him saying it was his lucky day because that's totally something I would say.

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He still sits and straps himself into his booster seat at home for most meals. We brought up a booster from the basement recently without straps, which he's tried a few times, but he seems to default to being buckled in. The first time he tried out the new seat, this is what he said:

Mama: So, how is it?
Lewis: It's comfy on my butt.

:) It is very soft and cushy compared to his usual one (the hard plastic that came with his high chair).

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At my parents' house (while the Bergstroms were in town), I took Lewis to potty before bedtime. In between the potty and putting on his PJs, he wanted to go say goodnight to Juni. He also happened to be naked, which I didn't think much about since it would just be a brief goodnight. BUT, Juni was outside looking for lightning bugs, so a quick hug turned into 15 minutes of running around naked and looking for lightning bugs. Lew didn't seem to mind/realize that he wasn't wearing any clothes and just carried on like usual, so I didn't tell him otherwise (it was the backyard, after all). :) As Mom, Dad, Emily, and I were standing and talking/laughing, Lewis walked over to a tree in the backyard, and I knew what was coming:

Lewis: *ssssss* Look, Mama, I peed on the tree!
Me: Oh, you did, did you?
Lewis: Come see it, Mama!

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He's been really into singing lately. Over the past few weeks, we've heard him in his room, singing Mumford & Sons (I Will Wait) and Tom Petty (Free Fallin'). He and Juniper broke out into Katy Perry (Roar) at breakfast the other day. Lately in the car, he's been chiming in to what is playing on the radio. Here are a few things he's said:

Lew: LOUDER!
(duh, when he wants me to turn up the volume)

Lew: That's my song!
(to a song he really likes)

Lew: Where's that song I like?
(when nothing is on, and I'm scanning to find something he knows)

He was singing along in the car yesterday to Pharell (Happy), and asked us to turn it up for a few other songs. It's pretty fun to hear him sing and to hear what he likes.

To The Indianapolis Zoo

Kevin headed back to Louisville on Sunday afternoon to pick up the dogs and to go to work on Monday morning, but Lewis and I stayed up north. On Monday, we went to the Indianapolis Zoo, which I also hadn't been to in many, many years. We spent 5+ hours there, so we had a lot of fun and were very (very!) tired by the end of the day.

 Cousins in front of the new Orangutan Center 

Lewis and Juni rode their first roller coaster! 

Cousins, waiting on the train :)

On the train

I see you back there, Auntie Schwee! #photobomb 

 Feeding a carrot to the giraffe

 Have rock, will climb

There was an area where you could try to outrun a cheetah, which Lewis tried out twice. He did his best, but he just couldn't quite get going fast enough. ;)

 Go, buddy, go! 

 Checking out the elephants

The last time I visited this zoo, you could RIDE the elephants, which had to have been a long time ago.

 At the dolphin show

 Snuggling up to Juni, who isn't such a fan of Lew's snuggles, hand holding, hugs, etc.

Lewis got antsy and wanted to leave after the first 5 or so minutes, so he and I slipped out while everyone else stayed for the show. We grabbed some ice cream and hit up a playground, instead.

 There's a polar bear lounging on that rock to the left, above the water.

 Trying to pet sharks with Gramma

I'm not sure than any came close enough, but they tried.

 Penguins!

I wish I could have gotten a picture of his face--maybe you can sort of tell that he is smiling from ear to ear. He loved these penguins--he loved to watch them jump in and dive down below.

We were going to leave but decided to head over to the bird area, and I'm so glad we did. I don't generally care for birds, but we were able to feed some and have them fly all around us (which, honestly, was terrifyingly similar to the movie Birds, but I think I kept my cool, for the most part). :)

While I was taking Juniper and Lewis' picture, with my camera in one hand and bird seed stick in the other, one landed and started chowing down. It was a little scary, especially after it finished the seed and moved down to investigate my fingers. I was sure my eyeballs were next, but it thankfully flew away. 

Attack of the Bird Man Lew! 

 Papaw and Otis :)

One last stop at the carousel on the way out

We hit up the roller coaster again, too, and then headed on our way.

Afterwards, we all headed to Mass Ave. for dinner at BRU Burger was very good (would have been even better had I been able to have a yummy beer with my yummy burger, but in time). :) We ran into an old camp friend (Betsy) as we got back to our cars, which was a nice surprise!

Lewis and I got stuck in traffic on the way home (overturned semi blocking both lanes on 65 near Seymour), which added an hour to our drive, but we made it back safely. Lewis finally fell asleep about halfway into the drive, and he went right to bed when we got home. So many days of fun takes a lot of a person--I had swollen feet that night and had to put them up on a pillow and chug some water. I felt like I'd been run over the next morning, but I feel pretty much back to normal today. :) Good thing because the Bergstroms are heading down here tomorrow for a few more days of fun!