26 weeks

This picture was taken at 25 weeks

I keep forgetting how far long I am, and when I consulted the calendar this morning and discovered I was 26 weeks, I thought "wow, that is really close to 30. And 30 is really close to 40. And holy cow, I'm having a baby!"

Baby girl is moving all the time lately. I found out at my ultrasound (back at 22 weeks) that I have an anterior placenta, meaning the placenta is attached to the front part of my uterus (closest to my belly button). This is a normal variation and there's nothing wrong with it, but it means that I don't feel this baby's "forward kicks" as strongly as I felt them with Libby. I do feel her kick and stretch out to the side and jump on my bladder, so I know she's in there!

I took the plunge and purchased the Hypnobabies home study course to prepare for the birth and I am so glad I did. I love it already. Most of the written information is old news to me, having had a baby already and especially after having taken a Bradley course. But the hypnosis tracks are WONDERFUL and I can already notice a difference in how I feel about this pregnancy and birth (more optimistic!).

And the deal clencher? It's helping me sleep. I have serious problems when it comes to sleep. As in, I literally did not sleep a wink for a full 48 hours after Libby was born and ever since then, have had awful bouts of insomnia where I sleep only a couple of hours a night. Oh, and that advice to sleep when the baby sleeps? Does not work when you absolutely positively cannot nap during the day. But since beginning this course a couple weeks ago, I have been falling asleep faster than ever at night and even power napping during the day. It's the best thing ever.


These are my own opinions and experiences; no one has asked me to write this.

22 months

At 22 months, Libby weighs 23.5 pounds. I don't know how tall she is, but she did finally grow out of her infant car seat. I'll have to start measuring her against a wall to keep track of her height.

Other physical characteristics: She has impressive fine motor skills. For as long as she's been coloring, she's always held pencils and crayons correctly and can draw very small circles. She runs and bounces everywhere and likes to dance in circles. She is great at taking her shoes and socks off and can sometimes get her shoes on without help, depending on the shoe. She hasn't figured out how to undress yet, which is probably a good thing, but also means I think we're a ways away from potty training. No rush on my part, though...I'd rather not deal with potty training while taking care of a newborn.

She has a great vocabulary and is starting to form simple sentences. She likes to identify everything, so she's constantly pointing and naming things and describing what's going on around her. Recently at breakfast, she said "Mommy egg all done" as I took the last bite of my egg.

She's using her hands more as she "talks" which is downright adorable. She does know some sign language, but most of her gestures are made up and have no meaning that I'm aware of. Today, she happened to be signing rain and thunder (unbeknownst to her, of course), so I pretended that's what we were talking about:

[I've been trying FOREVER to upload the video, but my internet might possibly be slower than dial-up and tells me there are 374 minutes remaining. Come back in about a year and there might be a super cute video here.]

[Update: It only took about 8 hours, but the video is finally up!]

Things she likes: pom poms (the fuzzy balls used for crafts), hair elastics (she calls them headbands), pebbles, or anything else small and round that she can roll between her fingers. She also likes to carry marbles in her toes, like a monkey. When I got Libby out of bed this morning and she started walking around, she kept saying "ow." Upon examination, I found marbles in the bottom of her footie pajamas. She likes to go for walks in the stroller, play at the playground, and look for bugs.

She has been going to a swim class for toddlers for about 6 months now (it's more of a "play in the water" class than a "learn to swim" class) and LOVES to jump in the pool. She can kick her legs and stroke with her arms, and can float on a noodle unassisted for short periods. And just a couple of weeks ago, we had a big breakthrough in which she finally let me hold her in a backfloat position. I've dunked her a couple of times, which she has hated, but she doesn't mind getting water in her mouth anymore and is so much more confident in the water.

Current favorite foods: greek yogurt with jam, oranges, bananas, fruit leather, cereal, berries of any kind, tomatoes, pickles, olives, and cheese.