Ugh

Funny things happen to your brain when you go past your due date. Not funny ha ha.

At least Anja continues to be amusing with everything she says and does. Although being full term and having a two year old around does tend to suck the energy from you. Here is Anja with the crocheted caterpillar I gave her this morning:

The following toddler conversations had a very serious, adult tone when Anja was talking:

Anja: It smells like dinosaurs.

Me: Interesting.

Anja: Yeah, interesting. Hmm.

Me: The vegetables are done.

Anja: Does anybody want to go get them?!

Me: This is our new green car.

Anja: Yeah, this is our new green car. I bought it. At the store. I picked it up. It's heavy. I picked it up. With a handle. At the store.

Your bellybutton is crazy

Grandma is still "Dinosaur." Here is Anja taking Dinosaur for a walk to the river, and then catching fish for Dinosaur and Mommy:

Here is Anja playing with her new sister:

Anja says, "Go away Zrrbrrts!"

And as Anja keeps reminding me:

Anja: Mommy, your bellybutton is crazy!

Me: Yes, it is.

Due date tomorrow

Anja has been having fun with Grandma here. For the last five days or so, she has preferred to be called Buzz, and she calls both Jay and I Woody. When Grandma showed up she was given the name Dinosaur. So Woody, Woody, Dinosaur and Buzz have been reading a lot of books and running in circles inside and outside. Here is a video of Buzz and Dinosaur running around and Buzz "whistling":

And here is Anja wanting Grandma to draw a chalk picture of Anja on the potty:

And of course more crocheting while I'm stuck at home.

Here's a little guy for Anja:

This repeat of the bunny I made for Anja in slightly different colors is being sent out as a new baby gift:

By the way, still pregnant. My due date is tomorrow (June 8th). I'm not too concerned about her coming any time soon. I'm fairly certain that this will be the one baby who decides to never come. I've been pregnant for so long that I can't imagine not being pregnant anymore. I did finally make a list of things to put in my hospital bag. I still have to find a bag. It's a pretty pathetic list with things like something to wear home, car seat, and camera, stuff I wouldn't likely forget anyway. Luckily my mom is here so we won't have to worry about getting Anja to a friend's house or calling a dogsitter, we can just pick up and go to the hospital when we're ready. So getting to the hospital shouldn't be too stressful.

And finally, words from Anja:

Me: Grandma is coming tomorrow, won't that be fun?

Anja: Yeah, she's bringing presents! And then Mommy and Daddy will go to the hospital!

Me: That's right. And do you know what we are bringing home from the hospital?

Anja: Yeah, presents.

Me: And do you know what else we are bringing home from the hospital?

Anja: More presents!

Me: Anja, you are very loquacious.

Anja: No I'm not. I'm a little bit shy.

Anja: I smell bugs.

Me: What do they smell like?

Anja: Like lemurs.

Anja: I used to be a little kid.

Me: And what are you now?

Anja: Um. Actually. I'm thinking.

Grandma S: What should we draw now?

Anja: A potty!

Me: Draw Anja and a potty?

Anja: Yeah, and Mommy and Daddy watching. Anja's pooping. And get a big egg. (we give her Easter eggs with toys in them when she poops in the potty)

Space Rangers poop in the potty

Five days until my due date and hanging in there. There is definitely no more room inside me for more baby, so hopefully not too much longer now. Braxton hicks contractions are becoming more powerful. Had my last prenatal appointment and everything looks good (blood pressure, baby's heart rate, etc). We made a just-in-case appointment quite a few days after my due date, but hopefully we won't be going to that one.

Here's a full term belly picture. Anja and I compared bellies again. She's a little less insistent about having a baby in hers now, and she asks to read the "I'm going to be a big sister" book several times a day. Her favorite parts of the book are the parts where Grandma comes and brings lots of presents and where she can play games with the new baby, like peek a boo and blowing bubbles and singing songs.

We had a little family celebration here today when we finally achieved full poo in the potty success! We were trying everything we could think of to make it happen, and finally in the end Anja told us she had to go and then went! Now technically it was when she was her current favorite character, Buzz Lightyear, but I think it still counts. Something about how space rangers poop in the potty and not in their underwear I think. Meanwhile Jay and I (otherwise known as Woody and Woody, sidekicks to Buzz) are hoping this is the last hurdle and we are almost done with training. She is otherwise really great about telling us when she has to go, and hasn't had an accident when we've been out of the house. Jay has even taught her to pee outside, which has come in handy a few times already. We're still keeping a drawer filled with toys and stickers in the bathroom to maintain motivation for her.

Here is Anja eating a crocheted cupcake:

And as usual, Anja's contribution:

Anja: Hmmmm mmmm MMMmm MMMmmm MMMMm Hummmmm MMmmmm mmmmmm!

Jay: That's a pretty song Anja, what song is that?

Anja: It's all about Hmmm!

Anja: I'm smelling bugs (breathes out forcefully through her nose with her eyes closed)

Me: What do they smell like?

Anja: Like gross. And weird! Weird. Weird.

Anja: Teddy have a time out.

Me: What did Teddy do?

Anja: He went into other people's gardens. He went into Mr Magegger's (McGregor's) garden. That's not very nice. He eat his veggables.

Anja: Teddy, do you know why you have a time out? You went into Mr Magegger's garden. Are you going to do that again?

Teddy (via Anja's voice): No, not today.

Anja: Okay. (gives Teddy a hug).

39 weeks

Since I'm mostly stuck at home, crocheting continues:

One more week to go until my due date. Mom comes on Friday, so hopefully the baby waits until then. Well, actually after then would be best, since I will be picking up my mom from the airport in the afternoon on Friday. Everything would just be easier all around, especially for Anja, with my mom here. I hope Mom remembers how to make playdoh animals and color with crayons because Anja is ready.

The baby continues to be more and more active, if that were possible. And my belly is still getting bigger, even though I'm not gaining any more weight. I have a prenatal appointment tomorrow, but nothing special is scheduled, just a regular checkup. Until now I've managed to avoid weekly appointments, because let's face it, I can weigh myself and check my blood pressure at home and they don't really do anything else except make us wait an hour or more in the waiting room. But now they're going to want me in more frequently I'm sure. With any luck this will be the last time I have to go in.

Anja had her last day of daycare for a while, and I think she will miss it. She was cranky on her last day there and didn't want to say bye to Debbie. Then at dinner that night she said she wanted to go back. She seems to understand that something big is happening, and I think it's going to be a rough month for her coming up. But she's pretty resilient so I'm sure she'll come through it fine.

And just a few comments from Anja:

Anja: (close to bedtime last night) It's too late. I'm not going to bed anymore. I don't like it.

Anja: That scrub jay flew away. He went to have breakfast. With his mommy.

The calm before the stork

I stole that title from another website, but that's how it feels these days. Here is Jay's fortune from a few days ago from our eerily accurate Chinese place.

Mine was "You have an interesting sports opportunity coming up", which I suppose is also a little accurate. Labor/delivery is definitely interesting.

Potty training continues. We are doing pretty well, but still not 100%. I would say, 90%. She doesn't have any peeing accidents anymore, except sometimes at night if she's been sleeping for 8 hours or so. We still haven't put a diaper on her since we started the process a few weeks ago. I was a little nervous the first few times we went out with her, but she's done great. We just have to be aware of where all the bathrooms are around town now.

I'm still really uncomfortable, and often in pain. It really hurts to walk most of the time, so I've been resting at home mainly. This has helped a lot. It also gives me time to make things like this:

And here are more toddler conversations:

Anja: (Trying to get me to come play with her) Come in my room Mommy. Get up! Is everything okay with your bum? Then get up! Walk around!

Anja: (to Jay in the morning when he's still asleep in bed) Daddy, what's wrong with you? Because you're sad. Do you need a bandaid? Do you need a bandaid?

Toddler conversations and 38 weeks

We just discovered this week that Anja can play Memory (aka "matching cards"). And she's not half bad at it. I wonder what other games she would like that we haven't even thought of playing with her:

Also, more conversations:

Anja: (with no clothes on in the middle of the living room, after a bath)

Me: Anja, are you ready to pick out some underwear?

Anja: No, I'm not.

Me: I know, but you should still wear some underwear.

Anja: No, let's play Simon Says! (jumps around the room)

Anja: Daddy, do you want to play matching cards?! Daddy, do you want to play matching cards?

Jay: Yes, I'll play matching cards with you.

Anja: Okay! Then do it!

Anja: There's a blueberry in my yogurt.

Me: I think that's a strawberry.

Anja: No, that's a blueberry actually.

Anja: I pooped in my pants. But that's fine.

Jay: Why is there a bunch of space junk on the Discovery Channel? I wanna see guys cuttin' down trees and getting into fights over grappling hooks.

(okay, that last one wasn't from a toddler, but still seems like it qualifies somehow)

In pregnancy updates, today was my last day of work. Also I am still pregnant.