Entertaining Aiden

Since the heat has really made it difficult for me to take Aiden outside during the day, we have been doing a lot of activities indoors and saving the outside time for after dinner in the evenings. Here are a few of the things we've been doing in the morning before he goes to preschool....

I got some cheap shaving cream and put big blobs on Aiden's little table, added a few cars and let him "play in the snow". This activity kept him entertained for quite a while. After he got bored pushing the cars around he just played in the shaving cream, making circles. I had to clean it up though when he decided to start flinging the shaving cream up the walls. Oh well, the nice thing about the shaving cream is that it is clean ;)

 

 Aiden colored on our sliding glass door with window crayons, and got crayon all over his face ;) I let him paint inside by putting squirts of different colors into a zip lock bag and sealed it, so he could squish the colors around and "paint" without it getting all over the house.

 We made chocolate chip cookies, Aiden likes to count as I add in the eggs and then he helps add the flour and does the chocolate chips all on his own. Then we cuddled on the couch with some milk and cookies and watched his favorite movie, Winnie the Pooh.

 One day at Whole Foods, Aiden insisted on getting a pack of all natural, healthier M&M style candy, and of course he ate one and decided he wanted nothing to do with the rest of the pack. So, one day I got them out and we did M&M counting (I drew numbers in circles and he put that number of M&M's into them, he got to 5 on his own and then needed some help after that), made face pictures (I did the smile and he added the eyes, nose and ears) and color identification with them.

We made homemade vanilla scented play-dough that turned out awesome since I can't stand the way store bought play-dough smells or feels! Aiden liked the homemade kind better, too, he played with it much more than he ever does the store bought stuff. We kept half the batch and gave away the other half as part of Addison and Ryan's birthday gift.

Any of you momma's out there have some good activities to share that your kiddos like doing indoors? 

35 weeks

Oh, we are along overdue for a baby update since the last one was at 27 weeks, so here is goes!

How far along? 35 weeks, 4 days - about 2 weeks until we get to meet her!

Baby's size:  According to the baby sites, she is over 18 inches long and 5 1/4 pounds - the size of a honeydew melon. According to my doctor, she was right around 5 pounds at 35 weeks/2 days. He predicts she will be about 6-6 1/2 pounds at birth.

 Sleep: Ugh. I am starting to dread nighttime. Between the nighttime stuffy nose, difficulty getting in a comfortable position and falling asleep (or back asleep), and waking up every hour to use the bathroom or with heartburn, I don't sleep much at night. Luckily Aiden has been sleeping in until 9ish, so I make up for some lost sleep in the morning.

Food cravings: I want ice cream all the time, strawberries from a specific vendor at the farmers market and root beer/cream soda. And oh my gosh do I want sushi. And blue cheese. And champagne. But those will have to wait ;) 

Food Aversions: Not really bad ones anymore - still don't want pizza and pretty much all fast food sounds gross.  

Weight: So far I have gained 15 pounds since my first visit at 8 weeks. Besides the baby and uterus weight, I'm pretty sure the rest of it has gone to my face. And thighs. But mostly face.

 

How I'm feeling: T-I-R-E-D, my body anyway, my mind has lots of things it wants me to do, I just don't seem to have the energy to do any of it ;) 

Doctor’s Appointment: Had one Wednesday, appointments are weekly now until my c-section at 37 weeks. Everything is looking good. I was feeling a little paranoid this week, if I hear one more person says that my belly is so tiny or tell me I only look 5-6 months pregnant, I am going to have a nervous breakdown (you just can't win with pregnant women - tell them they are small and they think something is wrong with the baby, tell them you are big and they think you just called them fat, haha). My doctor assured me that all my measurements are perfectly on track and did some extra baby measuring to ease my mind and then told me the baby's position determines a lot more about momma's belly size than baby's weight. So now I feel better. Oh, and my blood pressure is a little on the high side, normally it is around 110/60, yesterday it was 139/90 but my Doctor didn't seem too concerned at this point.

Movement: She has lazy days that really freak me out and then she has active days where I feel like she is dancing in there. I feel a lot of rolling movement and pressure really low when she moves her head and body and kicks are up near my ribs. 

Best moment of the week: Got an impromptu ultrasound at the Doctor's office the other day - not a big one or anything, but it was really cool to see that her head is the size my whole uterus was the last time he did an in office ultrasound. We used to just be looking at this tiny little peanut shaped dot, now it was like - whoa, a baby! She is very low and tucked in there deep, head down and feet on my left side.

What I’m looking forward to: One by one all my "countdown to baby" milestones are being crossed off the list - my sister threw me the most beautiful, awesome baby shower (post to come!) the first weekend of August and my last day of work was August 8th, so that means the next thing to look forward to is holding our little girl, of course! I can't believe in 2 weeks we will be holding her and adjusting to life as a family of 4 :)  

Thoughts of the week: Just enjoying the down time with Aiden, I know his life will be very different in a couple weeks. I am constantly thinking of how I can make the adjustment easier for him. I took 4 weeks off work before the baby gets here just to spend a little extra time with him, and I am glad that I did. He has been super sweet to me lately, lots of hugs and kisses - he wants a lot of attention these days, he wants to be on me constantly, he knows somethings up. I've been doing a lot of activities with him at home and now that school started again he is getting a couple hours away from me every day, which I think is good for him. I love that kid so much.