Bigger and bigger

Tomorrow I hit 26 weeks, and I'm just getting bigger and bigger. Or rather, my stomach just keeps getting bigger and bigger...Yesterday I had another ultrasound to check on the position and growth of the baby.

First off, this one is definitely a boy. As I was watching the screen, he was cooperative enough to flash the ultrasound tech and I. That was about all the cooperating he did as he did not like getting poked and spent the better part of 45 minutes kicking like a horse. (He does a lot more kicking than Faith ever did.) He is also not cooperating in his position. He's decided to stay in the breech position, which explains why my ribs have been killing me. His little head is pushing up, up, up.

And, he is a very big boy...about 1 kg or 2.2 lbs right now. This in the 80th percentile according to the dr. Woohoo. Already a high achiever. :)

This morning Faith and I were eating breakfast when I showed her where the baby's head is sitting. I gave him a little poke and then he kicked me. Faith looked at me very seriously and said, "Mom. You shouldn't push the baby in the head." Sure, he can kick me in the cervix all day long, but I can't give him a little poke now and then.

Tonight I told her that we have to talk to the baby and tell him to turn around so he's facing head down. I explained that if he stays in the current position I have to have an operation to get the baby out.

Normally, when I put her to bed, we have a ritual of her saying goodnight to my tummy. Tonight, instead of her normal "goodnight baby", she said, "Turn around baby. My mommy's already had an operation and she doesn't need another one."

You got that right.

Putting your best face forward

Mom is developing another artistic business to keep her even busier (retirement...what's that?). She has started a face painting business. But this is no ordinary face painting...none of those simple, one or two color butterflies and hearts you see on kid's cheeks at local fairs. Instead, the faces are works of art. When she pulled out a red suitcase (!) full of different colors, brushes, and tools, I couldn't believe it!

Faith thought this turn of events was awesome! And, since Halloween was yesterday, and she wanted to be a bunny princess, Mom showed me how to do a bunny face for her costume. (Note...my attempt at the bunny face did not look nearly as good as the picture below.)
Next, Faith wanted to have a "princess" face. So she went through the many pictures that Mom has of different ideas to choose the face she wanted. The result is below, with Mom's special flare for color of course.


...and from the other side...
Faith discovered with this face painting design what most women have learned. There is no possible way to keep your lips painted and actually eat or drink anything. Mom retouched her about three times before we had to wash off the masterpiece.

I even got into the act with a pumpkin for Halloween on my cheek.


I told Mom that her house has officially become a kid's idea of the circus, complete with horse rides from Grampa and face painting by Gramma.

Wise words

George's Grandma Squire passed away last week. This was a sad time for the whole family, but also a time for us to celebrate Grandma's 92 years of life. Seeing her 10 great-grandchildren running around the funeral home was testament enough to that.

Fortunately, George and Faith were able to visit Grandma in the hospital the Sunday before she died. When it came time to actually tell Faith that Grandma had died, I thought that she would be able to understand it a little better because she knew that Grandma was having trouble breathing and that her heart was sick too. What I underestimated was how truly upset she would be to hear that Great-Grandma had died and was now in heaven.

But, in the way of five year olds, she was soon able to understand that Great-Grandma was in a better place. After sitting through Grandma's funeral on Monday, she told me, "I felt sad but I didn't cry because I knew Great-Grandma was feeling better now." (Strangely enough, she was also fascinated by Grandma's name as I don't think she'd ever actually heard her called by her "real" name before. She was obviously listening to the minister during the service.)

I think the most profound thing she said occurred at the actual cemetery. After the ceremony at the grave, we were waiting in the van for the cars ahead of us to return to the church. Faith asked, "Mom, what are all the flowers for?"

The cemetery was filled with flowers of all kinds on the different headstones...more than I had ever seen in one cemetery before. I explained that people brought them for their grandmas and grampas, aunts, and uncles.

"Then the flowers are for love," she said. Then she paused for a few seconds before saying, "There's lots of love here."

How do five-year-olds get so wise?

The call of the wild

Faith went to the Toronto Zoo today with her Sparks troop (think pre-Brownies). All the local Sparks, Brownies, and Guides piled on two buses this morning to head to the zoo.

When Faith got back tonight she had lots of stories to tell, along with complaining that she "walked all day long" and was too tired to do anything. Of course, she seemed to be bouncing of the walls too, so it was more of an over-tired/sugar high thing. She had many, many snacks provided by the troupe, included leftovers that she brought home! She still hasn't eaten them all. Apparently walking around the zoo required a backpack full of food.

She is also now full of very interesting animal facts and stories. Just two examples:

-One time somebody fed the orangutangs at the zoo and they got in a fight with the orangutang, and the orangutang fell into the water and died. Apparently Orangutangs can't swim. (My response to this story was "So, you're not supposed to feed the animals, right?" "No....but our leaders did.")
-Lions need lots of fur around their necks so if they get in fights they won't get their throats eaten and die.

Hey, they don't call them wild animals for nothing.

First baby pictures

Here's the first pictures of the baby, at 20 weeks. I had the ultrasound yesterday morning. The best part, aside from when they said I could pee, was seeing the baby moving around onscreen. I couldn't believe how active he was, and that I couldn't feel all that activity. Sure, I felt some of it, but at one point he moved from his front to his back and I didn't feel it at all!

And, yes, the Ultrasound tech let me know that the baby is likely a boy. It's not 100%, but apparently she saw the penis...or something that looked suspiciously like one. :)

George and I told Faith when we got home that night. When I told her the baby was a boy, she got a big smile on her face, so I think that's a good sign.
Although, she then went on to point out that sometimes they make mistakes and that it could still be a girl.

Later on, while we were sitting on our bed after her bath, I was braiding her hair. As I was doing this, I heard her whispering over and over, "Be a girl. Be a girl. Be a girl." When I asked what she was saying, she just smiled and said, "Nothing."

Good thing she has a few months to get used to the idea that she will be having a baby brother.


To translate the pictures

• the first is a shot of the baby's spine
• the second is the baby's feet
• the third is a face-on view
• the fourth is a side view

It snowed!

Today was our first snowfall. As I drove home from work, I started to see snow dusting the ground in shaded spots. When I got to the daycare, the kids were super excited that they got to see snow.

When Faith and I got home, we had snow on the front lawn so we ran inside to put on her boots and grab the camera. By the time we got back outside, the wind had whipped up and it was snowing again! We snapped a couple of pictures with Faith holding her hat down on her head.

My neighbour yelled out, "Robin, so this is all your fault!"

As we ran back into the garage to escape the blowing snow, I couldn't help thinking he was right. :)

When George came home later, he brought a snowball into the house to throw at Faith. She wanted to save it, so it's now sitting in hour freezer. The first taste of winter.

Family planning

Faith was sitting on the throne last week (she pulls this off really well as she enjoys making royal pronouncements from the bathroom) when she announced, "Mom, we should only have two kids in this family, otherwise it's too much work to care of them." In complete agreement. :)

This was after I did the typical response to "Mom, get me..."

I usually say, "What, am I your slave?"

This time, Faith said, "Yes. You're the mom and I'm the kid. I tell you to get me stuff and you do."

George laughing at times like this doesn't help.