Another trip to the Museum

I had one last appointment with the Dietician for my gestational diabetes this weekend, so we took advantage of the proximity to the DuPage Children's Museum and let Ethan do a little exploring. I joined Dave and Ethan for the first hour and then let them do a little Daddy/son bonding while I went to my appointment. When I got back, we had our packed picnic lunch at the museum before going home for an afternoon nap. I think Ethan enjoyed the tool station the best, which we haven't done before. He loved the little drill and got to take his own piece of wood home that he drilled a hole in.

This is Ethan trying out a lime at the restaurant. He kept making this face, yet he asked for more bites?!

Other than that, we enjoyed the nice weather this weekend out on our new patio and took some walks around the subdivision. I actually also started to sort through the baby toys and baby clothes from 0-6 months. So, once little Hickman #2 joins us, we'll know whether we can use msot of our clothes or not. If we're having a boy, I think we have a good start, although the seasons are a bit different between when Ethan and this baby will be born, so even if it's a boy, I think there may be some clothing needed. We'll see if we're buying pinks or blues?!

This week Thursday marks the 36 week mark, and starting Tuesday I'm going for weekly doctor appointments from here forward (along with the specialist ultrasounds for the baby's kidneys). It's only a matter of time now until the little baby joins us!

Some funny things that Ethan does/says lately:

*I call him sweetie sometimes and when I use a different phrase, like, "Hi, buddy", he'll tell me, "No Mama, you have to say 'hi, sweetie'". So, apparently he likes being called sweetie.

*Dave was talking about something and Ethan said 'That's interesting Daddy'. Cracked me up, as he's never talked about something being 'interesting'

*He impressed Grandma Hughes this weekend when she watched him and they took a walk. When he got to the end of the sidewalk by the road, he told her they needed to look for cars before she even had to stop him.

That's all for now...stay tuned for more Baby #2/Ethan updates in the coming weeks.

Zoo, Baby #2 Update..

Let's start off with the fun stuff. I have it in my mind to do all these wonderful family things with Ethan before Baby #2 arrives so we can be out and explore before I feel like we'll probably be banished to the house for a month or so while we understand how to be a family of 4 and remember what it's like to take care of a newborn. So, last weekend we decided to take advantage of the sunny, yet non-scorching weather and headed for the Brookfield Zoo. In the end, I can't decide whether Ethan really had fun watching the animals, as he kept asking about riding the Carousel and playing on the playground there. Never the less, Dave and I enjoyed the family time together and I think Ethan did enjoy seeing some of the animals. We hope to do a few more family adventures in the coming weekends as well, so hopefully the weather will cooperate with us.

Ethan and Daddy playing at the playground in the zoo. Who needs animals when there are rock walls to climb?!

In the reptile/bird house. Almost as tall as the frog.

On the way home, we like to wear our hat and make a piggy nose now.

A nice cat nap because being pulled in the wagon all morning is just exhausting work!

Hanging with Mr. Brown Bear on the couch

Ethan the excavator. He now tells me, "What I'm bigger, I'm going to drive the excavator". He likes seeing the giant excavators in the subdivision now that they're back building houses around us.

I always try to think of some new and funny things that Ethan is doing and list them out..I think I need to start writing them down because when I try to update the blog, I never seem to think of everything. I guess the biggest thing I've noticed lately is that he's definitely pushing his boundaries. I've heard that Terrible Two's runs into Terrible Three's and I wonder if we're getting there? I realize it's probably all part of the 'growing' process...but my word I sometimes wonder where my sweet little boy has gone? In the past week he's told me that he's going to 'throw me away' (note this was when he woke from his nap, so I figure he was just a bit groggy - still hurts!!), and he's stated 'get out of my room'. We refer to this as 'nasty talk' and he's been warned that this only gets him timeouts or time in his room!! On the more positive side, I just honestly can't believe how much this kid loves his tools (and Daddy's). He helped Dave put the crib back together this weekend and wanted to be there constantly helping and using daddy's tools when he was done.

Lastly, Baby #2 update. We're now on a schedule to see the specialists in Maternal Fetal Medicine once a week for an ultrasound check on the baby's kidneys. Both kidneys are larger than they should be, so they are keeping an eye on them to make sure it doesn't get worse. So far, the two ultrasounds we've had shown that they aren't growing (which would mean something is really wrong) and the amniotic fluid levels are good. So, this points to the fact that the kidneys are working properly but there is possibly a blockage in the urinary system (kidneys draining into bladder or bladder into the urethra) that is causing the kidneys to be larger than they should. The unfortunate part is that they won't know what exactly is wrong until the baby comes out and then they can ultrasound the kidneys. They talked about inducing me as early as 37 weeks when the baby is considered full term, but sounds like if they stay the same size for now, 39 weeks would be the earliest induction and maybe I'd even go naturally before that. We're going to see the pediatric urologist this week to talk about next steps after the baby is born and hopefully they can give us some more insight as to what might be the problem/corrective measure. For now, we're staying positive and enjoying seeing the baby on the ultrasound machine weekly.