7 Quick Takes (vol. 13)

--- 1 ---

So, just a little bit behind with blogging.  Actually, not even really behind--it's not like a ton of stuff has been happening and I've failed to blog about it.  We've just been busy with the usual: three jobs, one masters degree, house hunting, a toddler, and a rapidly growing in utero baby.  Not even in that order...

--- 2 ---

I apparently hit the "look like I'm about to pop" pregnancy milestone this week.  In one day I had the "When's your due date?  Six weeks away?  I really don't think you're going to make it until then!" conversation and the "Wow, you must be about done!" "Yeah... in another six weeks" conversation.  The latter went on to try to persuade me to get an epidural this time, because doing it without "just isn't worth it!"  I never cease to be amazed at the type of conversations one has while getting one's hair cut by a complete stranger.

Also, I have no lap left.  Michael hasn't seemed to notice/doesn't care.  I suppose it'll be even harder for the boys to share my lap after Liam is born, but we'll figure it out.

--- 3 ---

The wait is finally over--both of my Biblical school classes will continue.  It seems weird to not be waiting any more... I'm thrilled for my students that they don't need to try to find another class to attend, and thankful for the extra income from having two classes.  But boy-oh-boy, Thursdays are long days for us now!

--- 4 ---

Michael's vocabulary continues to grow by leaps and bounds.  In the past week he's added two important family names: Abby and Cassie.  "Abby" can either mean he's looking for his beautiful red-headed playmate, or a delicious snack of red fruit--as he uses the name interchangeably for his cousin and for apples.  He finally started calling Cassie by her name and not just "da!" (he's always enthusiastic about dogs).  However, he hasn't quite mastered the initial consonant sound... I'll leave the rather entertaining result to your powers of deductive reasoning.

Update: Between beginning to draft this post on Wednesday (if I don't get a head start, you don't get quick takes) and finishing it on Friday, Michael started saying "apple" perfectly.  He also says "blueberries"--somewhat less perfectly, but still with some pretty impressive enunciation.  I've decided that fruit is the ultimate motivator for getting him to say new words.

--- 5 ---

I think it's finally time for Michael to start saying goodbye to his Pooh bear--the adorable little Winne-the-Pooh stuffed toy/cuddle blanket to which he has been very attached for the last 9 months or so.  Shortly after developing his naptime/bedtime attachment to his Pooh bear he also started chewing on the edges.  He quickly went from simply chewing on the edges to absolutely shredding the edges of the blanket with his teeth.  This quickly resulted in a very pathetic looking Pooh bear blanket thing.  But as of this week it has become apparent that he has started swallowing strings of significant length which he has pulled off/out of the blanket with his teeth.  I'll leave just a little bit to the imagination and say only that whatever cotton/polyester mix was used in the composition of the blanket, it is completely impervious to a toddler's digestive system.

--- 6 ---

Tonight and tomorrow night Alex and I get to practice parenting-in-bulk with four little boys three and under.  Granted, one of them doesn't do much other than kick my ribs and head-butt my bladder, but I'm sure the other three will keep us quite busy and entertained.  Michael will be ecstatic to have his cousins (16 months and 3 years) to play with :)

--- 7 ---

I was not particularly ready to wake up to snow this morning, even if it was only a light dusting on the cars and trees.  This had better not be indicative of winter actually being right around the corner--less than two weeks of gorgeous fall temps were not enough to separate our ridiculously hot and dry summer from snow, snow and more snow (although we're definitely hoping for a wet winter... mmmm, snow days :)).

Go see Jen for more quick takes!  Happy Friday :)