Currently

Mama is...

Growing this baby for her final week in my womb. She seems much bigger and stronger than even one or two weeks ago. I can feel her moving around so strongly now, and in some parts of my uterus it actually causes some sharp pain. In others, like my ribs, where her arms and feet are, she feels like quite the bruiser.

Making strides in my ability to nest. It started Tuesday and continued into today and we still have so much work to do. Tomorrow is Dada's birthday, so I will be possibly making a small cake (sssh don't tell!) and, of course, our Friday night pizza. I've made dough from scratch three times so far in the past two months and all three times it tasted bland. Twice I made regular pizza dough and the other time I made multi-grain pizza dough. Sound yummy? It totally wasn't. Every time we buy dough from the grocery store, it tastes 1,000 times better. If you know of a good solid pizza dough recipe, I'm all ears.

Worrying a little less about things. In a week, my baby will be in my arms, and, as my friend Beth reassures me, all of the worrying I've done in the past month will fade away like the distant memory it is destined to become.

Dancing with Cole to "We are the Dinosaurs" by the Laurie Berkner Band. Cole has this whole routine he learned from his teacher at school. She lent us "The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band" cd last week and we've been playing it at home ever since.  And he's been dancing to that song and some other favorites like "Rocketship Run." If you've never heard of this band, you are seriously missing out! Get a copy from your local library or music store like NOW!

Laughing at everything I possibly can. Usually, the people who make me laugh most are Dada and Cole. Really, I am trying to find the joy and fun in things they both say and do. Case in point: Cole dropped a piece of bread on the floor during dinner one night. He said, "Where'd the bread go?" very innocently. And I said, "Hm, I don't know." To which he replied, "It's a mystery!"

38 weeks (Jan. 11)

Mushroom masterpiece

Cole is...

Growing bigger and bigger. "If I eat my dinner, I get bigger like you, Mama.""Yes, Cole." We've been reinforcing this over and over and surprisingly it's starting to work! He's eating more of his dinner, sometimes nearly clearing his plate. One of Cole's pet peeves is throwing his food out before he's done. So with an innocent, "Okay, I'm going to throw the rest of this in the garbage..." he runs over (because he still rarely sits at the table for longer than 2 minutes) and says, "No! No! Don't throw it out!" waving his hand emphatically, shooing me away and actually eating some of the food off his plate. I discovered that he doesn't really like his food too warm. He will happily eat cold pizza, cold chicken, and of course, those damn ice pops, which I am still making. And when I make them, he ALWAYS wants to know what exactly is in them. It's very cute. Needless to say, he's actually growing out of some of 2T clothes and is starting to fit into some 3T clothes. All of the 18-24 month clothes are too short, and when I went to measure him in the kitchen the other day, it was obvious he had grown maybe half an inch or an inch.

Making pancakes. This is his new favorite thing. He loves to get the stool from the bathroom, bring it into the kitchen (all the while exclaiming, "I'm strong!") and propping it against the counter to be included in any mixing festivities that might occur with said pancake making. We made pancakes from scratch a few weeks back and, though greasy, were DARN good!

Worrying a little about Mama going to the hospital for a few days. I just keep reminding him that I'm coming back and that he can visit me. Then we read "The Baby Sister" by Tomie DePaola, and he seems to worry a little less because in the end, Mommy comes home, and with a new baby sister, just for Tomie. If you are expecting - this definitely a must-read. It's actually based on the author's childhood experience.

Dancing to "Rocketship Run" and "We are the Dinosaurs" as well as other Laurie Berkner Band favorites. The dinosaur song explains a lot of roaring he was doing around the house for a few weeks. I'm so glad his teacher sent this home with him.

Laughing at himself every time he says "Cocka." It drives Dada crazy to hear Cole say this (because he worries Cole is regressing), but Cole simply thinks it's a funny word and then, consequently, he thinks HE'S funny, just by mere association. Plus, if he can get a rise out of us, then he's going to say it ALL.THE.TIME.  Tonight I tried on some other rhyming words for size and that helped a lot. I'm really expanding his vocabulary by teaching him words like Cole/Mole/Vole/Nole/Toll. He thought it was HILARIOUS!

Cole is always happier when Dada helps him build towers.

The bubble beard - never gets old.

Thanks to the ladies who co-host this lovely little link up...