Cuteness

I ate my breakfast this morning while sitting on the floor in the living room. Nikos was crawling around, playing with his various toys, when he suddenly became interested in what I was doing. He quickly crawled over to the coffee table, pulled himself up to standing, and starting cruising over to me-- smacking his lips all the while! Every time I'd take a bite, he's smack his lips and smile at me! And then he tried to stick his hand in my oatmeal, but I was too quick for him. I learned that lesson the hard way about a month ago, haha!

But yes... He has become quite adept at pulling up on things. The couch, the coffee table, his toys, his old bouncy seat, his crib, the computer CPU-- you name it. It's like he just figured it out overnight.

We are doomed. :)

*Uh-oh...

On a whim, I decided to try on my bridesmaid dress for Mike and Steph's wedding last night. And it's a good thing I did, because it doesn't fit!! I can't get the zipper up-- and it's not because of my bloated belly. It's because of my RIBS! They seem to have expanded overnight, and there's just no fighting against bone structure, you know? So I will be taking the dress to the seamstress today to see if she can fix it. The dress is way too long, so it has to be shortened, anyway... And I'm hoping she can use some of that extra fabric to sew in a little panel next to the zipper to give me some more room (the zipper is on the side, which is pretty fortunate, I think). I'll also ask her for advice on what to do about the belly region... I can't really predict how big I'll be in two months, especially since I'm already bigger with this pregnancy than I was with Nikos. But when I stick my stomach out as far as I possibly can, that part of the dress still fits. So I might be okay there.

It makes me so mad, though, because I intentionally ordered a larger dress, knowing full well that I could possibly be pregnant by the time of the wedding! But I didn't know my rib cage would expand so soon. I wonder what other fun surprises are in store for me this time around...

Funny School Story

So this is totally not related to Nikos or parenting in any way, but I thought it was too funny not to share! I have a student this year who I will call "K." K is very bright-- one of the brightest kiddos I have ever taught-- and is just a great kid all-around. Actually, her entire family is great-- love them! (And Angie, if you're reading this- it's your favorite family!) Anyhow, I've really connected with this little girl, and I'm pretty sure she sees me as sort of a kindred spirit. Truth be told, we do share a lot of common interests, and I know she sometimes struggles having friendships with kids her own age (because she's so advanced). Anyhow...

Today, after school, she comes into my room and asks me if she can ask me something. After pointing out to her that she just did (haha! I'm so funny), I told her to go ahead. She got all nervous, and then said, "Do you think maybe you'd want to come over sometime? For like lunch or something?" It took me a minute to realize she was dead serious. I told her "Maybe," but I know that won't be happening-- it's just too weird! Still, I thought it was very funny that she wanted to invite me over. A ten-year-old wants to be my buddy! :)

Her mom came in to chat not long after, though, and offered up free babysitting for Nikos whenever we want. I may have to take her up on this... She is one of those people that I would totally trust with my child. So hooray for adding another potential babysitter to the list! :)

11 Month Letter

Dear Nikos,

ELEVEN MONTHS!! Where has the time gone? Every time we turn around, you've grown right before our eyes. And with your first birthday only a month (!!!) away, we simply can't believe how the time has sailed by!

Now that you have become a master at crawling, anything and everything is fair game. Your favorite target to chase is, of course, the cat. You will follow Charlie back and forth through the house until he finally seeks safety on higher ground. When you do manage to catch up with him, you will bury your head in his tummy, grab his tail, or even attempt to crawl OVER him. Luckily, Charlie is a very tolerant kitty, and lets you do all of these things. And then he even nuzzles against you, because he loves you so much. You two have become pretty tight, despite the fact that he once wanted nothing to do with you!

You also like to pretend to feed Charlie food while you're eating, which you find hilarious. I feed you with one spoon, while you insist on holding a spoon of your own (you won't eat, otherwise). And although you will inevitably throw the spoon to the floor at some point, you never fail to hold it out for Charlie to sniff first, bringing a huge smile to your adorable face. For his part, Charlie has discovered that he likes some of the things that you eat (lunch meat, for example), and he will wait for you to throw some of it onto the floor so that he can have a little snack! You and your furry friend make quite a pair sometimes!

Another fun thing you started doing this month: dancing! Less than two weeks ago, you started bopping your head up and down while sitting... and then you added in some knee-bends while standing. You love to dance when you're in a good mood, and it's completely hilarious! We can often get you started by busting some dance moves ourselves, which send you into fits of giggles.

Speaking of giggles... there are some games you really seem to like at the moment, which should be recorded here for posterity. At the top of the list is the game of fetch. You love to take a ball (especially the golf ball you found in Daddy's closet), throw it, and then crawl after it. You also have a love for pulling magazines off the coffee table, or removing the junk mail from the box under our entry hall table (where we put it before shredding/recycling it). Last but not least, you love it when one of us will get down on all four and crawl around the house with you-- especially if you get to chase us! This game is great fun, and can quickly jolt you out of a grumpy mood.

It is just so amazing to see how much you can change in simply a matter of weeks. When you want something now, you point at it, reach for it, open and close your palms, and say who-knows-what until we give it to you. When you want to be picked up, you throw both arms into the air and give us that puppy-dog face you're so good at. When you see that the baby gate has been put up, you will crawl over and rattle toys against the bars like a prisoner with a tin cup, complaining all the while (you hate it!). You love bathing in the real tub now, and could splash around in there for an hour, if we'd let you. You have definite likes and dislikes that are starting to become apparent. And right before our eyes, you are becoming more of a toddler and less of a little baby.

Every day with you continues to be an adventure, and you fill our lives with so much happiness. Daddy and I have decided that we kinda like having you around. :) You are the best little boy that we could ever hope for and, as always, we look forward to the month ahead... Hope you're ready for your birthday party, big boy! :)

Lots of Love,
Mommy & Daddy

Up and Over!

I was taking pictures of Nikos today, just because I felt like it, when he decided to demonstrate a new trick. Right before my eyes, he pulled himself up on the wooden baby gate! Then this evening, he pulled himself up in the bathtub-- then climbed over the side (under Daddy's watchful eye). This little monkey is going to be getting into everything before we know it! :)






(in case you were wondering, that's a Chargers onesie... a hand-me-down from his buddy Teagan next door!)

*Compare and Contrast

It's interesting, being pregnant a second time... Instead of everything being brand-new and foreign, I actually have a basis for comparison this time around! Still, things have been kind of different.

For one, I don't have the "afternoon sickness" that I had with Nikos. With him, the nausea would hit me like a ton of bricks at around 4:30 or 5:00 in the afternoon, and I could barely force myself to eat dinner. Plus, I'd be in bed at around 8pm, partly because I was so tired and partly because I felt like garbage. With this pregnancy, I don't feel nearly as nauseous-- but I feel it off and on all day long. It usually gets better if I have something to eat or drink, but I still feel borderline-queasy for most of the day. And although I am definitely tired, I've been able to stay awake until at least 9:30 most nights.

In exchange for my sickness not being as sudden or severe, my skin seems to be much worse this time. I feel like a teenager-- my face keeps breaking out! With Nikos, I had pretty good skin throughout the pregnancy, so this really stinks. And being pregnant, there aren't a lot of products that are safe for me to use to remedy the situation. Darn it!

Anyway, there you have it... My first trimester compare-and-contrast! Based on my observations, I am going to go way, way out on a limb and predict that this baby is a girl. But who knows? I thought Nikos was a girl, too, until I saw his ultrasound (at which point I could definitely see that I was wrong!). Gus is convinced we're having another boy. I guess we'll know for sure sometime in December! :)

Rise and Shine!

About 20 minutes before he usually wakes up from his first nap, Nikos was wide awake and chattering away to himself in his crib this morning. We let him be, since it was technically still naptime and he was clearly not miserable. We actually thought it was pretty entertaining to him him singing "doo-doo-dooooo" over the baby monitor. Anyway, when it was time for his nap to be over, I opened the door to his bedroom and saw this:

Oh. My. Goodness. He officially pulled himself up to standing in his crib-- from a lying-down position! Gus and I couldn't stop laughing. He's pulled himself to his knees before, but has never been able to get all the way onto his feet. And there he was, staring at himself in the mirror, babbling and smiling. No wonder he was having such a good time!

Anyway, I guess this means we're doomed... as soon as he perfects the art of pulling up on other things (like the coffee table, where he is also thisclose to success), I would imagine that cruising and walking won't follow too far behind! YIKES!

Big Boy Bathtub

Well, it's official... After making it almost eleven months using the infant tub in our kitchen sink, Nikos has officially graduated to the real tub! We had tried a few times before to transition him to the "big" tub, but he simply screamed and hated every second of it. But after getting drenched in the kitchen one too many times, we decided that he was going to go in the big tub last night, whether he liked it or not! And wouldn't you know-- he loved it! He splashed and played with his toys and crawled all over the place. So we've moved into a new era! So far, so good! :)

*Sickness

It's baaaaaaack... This afternoon, right around 4pm, I went through a phase where I swore I could smell everything in the house. And I could still smell basil on my hands, despite having washed them numerous times (and I only touched the basil briefly, hours before). My head started to throb, and I just wanted to throw up. I drank some water and took some acetaminophen for my head (it's okay to take while pregnant), but ugggghhh... Everything just suddenly came back to me from when I was pregnant with Nikos! I could barely function! I was so glad Gus was home, so I could just rest on the couch for a bit and hope for it to pass (which it did, around 6pm). But tomorrow, and for the rest of the week, I'm on my own... These next few weeks could be rough ones, if tonight was any indication! :(

Good News & Not-So-Good News

The Good News: Gus is home! Hooray! After a week in Panama on a business trip, we are all very happy that he made it home. Especially since his flight through Houston was canceled due to Hurricane Ike, so we had to scramble and find another flight through Dallas/Fort Worth. And the new flight landed in L.A. instead of San Diego, so he still had a 2+ hour drive afterward. Oh, and his luggage wasn't on his plane, but it was on the third plane that came in from Dallas (an hour later). Fun, fun, fun! But at least he's home!

The Not-So-Good News: Poor Charlie is having issues again... Dribbling small amounts of pee on the floor. We called the vet, who was supposed to be open today, but they weren't. Turns out that today was our city's big annual parade, and the vet was right on the parade route. We called the emergency animal hospital to see what they had to say, and the lady there said that sometimes cats can have occasional spasms while they are still undergoing treatment, but to bring him in if it continues. So for now, he is confined to the hall bathroom with his bed, food, water, and litterbox. We experimented with trying to put him in one of Nikos' diapers, but it didn't work. I hope the leaking stops really soon!

Finally... two pics from today, just because they're cute! Nikos really likes his Chargers hat, even if it is too big!

*Single Mother of Two...

Ok, so one of the two happens to be an embryo slightly larger than a poppy seed, but still! I really don't know how single parents do it. My hat is off to them, because this week has been completely exhausting. Gus has been in Panama on a business trip, so it's been just me and the kiddo. That alone is enough to make anyone tired. Throw in a pregnancy, and I could just pass out right here and now. And then add to that a sick cat (who peed all over the floors that the aforementioned kiddo crawls on), and a few meetings at work that I had to run, and it's just been a glorious week!

As if that wasn't enough, Gus called last night to tell me that his flight (through Houston) has been canceled due to Hurricane Ike. Greeeeaaaat... I struggled with an uncooperative internet connection and eventually managed to find and book another flight, this one going through Dallas and landing in L.A. Then I booked him a rental car to make the drive from L.A. to home. It was a pain, but it worked... Gus should be home in about half an hour! I am so excited to not be a single parent anymore (until the next trip, at least).

Pics du Jour

I just felt the need to share a few pictures from today. I can't stop staring at our little cutie! It amazes me that he is becoming less of a baby and more of a child, right before my eyes (*sniff!*)...

I know his eyes look sleepy in this one, but I swear, he has the face of an angel!
Hanging out in his crib...

Poor Kitty! :(

Well here I am, sitting at home in front of my computer at 12:22pm on a Tuesday. When I told people at work that I needed a sub for the afternoon, the first response was, "Oh no-- is Nikos okay??" Yes, Nikos is fine. But my other, hairier baby is not doing so great.

Charlie was acting really weird yesterday, but I thought he was acting up because Gus was gone (business trip). When I got home from school, I discovered that he had completely shredded a roll of toilet paper in my bathroom-- something he hasn't done since he was a kitten. All evening, he kept meowing at me... I made sure he had plenty of food and water, a clean litterbox, and lots of love. He still did it. And he meowed outside my bedroom door all night long. I got up a few times to try and see what was wrong, but I couldn't figure it out for the life of me.

Then, this morning, I noticed that he was moving his back legs strangely. And when he stood up to move from one place to another, he left little dribbles of pee. I am fairly certain he has a bladder or urinary tract infection. Poor kitty!!! I made a vet appointment for this afternoon, and will use the extra time between now and then to clean up the floors (I'll have to isolate him in a bathroom for a while, but that's okay). Luckily, I caught him before he went into any of the bedrooms, and closed everything off this morning. As much as I hate our tile floors, I am glad right now that we have them and that they are easy to wash. I think I managed to avoid a complete disaster!

Anyhow... hopefully Charlie will be feeling better after getting some medicine at our appointment. And hopefully the peeing thing will stop ASAP, because that's just NOT good with a crawling baby around...

UPDATE: $188 later, it looks like Charlie most likely has a UTI (we'll get the urinalysis results tomorrow). The doc gave him a few injections to help right away: one smooth-muscle relaxant so that he isn't constantly "feeling the urge" to go, and one antibiotic. He also got two different prescriptions that I'll need to give him 2x daily, and new cat food that should help prevent this from happening again. Poor guy! Luckily, he is already acting like he feels better, which is great news!

Congrats, Cousin!

I nearly forgot!! My cousin Evan got married on Friday up in NorCal, and we couldn't make it (hard to miss school so early in the year, you know?). Anyway, my parents said it was a beautiful wedding, and they had a great time. So congratulations, Evan and Martin! We wish we could've been there!

*Overexertion

I guess it's my paranoid nature starting to kick in, but I'm really afraid that this pregnancy is going to be so much harder than the last for a single reason: Nikos. He still needs us a lot, and we're constantly bending, twisting, lifting, etc. to take care of him. I actually started feeling a little bit crampy earlier after I lifted him out of his crib, so I tried to rest for a little bit and drink some water. It went away very quickly. Still, what am I going to do once I start to get a belly? His crib mattress is down pretty low, and the crib doesn't have a drop-side-- I don't think I'll be able to bend down to get him without totally squishing baby #2! Seriously-- what am I going to do?????

I guess it's not as much of an issue when Gus is home. He's just going to have to start taking over more of the physical baby care activities. But this week, he's in Panama for a business trip, so I'm flying solo. I think I'm going to have to make a conscious effort to be really careful! sigh... I think it will also help when Nikos can walk. But we'll see!

Satisfaction

Forty-three baptism thank you notes stamped, sealed, and ready to go? Check!

Can you tell I've been productive this weekend? I swear, it feels SO good to have these all done and ready to mail. HOORAY!! :)

*One Word: Exhaustion

Wow, am I tired! I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm pregnant. Or that I was at school for 13 straight hours yesterday (we had Back to School Night for the parents-- it went really well!). No, I'm sure it had nothing at all to do with either of those things. :P

In other news, I scheduled my first prenatal appointment! Hooray! I'll be seeing the same doctor/nurse team that I saw with Nikos, and I am so happy about that. I feel like I really got to know them, especially towards the end of my pregnancy, and I'm actually looking forward to seeing them (and the office staff) again! The big day is Monday, October 6th, but I know that it will be a boring visit-- standard paperwork, medical history, blah blah blah. Nothing to write home about. The one after that should be when I get my first ultrasound to date the pregnancy. THAT will be one to look forward to!

4 weeks, 4 days pregnant... The Littlest P. is currently developing a notochord (primitive spine), heart tubes, and the first blood cells!

Independent Streak

I guess Nikos is trying to tell us that he's growing up, though I'm not really sure that I'm willing to accept that just yet!

Last week, our little guy started to give us some trouble when we'd try to spoon-feed him. It didn't matter what was on the spoon-- he just wanted nothing to do with it! We thought maybe he was teething or just not feeling 100%... but then we'd put Cheerios on his tray, and he'd gobble them by the handful! He was clearly hungry, but still refusing to be fed. And he'd chug his bottles down in minutes. It was so frustrating!

Today, it was more of the same thing. I swear that this kid's insides must be made up almost entirely of Cheerios, given how he inhales them! For dinner, though, I decided to make up a meal consisting entirely of foods he could feed himself, on the chance that my theory was correct. And of course, he devoured the whole thing (2 scrambled egg yolks with melted cheddar on top, some whole-wheat pasta, and some peas). He must've been starving from all those other meals where we tried to spoon-feed him!

It appears that our guy just wants to feed himself these days... He's asserting his independence already! Just when we get into a nice groove, he likes to mix things up a bit and keep us on our toes. But that's okay. I'm just going to have to get a little more creative with what I feed him, I guess!

*Telling the Family

With Nikos, we kept my pregnancy a secret a little while before telling everyone. But with this one, we were presented with the opportunity to tell everyone in person, since we'd all be together for the baptism. So even though I am barely 4 weeks pregnant, we decided to spill the beans to our parents, siblings, and koumbari (Nikos' godparents and our wedding sponsors... who are like close family).

After the baptism, I kept trying to pull my parents aside to tell them, but it just wasn't happening with that many people around. So Gus and I walked them to their car when they decided to go home. Along the way, I asked them what they were doing in May (much like I asked them about October when I told them I was pregnant with Nikos). I thought for sure my mom would catch on right away, especially since she knew we were trying. But she didn't! She said, "I don't know-- why? What are we doing in May??" So I said... "going to a hospital..." at which point she shrieked, "YOU'RE PREGNANT?!?" (I was actually worried that the guests at the party might have heard her yell, but I don't think they did). Anyway, they were both happy. Of course!

We did the same thing about an hour later, when my brother and his wife decided to leave. I flat-out told them that I was pregnant. I think they thought I was joking, because they were both asking me, "Are you serious??" Anyway, they were happy, too (of course!) and now have more experience! I am hoping my brother won't freak out when it's time to hold baby number two in the hospital. He was really on edge last time.

We never did get a chance to tell Gus' parents that evening, mainly because they were running all over the place and taking care of their guests. But the next morning, after we all went to church so that Nikos could take communion with his godparents, we went out to lunch. Nikos was still wearing his white baptismal outfit, so I took him out to the car to change him into something else (I could just see him making a huge mess on his crisp white clothes!). The "something else" was the big brother t-shirt and a pair of shorts. I brought him back into the restaurant, and Gus sort of stood him on the table so that everyone could see. Maria (Nikos' godmother) read the shirt out loud, but it didn't register. A minute or so later, Gus' sister said, "Wait-- are you PREGNANT???" Much confusion followed, as some people had not been paying attention to the shirt and didn't know what was going on. But in the end, everything was straightened out, and there was much hugging and happiness. So Nikos got to share in the "telling" process, too, even though he can't talk!

We are all so excited to have another little one in the family... I can't wait to meet Nikos' little brother or sister!! :)

Baptism

Yesterday, our baby boy was officially baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church! If you've never been to a Greek baptism, it truly is a sight to behold... Nikos was drenched in olive oil before being almost fully submerged in the font! Up until that moment, he was having a great time fidgeting and babbling and looking all around the church. Once the olive oil came into play, he was a hysterical mess! :( Poor little babe. But he came through it like a trooper, and returned to his normally cheerful mood before bedtime. He missed most of his reception, but the ~100 guests seemed to enjoy themselves! Thanks to Gus' parents for hosting such a great party, and thanks to Maria and Manoli for being such wonderful koumbari and godparents! :)

Here are the pictures Grant took using my camera (though I took the ones at the end)... all 200+ of them! If you'd prefer to view the gallery, just click here.