Tantrums have lessoned a bit, but moodiness, attitude, and screaming seem to have increased. It's hard to try to distract her with other things to improve her mood. Seems like she gets stuck in a bad mood and is that way for a while. I usually try to be calm and understanding because I think it's just the "terrible twos", and that "this too shall pass". But sometimes she seems to respond better to a commanding authoritative voice, or when she hears frustration (or being fed up) in my voice. Is that why many mothers end up just yelling at their kids all the time? They don't seem to listen when you're being nice. They push you until there's no more Mr. Nice Guy. I always envisioned being a kind and gentle mother. But I think I get trampled on that way. I'm sure part of it depends on the temperment of the child. I guess I have to find a healthy balance between being kind and firm.

On a positive note, she is doing really well playing independently, which was something that I wished for just a few months ago. She gives me lots of time to take care of the new baby, and to do some cooking, cleaning, and paperwork. I feel bad sometimes and miss spending lots of time with her. I don't want to miss her childhood, or the times when she wants to hang out with me because I know it decreases over the years. But I really appreciate having the time to take care of my baby boy and get other things done.

She's becoming a little diva, too, and I don't mean just attitude. She turns on some music, stands up on her stool, like a little soap box, and starts singing to the ballad with emotion in her face, hand gestures, and everything. I just picture her like one of those child prodegies on America's Got Talent.

A little over 2 mos old now, he has started smiling at us in response to us talking to him, giving him eye contact, and making funny noises. And he's still growing really fast! He seems to be pretty even tempered. He doesn't cry too much, but just enough to seem "normal". When he's upset or needs something, he just mostly fusses.

I still look at him and remember the first time I held him. They placed him right on my tummy as soon as he came out. It was one of the most wonderful moments in my life. Unfortunately I didn't get to do that with my daughter when she was born because she had to be checked out by a pedi right after she came out since I had pushed for 3 hours with her, as opposed to 5 minutes with Baby J.

Riding boots have finally grown on me. At first I thought they looked manly, like I should be wearing a sword on my hip. But now I've come to appreciate how they can be cute and stylish and very comfortable for mommies and pregnant ladies.

But  as I'm out and about, I've noticed many ladies wearing high-heeled boots. They look so tall, thin, and chic. And I wish that, being short as I am, I could wear heels that high, too. But I'm sure my day will come when I can return to wearing high heels. Besides, boots are like anything else. As soon as you buy a pair, you'll always see a better one out there.

I've only been able to make it to the gym once or twice a week. I've been able to do my home work outs on some of the other days. But I'd really like to get to the gym more often. I've been doing my home work outs in the morning before Bel wakes up. That's been working out fine, but I would prefer to use that time to do something else, like write these blogs, work on some scrapbooking, or do a little reading. Then I could go to the gym after she wakes up, and let her play in their day care.

But it seems like I've been so booked most other days of the week, with prenatal appointments, play dates with friends, story time at the library, shopping, or taking Bel swimming. And lately, I've been running errands, preparing for her birthday party. Next thing you know, Baby J will be born, and then it's off from the gym for 2 months until he's old enough to go to their day care.

My training sessions at the gym have been going really well. I am fortunate that they have a couple of trainers that do prenatal fitness. It's been helping my back feel better, and I feel good about getting stronger in my core so that I can hopefully have an easy delivery and be strong enough to lug that heavy infant carrier all over the place! 

This is my last baby blog, and I thought I would list all the unexpected little surprises that I encountered in the first year of raising a baby. I will continue to add more of these as comments as I think of them.

I have also started a Toddler Blog to continue tracking baby's milestones and my ramblings about her. So you can read more about her there.

EASILY DISTRACTED
You can often distract a crying baby with a toy or talking to them to get them to stop crying. I always thought there wasn't much you can do about a crying baby other than feed them or rock them.

HATING DIAPER CHANGES
I didn't know they hated getting their diaper changed. The newborn and 1yo age seem to be especially so. I didn't realize that they wriggle so much during the change. I heard that newborns hate it because they get cold. But maybe the 1 yo hates it because they don't want to lie there.

LOVE MIRRORS
They are fascinated by seeing themselves and their loved ones in the mirror. This trick can be a great distraction from crying, too.

Turns out I didn't have time to make many posts here. I found myself involved in so many other activities such as entertaining the toddler, getting things ready for the new baby, doing Christmas shopping, etc. I was going to post lots of other pics of his 3D ultrasound and my growing belly. But alas, time flew by, and at 37 weeks, Baby J arrived, yes, 3 weeks early. But he is healthy and doing well. A little jaundice, but nothing that required the home installation of the blue lights.  

His birth story was goes like this:

It was about 10pm on a Wednesday night, and I had just put Bel down for the night. I got up and walked into the kitchen and got a really bad cramp. I walked into the bedroom to go down for bed myself and got a couple more breath-taking cramps. I could barely get onto the bed. When I finally did get on the bed, I started to feel fluid flowing out. My hubby called the doctor, and we went to the hospital, still leaking fluid.

The fluid was quite bloody, so they weren't sure if my water broke or if I was just bleeding. So they admitted me. Oh, and I was having contractions 2 minutes apart. At that time, I was still 36 weeks and a few days along. He would have been considered premature.

We spent that night at the hospital and waited the whole next day for something more to happen. My contractions had slowed to about 5 minutes apart, and they became less intense. But, the doctor didn't want to induce me until we were past the premature stage, which was just one more day away at that point.

So late that night, they induced me with pitocyn. That sped things along, and I got an epidural. They finally could feel that my bag of water had not yet broken, so they took care of that. That sped things up quite a bit (same as last time but even faster). In less than an hour, I was ready to push.

Pushing lasted about 2 contractions and he was out. It didn't take much, especially since his head was already visible by the time I started to push. Wow, what a difference from my first baby. It took at least an hour trying to get her past my pelvic bone, let alone crowning. But being more than 2 pounds lighter than his sister, he effortlessly slid right out. They plopped him on my belly and it was done.

It was love at first sight, of course. My sweet little boy. I love him so much. I am so happy to have him here. I can't imagine life without him. I feel so much more mommy-like having two children now. Sometimes I have one in each arm, and I don't feel myself anymore. I feel like somebody else. I feel more like a family. I feel like there is so much more love circulating around me.