Big boy's bedroom

And so here are the pics on the new bedroom! Oliver loves it though he has not slept there yet, we still need a few things before we transition him.
This is what it will be like in its final composition, with the beds at 90 degrees, but for now we have the lower bed underneath the upper one to have one side blocked (minimize falls!). We have also removed the bottom 3 steps as Oliver is well able to climb onto the upper bunk and it makes me nervous. I really like the roman blinds and the fact that some of the birds are the same lime green.

These then are the two wall stickers I got from a place in Australia who sells worldwide for very very affordable prices and they stickers are removable and made of cloth! Love them!

We then bought a carpet in Ikea, I worried it was a bit too dark, but the lighter colours weren't as nice or as thick, so this one will have to do!

See? Oliver climbs very well and even if he cannot reach the upper bed from that side, we decide to remove them from the room altogether.

With the bed underneath the upper one we had to relocate the drawers! Nice that everything has wheels! We also got Oliver the sure comfy Ikea chair children size and he loves it!

As for the sleeping, we made huge progress last week. He is now happy to stay in the bed even if he can come down and occasionally it happens that we have to go back up and put him back in the bed if he's wandering around the corridor, but all in all it's great. Last night we heard him opening the sliding door of his room and then closing it up again...we normally leave it near and not fully closed, obviously he preferred fully closed! He didn't come out of the room at all. My big boy!

Another major major thing is that since yesterday he started saying when he needs to use the toilet!!! Twice we were a bit too late, he was peeing as we took the nappy off, but this morning he said he had to poo and he did!! i think we are not far off from toilet training and I'm delighted I didn't start this too soon (we have been doing EC since he was about 4 months old though, so he knows what the toilet is for).

Two upper canine are through! We have a total of 14 teeth for now. The little mister is well able to throw tantrums, though for now that has happened in the house and so quite much easier to manage. If he's tired we are almost guaranteed a tantrum at bath time, but I really can't complain. He's speech is progressing amazingly well and he can almost have a conversation with you.

And while my big boy is growing in front of my very eyes, the little Phoenix in the belly is 31 weeks too! I'll update on the pregnancy after the OB visit tomorrow.

30 weeks

Flying by, just flying by!

All is well, I put on a bit of weight in the last two weeks, so I'm plus 11kg bohooo but I noticed my hands are a bit more swollen so that will definitely contribute. I also checked the heartbeat a couple of days ago (just because I can! ehehe) and it was 136 bpm so totally normal. Not sure you remembered that I was worried it would have steadily decreased as they baby got bigger, but it's just his average it seems!

Movements are very regular, Phoenix has been transverse till yesterday so I could feel movements mostly low down and very funnily on my sides with a distinct tickling feeling. I have the occasional BH specially if I walk a bit or do the stairs, but nothing out of the ordinary. For the last couple of days Oliver has been really attracted by the belly and spontaneously would give it kisses! So sweet! Or if we both sitting on the couch he would keep his han on my belly. Bless him. We went visiting neighbours who have just had their third baby boy and Oliver was very gentle with him even if I was holding him. Hopefully he'll be happy when this one arrives and will be in the house.

Oliver's room has arrived, I will have a post dedicated to it shortly. He loves it!! But we still need to get a bed guard so for the moment Oliver thinks it's the best play ground ever and has not slept there yet (maybe tomorrow, I'm thinking to let him fall asleep in the usual bed and carry him in the new one then...). We also had the electrician in doing some prep work for the kitchen which is great and Mike is chasing the kitchen people to make sure they are working on our order.

Work is still very busy though this week at least there were no labs and a colleague of mine decided he had to do 3 weeks of lecturing now rather than later...so I'm only doing two courses instead than three which is definitely much better. The downside is that I would have had it all done within the next two weeks and now I have to do some more after that. But ah well, I'll do what I can.

Mike's aunt from Cali will be staying with us for a night or two early next week before flying back to much better weather. She did make the funeral and I mentioned before that Irish funerals are something else. The service was lovely, the priest grew up with Mike's cousin so every word was heartfelt. Oliver was also very well behaved and managed to stay quiet for most of the mass (then Mike took him outside to let him run around a bit).
And I think this is all for now, I know most of you posted on Valentine's day, but we don't celebrate that day much (me and Mike I mean) so I didn't have anything particularly interesting to say! We did enjoy a box of chocolate and a movie though, since the recession we say here that "staying in" is the new "going out" so we certainly did follow the trend for once.

Love to all.

29 weeks (-1!) OB appointment

Happy to report that Phoenix is growing nicely and all looks perfect! I quickly looked at the dates appearing as Dr. W. was taking the head circumference and the abdominal one and both were in around 28 weeks which is completely within error and more importantly much bigger than the last time.
Dr. W mentioned again VBAC to which I'm completely open and of course we will keep a close eye on growth, fluids and placenta (so far all perfect) just in case we have to intervene a bit sooner.
My next appointment is in 2 weeks time!

Major progress on the house front too: next thursday the big boy bedroom is going to be fitted, we have the room painted and curtains are up! We have not really worked at selling our two futons currently in the room but ah well, we'll move them in the attic for now. Then on the same day we are also having an electrician doing a few modifications in preparation of the counter-top extension in kitchen (and added units), and some other bits and pieces. The kitchen people are on the move to assemble our cabinets and Mike was fantastic at sourcing a granite top that is very very similar to the one we have. This should all be ready in 2-3 weeks! Will of course post pics of before and after.

Oliver is well, we have canines coming through at the top but he's been doing very well (no molars yet). Sleeping is good and when the new bedroom arrives we'll give another go at sleeping without sides.

I'm half way through my teaching and it feels great, I can see the end!

On a sad news, Mike's first cousin died suddenly and we have the funeral on saturday...I never met him (I think) but I know I'll be very very emotional at seeing the grief of his parents and family. Mike's aunt from the States flew in this morning, and she was so so close to them it's going to be heartbreaking. We don't quite know what happened yet, if it was a stroke or a heart attack or a true accident (he fell in the bathroom) but as he was only a few years older than Mike it is really shocking.

Ok, better leave it at that for now, thank you for your continuous support and gentle hugs!

28 weeks milestone

I didn't get to update last week, I've been a bit under the weather and really really overwhelmed with lecturing and lab supervision. By the time it was thursday I had nearly lost my voice altogether, nagging cold, a bit of cough, the works.

Thankfully the pregnancy seems to progress just fine, I have gained half a kilo since last week (after  a few weeks of no weight gain at all) and I'm at +9Kg which I'm very happy with. Plenty of movements throughout the day (and probably night too, but I can't tell) and I think my belly had a bit of growth since the last pic, so I'm posting the progress here.

I have 4 more weeks of very heavy teaching, I really hope I didn't take on more than I can handle...I actually took friday off (meaning I worked from home) to take it a bit easier. Friday is the only day I don't teach and I have no labs. Anyway, I know by the end of next week I'll be half way through and it will feel great!

Oliver is doing very well, chatting more and more, somehow he realised he can now push the bed from the wall and get down...this afternoon Mike was out and I was handling nap time....I totally lost my cool I have to admit, couldn't manage to properly block those damn wheels, after an hour of up and down etc and me physically blocking the door (it's a sliding door, can't do much to keep it close) finally Mike came back and fixed the bed. Thing is we are heading off to a birthday party in half an hour and he will have slept about 45 minutes, half than his usual time. Not good.

No sign of the bedroom arriving, it should have been 3 weeks since placing the order and that happened before Christmas. No update on where we are at either. Very frustrating. Similar thing with the kitchen slight modification we'd like to do, it's dragging on forever. I have the feeling it'll be like when Oliver was born and the attic project, everything done about a day before the arrival...

Anyway, better get ready to go to the party (it's a 2 year old!).

26w2d OB visit

Very quick update to say that the visit yesterday went well. Dr. W was very happy to hear everything had settled and like I thought he measured Phoenix AC to start tracking his growth. At the moment he's a bit skinny (measuring a good few days behind for AC) but there is absolutely no concern. In fact it's only because I read it on the screen that I know he was 25w3d I think, the doctor said nothing at all! He's head down, all looks good and hopefully we'll have a few more weeks of incubation! Next appointment in 3 weeks.

I started telling Oliver that "Mamma has a baby in her belly" so he says there is a baby in mamma's belly. And then he adds "O'ver belly baby too!" in a mix of Italian-English! I really don't think he knows we are going to have another being in the house at some point, but we'll see.
We have stopped for the moment the transition to the bed with no side, he's obviously not ready yet. We'll give it a couple of weeks, maybe see how he takes to the new room and try again. He was not ready.

I started lecturing yesterday and so far so good, but the very early mornings (to be able to get parking on campus!) are hard! Of course yesterday I woke up and it was snowing...first snow this winter and the usual chaos. Not much on the roads at all, but people here have no clue. Today no more snow, but what melted yesterday froze overnight, so another set of difficulties on the road. Anyway, I'm ploughing ahead!

26 weeks, a bit of drama, a cold and Oliver

Baby is a head of lattuce today apparently! Moves regularly and strongly, and I think all is progressing well. But let me tell you about the bit of drama we had a the beginning of the week...

Sunday was a great day, first sunday back from the holidays at my parents' and Mike and I enjoyed a lot of time together...while Oliver took is usual nap after lunch. On monday I wasn't feeling the best, my stomach was aching a bit, started feeling some tightening in the belly. By the time we picked up Oliver at the creche I thought my tummy was just one big ball of marble. I got home, took a shower, drank plenty of water, rested on the bed. By 8 pm I thought better to give the hospital a call, jus in case these contractions are not normal. They told me to go in, I took a taxi and went. This is the most difficult thing about our situation, we don't have family here that can be at hand, we don't really have a baby sitter organised either and in any case is not like you can have someone on call all the time. So Mike stays home with the baby and I go into the hospital. I was seen straight away, in L&D, lovely midwives and doctors took excellent care of me, I was not dilated or effaced, and the contractions while I felt them, were not threatening. The uterus was measuring right for dates, they gave me steroids shots just in case the baby decides to come a bit early (please not SO early!) and kept me overnight. The HB was often monitored and it was always great, by the time it was morning I was back to my old self. Dr. W. came to see me, he thought they were probably just very strong Braxton Hicks that he said are perceived more in following pregnancies but not to be shy and go in again if I worry. I asked about taking anything to relax the uterus, his position is that there's very little that works and taking it easy, drinking plenty and having done the steroids is about all that one can do. I trust him deeply, read a bit of papers myself and I have to say I agree. I also found out Italy is moving in this direction too, while they would have loaded you with drugs in this situation a few years ago, now they don't anymore. All has been quiet since, I'm glad I went in and a bit of surprise was to meet some of the midwives I taught back in September! They remembered me and I got the royal treatment without a doubt!
I'm seeing Dr. W on monday for my scheduled appointment, I guess we are gong to check for proper growth, fluids and all that, I'm hopeful all will be good.

It's three days I have started sneezing, then the cough started about yesterday, I have not been sleeping much at all as I can't find a position in which I can breathe that is comfortable...Then this cold must have affected my trachea somehow, I feel as if it's smaller (like having a lump in your throat), it's not sore, but my voice is really low...and I'm back lecturing on monday!!! Not good...let's hope this is the worst day and will start improving tomorrow...

The other big news is that we are trying to transition Oliver to sleeping without the side protection in his cot. It's not going too well at all, he keeps getting up and actually seems relieved when we give up and turn the bed around so that the opening is against the wall and it's like his old bed. Any tips are appreciated! The new room won't arrive for another couple of weeks I think, and I wonder if he's just not ready yet.
We are every day amazed at the number of words he has and is able to put together in both languages...last night he melted my heart when I asked him "Quanto bene ti vuole la mamma?" (Do you know how much mamma loves you?) and he answered "Tanto cosi'!" (This much!) which is what I would always tell him while hugging him tightly...but I never thought he'd picked up on it! I had tears in my eyes...

Teaching term starts next week, I have all my teaching at the beginning of the semester (should be over in 6 weeks) but I better have some contingency plan in case I don't get to finish. I have to say, my colleagues are amazing, I feel very loved and supported all around!
Better go and get some tissue...this nose is like a tap!

Oliver is 2 - Time in Italy - Pregnancy update and new car!

I only manage to sit down properly for a post today. I wanted not to have to rush a post and upload pics too, so finally I'm able to do so!

Our holiday in Italy was lovely, Oliver still finds it very difficult to settle and properly sleep, but at least my parents didn't make any comments that I found irritating. We are all growing in our new roles and boundaries are definitely more respected. Oliver LOVES his grandparents, he would get up in the morning asking for them (after waking us up with a distinct "Mammaaaa! Papa' sleeping?" no my love...no one is any longer sleeping!) and my dad was beside himself with joy any time Oliver woud run up to him and hug him.

He got lots of presents which he really liked, including books and DVD of his favourite cartoon, an Italian dog called Pimpa which I used to watch too when I was young!

And then there was his birthday on the first of January, he loved opening up more presents, his cake and blowing off the candles (well...almost!) and we sang the happy birthday song for the rest of the holidays! To be noted also that he always had food at the table and since then we put away the high chair at home too. He is really growing up! He loved my mom's food (and so did we!) so she was delighted with herself.

Then we went to the house in the hills with my parents and sister, Oliver slept there like a log and was out all day in the garden, watching/participating in all the activities going on (cutting trees, picking up leaves, cleaning the deck...), it was definitely the highlight of the holidays. 

It was very sad leaving this time, Oliver was quite upset at the airport and sure my parents could hardly hold back the tears. As Oliver turned two while we were away, it turned out we didn't have the right plane ticked for him on the way back! After a bit of drama they let us on the plane anyway and he got his own seat! Was quite interested in the sky shopping magazine...

His Italian came on massively when we were away and it's really interesting to see how he can switch between languages, often mixing them up whichever way he finds more convenient! And definitely has strong preference for some words in Italian and others in English!

Today I'm 25 weeks whoohoo and go go go Phoenix! Weight is up 8.5 Kg since the start which is great as I was up 12 Kg with Oliver at this same stage, of course one small side of me is saying "this baby isn't growing!" but it's a small one...I also checked the HB last night just for the craic and it was his usual 132 bpm when he was quiet. I have to say, it is great not to worry about it any more. I have to mention that I had a dream when I was in Italy that Phoenix was a girl! I was as surprised in the dream as I would be in real life, but the thing is now I don't have any strong feelings anymore one way or another, it will be a real surprise. For your pleasure I'm going to post two belly pics, side shot and front shot! Have your guess as to whether you think it's a boy or a girl!

And finally, one other big news!! I'm a proud owner of a new car!! It's a pearl white Mazda CX-5 top spec with black leather interiors arrrggghh  very aggressive! The dealer took my little car to see if he could sell it, well, by the time I got home he called that he got me the deal I wanted!! Really really happy. We also got a new hoover and made a plan to extend the kitchen counter! Is this nesting enough? Will post pics of before and after and the same for the big boys room which should be here in a couple of weeks!