If You Want to Ride in My Mercedes, Boy

I had the day off yesterday so The Momes and I decided to tackle an important project together: The assembly of the stroller. I figured since the two (three) of us will be sharing a great many walks in the year to come, it was something that he and I should tackle together. At first, he was utterly petrified of the thing and refused to come down off his perch. The Momes? Not so tough.

Eventually I realized that maybe he just needed a specific task, so I handed over the instruction booklet and, who knew? He turned out to be a pretty good little helper.


When we got to the testing phase, The Momes really came into his own. I think he was born for assembly. Here he is trying desperately with his eyes to show me how the damn thing is meant to unfold. If it weren't for our obvious communication gap, I think I would have figured it out much quicker. You can probably see his utter disdain. I know I could.


Speaking of disdain, this was probably his least favourite part of the job, but I got to give him props for being such a good sport. I'm pretty sure in this shot he was trying to say, "There had better be a handful of cookies coming after this, bitch, I ain't messin'."

Incredibly, we managed to not only assemble the entire thing together, but also figure out how to use it. And this sucker does a lot. It's like the Transformer of strollers. I think I'll leave it up to Momes to teach his dad how it all works. Thanks little buddy, I couldn't have done it with out you.

In Your Room

I've been told that at some point, soon before I go into labour, I'm going to enter a manic state called "nesting", whereby I'll feel the need to organize my house, particularly the baby's room, and clean the entire place from top to bottom with a toothbrush.

The thing is, I have pretty much have been in this state my entire life. Oddly, I think that maybe this pregnancy has had the opposite effect on me. I've been lazy, unmotivated or simply too fucking tired to do the things that I really need to get done before Chicken joins us on the outside.

Having said that, Crown and I did have one productive day over the Christmas break, a small burst of energy that allowed us to tackle the nursery, which since my baby shower on December 8th, had looked like this:


While Crown dug in and and tackled the heavy lifting and furniture assembly, I had the pleasure of simpler tasks, like putting together the pretty Pottery Barn Kids lamp I bought and organizing clothing, books and toys into baskets that will sit in my Expedit bookshelf/changing table. Speaking of which, remember the change table tray that my step-father Commie built for me? UM... SO AWESOME! You can seriously not even tell that it's a homemade add-on. Check out how perfectly it sits on and blends into the shelf:


It took all day, but Crown managed to assemble the crib and the dresser. And while they are still not sitting in the right place and will need to be rearranged, it's a little freaky to walk into the room and see this:




Once the furniture was built, I couldn't resist dressing the place up a little with some of my favourite baby accessories:


And, of course, sorting and folding her little clothes and tucking them into a drawer. They still need to be washed, I'm waiting for the next burst of energy to hit, but I can't resist peeking into this drawer at least once a day:


After this weekend, I'll have some updated pictures to share. I took a long weekend and hope to get a few more projects done around the room. Plus, I was visited by a baby-clothing fairy who generously left us a full garbage bag of amazing sleepers and outfits. I can't wait to sort through them and tuck them away in the drawers to await their soon-to-be inhabitant. A huge thank you for the incredibly generous gift!

My Lovely Lady Lump: Week 36

Week 36.

Weight Gain: I do not care to discuss but I will say that as of my doc's appt this past Monday, I had not yet broken the big 200.

Milestones this week: Survived an entire weekend of prenatal classes, 1980's style videos featuring several unkempt vajayjay's and all. Crown also miraculously survived. Survived hospital tour, albeit only just. Had a mild panic attack during the tour of the labour & delivery ward. Heard a baby be born, luckily only heard the baby and not the mommy. Did, however, hear another mommy sobbing for dear life. Scared the living shit out of me. Seriously, I have no more living shit. All my shit is now dead.

Other fun updates this week include the fact that I have officially outgrown all my maternity clothing and have absolutely nothing left to wear that is remotely comfortable. I may need to go to work for the next two weeks dressed only in a large cleverly tied sheet.

Physically I'm extremely tired. My extremities are swollen. And my belly, as you can see from the 36 week picture below, is pretty huge. It measures 37 cms. I don't know how the Chicken is possibly going to grow any bigger over the next three weeks, but people keep telling me that she is. Fantastic.

Luckily, health-wise, I'm in pretty good shape. Have slowed down at the gym - step classes are officially off the menu, but I'm still taking one spinning class a week and keeping up with yoga and Pilates. I also try to walk with Momes as much as possible. I hate walking, by the way. It's awkward and painful and I feel like a giant moose lumbering around. Am now seeing the doctor every week and my blood pressure is perfect, as is Chicken's heart rate.

Special Treat for Self: Today Dings and I hit the Elmwood Spa for some much deserved pampering. It was just what the doctor ordered. Okay, not so, the doctor ordered that I lay off the salt. None-the-less it was the best Christmas gift that we could have given each other. Some girl-bonding time, complete with massages, facials, mani-pedis and some time in the pool. Total bliss.

Days 'Til Due Date: 23

He's My Brother

The Momes is obsessed with the baby bump. He's been all over that shit for months now, but recently I can say that his need to snuggle with my belly has reached a fever pitch. He will do just about anything to get as close to Baby as possible. This includes burrowing under the covers, begging to come up on the couch, pushing Daddy out of the way so he can get closer to me.

At night he sleeps curled up next to me with his head resting on Baby like a pillow. As soon as he settles in and gets to snoring (and trust me, the Momes can snore) she wakes up and gets to kicking him in the face. You might think this would serve as a deterrent, but not so. He just snorts and shakes his head and settles back in for more.

While I find this back and forth between my furry child and my internal one somewhat adorable and endearing, it also makes my already not-so-deep sleeps that much more interrupted. For one thing, I am approximately 1000 degrees on a good night. Add the furnace that is Moet to the mix and I'm surprised that the two of us haven't melted right through the bed yet. Furthermore, every time that I need to change positions, The Momes not does too. That makes for two of us tossing and turning the night away, wrestling with pillows and covers.

The thing is though, I am so enjoying this peaceful early interaction between my two babies. One of my greatest worries is that they won't get along when the time comes to meet face-to-face.

Moet is not a fan of small humans, he barks at a baby's cry and has been known to lunge fiercely at the odd screeching toddler. I'm terrified that he will not be able to adjust to a new baby in our lives, that he'll feel threated and left out and abandoned. And, of course, my worst fear, that he will (try to) hurt her. I don't know what I would do in such a case? I've heard a great many stories of new parents having to give up their pets in order to protect their new babies. But the mere thought of it, suggestion of it, shatters my heart to bits. I can't ever imagine having to make that decision. At the risk of being over-dramatic, it feels a little too much like that devastating scene in Sophie's Choice.

So for now I am content to let my first furry baby snuggle as much as he wants with my soon-to-be second. I hope that somehow he is getting know her, as I am, and that on an instinctual level he understands that soon he's going to be her big brother. That he'll want to protect her, not eat her. I know one thing is for sure - she's going to recognize his snoring.

My Lovely Lady Lump: Week 34

Week 34.

Weight Gain: 44lbs, according to scale at doc's office on Christmas Eve. Which means 144lbs by now, after eating way through Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and all the fall-out between then and now. I've heard that appetite decreases and weight gain slows in the last few weeks because "there is no room left." I have not experienced this "no room left" sensation as yet.

Milestones this week: First sober Christmas in at least 15 years. I have officially grown out of every item of clothing that I own. I have no clue how I will possibly dress myself for my last few weeks of work. Crown and I have finally started to make headway in the nursery - progress pictures to come soon. I'm feeling pretty good, have managed to get some much-needed rest this week, but aside from daily walks with the dog, haven't worked out in at least two full weeks now. Unless you consider seriously rocking out on Guitar Hero a work out. Which it kind of us, especially when you are as passionate about the rock as I am. Heh. Starting fresh in the New Year - do not want to go into this birth unprepared and completely out of shape. Will be interesting to see what I can still do at the gym, given that the simplest things are completely exhausting at this point. For example, I can barely pry the lid off the tub of ice cream without breaking a sweat.

Here's lady lump this week - Happy New Year ya'll: