Pool Rules According to Henry

Today was H's first swim lesson.  Daddy asked him to tell me how it went and to relay the rules that he learned.

POOL RULES

Don't Flip and Fall

Don't Swim by Yourself if You're Like a Parent

Reading Loot

Henry signed up for the library's summer reading program back in mid June.  The librarians at our regular branch really dote on him when he stops by after school, and they strongly encouraged Cory to participate.  Our goal was to read 80 books by July 30th so that Henry could get his medal.  He and I took it very seriously, and Daddy helped, too.

Sunday night at bedtime, before the food poisoning drama, Henry, with Daddy's narration skills, met his goal--80 books, and all by July 10th!  He was beyond excited, as he should have been.

Cory took him to the same branch where he signed up to turn in his book list and collect his rewards.  Holy moly... they take this reading stuff seriously.

Medal...

And the rest of the loot:  Voucher for a Chic-fil-A icedream, voucher for a Chic-fil-A kid's meal, a water park pass, a ticket voucher for a Greenville Drive game (one date is specially scheduled for an on-the-field parade for summer readers), and a holographic ruler.

Good job, Henry!  He would read this many books, anyway, but rewards are always good.  I think.  It's also quite a racket for local business.  Vouchers only pertain to the reader--not the guardian.  H can't take himself to a restaurant, water park, or baseball game.  Of course we will shell out the cash for taking him there!

32 Weeks: Adventures in Baby Carrying

Sunday marked 32 weeks and yet another trip to the hospital.  No worries.  All is well now, although I can't say that I will ever eat another turkey burger again--especially not one from Ruby Tuesday's.  (The chain is marked for closure, anyway.  Good riddance!)  I woke around midnight with terrible pains in my left side but figured I could handle it.  I was wrong.  The pain only increased to the point that my legs buckled on my way to try to sleep on the couch.  It definitely wasn't contractions.  The wonderful thing about contractions is the time in between them.  There was no reprieve from this pain--only sharp increase and no plateau.  I panicked.  I called for Cory as I grappled back to the bedroom.  He called the doctor who said to get to St. Francis.  I called Grandjane who came over to stay with Henry.  I puked all over the floor and Cory.  Cory cleaned.  We both showered.

Thankfully, once you are past 20 weeks pregnant, you don't go to the ER.  You go to Labor and Delivery, so we were seen right away.  The heavenly nurse monitored Cocks and determined that there were no contractions and that his heartbeat was steady.  She got the doctor to prescribe a Stadol and Phenegran shot. It was my savior.  Heavenly nurse said that, hopefully, the shot would take the edge off the pain and stop the vomiting while also making me loopy and sleepy. My savior shot in the butt worked.  Grandjoe happened to be on call for St. Francis, and when he cracked open our room door, I thought, "Wow.  That doctor looks just like Daddy."  Loopy is a good thing sometimes.

We were home by 3AM, and I fell asleep by 5AM.  Grandjane stayed over the whole night since our instructions were to return immediately if the symptoms increased again.  Thankfully, the pain tapered off, and we were all just suffering from exhaustion.

We are most thankful that the symptoms were quelled before bringing on preterm labor.  I am supremely thankful that Cory loves me, too.  Sorry about all the puke, baby.  Thanks for taking care of me and for cleaning it up.  Yuck.  Thank you, Grandjane, for being here so quickly and for staying here.  Thank you, Grandjoe, for being such a comforting chaplain.

Now, no more drama for this baby mama... llama!

What you get...

When the camera comes out.

It's best not to disclose that there is a camera for the optimal candid or "off guard" shot.

Bouncing Bladder Boy

At 31 weeks, the main thing I note about Cocks is that he's a major mover.  At our OB appointment on Wednesday, I admitted that Cocks's movements seemed volitle in comparison with Henry's fetus activity.  Henry was transverse until around 36 weeks gestation, which means that, although his position wasn't ideal for traveling through the birth canal, he wasn't head butting my bladder.  Cocks, though, was head first quite a while ago and is all about ramming his little head into my poor bladder.  Let me tell you.  It hurts!

The pain is something I can handle, but the sudden and urgent need to pee and then pee again... and again a few seconds later... I could do without.  An avid water-drinker such as myself is accustomed to frequent restroom trips, but it's ridiculous how many times I add toilet paper to Cory's shopping list.  And he buys the biggest pack!

One good thing about modified bed rest is that I am not meeting with clients.  What would I do if I were sitting across from a client when Cocks decided to push his knees off my ribs and ram his head into my bladder?  I guess I would have to excuse myself, or there would be embarrassing consequences.  But, what if the one ladies restroom was occupied?  Oh, the pain!

We are grateful, though, for Cocks's every movement and for every non-threatening pain.  In two weeks, we get another glimpse at our littlest boy during our tenth ultrasound.  So far, he's remaining a very strong and determined trooper.

Words I don't want to forget

H has long been an excellent conversationalist, and there are only a few consistent and adorable mispronunciations left in his repertoire.

Concreek=Concrete
Cottontail=Cocktail (water with a splash of fruit juice)
Saturin=Saturn (favorite planet)

There are more, I'm sure.  But when he is going on and on and on about something, I sometimes realize that I am not really hearing his words so much as his captivatingly cute voice.

Then, when he pauses, I notice that my ears are ringing.

A Pirate's Life for Henry

Linsey's little boy recently turned four, and to celebrate, they held a party at the Children's Theater.  Henry was literally geared up for the pirate theme, prepared with his eye patch and head scarf from a previous party.  The inflatable sword, sadly, wasn't located.

Considering that it would be H's first stage performance, I attended, sitting on a bench with my feet propped on a coffee table.  It's amazing what you can get away with when you are as big-pregnant as I am.

To start the festivities, all the kids introduced themselves by standing on a small "stage" and doing something that starts with the same letter of their name.  Henry chose to be Happy, and the facilitator, who also moonlights at our local dinner theater, perfectly demonstrated his enactment of happy while Henry looked on in full-on critique mode.  There are times when he is perfectly happy being the observer, and we know we will get a complete run-through when we get some of our own Henry time.

After cake and presents, parents were asked to leave the kids in the conservatory while the professional actress prepared the birthday boy and his invitees for their stage debut in "How I Became a Pirate."  Anyone who spends time with Henry is not surprised that he interpreted his supporting role as a chance to ham it up on stage.  He wore his costume in the way that a real pirate must--disheveled.  The eye patch became a forehead patch, and it eventually moved down his face to become a mouth patch.

As the show ended and the players took their bows, H was whisked away to attend another pirate party. Our friends, The Morgans, were celebrating the pending birth of their baby boy, "Captain" Morgan.  The food was bountiful, and the baby gift booty overflowed.  Henry's highlight was spending some time with Captain Morgan's older sister, who always excels in entertaining our little entertainer.

I should also point out that Henry's favorite TV show is "Jake and the Neverland Pirates," which he asks to watch almost every day.  It's the first TV show that he really latched onto, even more so than "Thomas and Friends."  He mostly preferred books, pretend play and assembling train tracks to sitting in front of the TV. We are all about choices in this household, and Henry told me that, "Every day, I will ask you for show choices, and every day I will choose 'Jake and the Neverland Pirates.'"  Admittedly, the show is entertaining and much less annoying than most of the shows available to him, so it gives us a chance to snuggle in my bed and watch the simple plot, sing the repetitive songs, shake our heads at Captain Hook's thievery, and count gold doubloons.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, It's the Pirate's Life for Henry!