Dawn's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 7/28/01 -------------------- 7/17/01 7/8/01 7/2/01 6/25/01 6/20/01 6/18/01 -------------------- Dawn's Introduction

July 17, 2001

Hi!

I know this isn't a pregnancy diary, but this news is just too exciting not to announce here! Last week, I found out that we can expect a baby some time in March. I think my due date is around St. Patrick's Day, but the doctor will verify that. My first appointment isn't until August 13.

If all goes well, Jacob and his little brother or sister will be about 23 months apart. That's the difference between my brother and me.

So far, I'm feeling pretty good. I have been a little tired today, but we also had a busy weekend. I guess I'm constantly in denial about how exhausted pregnancy can make you. I did have a bad headache today (probably hormone related) but it didn't last long. I've never had morning sickness, and I hope that trend continues.

I thought about trying to write a pregnancy diary, but I've decided I just don't have the energy to keep up with two diaries. So, if it's ok with everyone here, I think I'll just talk a little bit about my pregnancy here.

I did have a miscarriage 6 months ago. I don't tend to worry much, but that experience is kind of stuck in the back of my mind. Today I had some spotting, which is perfectly normal for me in pregnancy, but still it makes me wonder. I don't plan to call the doctor about it though because there isn't anything I can do. (Then again, calling the doctor might get me an early ultrasound and I'd love to see the heartbeat ASAP.)

Jacob is only 15 1/2 months old so there's no point in telling him now. He can't understand what's going on in Mommy's belly. We did say, "Jacob you're going to have a brother or sister" but since Jacob has no concept of what brothers and sisters are, he just ignored us. :)

Other than Jacob, we've only told our parents, siblings, and 2 friends. We don't plan to tell anyone else until after my first ultrasound which will likely be some time in the middle of August, when I'm 9 to 10 weeks along.

Now onto the Jacob update...

It seems like it took Jacob a long time to start talking. In fact, many children his age probably speak far more clearly than Jacob does. I used to wonder when Jacob was going to start talking. Now I'm simply amazed at what comes out of his mouth.

Anything small is still a "buh" (bug). In addition now, anything round is a "bah" (ball). The world seems to be full of buh's and bah's. My little exterminator becomes truly fascinated when he actually does catch a real bug. Yesterday I watched him poke at a small moth in the living room. I thought about stopping Jacob, but then I asked
myself, "What's the worst that could happen?" And since I can live with squished bug guts on the window sill and on Jacob's hands, I figured I'd just let him play with the moth. After all, Jacob was learning
something (though God only knows what). Besides I'd rather have a dead moth in the house than a live one.

Jacob continued to poke and prod at the moth. The moth, in response, would flap its wings, much to the delight of Jacob. Each time this happened, Jacob would turn to me and smile as if he was amazed he could
have this effect on a "buh". The moth finally wizened up a little bit and flew to a higher place where Jacob's little fingers couldn't reach.

Recently, Jacob and I were playing outside. Jacob was picking up some dirt and saying, "buh." I replied, "That's dirt." To my astonishment, Jacob responded, "dur." (He has some trouble pronouncing the last
consonant of words...) Next, Jacob picked up a chunk of wood and said, "buh". Again, I corrected him, "That's wood." You'd think I wouldn't be surprised when he said, "wuh", but I was. That was two new words in all of 30 seconds. Surely this boy is a genius! :)

Strangely enough, all of the more complicated words which Jacob said in
his younger days are gone. He no longer says tractor, turtle, Jacob, and so on. I can't figure it out. I know he'll eventually learn them again, and I know that all kids develop differently, in their own ways, and at their own pace, but I just didn't realize they would learn and
then forget. Things never happen the way you think they will.

He is finally saying digger again, but it's not quite as clear as it was months ago. And all diggers, cars, and trucks are now classified as "cah" by Jacob. Furthermore, any key or set of keys is also a "cah". I
suspect he does that because I say, "Let's get the car keys," and he latched onto the word "car" in that sentence rather than the word "key". It's so fascinating how their brains work.

Jacob has a sippy cup with dinosaurs and
dinosaur eggs on the side. Jacob points to those eggs and said, "bah". (They do kind of look like balls so he's not that far off...) One night, Jacob was pointing to his cup and saying, "bah". Mark said,
"That's right, it's your bottle." I said, "Jacob, that's your cup." Jacob said, "bah" over and over again until his rather slow parents realized he was referring to the picture on the cup and not the cup itself! Fortunately Jacob is a patient teacher. ;) He'll keep repeating himself until we figure out what's he's trying to tell us. (He knows what he's talking about even if we don't.)

If I'm on the phone and I say, "good-bye," Jacob will often imitate me by waving and saying "buh-bye". It's so adorable! Even better - he finally gives kisses!! :) He'll blow kisses (more like just kiss his
own hand, occasionally pulling his hand away from his face). I can't get enough of him blowing kisses. I have to be content with the blown kisses for now though because Jacob will only give "real" kisses to his
toys. He'll kiss a toy over and over again, but refuses to kiss Mark or me. I'm not sure why he does that, but it's still so precious to watch him give kisses. (Go figure - Jacob will even kiss Max our bulldog!)

On the flip side, yesterday I said, "oh shoot..." Jacob immediately started saying "shoo shoo". (I'm really glad all I said was shoot!) So, we really, really need to be careful what we say because the
Jakester is in record mode, and you never know when record mode might turn into play mode. :) (Mark is especially bad about swearing while he's driving.)

There are often times when Jacob will say something to me with a determined look in his eyes. Sometimes he'll even point and say the word over and over again. A good portion of the time, I can't figure out what he's trying to tell me. It's obvious that he thinks he's saying something meaningful, but Mommy just doesn't have a clue...

In addition to Jacob's growing ability to communicate, he's also becoming quite witty. Yesterday, we asked him where Mommy was. He looked at me, then pointed at Mark and said, "Ma!" Maybe I'm giving him too much credit, but I swear he did it just for
effect. Or maybe he was saying "Mark". Who knows? He loves making us laugh. He'll scrunch up his face and then smile just because he knows we'll laugh at him every time when he makes that funny face.

Jacob also continues to do housework for us. Now, in addition to vacuuming and sweeping, he also empties the dishwasher and sets the table. Furthermore, he wipes down his own high chair tray (often grabbing the paper towel out of my hands before I'm done wiping down Jacob!) Unfortunately, Jacob still hates to have his own face wiped.

We have had one problem though with cloth diapers... (I suspect we'd have had this problem even if we were still using disposables.) Jacob has discovered that he
can take off his diapers. I let him sleep in a t-shirt and diaper one afternoon because it seemed more comfortable than his overalls. When I went in to get him, he was sitting, bare-bottomed, in his crib. About
a foot away sat an open and very dirty diaper. Jacob was just staring at the diaper as if he couldn't figure out what he'd done. Lesson learned: no more naps without pants or shorts (or diapers with
toddler-proof pins!)

Other tidbits:

Jacob now has 15 teeth, with one more on the way. So, he only needs 4 more teeth to have a full set of baby teeth. I will definitely be excited once teething is done. His mouth is quite full of beautiful pearly whites.

Jacob is going through another clingy phase. He'll play happily and then suddenly start sucking on this thumb and looking for someone to hold him. He loves clinging to the fabric of our clothes for some reason (as if we're wearing blankies for him).

He's also starting to suck his thumb a lot more often. We aren't happy about it, and we thought about trying to stop him, but then I did some research on it today. According to what I found, if we tell him not to suck on his thumb, then he'll just become more nervous and want it even more. (And that has been our experience because we have tried to tell him to stop, and he just looks hurt and then nervously keeps sucking.)
The articles I read recommend just waiting it out because most kids stop when they're 3 or 4. At that age, they no longer need the security of their thumb because they can better communicate their needs and fears.
In addition, the articles I read say that no permanent damage is done to teeth unless kids are still sucking their thumbs when they're 5 years old and getting permanent teeth. So, even though we're not thrilled
with his thumb-sucking, we're going to let it go for now because we'll only make things worse if we try to stop him. I guess we can reevaluate our thinking when Jacob is 3 years old. (Parenting is just a series of
improvisations...)

So, that's the excitement in our life. Jacob is so much fun right now that I can hardly wait for this new baby to arrive. Having a newborn though will be quite a shock, I'm sure - for both Jacob and me!

Hugs and blowing kisses,
Dawn and Jacob