Q's eventual new room

so with the new baby coming, we are going to have to do some room-switching around here. unfortunately this house is fairly small and we don't have any extra space. right now the plan is to move roo-2 into the snoopy nursery once he/she is ready (i.e. not in bassinet anymore. the bassinet that still needs to be purchased. stalking craigslist for one close and cheap.) - in order to move quentin elsewhere, we have to lose our nice guest bedroom. (so if you come to visit us after the great room switch, i hope you like the futon in the office! i'd actually like to replace the futon with a nice leather pull-out couch, but these things cost money and i don't exactly have a job.) - my plan for Q's new big boy room is a retro baseball vibe, older 1970's and 1980's pennants, etc. he'll be getting bunk beds, so that roo-2, 3, and/or 4 can eventually share them. we were pleased to find some cute bunk beds at IKEA, though i worry about IKEA furniture being able to withstand a wild toddler boy and future toddlers not yet born. we have an IKEA bed that is almost 4 years old and survived a move, but we also don't jump on it like Q will. :) - i got this quilt/throw on ebay super cheap. i figure it can go on the rocking chair for story time. -

- i am in love with these quilts from pottery barn kids but they cost more than any blanket should so i am also stalking them until they go on sale or i have accumulated enough gift cards to get them. i would get one national league and one american league for the bunk beds. -

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and then, my big art project (should we actually be staying in boston and this house - we'll know in may) is to "wallpaper" one of the walls in the room with old worthless baseball cards. it will be super time-consuming and a pain to remove, which is why we'll only do it if we're staying!

roo-2: 21 weeks

as long as a carrot, but hopefully not as skinny or as orange! this one has definitely started kicking like crazy, especially at night when i crawl in to bed. i just hope it doesn't figure out quentin's fave - the bladder stomp.

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from babycenter.com:

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Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.

18 month photos

yesterday we took Q for his 18-month pictures. it's crazy how much more hair he has now than at 15 months!! he was very well behaved. much better than we expected from a boy who has no concept of "sit still". i love the one where he is standing (no ladder) - that is totally his "i did something bad and you haven't caught me yet" grin. and yes, he does have a giant bruise on his forehead - from his daredevil climbing antics.

toddler meets fire

here is the video our friends took of quentin's reaction to the big grill fire at our japanese steakhouse last weekend. i've already watched it a million times. it just makes me laugh! -

roo-2: 20 weeks

halfway there!!! time sure does fly!

from babycenter.com:

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

but the real reason we went to plymouth...

was to go to a japanese steakhouse for dinner. mmmmmmm.

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Q observes his first intentional grease fire

chopsticks are highly entertaining. we went through 3 sets. that ventilation fan is pretty sweet too. watching the show (pre-fire and tears) onion volcano

quentin was very intrigued by the whole concept. he was enthralled as the chefs rolled out their carts to the other hibachi tables around us. he seemed to like the spectacle of it all. he looked on in half-horror, half-amazement as the surrounding chefs lit onion volcanoes and intentional grease fires. he was enjoying himself until our chef came out and had the audacity to light our grill on fire. it definitely scared him and some tears were shed as he tried desperately to leap out of the high chair and into daddy's arms. i attempted to catch the look on his face on film, but the fire got in the way and it didn't come out. however, our guests took a fabulous video of the whole reaction and i hope to post it soon!

pilgrims pride

really? that's it? that's plymouth rock??

where is this stupid boat anyway?

since we had out-of-town guests who had never really done the whole boston thing, we did some galavanting around southeastern mass this past weekend. saturday we went into boston and walked around for a bit so our guests could see the city. (no pictures from this day because it was too darn cold and windy, and watching a toddler smear pasta sauce all over the nice white tablecloth in a north end restaurant is not something i'd like to remember.)

sunday we drove down to plymouth to see the rock and the mayflower. above, you can see just how underwhelming quentin found the whole experience. (have to agree with the boy - the rock just ain't very exciting, and the mayflower was nowhere to be found - perhaps wintering in florida like most people its age??)

portrait of the artist

quentin really enjoys finger painting. the painting part is ok, but mostly he just likes to eat the paint. here he is creating prized works of art for mommy's birthday and for valentine's day.

snow fun

since the computer was fully functional for all of three days, i was able to extract these pics off my camera. computer is once again not totally right due to @#$% cat eating the cord to the wireless mouse (insert obligatory cat likes to eat mouse joke here) and almost setting our house on fire. by doing so he managed to blow the USB jacks the mouse and the external hard drive were plugged in to, so now i have no hard drive either. damn cat.

and now on to the cuteness. these are Q and his friend lilly enjoying the snow back when we actually had some. in one week we have gone from almost 2 feet on the ground to nada. included is a shot of quentin's first snow angel. and yes, the kids were sledding down the "hill" in our yard in a rubbermaid bin. classy.

happy valentine's day!

guess who has a fully-functional computer?

...including printer, scanner, card reader, and mouse? me. finally. enjoy a ton of new posts!

roo-2: 19 weeks

holy tomato! 19 weeks already! from babycenter.com:

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

18-week appointment and ultrasound

on monday, quentin and i took the train into the city for my next appointment. jeremy was working and my appointment was too early to make getting Q to day care a possibility. Q was very well behaved during the ultrasound - even looking up to watch his sibling on the screen. all is well in roo-2 land. quentin was not as good during the regular part of my appointment, but thankfully those are quick anyway. my doctor is still out so i had a different guy. i lost another pound, despite feeling like i've been doing nothing but eating. this doctor was not concerned at all, making me want to tell him to talk to his colleague who made me come back off-cycle to step on the scale in the first place!