25 months

Mateo is 25 months now. His new words are 'nina' for 'trampoline' and 'mine' (not exactly what I wanted him to learn...)

Look how skinny he's got! He LOVES playing with Polly Pockets

Mateo is having a rough time sharing right now. I read all about it on babycenter.com this morning and am slightly comforted that it is perfectly normal at this stage. What is probably not as normal is that he may start hurting the other child to get what he wants. Someone say bully?

We gave him his 2nd major hair cut last week. He sat so nicely until the very end. Then he decided he was finish with it, so we could not give the final touches to the side, but I think it looks cute.


Haircut

I was sitting watching him play and then I noticed he was at the top of the slide. Yes, my just 2 year old can now climb UP the slide.  He also was watching a group of youth play volleyball, so now he throws the ball above his head and tries to hit it again.  He has also created his own version of table-tennis. I don't know where he got the idea, but he makes one of us play with him, he hands us a soft bowling pin and then we have to roll the ball back and forth with him, hitting it with the pin. It is so cute!



This was probably right before she started crying. She spent the night 3 nights.

Gift Ideas

When people ask what I need or want, it is hard to say.  I either can't remember or I can't really describe it.  I decided I will post on here as I come up with ideas.

Mobile - I am going with a bird theme. The walls and crib are gray, so I am matching that with pink, yellow and turquoise.

Bird Mobile

Bird Pillow



Bird Decoration



I could probably make it, but am not good at cutting.



Another mobile idea

Blanket - I just went wild with finding photos of blankets.  I thought to make one, but doubt I will get to it.  I have in my head that I want a gray/white chevron blanket (possibly with quilting). Out of cotton, so it is easy to wash. I like the idea with a yellow edging, possibly coral and the other side to have some kind of dainty print or be pretty pink or yellow.  Here are some of my ideas.


Dots + Chevron=CUTE



Gray+Yellow+CUTE



My favorite design, but with other fabric

Girly-girl pacifier clips. Here is an example.

First Year Calendar. Here are examples.

Month Onsie Stickers

Baby Girl Headbands

Ikea Gift Card


My official birth registry here is at dreambaby.be

Lijstnummer:	453370
Paswoord:	BPS8041

30 weeks

Today marks 75% of the way! I think I have gained around 15 lbs so far. Decent. I just hope to keep it down these next 10 weeks.

30 weeks

What's going on these days? I feel big and people like to say how big I am...

My plan was to start getting ready for the baby after we got back from Prague. I figure if I do a little each day, by the time the baby is here, we will be ready. I am a planner and like to be ready way ahead so some may seem funny to some and normal to others. I figure I am basically ready in case there were an emergency.

The bed was still set up in our room from Mateo. I always had one in my room and one in his. I suppose soon we can move the bottom up *reminder to put on list*.  I have a bag with some newborn outfits from Mateo and some of my smallest onesies and a blanket, plus a bag pulled out for me with some nursing stuff on top, so I figure I am almost packed for the hospital.  The car seat/bassinet/stroller are all ready to roll.

Look at all those layers, base, car seat, newborn head support, leg cover, special blanket cover + plastic

My new stroller set for #2. I am excited about it! Mainly because the car seat has a base for the car.

 The playpen bottom has been raised and the toys cleared out. Mateo needs time to adjust to the fact that he is not allowed in it anymore. 

Canopy to still come

My birth registry is started.  Needs to be edited. (Lijstnummer: 453370, Paswoord BPS8041)  Speaking of gifts, I find it hard to make a registry, because I have so much already.  I also don't want people to spend much on something I will rarely use or don't need. I am putting some things on the list for Mateo and splitting up the biggest item in a few parts.


I received tons of clothes from our aunt, so baby girl won't go naked the first 6 months. They are sorted in boxes/bags.
Baby girl's 'space' is not how I would like it, but I can't give hubby too many projects at one time. Maybe 1 thing/week until she arrives.



Creative to-do list for hubby.

No name, but who has a name at 30 weeks? Okay, okay, I know some do, but we don't...

The only thing I don't feel is ready is the doopsuikers and birth announcements.  I am lacking inspiration for them. I should start looking online for ideas.

How am I feeling? Ok. Pretty good some days and so exhausted other days. I am so glad I am done with work. Now I can basically do what I want, when I want. It is getting more difficult to sleep. It seems that I wake up every time I need to turn over. Even if I am tired, once I am woke up in the morning, I can't fall back to sleep. I try to take a nap every day.

Modest Maternity What I wore // Day 1

I decided I posted more with my 1st pregnancy than with this one, so I am going to try to do better. I did one time a link-up to a modest maternity week. I did not find any going on, so I will do my own 1 week series. It is my first week home on maternity leave, so I thought to do a few projects this week.

Highlights I washed all the downstairs windows, finished my skirt, biked 11.4 km (as part of my monthly goal of 80) and went through newborn clothes. My neighbor is having a boy a month after I have my girl. It is nice to find a home for the tons of baby boy clothes I have! Making space for the girl clothes that will be just as bountiful as the boy clothes.

 

Outfit I don't love these photos, but hubby had about 30 seconds before driving away. Skirt is from Miss Etam. I love it. It is probably my favorite maternity skirt. It has 2 shades of pink, white, brown, off-white and tan, so it is so easy to match. It is 2 light layers, so it is nice and cool to wear (yesterday was again above 30°), but does not require a slip. T-shirt is from JBC not maternity, but I can't imagine wearing it if I were not pregnant.

Hair This part is for myself for when I am lacking inspiration: Crown braid, sock bun, braid around.

Modest Maternity What I Wore // Day 2 // 27 weeks

Day 2 of the series. I once again decided I don't really like it when people comment how huge I am. It is often followed that it is just my stomach that is big, but still! It is not nice. Suggestions on complimenting a pregnant lady are: "You look nice." "Looking Good." "You have the pregnancy glow." "Picture of health." Forget words like "Giant," "Huge," and please don't ask if it's twins! I think these days people women know if it is twins and will likely tell you. Also, please don't be shocked when the due date is still a few months away...yes, I know it is possible I may explode by then. *rant of the day*

Highlights It is only the middle of the day, so there has not been so much progress today. I did wash the upstairs windows, bike almost 5k and went through another box of clothes.

We are working with self photography today...

Outfit Today I am excited to be wearing my newly converted skirt! Bright pink, stretch denim. Super comfy. White ruffle shirt (non-maternity) from Macy's. A gift from my mom.

Hair Teased with the cool little teasing brush I bought on my trip. An 'extension cord' bun and a super matchy headband.

Name 2.0

Here we are the 2nd time around and it is supposed to be easier since we know that it is a girl (going to triple check on Friday). BUT I had a nice name picked out for a boy. Levi. Or something with Cohen.

I came across this post from when we were thinking about Mateo's name.

The name I have loved for as long as I can remember is Kara Rae E--------. BUT hubby does not like it. He thinks Kara is a dog name. I try to convince him of the reasons why it is a nice name, but it seems to be out of the question. Which is kind of ok, because I am pretty set on an L name.

It is the same story as last time, Liberty, would be hard to do here. Lillie is the same name as hubby's boss's daughter, so that is apparently a no-can-do. I like Lucie, but supposedly it is an old lady name here. Lucia means light, which is what I thought was a nice meaning and I specifically looked for a name that meant light with Mateo. Hubby things it is ugly (see a pattern here?) Lexie was a hit with grandma, auntie and cousin, but hubby, again, thinks it is a dog name. *sigh*

I thought it would be easier this time around, but it isn't. Anyone used this babycenter.com name list feature? I had fun making the list. Not sure about the middle names, but I wanted to get a list of 10 names written down. My mom's middle name is the same as my very good friend's. Her birthday is November 7th, so I promised if baby girl is on her birthday, she will have that as a middle name.

1			Liora Marie
2			Lexie Marie
3			Lauryl Moriah
4			Livie Rae
5			Linnee Moriah
6			Lucia Marie
7			Lillie Rae
8			Libby Mae
9			Lucie Moriah
10			Kara Rae

2 years = 24 months

Our little man turned 2!!! Where did another year fly? I realized it flew by when I thought about his photobook. I planned to work on it some each month and suddenly I realized the last time I looked at it was probably in December and that seems like a few weeks ago!

Statistics
At Mateo's check up last week he was 13,840 kg (30 lbs) and 91 cm (35 in) and his head 46,7 cm.

Words
Out (he uses this all the time to mean 'take off,' or 'get out'), Peas (please)-I can't think of any other new words, but he is putting some together now, like 'die ook' (that one also) or kijk, mama! (look, mama!) I thought he was saying 'mine,' but maybe it was just when we got back. Finally he will say what we ask him to try to say. It is the first month where he will say 'please' or 'thank you' when we ask him. 'Sorry' and 'OK' are still hard for his stubborn little soul.

Tricks
Mateo slept his first night in a real bed! I asked him if he wanted to sleep in his cousin's bed and he said yes, so I let him go and he slept perfectly in there until the morning! Shocked us both, because he is normally so wild and climbs all over. We tried it at home with less success, but we were also worried he might climb out the window (yes, I am serious).

We are done with bottles! Go us. One baby item less. He did not like the milk in America, so he did not use a bottle and when we came back, we did not introduce them again.

Mateo is doing great on a 'loopfiets' (this one to be precise). He also has started getting the hang of a 'step' (Scooter).

 

I now let Mateo go up and down the stairs alone. He seems to have it under control.

 

He loves his cars, so I bought him a Little People Parking Garage for his birthday. He has been having loads of fun with it. He also enjoys his Duplos. I was so impressed last week. I looked and he had put the whole train track together ALONE!

Food
Still not back to how he was in May, but doing better.  It really seems that it just depends on the day, mood, environment...

Another photo from Stef @ www.stephaniesteinerphotography.com. She would like to come to Belgium in Sept. Are you interested in having her photograph YOUR family? If so, let me know, I can send details.

Dear Mateo, how has it already been 2 years since you came home with us? They went by so fast! You bring so much joy into our lives! Every day we are laughing at your tricks and expressions. You are quite the character. You are always smiling and if by chance you get angry and throw something to express that anger, you are right back to your happy-go-lucky self with in minutes. You still sleep a lot, which is good for your and mommy's moods. We, as your parents, find you to be quite athletic and musical. You can keep up with kids a few years older on the little bike, trampoline, kicking a ball, playing on the swings, climbing around the playhouse and slide. When you hear music you like to play match-that-tone and hold out the tone longer than the one on the recording. You also can match sounds from lawnmowers, ones that we make, the church bells or the ice cream truck. We love you, Mateo! xoxoxo