Cliff's Notes

So, I have many things I wanted to write about over the last few days, but I haven't had time for any of them. So here are the Cliff's Notes:

1. My new thing to panic about: The fact that Jack doesn't really have any friends his own age. He has a few through church that he doesn't really see very often and he has his cousin Emma but I'm starting to worry that his social skills will suffer. I toyed with the idea of putting him in a day care with lots of kids for a day or two a week this year (since he's not yet old enough for ANY preschool in our area) but decided to stick with the in-home babysitter for the time being. And we LOVE our babysitters, but I'm wondering if I should have opted for the more social option. Ugh. While I kind of hope he'll always be the nerdiest kid in school (I'll explain that some other time), I do want him to have the ability to make friends.

2. Kyle and I went to IKEA on Saturday for our last time out just the two of us for a while . . . with the exception of the 24 - 48 hour stay we'll have at U of M sometime in the next two weeks. With all of that walking, I was feeling cramps, I felt the baby really low . . . I was excited that I was feeling progress. Then on Sunday and today, I have felt absolutely nothing. NOTHING!

3. Jack has been saying too many funny things to even keep track of. The most startling of which was last night when walked toward me with a pair of toy pliers, lifted up my shirt and said, "Baby brother, I know! We will get you outta there!" I'm not sure how he planned on doing that, but I didn't stick around to find out.

4. Christmas cards . . . seriously, I've done dozens of holiday cards for people and we're just at mid-September. It deceives me into thinking the holidays are closer than they are. I'm in awe of people who are that organized. Totally in awe.

5. Jack was kind of sick last week. He had a fever for one night, but was congested and sneezy for several days. I kind of wonder if his two year molars have popped through but I keep forgetting to check. It did make for lots of cuddle time. I got into bed with him one night and he put his arm on my shoulder and said, "It's ok, mama." Sweet boy. Kyle went to Meijer in the middle of the night last Thursday for a new humidifier and Jack has slept through the night every night since! He hadn't done this since early August. Humidifier, you're hired!

6. It's crazy that when I was pregnant with Jack my ankles were HUGE. Not just normal pregnant-swollen ankles. They were outrageously puffy and disgusting. Think about what Shrek's ankles might look like and you'll be almost there. And my hands were numb for about 8 weeks leading up to his delivery. This time, my ankles are a little puffy and my hands just started going numb. I wonder what the difference is . . . I am sad to report, however, that I've caught up with the weight gain I had with Jack and I'm about dead even with where I was at 40 weeks with him. (insert Debbie Downer noise here)

7. I've been a little down. That's just the honest truth. I'm sure it's just the roller coaster that is pregnancy hormones. There was SO MUCH to do leading up to Jack's birth and this time around, things are a lot more laid back. I've also had a lot of trouble sleeping more than 2 - 3 hours stretches. Which I guess is good preparation, in a way. . .

I'll probably post something similar to this tomorrow, because I have a lot more on my mind but I'm finally feeling tired and I need to take advantage of that!