Baby Blog

This will probably be our last post as a family of three before we welcome number four, which is really exciting for all of us. The last few weeks of this pregnancy have flown by and I can’t believe it’s almost time to be back in the newborn stage again. We’ve been talking to you lots about the new baby, especially now that all the gear is up from the basement, although I’m not sure you’ll really get it until the baby is here. I think you’re most excited about your new “skateboard stroller” (the ride-on board attachment to the new Vista) and pushing all the different music buttons on the baby’s swing. We can only rarely get you talking about the baby, but in one conversation, you said, “Hi baby. Hi belly. Baby come out in the bath, sleep upstairs.” I’m not sure where you got the idea that the baby is coming out in the bath, but I’m hoping it’s not a premonition since we’re not planning to have a water birth! You’re sure that the baby is a girl – you haven’t wavered on that since you started answering the question – so I’m curious to see what you will think if the baby is a boy. Or maybe you just know something we don’t!

But back to June and July: In June, we went to Touch-a-Truck Day in Charlestown, which you LOVED. I think we stayed for almost two hours, even though it was a chilly, rainy day. Afterward, when we were heading home, you requested to “eat at the restaurant,” so we stopped at the 99 for lunch. We had an orientation for your pre-school and I have to say, I’m pretty excited for you to start there in the fall. You also spent a couple hours there on your own for a “Pizza Night” while we went to the annual Marina Party. It was the first time I had ever dropped you off anywhere and I was really nervous you would freak out when I left, but you did really well. I kept repeating to you the order of what would happen and that at the end, “Mama would come back,” and that line seemed to be what stuck with you because you kept repeating it to me for days afterward. “Go to the pre-school, have pizza, mama came back!” The teachers said you did great and that they loved you and you even cried a little when it was time to leave, so I think it was a success! After we picked you up, we took you to your first Red Sox game. It was for daddy’s work and in the luxury box, so for a first game, you were pretty spoiled. You kept practicing your “slide” and making one of the PwC partners flip you up in the air. The next day, we went camping in RI for the first time with all your cousins. Between snuggling with you in an uncomfortable tent with an air mattress that didn’t stay filled and being 8 months pregnant, I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep, but everyone had a good time anyway. That weekend was also Bunker Hill Day and we watched the parade at Zac’s birthday party around the corner. We spent a week down in New York with Grammie and PopPop before Jared and Margaret’s engagement party and it was nice to visit with everyone, especially since right after we got back, they accepted an offer to sell their house. You really liked Uncle “Liam” (William) and Uncle “Lick” (Dick) and of course, Uncle Ben, who is always a favorite. We celebrated Max’s birthday with an Elmo party at his house and went to Thomas the Train Day at Edaville railroad. We also got to meet up and have lunch with A. Celeste, U. Greg, Emily and Alana on their return trip back to Arizona through Boston.

We spent most of the 4th of July week down in Narragansett and Dani, Eric, Gabi and Natalie made a surprise trip up to visit too! We played at the beach a ton and watched the fireworks show down at Bonnett – you loved your first sparklers! We celebrated the O’Donnell twins’ first birthdays followed by Eva’s second birthday at the park. We spent a weekend up in Old Orchard Beach, Maine where you LOVED all the rides on the boardwalk. You rode the motorcycles at least 10 times plus the ferris wheel, carousel, race cars and trucks. We ate lots of yummy fried food and played in the beach and the pool. You had your first dentist appointment which… we survived. You alternately ignored the dentist and cried, but we got through it and you had no cavities, which is the important thing! We had lots of playdates with friends when the weather wasn’t TOO hot and stayed in air conditioned museums and movie theaters when it was. We went to a pop-up picnic on the Greenway and you loved watching the big kids in the fountain, although you never got up the nerve to go in yourself. (You love pools, but aren’t so into spray parks and fountains yet.)

You’ve got some new tricks – you can officially jump (and get air) and have learned how to whistle (although inconsistently). You always wear your baseball hat a little turned to the side. You have officially lost the last bit of baby speak from your language – “ess-ahh ess-ahh” is now very clearly, “what’s that?” Whenever a song comes on the radio that you like, you say, “Good song about… ummm…” until we fill in the blank with the name of the song which you then repeat. If you really like a song, you ask to hear it again and then I buy it on iTunes and add it to your ever-growing playlist. You call Lightning McQueen (the character from cars), “Mackin Laqueen,” so now during thunderstorms, you ask to see the “mackin” and you tell us that the thunder “roars and rumbles,” which is a line from one of your books. You also ask for the “Mackin Laqueen” song every time we get into the car (“Life is a Highway”) and you also really like The Wanted’s “Glad You Came.” Your top left molar broke through on June 3rd, bottom right on June 21st and bottom left on July 26th so we are FINALLY there with all your teeth. Castle Island Playground is your most requested spot these days and you really like the golf ball room in the Children’s Museum. You always have to have the same meal at the same place (Castle Island = chicken nuggets, Au Bon Pain at the Children’s Museum = chowder) and you’re finally starting to be a little more adventurous in tasting new foods (although they rarely result in a new food that you will eat consistently). I’m glad we got through your first evening at school because we had a chat back in early June that made me nervous. You said, “Train is crying.” When I asked why, you said, “Give kiss goodbye.” So I asked, “He had to give a kiss goodbye and now he’s crying?” and you answered, “Mama train has to go to work. Train is crying.” I’m not sure where you got that from, but it made me sure that pre-school drop off was not going to go well! If I had to pick one word to describe you these days, it would have to be observant. You’re our constant narrator, pointing out everything going on around us, especially when we’re driving in the car. I can’t wait to see how you react to having a new baby in the family and being a big brother. Any day now!