24 weeks--viability!

We passed an important milestone this week!  At 24 weeks, the baby could potentially survive if born this early.  The chances are not great for survival, but it's possible!  We are obviously hoping to continue being pregnant for another 16 weeks but it's a good milestone to hit.  Baby "Wiggles" (named by Charlotte) is growing perfectly according to schedule.  He or she is constantly moving and poking little limbs, head, and butt out so that you can see them from the outside!  Keep growing little Wiggles!

Yesterday at my doctor appointment Charlotte told my doctor that she calls the baby Watermelon.  The doctor asked if we were going to give the baby a different name when he or she is born.  Charlotte said with a completely straight face, "Maybe Cantaloupe." 

A couple more...

Yesterday Charlotte was crying hysterically over a helium balloon from the grocery store that popped in the car on the way home. We were sympathetic at first, but when she wouldn't stop crying, we had to bring on the tough love and we had her stand on the front porch with the door closed. We told her she could come back in the house when she was done crying. She cried and cried, then opened the door with tears streaming down her face. She could barely get a word or two out between big heaving sobs and that weird gasping breathing that happens when you've been crying for a long time.

"Mama, (sob, gasp) I just need (gasp) to tell you (sob sob gasp) something. When I'm (gasp gasp) crying like this? (gasp sob) It means (sob sob sob) that I just need (gasp sob) a little snuggle." (sob sob sob)

We couldn't decide whether to feel like terrible parents or laugh at the pitiful innocence of it all. Even though we were the ones she was mad at for not getting another balloon, we were the ones she wanted to comfort her in her sadness.

Yesterday in the car she was playing with a set of dollhouse dolls, who happen to be a grandma and grandpa. :) Who makes grandparent action figures?! She explained to me that they were fighting.

Grandma doll: I want a gray house!

Grandpa doll: I want a black house!

Grandma doll: Well, I want a gray one. We should compromise!

Grandpa doll: (with kind of a disbelieving voice) How do you compromise about that?!

Grandma doll: Well, we can each have a house.

So they go off to their own separate houses....

Grandpa doll: Knock knock, can I come in to your house?

Grandma doll: No, this is my house!

So much for compromise!

Oh Charlotte!

I wanted to document a couple of funny things Charlotte has said recently, so here we are.

Charlotte wore khakis to church on Easter, and she asked what they were called. I told her khaki pants, then we talked about something else for a minute. Then she said something like "I'm wearing my sassy pants today! I mean, my saki pants. I mean, what are these called? Oh yeah, khaki pants!"

While on a walk this evening:
Mama: I wish I was going to Hawaii tomorrow! (we have some friends who leave for Hawaii tomorrow morning)
Charlotte: I wish I was going to Kansas.

While talking about a trip to Colorado we took last summer:
Cauliflower is my favorite place!

:)

Storyteller

Here is Charlotte telling us a story about a kitty. She had already gone through an extensive description of how she had to fight a dragon with a sword. She "stabbed it in the throat and then pulled the sword out." Daddy asked, "Was it bleeding all over?" Charlotte replied, "No, just in the throat." We just about died laughing. Where does she come up with this stuff?!




Here's a transcript in case you can't catch all of the words.
In the beginning she is whispering (for the dramatic effect, you know).
Charlotte: And do you know what? Something else happened! When I opened my door, in front...I was sitting up front because I was a teenager. It was like immediately the kitty ran up and then went on the side of the door and then crashed in the door. It was like run run run run crash! It was like this: run run run run crash!
Daddy asks if the kitty was ok.
Charlotte: Yeah, she was ok. She just had a little bump right here.
Daddy: What did you do? Did you fix the bump?
Charlotte: No, it just stayed there. You couldn't see it.

Moving day

Okay okay already, time for an update. I've been told by a few people that they forget we're pregnant since they never see me and my pregnant belly. So I figured I should stop being lazy and put up a few pictures. :) This is me at about 21 weeks.

I am indeed pregnant. Either that or I have a very active tumor in my belly... Little baby is moving a lot these days. Charlotte felt the baby move for the first time last week (I think on March 27, for purposes of "scrapbooking" on this blog). Up until now she has been really impatient with trying to feel the baby move. I'll say "Come quick and put your hand on my tummy! The baby's moving!" And she would dutifully come over, put her hand on my tummy for 2 seconds and say, "I don't feel it." I would tell her you have to wait a minute to feel it. So she would put her hand back on my tummy for another 2 seconds and say, "I don't feel it. Mama, I don't want to stand here. I don't want to feel it." And then she would walk away. But last week she happened to catch it moving and since then she's been excited and patient enough to wait and feel it move several times. And she likes to talk to the baby. Except that she feels the need to put her mouth on my belly to talk which is unbearably ticklish! Usually she gets mad because I am laughing hysterically and can't sit still long enough for her to say anything. :)

In other baby news, we had our anatomy ultrasound 2 weeks ago and everything looked great! It's funny the things you think of as good news when you're in the medical field. "Oh, the baby has a little pee in its bladder, so the kidneys are working! Hooray! No cleft lip? Great! There's the diaphragm, which means no diaphragmatic hernia!" We are nerds.

For those who are wondering, we did NOT find out the gender of this little baby. We did not find out with Charlotte either, and we liked not knowing (until she was born, that is. Then it's good to find out whether your kid is a boy or girl...). Matt would have liked to find out this time, but I really didn't want to know, and he didn't feel strongly enough about knowing to make me find out. So we'll be surprised! Charlotte thinks it will be a boy. Neither Matt nor I have any inkling one way or the other.

In non-baby news, a couple weeks ago I was working on a grocery list. I went to take a shower and left it on the kitchen table. When I came back, someone had added an item. I'll give you one guess who did it. :)

Now here is the standard belly photo for which I am posing in the same clothes and location each time so that Matt can make a flip book like we wanted to last time. With Charlotte we took all the pictures, but ended up not actually making them into the flip book. Maybe this time. Anyway, this is me at 18 and a half weeks.