Happy Turkey Day!!!

I'll post holiday pics later, but I thought you might all enjoy a look at the next addition to our family!  They took these back on November 5th.

The baby's head, in this first one, reminds me of Harold from the Harold and the Purple Crayon books.  (The head is on the right, in both pictures.)

As I mentioned in a previous post, they did this early ultrasound because I'd had some pain on the side of my abdomen and they wanted to make sure the pregnancy was viable.  Which it is.

I'm having a bit of a quandary when it comes to doctors.  When I was pregnant with Robin, my current doctor's office had four doctors, and they worked on a rotating basis, meaning that I would get whichever doctor was on call when I went into labor.  I met each doctor throughout my pregnancy so I'd be familiar with all of them.  Of course, I had some that I preferred over others.

Well, the doc who delivered Robin isn't at the practice anymore because she's moved elsewhere and will only be practicing gynecology (no more obstetrics--no more babies.)  Of the other three doctors, only one of them remains at the practice, and there's one new doctor.  They still work on a rotating basis.  I haven't met either one yet this time around, since my first visit was with a nurse.  My most important questions--about their philosophies on VBACs (vaginal birth after cesarian)--were deferred until I could talk to the doctors, since each doctor tends to have a different view.

To be honest, the one doctor who remains at the practice was probably my last choice to deliver my baby.  Not that I didn't like her, but if memory (from over two years ago) serves, she didn't seem as friendly.

What happened to the other doctors?  I wondered, so I googled them and was quite surprised at the results.  Turns out that both of them, AND one of the nurses AND the certified nurse/midwife from the practice all moved to a different practice, which still delivers at the same hospital and is, in fact, only two blocks away from the first.  That really got me thinking.  I mean, the mass exodus bothered me.

So, I've set up an interview appointment for next week, and I'm keeping my next appointment with the current practice (also for next week.)  This way, I'll be able to ask VBAC questions of both offices, and get a better, current feel for them.  Even if I like one better, the one I'll probably go with is the one who will be more favorable towards VBACs.  If they seem equal, I'll go with the one who feels better.

I did learn, from the receptionist, that the doctors at the new practice try to stay with their patients all the way to delivery (no rotating) although they have someone always on call if something doesn't work out.  I also found out that, of the two who moved to the new practice, only one is still doing babies.

I'll probably never get a real reason for why they all left.  It's probably something they aren't supposed to talk about.  My concern is whether it was something that would affect patients.  It could easily just be a professional (or administrative) difference.  Or one of the doctors could've decided to start their own practice and the rest of the staff decided they liked her better and wanted to tag along.  At any rate, I'm on a quest to see which I like better.

Happy Halloween!

Better late than never, right?  At least I've got them up more than a week before Thanksgiving!

Robin was Spiderman.  He really likes Spiderman, even though his initial exposure has just been two board books.  He now has a jacket and shoes for Spiderman as well, and loves them all.  He made a beeline for the costume in the store, so we went with it.

Dean decided to go as the Spiderman villian Dr. Curt Connors, otherwise known as The Lizard.  Most people didn't recognize it, although next year they would have because The Lizard is set to be the villian in the next Spiderman movie.  Dr. Curt Connors was a scientist who was missing an arm and he was doing experiments with reptiles because of their regenerative abilities.  Like all mad scientists, he tested his research on himself and managed to grow his arm back.  Hooray!  And then he turned into a giant lizard.  Oops.

I tried to go as Mary Jane but... well, there really wasn't much I could do.  I've got the red wig going, at least!

Trick-or-Treating

Robin couldn't get his mouth around "Trick-or-Treat" but he liked imitating the doorbells, so we had him say "Ding Dong" when people answered.  He also has yet to say "Thank you," so we had him say "All Right" after people gave him candy.

Showing off his costume one final time before refusing to wear the mask

Dumping out his haul

Mmm... licorice!

He doesn't really fit in the cauldron anymore.  In fact, it kept tipping backward as we tried to get him in it.

Much better!

Duplicating the first "conked out in the cauldron" photo.  He's QUITE a bit bigger than he used to be!

Reading "Five Little Pumpkins."  Hope everybody else had a good holiday too!

Happy Birthday Robin!

We had our first prenatal visit today, and we saw the baby!  This was because I'd had a little pain on the left side of my abdomen a few days ago (probably due to pushing Robin on his new bike, which bends me over sideways) but it was enough to make easy-to-worry me think about an ectopic pregnancy--so they did a quick ultrasound to check the baby's viability.  And there it was!  Just one (hooray!) and it's right where it should be.  We were able to pick out the head, some limb buds, and watch the heart beat (180bpm.)  It's still too small to hear the heart, but it was neat to see it while it was so small!  Oh yes, and it's due June 10th.

But on to the main point of this post:  Robin's birthday!

The theme was Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.  Check out here to see the invitations.

We gave Robin his train table the night before the party because we wanted to give him the chance to claim it as his own before having to share.  It was definitely a hit.  He threw a huge fit when we told him it was time for bed, and we've spent a good deal of time in the basement playing with it since then.

Our basement with an array of food

The party favors, which contained a stuffed monkey, a matchbox car, two foam airplanes, and a frisbee.

A few shots from the party

The train cake.  This took a long time to put together, but we were pleased with the result.  I'd been potentially expecting more guests, so we were eating cake for dessert for more than a week!

Robin smeared in cake

Unwrap that gift!

Surrounded by bounty

On his new bike

Happy Birthday, little man!  How did two years go by so fast?

A Birthday Gift for All

More birthday photos are, of course, forthcoming, but I thought I'd best get this one on the blog for anyone who hasn't heard the news through other sources.

After Robin opened his birthday gifts from his friends, Dean and I had him open this gift in front of everybody.  Here's a picture of him wearing it:

Yes, that's a t-shirt that says "Big Brother."  We are expecting another baby!  S/he should be joining us in early June--just outside 'Birthday Alley' which currently runs from late March to mid May for our family.  I just hope this baby doesn't come early like Robin did!  But we'll take what we get.  Our family is expanding again!

Four Days!

I was using the leaf blower today, and after I finished making piles I was blowing air at Robin.  He absolutely loved that!  He would run away laughing wildly, then come running back calling "more!"  Then he stopped running away--instead he stood in front of the nozzle and let his shirt fill up with air.  It reminded me of one of the many trips to Buffalo to visit my grandparents when I was a child.  During this particular trip, we went with my dad's parents to the Skylon Tower in Canada, which overlooks Niagara Falls.  It was very windy on the observation deck, and we were all letting our shirts fill with air.  There's one picture of my dad and my grandpa, both with poofy shirts.  Dad had a triumphant smile on his face, but Grandpa was looking down at his shirt with a thoughtful look on his face.  Well, at one point today Robin looked at his poofy shirt with the exact same expression, and it brought all the memories back.  I said "Aw, Robin, can I hug you?"  He took off running, but it was a good moment.

He's going to be TWO in just four days!  It's hard to believe it's so close.  As I did last year, I'll probably give the blog an overhaul after that.  Stay tuned for birthday pictures sometime after the big event!

Just like his Daddy, Robin is reading the Toys R Us ad over breakfast.  They advertise extraordinarily well, because Robin pulled this out of the paper just to look at.

Wearing Mommy's apron

He looks like he's ready for preschool when he has his backpack on!

In Black Bart's Cave at Casa Bonita

At his tumbling class

These are from a recent trip to the zoo

 

Pics from our latest swim class, on the day Daddy was able to go, too.

 Then the Children's Museum followed