the squirts

Providing updates on the kids is not the SOLE purpose of this blog, but it's probably the biggest one. And I'm overdue to provide another one. Which I will! But before I do, let me remind you that I have another blog that I post on more frequently, so if you want to read more about the stuff currently on my mind, email me and I'll send you the link. :)

Now, onto what you came for: Brigid, Samuel and Littlest!

Let's start with Littlest. He or she (and if I had to guess, I'd say it's a girl) looks something like this, about 4 inches long crown-to-rump, and very cute (I assume). Every day I have at least one moment when I think, "hey, was that the baby moving?" but I've yet to have a definite "okay, I'm SURE that was the baby moving!" moment. Waiting in expectation. :D

I'm due to go get the AFP panel in the next week or so, which is a basic blood screening test for several genetic diseases, including Down's Syndrome. I hate that test. I mean, if something's wrong, I want to know, because I'd want to be ready (for example, sometimes Down's kids need surgery RIGHT after birth, and I'd like to be emotionally prepared for that, if that's the case), but the test has something like a 96% false positive rate, that is, 96% of the positive results turn out to be wrong. I hate taking a test that has false positive rates like that. Happily, I go to a nice Catholic medical group, so if I get a positive, I won't get pressure to have an amniocentisis (a more precise test which carries a high miscarriage risk), they'd just send me over for a level 2 ultrasound. Anyway, please pray that the kiddo DOESN'T have any diseases, and, secondarily, that I don't get false results. Thanks.

In about a month, we should have an ultrasound, and we'll hopefully find out if this is Elijah or if this is Jane. I want to know! So does Brie. :D I have to say, it's really fun to have one of my kids old enough to be excited about this pregnancy. She even talks to the baby. It's very cute. She said, "Mommy, when the baby comes, sometimes we'll take him places with us." I had to tell her, "Brie, when the baby comes, we'll take him with us ALL THE TIME." She looked a little daunted. :) Also, showing off her burgeoning math skills, she said, "Mommy, when the baby comes, then there will be FIVE of us!"


As I am sitting here writing, Samuel is sitting in my lap saying, "hi. Hi. Hi." He's talking a lot now, and showing off some new imaginative skills. When we read a book about trucks yesterday, he pretended to pick up each truck off the page and then pretended to throw it, saying "Throw truck! Throw truck!" Cool language us and imagination use there, I think - and he's only 1 1/2 years old!

He also is very fond of noises; I read him some nursery rhymes today, and he sat there bouncing and saying, "rub-dub-dub. Rub-dub-dub." He can do easy puzzles and tries to do everything his sister does, which doesn't work so well when it's something requiring more height than he has yet to attain. :/


Brigid's started doing something really cool and touching lately: she's started reading books to her little brother. She especially likes taking his easy photo books and doing with him what I do: turning the pages and saying: "Sam, where's the dog? Sam, where's the apple?" etc. She also reads him his tractor book. It's awesome.

They also, of course, poke each other and steal toys from each other. But, you know, there's good stuff too, and that's encouraging. :)

Another encouraging thing that's happened recently is that Sam's appetite for being read to has grown. I was a little worried about this a few months ago, because the way I kept Brie happy and out of trouble when I was nursing Sam was to read to her. Brie's been into being read to for long periods of time since she was about 1, and Sam just never sat still that long. But today I read to both him and Brie for over half and hour! I can't tell you how happy that makes me. And we have about 6 more months to work on it! I now have hope that I will be able to nurse #3 while reading to #'s 1&2. :D

Brie went to the doctor recently for her 3 year appointment. While she did not deign to speak to the doctor (of whom she seems to have a poor opinion), she took her shot without even crying. Wow. Also, we found out that she's at normal weight, but at the 90th percentile for height. In other words, the girl is tall and skinny. :)

Brie has opinions about what she should wear and how her hair should be done. And she has dress-up clothes that she can put on and take off all by herself. These dress-up clothes include fairy stuff from grandparents and a grey wig that Adam and I picked up at a thrift store. The result is a three foot high, sixty-four year old fairy running around the house, dinging things with her magic wand. :) Sam tends to stick to his Viking helmet, but Adam occasionally makes him an entire superhero outfit made out of bandanas. :)

Well, Adam's off at karate, and I should probably work on getting these squirts to bed. Except, of course, for the baby, who is very happily bedded down for the next six months.

And it feels like Sam might be running a very low fever. Pray for our little one, please.

lots of love,
Jessica