Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming

It's been pretty hot here. "Pretty hot" as in it's 85 - 90 degrees out with no breeze to speak of and I'm 6.5 months pregnant. Blech. Oh, and there's a little bit of humidity thrown in there to just make sure my sweat never dries.

Thus, we have been making the most out of our pool. The boys and I go in at least once a day and sometimes twice, depending on how hot it is outside. Since we've spent so much time in the water this summer, the boys have gotten really comfortable with the water. Johnny loves to swim around the whole pool with his floaties from Grandma Durso and Hank just likes to splash around and jump to me. Both boys put their faces underwater and both have learned the concept of closing their mouths and holding their breaths. Without any kind of formal instruction. Which is awesome.

And now Johnny does stuff like this:
Which is pretty awesome considering he wouldn't go near the diving board a few weeks ago. 

At some point you just have to laugh.

A couple of days ago, Johnny wanted to go to Cardiff (San Elijo beach) so we could watch the trains that go by. Well, we tried to go in the morning, but the boys were too distracted by all of the stuff at our house, which was fine until it was Hank's nap time and then it was a HUGE deal. My children do not understand the concept of time. So I said we would go after Hank's nap. I generally don't do afternoon outings because the boys tend to be tired, way more stubborn than usual, and unsympathetic to my desire to go home and make food for dinner... but Johnny was so sad we didn't get to see trains that I couldn't say no.

Hank woke up and we packed up and shipped out to Cardiff around 2:30pm. We parked and walked over to the Kook and sat, waiting for the trains that came about every 45 minutes, as is our custom.

Walking along the garden path from our car to the Kook statue.

Then Johnny said he wanted to go play with sand... which is a rare occurrence. Usually it's Hank who is begging to play with sand, not Johnny. Well, I tried to get them to go back to the car to get the diaper/snack/water bag and the sand toys, but Johnny wasn't having it and took off to the beach. Hank and I had no choice but to follow, armed only with my purse.

Once we got down to the sand, we walked for awhile and found a really cool spot by a bridge (something else Johnny is obsessed with right now) with lots of rocks for throwing. We threw some rocks into the lagoon, then crossed over the bridge a couple of times (not my favorite activity since there was no sidewalk and there were LOTS of cars) and back to the beach to throw rocks. By this point, I had been parked in the 2 hour lot for an hour and forty-five minutes. So I gave the boys a five minute countdown and they threw rocks for five more minutes.

Then I announced, "Okay boys! It's been five minutes. Time to go." Aaaaaaaaand, they weren't having any of it. Now, unfortunately, I don't have a leg to stand on with these declarations because I can't force them both to do something that they don't want to do. I'm not supposed to be lifting 30 pounds, much less 75 (which is what they weigh together). I do try as much as possible to coax/convince/compromise them into doing certain things with me, but this could be an expensive parking ticket if we didn't get moving. So I managed to coax Hank into leaving and just picked up Johnny.

We made it about 30 feet.

Hank got distracted by a large mound of sand and Johnny was screaming to be put down, so I put down Johnny with the agreement that he would walk to the car next to me. I walked back to Hank, explained to him that we have to get moving so I needed to carry him, which he was fine with. I picked up Hank and turned back to meet with Johnny... and he wasn't there. Where did he go, you ask? Back to where the rocks were. And he was having a merry time throwing rocks into the lagoon. So Hank flung himself out of my arms and joined his brother.

Honestly, at this point I'm panicking.

I'm worried about getting a ticket in the timed lot. I have no snacks with me. Or water. None at all. Hank the tank hasn't had anything to eat since the handful of dry cereal he had when we drove in two hours ago and you don't get to be a 2-year-old in the 100th percentile without eating every hour. And I can't carry both boys back to the car. Suddenly, I'm picturing myself having to drag the boys by their arms through the sand back to the car while they scream, cry, and generally melt down from thirst, hunger, and displeasure at being removed from their fun activity. Not something this trying-so-hard-to-be-peaceful parent wants to attempt.

So what do my darling children do as I'm having in inner panic attack? They remove their clothes and start wading in the water.

And at that point, I have two options:

• Option 1- Lose my ever-loving mind over the ridiculous parking ticket that is surely awaiting me, the wet clothes I now have to carry back to the car, and the side eyes I'll be getting from the other beach-goers as my naked sons traipse down the beach.
• Option 2- Laugh and take pictures.

I chose option 2.

The full monty

Johnny picking out the best rock for throwing.

Hank's clothes were completely wet and I didn't have any fresh diapers with me, so he walked back to the car naked. Well, he made me carry him most of the way.

I finally managed to get the boys to go back to the car voluntarily, where John had arrived (after an earlier tearful phone call from me) with Papa John's pizza. We all had some delicious dinner in the van and went home. John let me drive his car so that I could escape the craziness for a little while. He's so awesome.

Not a real post...

...but I had to share this. I'm officially in my third trimester and I have a pregnancy app that I check less-than-religiously. (It's my third rodeo, what can it tell me that I don't know already?) But I always get a kick out of the produce that they compare the size of my baby to. This week's is... weird. 

Cauliflower? Really? 

A belly comparison.

I promised that I would take a picture of my belly in the morning and then one at night to prove that it grows/gets tired of its own weight throughout the day. And I know that you've been updating my blog on the daily sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for those comparisons.

Well, update no more! (Just kidding. Please continue to visit.) I finally got around to doing it. Yay!

Left is 9AM and right is 9PM. So, besides the fact that I look dead tired and haggard in the 9PM picture, the belly looks bigger, right? RIGHT?!?! Okay, not really. John says I'm just imagining it. Maybe I am.

Otherwise... I'm feeling good. We had the "big" ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and got some pictures to show you. Later. Because I have to scan them and that means I have to connect my computer to a scanner.

I guess the only other news is that there's a little mystery surrounding my due date. I mean, it's not like due dates are supposed to be solid dates anyway (contrary to how many doctors and politicians feel about them), but mine is definitely a ballpark figure. Normally, the due date is figured off the first day of your most recent period, for me that would be November 18th, as I originally announced. See, but from what I know about my cycle, I think that's about five days too late. I'm guessing the 40 week mark is around November 12th or 13th... probably the 13th since that's my birthday and babies have crappy timing no choice in the matter.

Well, the sonogram measurements concur with my theory that the November 18th date is a little late. In fact, if we were to go by the femur measurement, baby would be here around November 1st! Which means this baby is probably going to be pretty tall. Anyway. The range the ultrasound tech gave me, according to her measurements of the baby in utero, is between November 11th and November 17th. Since I tend to make larger-than-average babies, that has to come into play as well. So maybe he/she will arrive closer to the 11th. We shall see.

This week, baby is the size of a/an: cucumber (mine's probably a fat cucumber)

How far along: 26 weeks 4 days

Exercise: I bought a prenatal exercise DVD and I've done it exactly once. It was pretty easy, but it's an hour long... and at night when I'm faced with choice of sleeping or exercising... I sleep.

Sleep: Hasn't been horrible. Hank has actually slept through the night a few times in a row so I actually feel like I've caught up a bit.

Food cravings/aversions: Peaches. ALL OF YOUR PEACHES ARE BELONG TO ME.

Movement: Sooo much movement. Which is magical. Except at 9:30PM when I'm trying to sleep. This kid is totally going to have days and nights reversed.

What I miss: Walking without pain. I've got some serious pelvic pain this time around, which happened with Hank, too, but not until I was 8 months along. This is two months early! It's not uncommon for pregnant women to feel pain in the pubic bone since my hormones are making all of my ligaments relax, so at least there's that. But the only thing I can do to make it feel better is not stand up or walk or lift heavy objects. Ha. Ha ha ha ha ha. Ha.    Ha.

What I'm loving: Not being in the third trimester yet.

What I'm looking forward to: Talking to my former student, Kelsey, who is training to be a doula, about coming to the birth.

Best moment this week: Johnny saying "When the baby comes, I want to hold the baby!"

To accomplish before baby comes: SO much stuff. So much. 

Thoughts and feelings from Significant Other and Siblings: Well, John was convinced that this baby had to be a girl, but at the ultrasound, the tech took one look at our baby's foot and said, "Whoa! That's a big foot!" So now John is thinking it has to be a boy.

Getting out the DSLR

A few weeks ago we went to Old Poway Park, thinking we'd catch a ride on the train, but unfortunately, it was broken down. So, instead we wandered around the park and I took pictures of my adorable boys. They weren't wearing clothes I would have picked for a photo shoot, seeing as Johnny's shirt had been on him for about seven days straight and Hank was wearing pajamas, but they were still pretty cute posing for pictures. Well, kind of posing.

Watching the train go back into the depot

If you look closely, you can see Hank wearing shoes!

No Mom. Crackers first, then smiling.

Open wide!

And then he got totally soaked.

I know.

It was nice to get out my good camera and attempt to be a little creative, but my bigger belly is making that a little more difficult these days. :)

Getting bigger...

Brothers

I get asked almost daily if Johnny and Hank are twins. Less so now that Johnny got a hair cut and Hank, thus far, has not taken the give-Daddy-a-shave-for-a-haircut deal, but still pretty often. Even though I'm their mother and they look completely different to me, I can understand why people think they are twins.

For one thing, they are nearly the same height. Hank is really tall for his age (over 100th percentile... I should probably write about his last doctor's appointment) and weighs only three pounds less than Johnny, so they are very similar in size.

For another, they both do very similar things. If Johnny jumps off a wall, Hank is going to go jump off that same wall. And add a somersault. Then Johnny jumps off the wall, does a somersault and a spin. Then Hank- etc, etc, etc. You get it. The fact is that they are really well-matched physically. Yes, Johnny can run faster and his coordination is just a little bit better, but Hank is right there with him.

They even have dimples on the same side! The left, like Daddy.

So yeah. I get it. They DO look like twins to an outsider.

They're not, but they're really close and I love that.

Before I was pregnant with Hank, John and I talked about how long to wait to have another baby and we both decided to have them close. Which is why the boys are only 18 months apart. I'll be honest, it wasn't a picnic having a newborn and a toddler at the same time. Johnny was still really needy and so was Hank (obviously) and I had a tough time balancing their needs and choosing between them.

Now though? It's awesome. Yes, there are sibling fights, but I know those would be happening regardless of age difference because, well, that's what siblings do. But it's really cool having two boys of a similar age because they can relate to each other rather easily. For instance, both are really into Curious George right now and will willingly sit down and watch an episode together when I need to make dinner/go to the bathroom/have five minutes without someone TOUCHING ME. Even though Hank is into the Cars movie and Johnny has kind of passed that stage, they will both play with the multiple Lightning McQueens we own and race them down ramps together. Johnny is more into trains than Hank is, but that doesn't mean Hank won't get a kick out of watching the trolleys pass for an hour or enjoy playing with the wooden train set with Johnny.

They have their inside jokes already and will laugh together even when I have NO clue what they are talking about. It's really cool to watch. And, of course, I'm interested to see how the dynamic will change with the addition of a new little one at the end of the year. Hopefully it will only get better.