Beautiful Day

Lydia has been enjoying the great weather we've been having lately.

Notice her famous flying kiss (aka blowing a kiss) in this next clip.

Updates

Lydia's so-called fever is pretty much gone, though she still sometimes bursts out crying for no apparent reason...sudden mouth pains, I guess. She has her 18 month old doctor's appointment next week, so I'll ask the pediatrician what exactly was wrong with her, but for now, everything is under control. We are no longer trying to potty-train Lydia before the baby is born, as mentioned in an earlier post, though Lydia still says "poo-poo" and runs to the bathroom, but with no ending result in the actual potty (sometimes in her diaper though). I probably forced the training too much; she would actually freak out later while sitting on the potty. Better luck next time though we had a good start.

Lydia's nap times last about two hours now and she's still going to sleep at 7 PM, though she's been waking up at 6:30 AM these last few days with the teething problems. I'm hoping that she'll start waking up at 7 instead soon because as my fellow mother friends have blogged, 30 more minutes of sleep makes a world of a difference. Lydia has also been watching more television lately instead of her usual one hour in the mornings. She catches Sesame Street in the early mornings, Barney and Friends at 11:00 while I prepare lunch, and an occasional Arthur in the afternoons if she's bored with me; it really is hard entertaining a toddler.

I had my 34 week doctor's visit yesterday and everything is right on target. I've gained a couple more pounds and the baby is currently head down, though she still may move. Lydia accompanied me to my appointment, which was tough trying to keep her busy after 45 minutes of waiting; the doctor had some kind of emergency. I've scheduled my future appointments around her nap time so that I can leave her at home with Trung, which will be much easier. I have a feeling the Sophie may arrive early, which I wouldn't mind, just as long as I get to the 37 week full-term mark. Hmmm, we should plan on moving Lydia to her new room pretty soon then, huh?

Medical mysteries solved

Case 1: All I had to do was change out my contact lens and my eye was just fine. Yes, I know I probably should have thought about doing that the very day my eye started hurting...oh well.

Case 2: I have come to my own conclusion that Lydia's fever is a result from her cutting teeth #13 & #14. Not only was her head warm inconsistently, but she would cry our randomly while eating and would mess with her mouth quite often. During one of Lydia's upset moments when her mouth was wide open, I noticed a couple teeth coming through on the top. So, I've just been giving her softer foods to eat and she seems to be feeling much better now.

What's wrong?

My right eye was bothering me a couple weeks back, so I've been wearing my glasses (in public too...yes, that bad). Every time I put my contact in, my eye would get irritated. I thought that after the hiatus, everything would be back to normal, so yesterday I attempted to leave my contact in while I spent the day with Wendy. Well, by early afternoon, my eye was tearing up and my nose was running. I've never experienced a sinus infection before, but it that's what it feels like, I totally empathize with sinus sufferers. I'll try putting in a new set of contacts tomorrow to see if that was the cause, but I have a feeling I'll be visiting the optometrist some time soon. By the way, I've heard that pregnancy may affect vision, but could it have actually caused this reaction?

Lydia was quite fussy yesterday and her head seemed a bit warm, but we didn't think too much of it. As the day went on, however, her head got hotter and she didn't have much of an appetite. So, I gave Lydia a dose of Infant's Tylenol before she went to sleep and hoped for the best. This morning she woke up a bit early and still felt pretty warm. Lydia ate a good amount for her snack and breakfast, but the "fever" kicked in around lunchtime when she barely ate at all. After two naps lasting three hours total, she seemed to be feeling better again and ate a nice big dinner. Hopefully tomorrow will be less of a feverish day.

Cuteness

Here's a cute clip of Lydia "stretching" with Mike a few weeks back right before he went to the gym.

She just loves walking between people's legs, though it's especially interesting when I'm trying to cook and she walks into the oven. Oh, Lydia has also been quite helpful lately, taking the dishes out of the dishwasher and helping me put them away Trung and I think she might have a slight OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) because she loves cleaning though this could be most useful to me in the future. :)

Taking its toll

Being pregnant is beginning to take its toll on my body; by the end of my walks with Lydia, my back is aching. Also, just the other night, I got my first Charlie Horse for this pregnancy. I didn't stretch it out correctly either and my calf ached for days. *sigh* I don't recall having the back pains as much with Lydia, but then again, I was swimming three to four times a week, which took off all the back pressure. I had considered joining the gym just for the pool, but the weather has just now gotten better (I didn't want to have wet hair after swimming and catch a cold) and I wouldn't being using my membership for at least six weeks after I deliver. It's all good though, I can still make it around the neighborhood in one piece. :P

Lydia has been more consistent on her naps now...they range from 1.5 to 2 hours daily and she gets 12 hours of sleep at night (right around 7AM to 7PM). She seems to get bored quite easily now, so I'm thinking about putting her in a Mother's Day Out program or something similar once a week. I got a coupon for a free class at Gymboree Play & Music which I'll probably try, but I've heard you have to stay the entire time and that it's pretty pricey. Lydia could definitely use the interaction with other kids and I could definitely use the break to catch up on chores and sleep when the baby is born.

Potty training is kind of at a stand still. Lydia had stopped saying "poo poo" and I couldn't determine when she peed, so I attempted the "one day" training method where you sit the child on the potty all day. Yeah, that didn't work so well because Lydia didn't drink enough liquids, so she didn't potty for hours; plus, she was getting sick of sitting on her potty. I tried the "one day" method again the next day, but Lydia was still upset about it all, so now I've decided to just let it be...yes, honey, you were right. Now she says "poo poo" too much, but we still take her to the bathroom for routine sake. Maybe we'll try potty training Lydia for reals after she turns two; she's not even a year and a half for crying out loud!

Momma and Dadda Time

Trung had yet another LAN party to attend on Saturday, so Lydia and I got to spend even more time together this week. I love her to bits, but after being with her all week and not being able to get out of the house for the day due to the weather, I really needed a break. Thank goodness Wendy dropped by around dinnertime to chill for awhile.

Sunday afternoon, we made a quick trip to Lakeline Mall and then Trung dropped me off at The Domain where I met up with Wendy. With our girls left with their fathers, we finally got well deserved breaks. We didn't do or buy much and ate a simple dinner at Coco's, but the time to ourselves was priceless. Thanks, daddies, for watching the young'uns.

"Lost" Love

We didn't do much for Valentine's Day yesterday (I didn't even wear red or pink); I just made Trung's favorite meal...pot roast. Trung has always believed that the holiday is for marketing, and though I used to not agree, after being married and especially after having a child, I'd have to agree. Every day is Valentine's Day when you are with the ones you love. :) After eating dinner and putting Lydia to sleep, we watched Lost, which has been getting quite exciting. I hope there are several episodes left because I'd hate for it to end unexpectedly like last season.

Today has been a "Sophie wants to come out and play" kind of day. I definitely feel more of those crazy Braxton-Hicks contractions nowadays and boy, it can be rough sometimes. Hang in there, kiddo, you'll get to explore the world soon enough. Can't wait to meet you and see what you look like! :P

Best of both worlds

After a weekend of napping for only an hour, I was delighted when Lydia took a 2.5 hour nap on Monday, but no potty. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Lydia slept for almost two hours AND went to the potty...yeah! She really is getting the hang of going poo poo.

Today I had my 32 week visit and everything was right on track. I didn't gain any weight since my last visit, but my belly was bigger. I had to take Lydia with me this time since I had scheduled the visit before her nap time change; the nurse and doctor had a ball with her! She wanted to walk around and touch everything, so I tried to sit her down with her Cheerios, which lasted for about a minute. Good thing the appointments don't last very long nowadays.

This afternoon, four-year old Mary from down the street dropped off a birthday favor with her mother and baby brother since we couldn't attend her birthday party this past Saturday. Lydia loved looking through all the goodies, and especially loved the sunglasses.

A Weekend in Houston

This past weekend was my last planned visit to Houston until after Sophie is born. We didn't do much; most of my friends didn't even know we were there...sorry, Houston friends. :) I met up with Tiff and Christian to give the little mister his birthday presents, and the rest of the time was spent with my family. Saturday, everyone had lunch at my parents' house, afterwards, Jimmy recruited Trung and Mike to help mulch his yard. One hour and 28 mulch bags later, Trung and Mike came back to pick up Lydia and I to head back and chill at Jimmy's house. We later had dinner at Landry's without my Mom and Mike. The last time I went to Landry's at The Woodlands seven years ago, I got food poisoning from the oysters (which were cooked, I recall), so I was a bit paranoid eating there again, but all went well.

Sunday, we went to Tallowood Baptist Church and practically got lost trying to find Lydia's new classroom in the Zoo district. The children's facility is extremely nice now, though quite far from the worship center. Actually, it is probably the same distance as it has always been, you just don't realize these things until you have to drop off your own kids! :P After service, we had lunch with the Chinese Mission, dropped by my parents' house to load up, and then headed back to Austin. Our next visit will be during Mother's Day weekend when Sophie will be about one month old.