Evelina Tidbits

Evelina is D.O.N.E. smiling for pictures.  Maybe some day she will be inspired again.

It is amazing to think that Evelina won't be an only child for much longer.  It makes us sad to think that she will have to share us with her little sister, that we won't get to spend as much one-on-one time with her and that her life will change just as dramatically as Chris and mine will in the coming weeks.  Even though it may be a challenge for all of us, I know our hearts will be filled with more love then we can bare, and we can only hope that Evelina will love her sister just as much.  I'm looking forward to witnessing a beautiful sibling bond form, to watch them grow up together, and to see their love evolve into a friendship that will last them a lifetime.  That is the joy of having a sibling. 

With that, here are some recent Evelina tidbits:  

• Evelina is officially in her big girl room sleeping in a twin-sized bed!!  The transition hasn't been too difficult and she doesn't seem to miss her nursery.  The first couple of nights she would tell us "I scared", but overall, she is sleeping better in her big girl bed then she did in the last few months in her crib. What's even better is that she hasn't slept in our bed in over two weeks...yippee!!  Hopefully the stretch continues.  All we can hope for is that she doesn't go through a sleep regression after Siby arrives. 
• She is very intrigued by the camera to the video monitor. In the nursery it was hung up high, but now it is on the top of her bookcase where she can see it.  Since she has heard my voice from it, she has begun to ask what it is.  "What's that, Mama?" I told her that it's a monitor that we use to make sure she is safe in her big girl bed.  Now she will point to it and say "Keep me safe".  Too cute.   
• She associates us telling her that we need to go potty with us leaving her awake in her room at bedtime. It was taking her a long time to settle one of the first nights in her new room and I really needed to "potty" so I told her I needed to go and I would be right back.  She was so content in the room that I didn't go back and she eventually drifted off to sleep.  Now we use the same line frequently and it works every time.  She even told me last night that she wanted to go in the bed and said "Mama, peepee in the potty", to get me to leave!!   
• For some unknown reason Evelina all of a sudden does not like Mr. Noodle on Sesame Street.  Whenever he comes up on the screen, she will go over to Chris and ask for "cuddles" and curl up in our lap.  Once the shade closes and his segment is over, she will inch her way back onto the couch out of our arms. Strange toddler behavior I tell ya.  
• Evelina has no problem using the Baby Bjorn potty or the toddler potty at school, but ever since switching to a preschool sized classroom earlier this month with a larger and higher potty she is "scared" to go there.  She protests and tries desperately to run as far away from the potty as she can.  Her teachers and I have tried to reassure her that we will keep her safe and help her on the potty but she still wants nothing to do with the bigger potty.  Poor thing, maybe she doesn't like change just as much as her Mama?  I plan to get a toilet trainer for our toilet at home in hopes that we can help ease her fears for when we officially start potty training.  
• Evelina always wants to know where her loved one, teachers or friends are and she will ask you about 400 times a day.  "Where's Papa?", "Where's Mimi?", "Where's Auntie KK?", "Where's Grandpa?", "Where's Auntie Ro?", etc.  She will ask even though she knows where they are because we told her minutes before.  Many times, I will ask her where they are and she will say "Pittsburgh" for Auntie KK or "New Hampshire" for Mimi.  She likes to associate the dogs with the appropriate family member as well.  "Mitzy" for Auntie KK and "Tulip, Lily, Oggie" for Mimi. 
• Everyday after school she asks for a "lollipop", which is really a frozen Stonyfield YoKids Squeezer.  They are quite yummy.  
• She likes it when we open the sunroof in the car.  
• She is determined to put on and take off her own clothes.  She does a pretty great job with skirts, pants, socks and shoes but shirts are quite a challenge. The more independent she is, the better off we will be when we eventually have to get two out the door.  Many times, we can avoid tantrums if we just let her dress/undress herself, even though it may take longer.     
• At nap time and bedtime, she prefers if we read stories in her bed, instead of rocking in the chair.  
• She LOVES stickers!!!  
• She broke her first plate at a restaurant by swiping it onto the floor.  Oops, sorry about that Cheesecake Factory. 
• I took her into the American Girl store for the first time and she was in "baby doll" heaven.  Although, she was petrified of going up and down the escalator.  Our child definitely has some fears.  
• Her appetite seems to have increased over the last couple of weeks.  Perhaps she is going through a growth spurt of some kind?  She had 1 1/2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at lunch the other day in addition to fruit/veggie...I don't even eat that much!!  I'm sure this will be short-lived, but for the time being, we will go with it. 
• Her favorite foods are buttered pasta with lots of cheese, tomato and cucumber salad with ranch dressing, corn on the cob, and Dunkin' Donut's munchkins, preferably chocolate, jelly and pumpkin.  
• I fear that she will only call her sister "Siby" once she is born and not use her real name.  I think she is going to be confused when we change her name. 
• She talks about Siby frequently and if I'm not home, will ask where Siby is.  Papa of course, always says that she is with Mama.  She wants to bring Siby places, "My bring Siby to playground."; and she frequently likes to hug and kiss Siby, "My hug Siby", "My kiss Siby?".  It is incredibly sweet.  Last week while we were rocking at bedtime, Siby had the hiccups so I put Evelina's hand on my belly.  She just kept looking up at me and smiling.  When the hiccups were gone, she kept rubbing her hand over my belly searching for movement.  I just wonder what she really is thinking about all this??  

Video Monitor Upgrade

Since day one, we couldn't possibly have lived without a video monitor.  They are seriously the best invention to hit the baby product market...EVER.  Especially for a control-freak like myself.  It just gives us the piece of mind that we need to ensure that Evelina is safe and sound in her crib/bed. In the early months it helped me check if she was still breathing or if she had escaped the swaddle, we caught her moving from lying to sitting via the video monitor for the first time, standing, trying to climb out of the crib and actually succeeding with a bang.  We would have never known these things to have happened with just sound alone. It has also come in very handy to determine if she is just whining or actually awake so we don't go it to get her if we really don't need to.  Seriously...the best invention!! 

Until a few weeks ago, we used the Summer Infant Day and Night Monitor. It has been adequate at meeting our needs but the volume control started malfunctioning months ago and with the impending arrival of Siby, we needed to think about investing in a monitor that could accommodate multiple cameras easily. 

After endless research (you know me), we decided on the Motorola Digital Video Baby Monitor with 3.5" Color Screen. Babies R' Us had a great offer for one with 2 cameras which we couldn't pass up.  So far, we are loving it.  Some of our favorite features are: 

• The nice large screen
• The camera has the ability to pan around the room so if Evelina gets out of bed during the night, we can pan the camera and look to see where she is (aka, not in any trouble).  
• Adding the second camera was a breeze and is ready for Siby's arrival.  It can also hold up to 2 other cameras so if we ever wanted to put one in the playroom, we could.  
• It has a scan function that can rotate between cameras automatically.  This should come in handy once Siby arrives.  
• It displays the temperature in the room.  I LOVE this.   
• It has a two-way communication function, which has been invaluable for us.  I thought this would be totally useless, but the first time I used it, Evelina proceeded to do exactly what I said and was back to sleep in minutes.  We continue to use it when she wakes during the night and rarely have to get up to go into her room.  We think she is afraid of it, but not enough to cry or scream.  So until she starts defying the voice in the monitor, we will go with it. 
• It has a music function that you can set to play lullabies in the room, this may come in handy for Siby.

The only negative I see at this point is that the battery power isn't the best, especially if you have the camera on for an extended period.  I think this is common for most video monitors though.  

I clearly have issues or nothing better going on in my life if I'm this excited about a video baby monitor!! Oh well :-)

Clean Up, Clean Up

Evelina finds great delight in helping us "clean up" and she really enjoys her kid-sized broom and mop. She was assisting me after breakfast the other day while attempting to sing the clean up song: "Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere. Clean up, clean up, Evelina do your share."

 

Pregnancy 2.0 Weight Gain

For a couple of months I was concerned that my weight gain was out of control with this pregnancy.  With Evelina, I gained gradually week to week, but this time around I noticed I was gaining in huge jumps...10 lbs in a month....eek!! Most likely it was due to my eating habits and gestational diabetes (GD).  Since being diagnoses with GD I haven't gained more than ½ lb.  Naturally, I was a little concerned at my last appointment, but the Endocrinologist said that Siby is still gaining weight.  Hopefully he is correct.   We will find out the approximate size of Siby at our 37 week u/s scheduled in a few weeks.  

Pregnancy Weight Gain - Evelina 
From 0-16 weeks: Up 3 lbs
From 16-21 weeks: Up 7 lbs
From 21-25 weeks: Up 3 lbs
From 25-29 weeks: Up 5 lbs
From 29-31 weeks: Up 1 ½ lbs
From 31-33 weeks: Up 1 lbs
From 33-35 weeks: Up 2 ¾ lbs
From 35-36 weeks: Up 1 ¼ lbs
From 36-37 weeks: Up 1 ½ lbs
Total weight gain = 26 lbs 

Pregnancy Weight Gain - Siby 
From 0-16 weeks: Up 3 ½ lbs 
From 16-20 weeks: Up 2 lbs 
From 21-24 weeks: Up 9 lbs  – What did I eat?? 
From 25-28 weeks: No change 
From 29-30 weeks: Up 10 lbs  – Again, what happened?? 
From 31-32 weeks: Down ½ lb  – Changed diet due to diagnoses with GD 
From 33-34 weeks: Up ½ lb 
From 35-36 weeks: TBD
Total weight gain so far = 24 ½ lbs 

How is it that I look and feel so much bigger though?!?