Stuff about my kid

It’s supposed to be 75 and sunny today, so I promised Maddie a trip to the zoo. There’s a train and a carousel that she loves with the fire of a thousand suns, so I’ve heard “I’m gonna ride the carousel! And the train! CHOO CHOO!!” about 7,000 times since she woke up. We’re members of the zoo (best $50 I’ve ever spent, fyi) so it doesn’t cost us anything to go. It’s great for those days when you’ve just got to get out but can’t spend any money (that would be EVERYday, fyi the second). However, I belatedly remembered that today is Wednesday and therefore HALF-PRICE day at the zoo. That means 40 bazillion kids and their jackassy parents. And it’s far too late for me to change my mind. CHOO CHOO!

I’m very excited about Halloween this year. Maddie can still wear the dinosaur costume that Lora and Jake sent us last year and she’s old enough to understand the concept of Trick-or-Treat. Well, she understands the concept of candy, at least. We’ve practiced trick-or-treating and she’s got it down pat. Of course, she’s not going to do it on Halloween. She’ll get all shy and beg me to say it for her.  Our bustling metropolis of a downtown has trick-or-treating on Friday evening and I think that’s what’s we’ll do. She likes the idea of handing out candy, too, so we’ll stay home on Halloween and let her pass it out.

The transition to “big girl bed” has gone surprisingly well. She’s been in it over a month and only just realized that she can get out of bed by herself. The other night when Gerald was putting her to bed, she asked to take a book to bed with her. Gerald told her no because she has 11 million stuffed animals in bed with her already, and she calmly replied that she would just wait and get it when it was dark (meaning when he turned off the lamp and left). Seriously, how awesome is it that she announces her sneaky plans? I hope that continues into her teen years. Anyhow, we’ve had a talk with her about how when she’s in bed it’s time for sleeping, not playing. It seems to have worked.  Of course, now I’ve jinxed it forever by announcing it on teh interwebs. Will I ever learn? (Rhetorical question, of course. We all know that I will never, ever learn.)

Blogaversary 3.0

One more year gone by.  Today marks the 3rd anniversary of All Dressed Up and we’re back into eventful times.  Erica’s had her gall bladder out and another surgery to fix adhesions from that surgery.  An order has been placed for another kid and fulfillment is in process.  I’ve had my WLS and am having a good time with it.  Maddie’s still alive and well (and still if she agrees or not, mostly not these days).  This last year saw Erica attend Blogher and have an incredible time to hear her tell.    And Erica tried on a new career for size (didn’t fit).  The stats this year are 649 posts (from 502) and 5297 comments (from 3782).  Another good year babe, thanks and love you.

G

Shot heard ’round the world

I have to admit, I’m kind of a little shocked at the posts/articles I’ve read over the last month or so about parents debating whether or not to get their child vaccinated against H1N1. I’ll tell you, it never once occurred to me to not get Maddie vaccinated. She’s had the regular flu shot every year since she was six months old and has had every other vaccination at the age-appropriate time. Why would H1N1 be any different?

Yeah, sure, it’s new, but if it reduces my child’s likeliness of contracting a potentially deadly virus, then sign me the hell up. If, God forbid, she were to come down with the swine flu and I hadn’t had her vaccinated, I would beat myself up over it for a very long time. It’s my job to keep her as safe as possible and I consider having her vaccinated as an essential part of that job.

I know there’s a chance that she could have an adverse reaction to the vaccine, but I consider that possibility to be far less likely than the chance of her getting the flu. Gerald works in a school environment and Maddie goes to Mother’s Day Out. They both might as well be petri dishes for all the germs she’s exposed to. To me, getting the vaccination is just another weapon in our arsenal against sickness; Washing hands, using sanitizer, staying away from people we know are sick, vaccinations.

One Number Two

I saw my OB this morning and a sonogram confirmed that I am pregnant with just ONE baby. Hallelujah and Amen!

I’m measuring 7w 4d which gives us a due date of 6/3. Everything looks great. Heartbeat was 151 and I got to bring home some unidentifiable pictures for Maddie. She’s so excited to be a big sister. She talks to and hugs the baby in my tummy and constantly reminds me that she’s “going to be the best big sister EVER!” Also, there’s apparently a slide and some balls in my tummy for the baby to play with.

I get to see little Number Two again on 11/16 for the Nuchal Translucency test. Nuchal schmuchal; I’m only doing it for the extra sonogram. I can’t wait to see the little bean moving all around.

Of course you know this means war

Maddie was sent to bed two hours early and without any supper tonight. I feel terrible about it. Not because we did it, but because it came to that. Wait. Let me give you some back story.

I was a wicked picky eater as a kid. I wouldn’t even taste something before announcing that I didn’t like it. The way my parents chose to deal with the situation was to force me to stay at the table until I ate everything on my plate. No amount of whining or tears furthered my case. There was one very traumatic meal of meatloaf and stuffing (still my most hated foods, fyi) that saw me at the table at 2:00 in the morning. It was absolutely horrible.

Gerald has been obsessed with concerned about Maddie following in my footsteps since before she was even born. We formulated a plan before she was even eating solids. She always has to take one bite of her meal. If she decides not to eat it, that’s fine but she doesn’t get anything else. I don’t care how many times she whines “I’m hungry!” She’s always told that perhaps she should’ve eaten her dinner. This plan has worked out well so far. Once she takes her one bite, she realizes she likes whatever it is and eats most of it.

The problem isn’t that Maddie’s picky, but she is as stubborn as a mule. She’s chosen dinner time to be her battle ground. She employs every power play and manipulative trick she can come up with. Lately, she’s been refusing to even take one bite. We’ve begun to threaten that she’ll have to go straight to bed without any TV or stories if she refused. Tonight, she called our bluff.

So, I put her to bed at 5:20 with her typical sippy cup of milk. Right now, I can hear her over the monitor talking about how she didn’t listen and got in trouble. She also called herself a bad girl, but we certainly don’t call her that. (We do, however, say it to the dog.) I know she’s testing limits and pushing boundaries and learning consequences, but damn it, can’t she pick something else? I already hate dealing with dinner as it is; the planning , the cooking, the cleaning up. Now I can’t even enjoy the eating.

Maternity Clothes Help

So, it seems as though my jeans are no longer comfortable. I’ve lost 5lbs since I got pregnant and my damn jeans are cutting off my circulation at the waist. I didn’t want to go to work tonight because I look fat. Not pregnant, just fat. GAH!

Anyhow, enough whining about the inevitable. Let’s talk maternity clothes. Specifically jeans. Where the best place to get some? Old Navy’s website has lots that look nice. Not so much Target or Kohl’s. I need a couple pairs, so they can’t be wicked expensive either. Discuss.*

*We are NOT discussing the fact that I’m not even 7 weeks along and my pants don’t fit. That discussion would make me cry, k? Thanx!

Fun Fact Friday

* Now that I’m finally feeling better, Gerald has come down with the Upper Respiratory Infection from Hell. I’m pretty sure it’s much worse being the non-sick spouse than the sick one. And Gerald’s not even a Giant Baby like most men are when they’re sick. He does, however, get SUPER pissy.

* I’m pretty sure my boobs have been possessed by some sort of giant, blue-veined demon. Last night I rolled over onto my stomach and holy hell! The Pain!

* I’m looking for a new job. A full-time office job. We’ve decided to just bite the bullet and wipe out as much debt/accrue as much savings as possible before Baby Numero Dos gets here. I’ve applied for eleventy-seven jobs in the last two weeks and so far I’ve heard back from approximately 0% of them. I’m starting to get a little paranoid and a lot depressed.

* I was planning on taking Maddie out to do something fun today (either the zoo or the State Fair) but it’s pouring. So, I’m stuck here with a stir-crazy kid and a pissy sick husband. SCORE!

* To combat my aversion to getting bigger as a my pregnancy progresses, I’ve started browsing maternity clothes online. It’s totally helping, too. I love that I can wear “normal” sized maternity clothes this time around and I’m having fun planning outfits for my imaginary new job.

Operator Error

I was trying to clear out my pending spamments this morning, and inadvertently deleted ALL the comments from the last few days. Nice, huh?

Any how, just wanted to let you know it was an accident and not me hating your comments.

“With toys!”

We told Maddie about the baby growing in my tummy and that she’s going to be a big sister. Her reaction has been a little different from what I expected. She keeps talking about “when the baby comes out with toys!” and “when the baby is done growing and it comes out with balls!” At this point, I’m pretty sure she thinks I’m a giant pinata. She’d better not come at me with a stick, that’s all I got to say.

Also, I’m finding that I’m having a hard time with the prospect of getting bigger. I’m a little bloated right now and I’m obsessed with how far out my belly is pooching. My new (SIZE! MEDIUM!) jammies are a little snug in the waist and it makes me so sad. After spending the last 14 months watching myself get smaller, I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that it’s ok for me to get bigger. This is the first time in my life that I’m allowed supposed to gain weight. My bariatric surgeon was telling me that gaining 25 -30 pounds was healthy during pregnancy and in my head I kept saying “Oh hell no! I’m going to gain as little as possible!” Then he started talking about how important it is for my OB to watch the baby’s growth for any signs of slowing due to malnutrition on my part. You’d think that would have scared the bejebus out of me and made me realize that I HAD to gain weight with this pregnancy so my baby would be healthy… and you’d be wrong. While I’m eating well and NOT dieting, I’m still fretting over the inevitable. How sad is that? Sad AND selfish.