Something I am working on now that I know how unhelpful “you’re so smart” compliments can be (source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckq2QT1g5YR/)

26 months, 1 week old: 

• November 22:  Bb notices a lot of little things.  For example, I was in my office opening up the blinds (which has a sound due to the pulling of the beads) and bb was downstairs and she commented “mama is opening the window”.  Or I was downstairs making a phone call while bb was upstairs with grandma and as I was dialling the number and the tones could be heard on the phone, bb asked “who is mama calling?” Super observant!
• She is a lot of fun at this age and very silly.
• However, ever since we “left” her with the paternal grandparents the beginning of the month for an ultrasound appointment, bb has regressed a lot in terms of her about to socialize with other people.  She had improved this summer to the point of being able to look at strangers and other friends and family and warm up in about an hour’s time, sometimes less.  But recently, ever since that “incident”, she clings on to our legs and hides and clings on to her dad and in worse-case scenarios, she closes her eyes and cries for an hour.  We don’t know how to make her “forget” that episode where we left her at home with the unfamiliar family members… I guess it will take time.
• Last Saturday, DH woke up to changing her diaper and discovering a HUGE pile of soft white “fluff” under her undershirt and near her diaper.  It was a shocking discovery that I heard DH exclaim so loudly, so unlike him.  He told me to take a look and I was shocked also to see all the little puffy white bits on her skin.  It didn’t look like something expelled from her and I deduced that it must have been the bits from the diaper that came out somehow.  Maybe there was a rip in the diaper.  Either way, it was alarming to see and DH gave her a bath right away to wash it all away.  Grandma and DH said it smelled like pee, so it must have been the insides of the diaper.
• I think it was from this incident that DH wanted to get her on the potty training even sooner.  That pile of fluff was alarming to see and it just goes to show you how much chemicals and artificial stuff is in diapers.
• I had been talking to my friend about potty training recently and I shared with DH about how she had her son naked in the summertime so that he could tell when he had peed on the floor and within a couple of days, he learned how to go on the potty by himself.  Thus, that’s what we did with bb too.  We actually let her wear just shorts and without the diaper first.  Once she peed and felt it was wet, we let her on the potty to try to go.  We changed a couple of shorts before we realized it probably wasn’t the most efficient way of doing it and we let her be butt naked instead.  This way, she picked up going to the potty much, much faster and was successful for four to six times that evening!  (Before that though, she peed on the floor — once on the white learning tower, then near her kitchen with a poop, another time on the white chair, and then near the bookcase. ) We applauded and praised her so, so much and she had the biggest smile on her face!  However, for bedtime, we put her in diapers again.
• We weren’t consistent with the potty training the day after which I was a little annoyed about because if bb was showing progress, why stop there?  But it was also a little bit to do with logistics too.  Once bb was butt naked, we didn’t want her sitting on the sofas or couches in case she peed there so she was standing around a lot.  She didn’t even want to sit on her learning tower to eat either.  At one point during the potty training she said she was “scared of the pee”.  What she probably meant was that she was scared of peeing on the floor or having an accident again.
• It makes sense my why friend trained her son in the summertime.  It’s warm and hot and easier to be butt naked.  While we have the heat on at home, it’s still cold for her to be without pants… I guess we’ll see what happens.  In a way though, she is successful a full month before the new sibling comes.  We just have to keep at it.  The diaper on/diaper off thing needs to be consistent.
• Also, seeing her little naked butt is SO cute lol…
• Bb still loves to have her stuffed animals play dress-up.  She asks me to put her dinosaur stuffed animal in clothes and dresses.  She has so much interest in it.
• Bb hasn’t been napping in the afternoon.  She’s SO tired though but yet she hasn’t been successful in falling asleep either with grandma or DH lately.  Because of this, she’s been sleeping much earlier at around 9 p.m.  It’s great in a way because we get the entire evening to ourselves, but I also wish she had an afternoon nap still.  It breaks up the day so we are less tired and can have some downtime during the day…
• Bb has been loving the Pizza Nova commercial jingle.  The “439… Pizza Nova!” and asks DH to sing it.  This is because it usually plays every night on the Fairchild TV channel and bb has picked it up.
• Bb also has memorized lines from the books she reads and will randomly say them.  She has such a good memory.
• I punctured my pinky this past weekend when I was cleaning up my office.  Bb asked me what the scab was and how I got it.  I explained to her and then she keeps asking it every day multiple times lol.  I guess she wants me to say it over and over again.
• Her favourite toy is hands down the stuffed dinosaur these days.  She always carries it around the house.
• Bb knows that we like watching her dance on the learning tower so she does it for fun these days.  Her little wiggles are so cute.
• Since last week, bb has been randomly saying “ninety-ninety-ninety-nine” which we didn’t know what it was at first and then we figured it might have been her hearing “COVID-19” on the news and trying to repeat that lol.
• She’s been quoting from the book “‘Cause I Love You”.  The entire line is:  “You’re my little bundle bear. Snap up, wrap up, woolly wear. We go here, there, everywhere. ‘Cause I love you!”  She says the last part so clearly, “Everywhere.  ‘Cause I love you”.  It’s so cute.
• She also likes to say “po po, I love you” ever since DH taught it to her and grandma came back from her trip.  Grandma says “I love you too” and on occasion if po po only says “I love you”, bb goes “too” as a prompt because it’s not complete yet 🤣.
• Our friends came to visit (bb was clingy and shrunk to only be with her dad) but really enjoyed the strawberry-filled cookies, Peppa Pig themed, that they gifted us.  She has been eating the little snack bags every day.
• Nov 23:  Bb has watched me put the dried clean dishes and cutlery in the drawers and cupboards and this morning helped me to open the cupboard for me to put the cutlery inside.  She’s so good!
• Whenever grandma takes out the broom to sweep, bb follows suit by taking out her small size broom and does the same.  It’s so cute.
• Bb continues to open the fridge and take out things she wants to eat.  Things like yogurt, hummus, apples, milk, etc.  Whatever she takes out, I have to be prepared that someone, one of the adults, will eat it too because she doesn’t follow through half the time and only takes a bite.  And I don’t like having food wasted.
• When we came back from the week 35 BPP ultrasound, bb was so happy to see us and said “you’re finished looking at dou dou?”  She knew.  She was so giddy and excited.
• One bad habit she’s picked up and which we’ve enforced recently is that whenever she falls or hits herself, DH goes to her rescue right away and so now she’s always looking out for her dad to hug and reassure her that she’s fine.  Even when DH was working in the basement and she scraped herself, she asked for him to come upstairs to console her.  She actually told me to tell him to come lol.
• When we had a birthday dinner with some relatives, bb actually behaved quite well and didn’t shirk away.  We realize that the key to having her be okay in social situations is if the people don’t engage or interact with her at all.  The more you focus in on her and try to get her to talk, the more she will burrow down and turn away.  The less interested you are in her, the more comfortable she is and the more willing she might be able to interact back with you.  What an odd bird! 😛  But the problem with this is that her paternal grandparents and relatives will always want to engage and interact with her.  They wouldn’t just let her be or ignore her.  So there still has to be a balance and bb still has to learn how to face people normally.
•  Oh!  A big development this week is that we visited our local preschool/daycare/Montessori to do a tour and learn about what they have to offer.  We had been thinking about doing this for months and finally was able to visit and find out more information.  Monday to Friday full-day preschool for a toddler, 8:30 to 4:30, is about $1,300 per month which includes breakfast and lunch.  However, the schedule includes two hours of play outdoors daily as well as 1.5 hours of nap time as well as probably 30 to 45 minutes added up together of washroom routines and undressing and lining up with the other kids.  The total instruction time is probably 4 hours or so each day.  I don’t work full-time and don’t intend to and we have another adult at home, so there’s no need to be spending $66 a day for someone else to do almost the same things with her.  She has better varied breakfasts and lunches at home and we also take her outside to play too.  The only thing she is missing is regular social interaction and the beginning of institutionalized learning, of which I don’t care to have her start on that soon anyway.  I understand how two working full-time parents need to place their child in these settings, but for now we will cherish her being at home and learning together with us at her own pace.
• I asked the staff member about sickness in the schools and she couldn’t give me a straight answer.  The truth is daycares are germ incubators and kids get sick every two weeks, minimum.  We will continue to avoid that for now.
• Bb can count to 10 on regular objects.  She needs help in making sure that she doesn’t skip over the item she’s counting, but I’m not stressing over it or correcting her too much.  It’s SO early for her to be counting and I’m glad she can do it by herself, but I don’t need to correct her.  I let her learn and remember things as she goes.
• She’s been going on and on about something called a “sin gonn” for the longest time.  We don’t know where it comes from and can’t place a finger on what it sounds like either.
• She’s been calling Cheerios as “sher ro” or just “jo chan” (breakfast) since that’s usually what’s part of her breakfast.

• Nov. 23:  Week 35!!!  This means only about three weeks or so realistically before the new member of the house arrives!
• I’ve been continuing to eat the four dates per day and drinking raspberry leaf tea as well.  I’m not as consistent with the tea every day, but something is better than nothing.  The tea packs are actually left over from my pregnancy two years ago.  I bought two boxes and only one box was opened and still has so many tea bags left.  I think I only drank it two times last time.  This time, at least I’ve already drunk three cups.
• The dates taste much better when soaked in warm or hot water for a while.  They are softer and gooier like a sweet snack.
• I was battling a cold this whole entire week.  Being sick while pregnant is really not fun.  (I checked the RAT COVID-19 test four times and there were all negative.)  I have been SO congested from my nose to my throat with phlegm and there is no over-the-counter meds that I can take to relieve any of the symptoms.  I just had to get better by myself.  It took around five days to really get better.  It was so tough to talk and read books to bb because I was losing my voice.  It was hard too because being pregnant means that I have to take deeper breaths than usual anyway, which I usually breathe from my nose, but since my nose was clogged up, I could only use my mouth.  There were two nights this past week where I felt like I was drowning and couldn’t breathe at night.  It was so bad.  I finally propped up my pregnancy pillow against my regular pillow to sleep at an incline and felt much better.  I was so tired during the day the first two days I was sick too that I just passed out on the couch and could heard my own snoring.  I was so tired.  And thank goodness that my mom was back from her trip.  I got sick “in time” because if I had gotten sick while she was away, I don’t know how me and DH could have cared for bb.
• I’ve been farting so much more lately.  Could it be because of eating the dates?  I barely farted this entire pregnancy (whereas with the firstborn, I farted ALL the time — especially in the beginning which was a early pregnancy symptom actually).
• The little fetus continues to move and kick vigorously.  My belly continues to be red near the center where the skin is stretching out.  I weighed myself and I’m about 146 lbs still.
• I upped my insulin to 15 units last night since my numbers are hovering close to the maximum limit of 5.2.  Better to be safe and up it one day earlier since I remember the nurse told me she wanted me at under 4.9 anyway.  Sometimes the insulin shots hurt and sometimes I don’t feel a thing.  It depends on how tight I hold the skin for.  I remember when I first took the shots, I had a slight headache immediately afterwards.  These days, I don’t have the headache anymore after the injection.
• My postprandial numbers are all in range.  I would say 95% of them are.  The only time they’re not in range is if I didn’t eat enough protein or if I didn’t eat foods in the correct “order” (protein and/or vegetables followed by carbs).
• One big symptom I noticed in the last three days is that I am completely STARVING by the morning.  I hear my stomach grumble SO loudly in the middle of the night.  Once, it was so loud and clear that it sounded like a typical “stomach grumble” that you hear in the movies.  I’ve never heard my stomach grumble like that before.
• Bb started this week to kiss my belly when I open it for her to see “dou dou”.  It’s so cute.  I did catch it on film.
• Another thing is that I have been getting up to pee more often at night.  It feels like the baby is pressing down on my bladder more so that’s why.  I didn’t sleep very well this night due to the extra full bladder PLUS not sleeping well due to the congestion too.  It was a tough week.
• I was actually supposed to get my TDAP shot too but I had to postpone it two times since I was still recovering from my cold.  My family doctor said I have to get it before 36 weeks, which is next week.
• So many moms in the “Babies due December 2022” Facebook group are giving birth early.  From weeks 35 and onwards, I’ve been seeing spontaneous labours and waters break.  I can’t believe I’m 35 weeks and 2 days pregnant now.  I can’t believe we’re nearing the end of November (7 days left in this month) and then December is around the corner.  Once December hits, we’ll be looking towards December 12th which is the two-week mark before the due date marker.  And then from there, it could be any time that the baby comes.  I am super curious to see how the baby makes their appearance this time.  I am fiercely hoping for a spontaneous labour again and that I won’t have to be induced.
• I also “sent in” my leave and let my work know that I’ll be off after this week.  Yay!  A time to relax before the baby comes, but I know I’ll be missing the reporting.  Who knows when I will be live reporting again after the birth of this second child…
• This time, the only nesting instinct that I feel is that I love washing the dishes and cleaning up and making sure even little hairs on the floor are picked up and discarded.  It’s unlike last time where I feverishly posted all the miscellaneous items on Facebook market to sell and get rid of.  I wish I had the same motivation and drive like last time.  I still have pictures on my phone of items I already took pictures of to sell but really haven’t been motivated to even post them yet.  How hard is it to make the listing?!  But yes, definitely this time around, I don’t have that same nesting instinct.  I only like washing dishes…
• Speaking of washing dishes, I never wrote down how in the beginning of this pregnancy, washing dishes was a deterrent for me.  The sink smelled so rank to me and I didn’t want to touch any of the dirty dishes.  But now in my third trimester, I love cleaning the dishes and it feels so clean and enjoyable.  It’s a huge 360 degree turn.
• My app says there’s 33 days left before the due date.  That is so crazy to me.  I can’t believe how far we’ve come… from finding out about the pregnancy in late April until now… almost time to meet the new person.
• I had my second BPP ultrasound today at 11:50 a.m.-ish back at the regular ultrasound place.  The other place that allows you to take more photos was booked full until December.  This time, the ultrasound appointment was as fast and efficient as it usually was.  Last time’s delay and length of ultrasound was really a one-off and it was too bad that that time was the time that DH’s parents were the ones who looked after bb which caused the trauma too.
• This ultrasound technologist was the strict one that we remember from before that we aren’t very fond of.  However, on this visit, she was much more kind and gentle and didn’t even limit us on the photo-taking.  She let DH take the photo at the end of the visit by himself and even showed us the stats page to take photos of too.
• The appointment was so quick, probably about 10 minutes long.  No one instructed me to drink water an hour beforehand this time, but I did have a little reserve just in case they needed it.  The tech confirmed that this was my second BPP and that the doctor ordered it because of my GD and insulin.  She told me what she was doing as she went through each part of the scan, which was nice and appreciated.  She told me that the heartbeat was 139 bpm, the exact same as last time on November 3.  She told me the percentile was at 55%.  Last time was 60%.  I asked for the weight since she told me the percentile and it was 2100 grams, about 5.95 pounds!  That’s quite a big baby so far.  I asked if the head was down still and she initially told me to ask the doctor these questions but then she confirmed that, yes, the baby’s head was down and quite low.  She also measured the beat of the umbilical cord and I heard the thumping on the monitor too.
• She let DH into the room at the end and I made sure this time to turn the screen towards me so that I could see it too.  Baby is so big now and there’s little room for him/her to move around that it’s hard to really pick out what you’re seeing.  She even said that this makes it harder to take photos and I was fine with DH not taking many photos because it was true that it was hard to make out certain parts too.  For a second, I was afraid that she might have seen the genitalia because I didn’t tell her that we didn’t know the sex of the baby yet.  Luckily, we was nowhere in that spot and probably wouldn’t have revealed it either.
• One new thing is that the baby’s butt is now on my right side and the legs are on the left side.  Last time, the baby’s legs were on the right side!  That’s where I felt all the kicking.  No wonder within the last day or so, I felt like the kicking had shifted a bit.  This little one’s head is still down but their legs and feet have moved across my belly lol…
• So glad that DH killed three birds with one stone by also getting his flu shot right after the appointment and we also booked bb’s flu shot for next week too.  I love efficiency and doing things in one shot and saving time and gas.
• This baby has been hiccuping once or twice a day minimum.  I can feel the little hiccups every time.  DH and grandma also have felt them at this point.  Once, it was quite strong and I could easily feel them from my belly.
• This little one still likes to respond to my touches.  It’s so different from the firstborn pregnancy where there was barely this much movement.  I’m really going to miss these baby kicks and stretches and movements.
• Another big thing this week is that I got a new exercise ball!  It’s also called a birthing ball, but it’s the same thing as any exercise ball.  I hope to be able to bounce on it and wiggle my hips so that the baby can descend easily for labour.  After it arrived, I did sit on it for a bit but it wasn’t too comfortable.  I’ll have to work myself into it.
• I’ve grown used to people calling me “big” now — unfortunately.  I really am very large for my size even though I’m so close to the due date now.  It’s not nice to call someone “big” and I have problems with people who say that to pregnant women.  Just don’t comment on anyone’s size and instead say “congratulations” or “you look so healthy!”
• I have to say that I don’t enjoy being pregnant this late in the game during the cooling weather.  I can’t even wear my winter coat as in I can’t zip it up at all.  So I can’t go out for a simple walk because I’ll get cold.  It’s around 5 to 9 degrees and with a wind chill, which is not ideal for me to walk in if I don’t have proper clothing.  If I were to have another child, I would again prefer to give birth during the autumn time period, so anywhere between September to early November.  Even mid-August to early November would be preferable.  It’s just been so cold outside that I can’t walk outside.  And I love walking, especially when it comes to getting ready for labour and birth.
• As such, I’ve been walking indoors on the spot or around the house.  It’s definitely not the same as walking outdoors where there’s fresh air or sunlight and a path that never ends.  But I still have to get my steps in because I want to have an easy labour.
• Speaking of steps, I’ve been diligently moving every hour whenever my Fitbit tells me to.  I don’t want to stay stagnant.  My hourly stats have improved significantly as of a couple of weeks ago.