24 weeks...17 months

Just a brief update...

Alison is now 24 weeks along.
I feel good--much like I did with Davis--I have truly been blessed with pregnancy thus far--it has been kind. I'm now wearing maternity clothing, and I can't hold my tummy in anymore. It sticks out. Despite feeling like my stomach can't stretch anymore, I know that it will, and that my tummy will get bigger, and there is something about that feeling that I remember loving, and I love it again now. As for baby boy #2, this little one is a mover. I don't recall Davis moving as much as this one does. I'm beginning to wonder when/if he ever sleeps. Could be a tough transition for either Mommy/Daddy/Davis or for the baby...since we like to sleep at night around here. I have a couple of updated ultrasound pictures. The first is a "profile" picture, and the second, is of his nose and mouth--now for the "ultrasonographically-challenged" folks out there...the 2 tiny black dots within the whitish stuff are his nostrils, and the larger black circle just beside it, is his mouth, slightly open, as if he's saying/mouthing "ooooh". (Get it?) He's starting to get some fat on him, so the ultrasound pictures now, look much like a "real baby", particularly the face, instead of the alien-appearance they have at first.




Davis is now right at 17 months old.
Davis, my friends, has "erupted" into a brand new little person....temper tantrums and all. With all the loving and cuddling and smiling that he was so good at just a few months ago, we hardly "know" this new little fella that tests the boundaries regularly, climbs on his toy box to get mommy's attention, and stomps his feet and "squeaks" (yes--you'd just have to hear it) whenever he just can't figure out what he wants, or what is wrong (or not wrong), or if he's just plain tired. It has been VERY hard for Mommy to handle this "new person" because she's such a perfectionist and planner. Daddy, however, can roll with things alot easier. We are finally having to have "discipline" discussions amongst ourselves to figure out how we are going to consistently help Davis maneuver through these next few years, as we heard it doesn't end with the "terrible two's". Word has it that there are "trying three's" and "freakin' four's".

Davis has managed to also incur his first 2 bleeding injuries in the same week...the first time by tripping and falling and busting his lip at daycare while running towards the lunch lady. (His lip was fine within minutes) What's even more hysterical is that his "incident report" said as part of the follow-up: "Davis was told we do not run inside." Yeah--how does that work out for a 17 month old? Especially a hungry one chasing the lunch lady.

His second gory lip injury occurred when he fell off of our bed one morning after we let him lay with us just before we were going to get up and get ready for work (no he doesn't sleep with us). It was a hard thump from 4 feet up...face first again...smacking his lip on the floor. Blood was everywhere--his pajamas looked like a really bad Halloween costume...and just not a way to start the day. Things were fine though...literally within 30 minutes...just seemed horrible at the time. As far as we can tell, his teeth made it through both falls unscathed.

Finally, Chris has spent 3 days this August on a training exercise for the USAR team (Urban Search and Rescue), which he's a part of, where they are doing a 3 day mock-disaster drill here in Greenville simulating a Hurricane/flood disaster. Of course, he has really enjoyed it, and most of all, he's excited that possibly on the third day of the training exercise, he'll get to ride in the Blackhawk helicopter that's assisting in the training exercises. We'll definitely post a video if there's a good one.