He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not...

This morning....

Me: James, do you want to say "good morning" to Molly?

James: No thanks, she's still boring.

This afternoon...

James: Where's Molly?

Me: She's upstairs sleeping.

James: I love her.

Me: She loves you too.

James: And she loves you Mommy.

Aaaah... so much love at the Coyne house.

James "helps" Daddy:

James Meets Molly

We know you are all dying to know how James - an only child before Wednesday, doted on, loved and blogged about almost daily - handled meeting Molly and the news that she would be coming home with us... FOREVER. 

Well, of course, he handled it like... James.

Welcome Molly Catherine!

born January 28, 2009

7:58am @ Andrews Air Force Base, MD

7lb, 10oz

20"

Tastes Like Sugar

Of course, if you are 2 1/2, you would think that snow would taste like sugar and you would be unable - physically unable - to NOT put it in your mouth. After months of false weather predictions, we finally got a snow day!

"Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm"

ps. Today, I have done touch up paint in two rooms, vacuumed two levels, reorganized a playroom and a giant art basket, played in the snow with James, sorted and removed all of my maternity clothes, and made banana bread. 

Still no baby.

pps. This will be very sad news to the "helpful" ladies at JoAnn Fabrics who told me, yesterday, that I would have the baby last night because my "face was so red and puffy." thankyouvurymuch.

Elephant....

...the dog. 

James named this dog "Elephant." So, we are feeling pretty good about NOT letting him name the baby...

which is still in my belly, by the way.

Done...

But the Baby is Not....

.... done cooking, that is, so off we went to the zoo today. And just to keep going on my "toddler time is best" rant - when you show up at the National Zoo the minute they open, not only do you get a prime parking space not 50 feet from the maned wolves (seems like a good thing, but really they are stinky), but the animals are all very active eating breakfast, getting cleaned, and in the case of the seals, getting a dental check up AND NO ONE IS THERE.

Here are James and Daddy just before this 7 year old elephant had a bath and an enormous amount of bamboo for breakfast.

On display near the lions and tigers... dinosaur bones and James.

Here is where the seals were getting a full work-up. The zookeepers checked their skin, their teeth, their ability to fetch a frisbee in the water, and their expectoration skills. This consisted of asking the seals to blow their noses (?) into large cups several times. That all seemed like a good nature lesson for James until he repeated it over and over and then we thought "no more seals for you."

Stay tuned tomorrow for the next edition of "the baby is not here yet." I have grand plans of walking the mall while James is at school. I wonder what time they start making pretzels....

Natural History Museum

James may be an early riser and most people groan when we tell them that we are up at 5-6am every day, but we have found that this toddler timeline is THE BEST. Everywhere we go - no crowds, no lines and plenty of parking spaces.

Today was the Natural History Museum. Brian would tell you that the big highlight was the parking space we scored RIGHT IN FRONT of the museum, so I thought I might show you some of the highlights from James' point of view. This was all the stuff he did when he wasn't running up and down the ramps yelling, "I want to see more stuffed animals!"

Hands-on kids' area: fun with a magnifier. 

Here, James is clearly reading the posted instructions...

Perhaps we should buy him a magnifying glass....

NOT a highlight for James... the bronze life-size gorilla. He ranked right up there with Santa, the Easter bunny, and all clowns.

Hard to believe it was just over a year ago that Brian was gone and James and I were taking in the DC sights on our own.

And now here we are all together... 

Hard to say who's gotten bigger... me or James? No actual answers please...

Most People....

Most people would be resting or nesting. Sleeping or doing something low-key like stacking diapers, putting away miniature clothes or reading a book about how to take care of a newborn. Not us. No sireee. We are busy doing ridiculous projects.

James is building forts - every day starting at 5am.

I am taking on projects that I am not good at even when I'm not 40 weeks pregnant and pretty uncomfortable. 2 baby quilts, 3 auction baskets for James' preschool fundraiser, a t-shirt for James...

This is one of those "rag quilts" that I haven't sewn together yet...

and Brian? Brian built a wall. Seriously. It's temporary, but for now we hope it will muffle some of the noise either from the baby or from James - we can't decide who might be louder.

BEFORE: the stairs leading up to James' loft-like attic bedroom

AFTER

Hide and Seek

There is some confusion about HOW to play "hide and seek" here at our house... James hides in the exact same spot every time, he covers his eyes while he is HIDING, he pops out while you are looking for him and shouts "surprise!" and he counts to ten like this: 1-2-3-10, so you have to hide FAST, but he LOVES it and would play all day if we had the energy for it. Here are two videos showcasing his hide and seek methods...

(a note: "cheep cheep" is a phase James is going through - he tells me all the time that he is a baby bird)

Turns Out....

James might just be my son too! Finally displaying some personality traits that mirror my own... (no comments about his endless energy and ability to change his mind 40 times in 10 seconds, please)

This morning, I changed a S.T.I.N.K.Y. diaper and had to give James a new pair of pants, tossing his pj pants in the laundry....

James: "But Mommy, these don't match!"

Me: "Yeah, but it's just comfy pants so..."

James: "But they don't go together! I need a new shirt!"

The offending outfit:

Really. 

This happened. 

He's 2 1/2.

Ha! Caught you!

That's right. I caught you. Checking this blog to see if I have done a post for today?? Even though I claim to be a multi-tasker - I am not at the hospital, in labor, writing a blog post. It would seem that my guess of a January 20 birth date might be wrong. Boo. Hiss.

I did get a pedicure yesterday in the hopes that the pedicurist (?) would rub me into contractions - no such luck.

I scrubbed the kitchen floor this morning because my grandma says that put her in labor three times in a row - no such luck.

And yesterday we walked the entire Pentagon City Mall (huge, 4 stories) and all that resulted in was me eating my weight in Auntie Annie's pretzels.

So, stay tuned folks. I'm sure I will have this baby eventually.

One Photo Too Many

It would be hard to say when exactly we took the "one photo too many" but this is what is has come down to. James is eating an apple and I am taking a photo of the upteenth quilt pattern that I have come up with before I sew this baby up and he starts asking me to take pictures of him while he says "cheeeese" and poses with his apple.

Perhaps there is a future (and college tuition) in produce modeling?

American History Museum

I think this is the museum that people are talking about when they say, "I'd like to go to the Smithsonian." "The Smithsonian" isn't so much an actual museum as a string of museums in DC - all free to the public and open almost every day. 

This one, The American History Museum just reopened. It features all kinds of great stuff like the flag that inspired The Star Spangled Banner, the Gettysburg Address, and Abraham Lincoln's top hat. Of course, I read all of that on their website because we spent the entire time in "America on the Move" - which features.... you guessed it... planes, trains and automobiles.

As you know, James is terrified of Santa, the Easter Bunny, clowns and puppets in general so he wasn't quite sure what to make of these statues.

James' favorite - a train you can "ride" on. We sat on every seat in that thing. Do I need to point out that it wasn't actually moving? To be fair (to our 2 1/2 year old) - the lights did flicker and the train rumbled as if it was moving...

As an aside, this museum also featured supersonic hand dryers in the restrooms. It blew out a frightening amount of air that dried your hands in about 5 seconds. Seriously.

Nothing But The Best.

Today I had an unexpected doctor's appt (nothing major - just a lingering cough) and Brian had an all-day meeting with various Generals and other VIPs so we were in a bind. I am happy to report that our neighbor - retired 2 star Navy Admiral - "Neighbor Pat" stepped in to watch James.

Nothing but the best.

Step Right Up!

Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages... step right up! You may NOT guess my weight, but you may guess when this baby is coming. If you're feeling really confident, feel free to guess if it's a boy or girl.

Here's some information you should have before making your guess....

• My due date is January 23 (I will be 38 weeks on Friday) and they won't "let me" go past Feb 6.
• I am going on record saying that I think it's a girl. Always have. I am hoping to have the baby on Jan 20 so I can watch the inauguration for distraction AND the baby can be born on such a historic day, but as I learned with James (11 days late), I have absolutely no control over this.
• Brian thinks it's a girl, but that is only because I have brainwashed him to think so.
  

Here's what they're saying on the street:

Ladies at AC Moore (craft supply store): "Definitely a girl because your belly button is sticking out at the top."

Ladies at the nearest 5 registers at the commissary: "Hard to say - you are carrying low so that looks like a girl, but you are all belly so maybe a boy." (very helpful, as always, at the commissary)

Register lady at JoAnns: "Let me see your hands."

I show her my hands.

She says: "Boy. Definitely boy." (don't ask)

Random administrator woman stepping into the hallway at Andrews AFB hospital: "When are you due"

Me: "In about two weeks."

Her: "That baby is a boy."

Me: "Um, okay. Thanks."

So there you have it. Use the comments section and place your bets.

But wait! There's More!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention all of these great gifts that James has been playing with every day since Christmas.

From Aunt Cathy - a rocket launcher! This is a favorite, not only with James but Daddy and the entire courtyard of adult neighbors. It's pretty fun to watch them come out of their homes one by one to see how high they can make it go.

From neighbor Karen: a blinking Rudolph nose. It took three days for us to get James to put this on his face and then it took us three hours to get him to take it off.

From neighbors Peter & Pilar: a genuine German gingerbread house. We had this thing assembled no less than 10 minutes after Pilar brought it over. Please note that James took one bite out of every cookie before he put it on the house and he's obviously quite proud of his work.

And this.... THIS! My brother, sister-in-law and nephews all made this together. THEY MADE A PUZZLE. It's designed, painted and carved all by them. I'm sure my sister-in-law Natalie even grew the tree that the wood was cut from. It's various airplanes (some more superior than others) ; ) with clouds and scenery and the whole bit. I mean, THEY MADE IT.

Amazing.