Some Catching Up

There's a lot of little things that I haven't blogged about, but I'll blog about all of them in one fell swoop.

Dutch is sick.  He has Fifth Disease, which sounds super-serious, but it's just a little virus.  It starts with cold-like symptoms and ends up in a rash on his face, chest, and in some cases the arms, but Dutch only has it on his chest and face.  It's uncomfortable, but not life-threatening or anything.  It can, however, be bad for pregnant women so I have to talk to my doctor about it today and see what I need to do.  I'm crossing my fingers I won't need a blood test because I HATE getting blood drawn.

Chris and I were talking about trying to potty train Dutch before the baby comes, but we didn't want to push him into doing it.  Then, the other day, he was in the bathroom and asked for help to lift up the toilet lid.  He only pretended to pee, but it's a great step in the right direction!  I'm just glad he's showing some interest in using the toilet.

His speech therapy is going both good and bad.  Bad because his behavior has been increasingly hostile at Abby's visits (not towards her, but towards the games themselves), but good because at Abby's last visit she brought Sue, a behavior specialist, who told us that there are two reasons kids throw tantrums: to avoid or for attention.  Dutch's tantrums are to avoid doing anything he's afraid he won't be good at or doesn't want to do. So we have a new plan in place for Abby's next visit.  In the meantime, Chris and I have been working really hard with him to use the words we know he can say.  He's doing great!

Sweetums is 18 weeks now and we'll find out the gender in 2 weeks on the 20th.  We're going to wait until Christmas to tell anyone though, so it will be a nice surprise!  I'm feeling good, but tired all the time.  My energy level is so low that I rarely feel like putting on makeup and doing my hair, but I make sure Dutch gets the bulk of my energy, and that's what matters.  Chris has been great about stepping up and taking over when he can tell I'm exhausted.

Speaking of Chris, his days are getting longer and longer.  It's hard not having a set schedule, but he's enjoying the work so I guess that's what matters.  He's contracted not to work more than 50 hours a week and he hasn't exceeded that, but some days it feels like it!  Especially when Dutch is being extra naughty (just like his cousin Evie).

We've decided to skip the trip to sit on Santa's lap this year since it was so traumatic last year.  Maybe next year he'll understand a little better and like him more.

Okay, I think that's everything for now.