Where do acorns go?

On the ground, that's where acorns go. We recently had this discussion with Aiden. Why, you ask? Well, he went to daycare a few Mondays ago. I'd made a Tuesday doctor's appointment for him because he kept telling me he had water in his ears. I considered just getting some of the swimmers ear stuff, but I also am a little overly cautious with his ears because of the tubes. It was the first time he'd told me something was bothering him so I thought it was nice he could communicate that at least.

So, off to daycare he goes on Monday, with the water in his ears. And this is the email I get a few hours later:
Aiden had a runny nose and Jessie wanted to wipe his nose.  She asked him to blow and he did and then started trying to put his finger in his nose because something was in there.  Jessie saw something black and she pulled it out and it was a little acorn!!!

So, yeah. Pretty sure it had been up there for two days because we'd spent a lot of Saturday outside and because I saw similar looking acorns in our yard so I think (hope) that's where it came from. (The other explanation would be that he'd put it up there a week and a half before when we'd been on vacation....surely it wasn't up there that long!)

Amazingly, that night there was no more water in his ears. When we asked him where acorns went, he pointed to his nose multiple times, but he finally started answering that they belonged on the ground. I've always known to watch what he puts in his mouth, since he puts everything in his mouth, but his dang nose wasn't even on my radar! I took a picture of the little thing he stuck up his nose...I'm saving it for some future embarrassing moment. Turns out, it's the size of the body of a thumb tack!

Mow Lawn?

That's a question Aiden asks now on a regular basis. We used to watch Daddy mow the lawn from the living room, looking out from the open blinds. Then we'd move to the kitchen, sit in the window seats, and watch him do the backyard. But a few weeks ago we followed Daddy outside.....and now every time Daddy mows, Aiden mows too.

It's one of the sweetest things I've ever seen, not only because Aiden is mimicking his daddy, but also because Aiden intentionally looks for Ryan's approval. Ryan will give Aiden a thumbs up when they are headed in the same direction with their mowers, signaling that he's doing a good job. Aiden hasn't quite coordinated his finger mobility yet so he tries for the thumbs up and either ends up with an "L" or just a pointer finger up. But he does it almost every time he makes a turn....he searches for his dad and gives a "thumbs up". It makes me smile and melts my heart all at the same time. Ryan loves it too, which makes it that much better.

Looking for a thumbs up!

Time to put the mowers away.

Ocho!

The lighting was poor to poorer when we took this picture so you don't get the full effect of my very large belly. I know you can tell it's there....but it's much more there than you can see from this picture. I had a (male) checker at Target ask me the other week if my baby was coming in a few weeks. At that point, I'm pretty sure I had 10 weeks to go...do double digits still qualify as "a few"? I think I just laughed and told him October. I also had another (male) at work say, "Not much longer, right?" Oh, if only this was as big as I was going to get.....

I don't feel like I've jotted that many notes about this baby, with my quick updates so here are a few:
-This baby doesn't move anything like Aiden did. I felt baby move early...at 14 weeks...but it's not the consistent kicks I'd feel with Aiden. It's either the sharpest of jabs (seriously, a few times I've almost fallen over because it was so hard and sudden), or it's this slow, rolling movement. This baby also doesn't move near as much as I was used to, unless....
-I am holding Aiden. Baby loves it when I hold Aiden (that's how I am interpreting it anyway...you could say that baby doesn't like it when I hold Aiden and is trying to get him away, but I'm pretty sure that's not it at all...it's sibling love). Nearly every time I hold Aiden, baby moves. Before baby was moving every day, I would just snuggle with Aiden if I needed some reassurance that baby was doing well. And it provided that reassurance, every time!
-I am 98% certain we have a boy name....and equally certain that we do not have a girl name. Suggestions? :)
-Baby feels to be sitting much lower than Aiden ever did. Like ready to come any day sort of low...and has felt that way for awhile. I'm not sure if it's actually different positioning with this kid...or if my body is just in a different position (i.e. out of shape) so I'm not holding the babe as high.

Today starts 33 weeks so I've got anywhere from 4-8 weeks to go. I feel like this kid won't be near as late as Aiden and may even come "early," as in 38-39 weeks. Could there be some personal hopes in behind that feeling? Perhaps......