17.5 Months for Caden and 28 Weeks for Baby Sissy

Our little wild man is growing and learning so much every day! He is fiercely independent, which is both good and a little scary! The little monkey LOVES to climb on things....his favorites lately are the top of the couch and the toilet. He doesn't use anything except his super human upper body strength to get up onto either (yikes!).

He thinks he is hiding:)

Crawling carefully across the top of the couch....sorry Omi and Grams, I know this picture will make you squirm!

Monkey Man climbing onto the toilet.....he usually does wear pants, but he had just squished raspberries onto his shorts and escaped mid-change:)

http://youtu.be/Bp9JbURXJ7k

Caden likes to go down the stairs facing forward, and will occasionally grab for a hand if it's a large or unfamiliar step. He is still a very good eater on most days, still loving berries, cuties, and ANYTHING with cheese. Smoothies are a new favorite! We usually share one for a morning or afternoon snack and he runs to the couch as soon as I turn off the blender and climbs up for a snuggle and a smoothie:)

Caden is still VERY curious. He decided to get into the whole wheat flour the other morning. When something like this happens, you have two options (1) cry or yell (2) grab the camera and laugh. It was a bugger of a mess to clean up, but Caden had fun and he created a good memory:)

"Uh-oh"

I couldn't be mad at that cute little face!

He is still very much into reading, his new favorite book being "Goodnight Denver", given to him by Grams and Papa Smutz. Caden also still loves "Curious George," "Frog and Toad," and of course "Brown Bear, Brown Bear."

His favorite word is now truck, which sounds like "uck." We turned his car seat around so that he faces forward. He now likes to point out every truck on the road - who knew there were so many trucks out there! Caden also really likes to say "bee." My parents got him a bee pillow pet last Christmas and Grams and Papa Smutz gave him a new book with a bee on the front, so he is really into those:) He calls any bugs "bee" so we are working on that.....

We refer to our little girl as Baby Sissy for now. We are still deciding on a name:( We have a few favorites, but can't quite pick one! Caden is the cutest big brother.....her loves to kiss sissy good morning, and good night, as well as several other times throughout the day. It's really cute, but a little awkward since he insists  on lifting up my shirt to kiss the bare belly:)

Baby Sissy is 28 weeks already! She weighs about 2.25 pounds and is about 14.8 inches long, which I can totally feel. My belly has definitely popped and I am carrying her very high which is giving me trouble breathing when I sit cross-legged on the floor with Caden....still 13 weeks to go! She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. Her eyesight is developing, so she can see the light that filters through my womb. Millions of neurons are developing in her brain and adding body fat in preparation for life in the outside world:)

I had my appointment where I drink the glucose and have my blood drawn to check for gestational diabetes a few weeks ago. I chose the lemon-lime flavor (I had the orange with Caden) and it wasn't bad....it tasted like a really sugary, flat Sprite. The tests showed that everything was perfect so we are feeling good about that:)

She is super active just like Caden was, which is fun, but a little tough when I am trying to sleep. Apparently she is sleeping and waking at regular intervals, we must just be on different schedules! For some reason, I haven't been sleeping well for the past few weeks. Baby Sissy will wake me up in the middle of the night with some serious kicks, then my mind just races about work, moving, how the heck I am going to take care of two little wild ones, etc. Someone once told me that the mind of a parent never sleeps......

27.5 Week Belly Shot

Although her lungs are still immature, they could function (with a lot of medical help) if she were born now. As uncomfortable as the last trimester can be, we would love to keep her in there for 40 weeks:)