The Belly Appears

Well, the belly has "popped." I was actually expecting it sooner, so this works. Now I'm in the weird in-between pants stage where maternity pants don't stay up very well and my regular pants don't fit anymore. I broke out the belly band this week, but frankly those things annoy me. I figure I've only got another couple weeks before the maternity pants will stay up just fine, but boy do I wish I could wear sweatpants to work. My students wear pjs, so it would be okay, right?

I'm anxiously awaiting my next doctor's appointment. I hate this stage of pregnancy before I can feel the baby move and I'm just sitting around, assuming everything is fine (otherwise I would go cuckoo) because I can't stand the smell of _______ (it changes). I keep asking Bebo to just give me a little nudge, but alas, Bebo has not yet complied. I produce stubborn children. No idea where that comes from. (Looks innocent)

Only four weeks of the semester left! I've almost made it through my first round and I'm already working on my syllabus for next semester. It's so much easier now that I know what to expect and how students tend to respond to things. I almost feel bad for my poor "first pancake" students this semester, but I think I've managed to teach them a thing or two.

How are the boys? Oh, they're good. Joe got to go see Dave Bazan with a string quartet, and he enjoyed that. He's been really, really busy as the semester is winding up, but he's surviving. I think we're both looking forward to a little "staycation" at the end of the semester to calm down a bit. This has been a really exhausting year. Good, but exhausting.

Z is a ham. Seriously. He does ridiculous things to get our attention and make us laugh all the time. He's pretty delightful except at meal times when he is like a sphinx. It's anybody's guess what he will or will not want to eat. If we get really lucky we figure out the magic key that then causes him to happily scarf down all of his food. Might be ketchup. Might be that he wants a spoon. Maybe he wants to drink out of a glass instead of a sippy cup. It's a new mystery every day.

He's still basically refusing to talk, which I'm trying very hard to not get crazy about. By now I should have learned that my Blum men will do things in their own time and I cannot push them. Learning that about Joe was probably one of if not the biggest lesson of our relationship. I need to accept that same thing about Z. He's shown again and again that he does things when he's ready and then gleefully makes up for lost time. He obviously understands us when we talk to him, though often chooses to ignore us, and is learning new things constantly (this week it was responding when we sing "If You're Happy and You Know It." He's got the clapping part down.) so I honestly don't think there is anything wrong with him. I just always get a moment of panic when I'm faced with those milestone checklists. I hate those things. If I can't check "yes" for every item I always freak out even though I know that kids develop at different paces. I love how my emotions just blatantly ignore my logic, it's fun.