Let the Belly Pictures Begin!

Time again for some pregnant belly pictures!

This picture was taken when I was about 12.5 or 13 weeks pregnant:



Elliot and I were with the kids and some of my family at a zoo in Sarasota on March 26th. I wasn't intentionally taking a belly picture, but you can tell that I'm starting to get a bit of a bump.

What a difference a couple of weeks makes! Here I am about 15 weeks pregnant on April 11th:



Compare to how looked at 14.5 weeks pregnant with Elise: click here

And then, BOOM! Baby belly explosion! I'm about 19.5 or 20 weeks pregnant on May 15th:



Compare to how I looked at 20 weeks pregnant with Elise: click here

My belly is definitely getting bigger quicker with the second pregnancy.

Days 429 and 430: Silly Faces

Not sure what she was thinking about. She looks very pensive, though. May 12th:



Here is Elise doing that fake scared face again. The picture is blurry, but it shows you how she shakes her hands and head while she makes this crazy face. May 13th:

Day 428: Elise Meets Her Little Brother!

Elise is going to have a little brother!!! We're having a boy!

We had our big, fancy ultrasound done yesterday. Dinky is healthy as can be. Due date September 30th.

Here is a picture of Elise looking at Dinky's ultrasound pictures, May 11th:

Day 427: Yogurt Facial

Elise likes to try to feed herself. Never mind that most people use a spoon to get their yogurt out of the cup. Elise will figure out a way.

And have I mentioned how silky smooth her skin is?

Days 424, 425, and 426

On May 7th, we took all of the kids to a kid's fair in town. Elise, Ingrid, and Caleb had so much fun playing in the toddler area because it was all laid out with cool toys and things to climb on and under and through. Here is Elise playing with a pop-up toy:



Mother's Day was lovely. In the morning we went to the duck pond and after a nice walk, the kids played for a while on the grass. Elise doesn't like grass or dirt much, so this picture of her sitting in a pile of damp leaves is mildly remarkable:



Lately, Elise has been making this silly face. I think she's trying to look scared. You can't tell from the picture, but her hands are shaking. I don't know where she got this from, but it's really funny. She has lots of versions of this face-- sometimes her eyes are opened really wide or her jaw is clenched shut... but the hands are always there by her face, vibrating.

Day 423: Milkmouth

Elise took a big gulp from her sippy cup and then drooled milk right before the insanely slow camera on my phone snapped this picture. Thanks, Elise... lovely picture.

Day 422: Studying

Elise is very studious now. She spends part of every day looking in her color book or her animal book or both. With her color book, she like me to ask her "...and what color is THIS?" as I turn each page. If I don't ask she says, "Mama! Mama! Mama!" until I do it the right way.

Elise likes to point to pictures in the animal book and have me tell her what the animal is. Sometimes I make the animal noise and sometimes she makes it.



Sorry, Elise, I have no idea what sound a deer makes.

Sometimes Elise can identify the animals on a given page. On the farm animals page, I might ask, "Where is the cow?" and wait for her to point to it. Lately she's been fixated on the picture of the hippo in the water animals section. This morning she was looking at a different section of animals and just to test her I asked, "Elise? Where is the hippo?" She turned the page back to the water animals and pointed at the hippo! Good job, Elise!!!

Days 419, 420, and 421

This is Elise's favorite book about colors. She looks at it obsessively. She can tell you when she's on the yellow page and the purple page. She's getting good at blue, black, and orange, too. Despite all of this intense work on color theory, she picked out the mismatched socks in the picture below and insisted on wearing them. May 2nd:



Here is Elise "washing the spider out" while we sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider, May 3rd:



Elise eating a waffle, May 4th:



This was our conversation this morning...

Me: Would you like to eat some waffle for breakfast?
Elise: Apple!
Me: We don't have apples. We have waffles. This is a waffle. Would you like some?
Elise: Apple! Apple! Apple!
Me: This is a waffle. WAAAAAH-FULLLLL.
Elise: Apple?
Me: WAAAAAH-FULLLL. Look at Mommy's mouth. Can you say WAAAAAAH-FULLLLL?
Elise: AAAAAAAAAH-PPLE. Apple! Apple!

Oh well. :)

Days 415, 416, 417, and 418

Sometimes Elise bounces herself right to sleep in her bouncy seat. April 28th:



Other times, Elise prefers to sit UNDER her bouncy seat rather than IN it. April 29th:



Elise trying to run away from me at the duck pond, April 30th:



Elise is still mastering the fine art of feeding herself. There's a big learning curve. She's still practicing the basics, such as keeping the food on the plate and remembering that the plate itself isn't food. May 1st:

Days 411, 412, 413, and 414

While the foster kids were on a family visit, we took Elise to a local Easter celebration on April 24th. Here she is with Daddy, going down a giant bouncy slide for the first time ever:



All of that Easter fun took it's toll on our sweet baby. Elise was very sick on April 25th. Fever, cough, and a generally miserable look on her face.



In an effort to redirect Elise's inclination to squish cute, fluffy animals (our cats), Daddy got Elise a "Pillow Pet." She loves it and squishes it often. April 26th:



And then there was that day that a monkey escaped from the zoo and ran right through our yard (April 27th):

Days 408, 409, and 410

Elise cuddling Radar as Radar licks Elise's face. April 21st:



Elise loves feeding herself now and sometimes she won't even eat unless she's in control of the food. Here she is feeding herself a banana on April 22nd:



Elise can go down slides all by herself... so long as she goes down backwards and on her belly. April 23rd:

Days 404, 405, 406, and 407

Solving the world's problems with the most complicated abacus ever invented, April 17th:



Elise's first shower with Daddy! April 18th:



All gone! (Now feed me dessert!) April 19th:



This picture was taken moments before Elise jumped on stage during baby story time at the library, April 20th:

Days 400, 401, 402, and 403

I took Elise to baby story time at the library on April 13th. She loved it! She was very engaged and clearly recognized some of the songs, like "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "You Are My Sunshine."



Here is Elise, on her way to visit Daddy for lunch on April 14th:



Elise shows the cats affection by tackling them to the ground and then lying on them like big, fluffy body pillows. Applesauce is our most passive cat, so he puts up with it. April 15th:



At the children's play area in the mall, April 16th:

Days 396, 397, 398, and 399

Baby Elise wants YOU! April 9th:



Here's one way Elise might look before she wakes up in the morning. April 10th:



Elise and Daddy, April 11th:



A fireman who lives down the street saw us out walking with the kids on April 12th and brought them toy hats. Elise loved hers and didn't want to take it off.

Days 392, 393, 394, and 395

Elise is potty training. When she uses the potty, I'll often let her have some naked baby time, which she LOVES. Elise is a nudist at heart. April 5th:



Nap time is over! April 6th:



So cute in her monkey hat, April 7th:



To further prove the nudist point, here is a picture of Elise, running through the house naked. She didn't want me to catch her to put a diaper on. April 8th:

Days 388, 389, 390, and 391

Shortly after her first birthday, Elise developed a fear of balloons. She gets very scared of them. We don't know why. But here she is on April 1st, holding one of the those small balloons on a stick that Caleb got for his second birthday. Maybe she's starting to snap out of it.



Elise loves to accessorize. She has hats, shoes, and necklaces that she insists on wearing sometimes. Add gloves to that list. April 2nd:



Elise and Daddy, April 3rd:



April 4th:

Days 384, 385, 386, and 387

Elise getting ready to pick out her clothes after a morning bath, March 28th:



Vroom, vroom! Elise makes car sounds when she plays with toys and when she's riding in her stroller. March 29th:



March 30th:



Elise loves running water. That's blackberry on her shoulder, by the way-- hence the need for a bath. March 31st:

Days 382 and 383

Beautiful! March 26th:



March 27th: