Bombs Away

Many women I call or contact now-a-days start the conversation not with a casual hello, but with the serious inquiry, "are you in labor?" These words contain all the excitement of a child at Christmas. Don't worry, ladies, I'll be sure to announce my incredible labor pains to those that need to hear it. I'm glad you're all so ready for me to get hurt. ;)

On a more serious note, my brother in law (Mike) made me think of a question I hadn't yet pondered. How will Tucker be as a brother?

Currently, Tucker is a dream yearling. His tantrums are laughable at the best of times and he's only mildly frustrating once a week. All in all, he's just too darn happy for me to take him seriously. As I write this post, he's happily sitting in the kitchen, playing with one of his few toys. There have been days where I've taken a nap and been awakened to a hearty tackle from my ginger (or strawberry blonde, as many are now insisting) boy.

I imagine he'll be pretty confused and frustrated with our new baby boy to start. There will be many tears as I teach him to not touch the baby swing, gouge out his little brother's eyes, or just get snappy at him because I'm tired and can't help it. My guess is, after Tucker learns the baby's limitations, that he'll want to play with him and be helpful. I just don't see jealousy being a trait in his siblinghood. Then again, I could be terribly wrong. That's the fun of making a guess now.

As for the fetus's name... I have no idea. Russell is a name that David and I have both agreed on, but neither of us love. David says he doesn't want to have a drawn out discussion about names, so we're both compiling lists and will compare them the day of the baby's birth. It's lame and frustrating, but I suppose I should let David have his way some of the time. 

Post of Updates

My house has finally settled into a routine of lovely anarchy. We recently acquired a kitten to add to our family's ranks. You know...because a newborn this September just won't be enough.

Meet Todd. He loves Zeeke and Zeeke loves him. These two will play together all day every day. Tucker loves Todd and Zeeke and Todd tolerates Tucker snuggling him, but Zeeke will still move away every time the poor kid is in the vicinity. The one and only reason Zeeke has to get close to Tucker is to steal food.

As for everything else, I've decided to answer a few common questions and make an announcement or two.

"How are you feeling?" 

I feel smaller with this kid than with Tucker. I'll post some maternity pictures in a few weeks for comparison. I can't do any dishes over my sink or else my back will go out and I'm unable to walk (since my belly makes me hunker over like Quasimodo). 

"Are you excited?"

This accident baby is still as unexpected to me as he was on day one of me discovering I'm pregnant. I don't think it'll really hit me until he's here. My mind hasn't grasped that it's real, so I'm not quite excited yet, but I'm starting to get a bit anxious. 

"Do you want anything?"

A bigger stroller. Otherwise, I'm set.

"Are you worried about Tucker with another baby?"

Nope! He's a mellow kid and may act up to get attention, but we'll just have to see how it goes. 

"Are you worried about Tucker and the baby sharing a room?"

Not one bit. Which brings me to my next announcement. 

Currently, David, Zeeke, Tuck, Todd and I are all squished together in a two bedroom apartment. Just a few days ago our apartment manager told me there's an opening in the three bedroom apartments just a hundred feet away from me and asked me if I'd like to fill the vacancy. The family that has been living there has been there for five years straight, so maintenance is going to have to get into the dwelling first and potentially fix a few things up, but we're looking at a rough move in date between late August to early September. During my summer seven week break (that's what we call the break between Spring and Fall semesters at BYU-Idaho) I get to go to Priest Lake, move and have a baby. So far I'm not stressed about anything but the baby. 

Catching Up

Right now I've got the dream. I'm in an apartment I can afford, a dog that's not too shabby, a mellow yearling, loving husband....and a crazy fetus.

RJ isn't even born yet and he's driving me nuts. During the ultrasound he kept moving around so frequently and rapidly that technician was surprised...after years and years on the job. This is the complete opposite of how Tuck's 20 week examination went - he just laid still for most of the day, then kicked around at night. But RJ....this fetus has no time where he's stationary, and I'm only 22 weeks along.

Tucker is in a strange new phase where he dislikes being at home. He feels the constant urge to be out for a drive, on a walk, or just receiving new sorts of stimulation at all times. I blame RJ's influence. This fetus is transforming my little boy! But not really. Tuck's walking, more mobile, and just in that phase where he wants to explore the world. To give him a bit more to do in the house, I moved the nursery chair out of his room and bought him a camo bean-bag chair that's just a bit too big for him. He loves to jump and play on it as often as possible. Tuck hasn't begun to do anything truly bad. He doesn't climb on the sofa, play with remotes or even try to pull the DVDs off our open bookshelf anymore. Now he plays around with everything he can - including my tablet, so I've downloaded a few applications for him.

Oh, wondering why I'm calling the fetus RJ? I like those initials. RJ McKay has a nice ring to it. We're fairly certain on the name Russell Joel McKay...but we all know how that will turn out. Remember when Tucker was going to be Nickolas?

Just Around the Corner

In less than three weeks, Tuck will be a year old. In seven weeks, we'll know the gender of Baby 2. Thus far, we have names that I like and names that David likes for Baby 2. If we're having a girl, he wants to name her Teresa. Should I catch him in a moment of weakness, I want Diana. We'll see how that goes. If it's a boy - the name will be decided on hair color. If I get my wish and have a brown haired boy, it will be Bruce Alan McKay (so he has the initials BAM). If it's a redhead, then it'll be Russel Joel McKay.

As for the boy that's out and functional, he's crawling and has been since just before he turned eleven months old. The picture below perfectly depicts just how mobile and eager to get into EVERYTHING he is.

Since Tucker insists on exploration, I've decided to train him. He now no longer tries to touch the TV or the game stations. Instead, he will leave them alone and not touch them, whether they're covered or uncovered. Our biggest problem is his love of my keyboard, so we may get him an old keyboard of his own to practice his typing with. By two or three, I'll probably cave and get him a tablet.

Tucker now sleeps from 9 pm until 8:30-10 am. He still takes three naps a day and loves to be played with. The wilder the game, the better. When he gets excited, he'll stand, hold something, and bounce up and down. Some people tell me he's dancing, but that's silly. If he is dancing, then he's definitely my son, because he does it with no music on and completely out of rhythm. 

Nine Month Gnarlies

Tucker can and does eat anything that's put in front of him. Much to my bliss, he has not begun to crawl yet. He'll poise on his knees or his hands from time to time, but never both at once. I'm not overly eager for him to begin, because then I'll have to baby proof and buy a new entertainment center, or attach doors on it. He will pivot on his butt to see in every angle, is taking tentative steps when holding someone's hands and is still napping as much as normal.

As far as his personality goes, Tucker is definitely a "red" personality. He likes to be in charge and have things done his way. If he doesn't immediately master something, he'll move on or deem that it's not worth his time. Should I leave the room, even to put some laundry away or use the restroom, he insists on constant communication. Thus, we've developed a new game. I'll make a sound and he'll echo it back to start. Then he'll make a noise and I'll mimic it. This lets him know that I'm still alive and I still exist, even though I'm not in his line of sight. He will eat all day every day and STILL be hungry (he eats more than I do). Tuck's favorite thing (aside from me) is being upside down/feeling like he's falling.

He goes to bed at 8 pm and wakes up anywhere from 8 to 9 am in the morning. For one of my New Year's resolutions, I'm waking up before him and cleaning the house before I turn on the TV, computer or have any sort of fun. So far, I haven't missed a day since December 29th.

Isn't Motherhood Great?

I actively seek for a poopy bum, keep track of when his last big bowel movement was - and manage to dress Tuck in white onesies just about every time. My bathroom sink has had almost nonstop clothes soaking from diaper blow-outs, just to make sure they'll be usable for the next kid.

For the better part of the week, Tucker has hated life. He'll feed every half hour we're sitting at home. If I'm lucky and can distract him, we go two hours - tops. Tucker used to only be awake four to six hours a day, napping or sleeping the rest of the time. Even though he's cranky all day, he still gets a full, undisturbed twelve hours of sleep a night, from 7 pm to 7 am. Sometimes we'll even put him to sleep a bit earlier and he'll wake up a bit later, but that's the general estimate. That was up until Tuesday, the 26th. Now he'll nap less than an hour at a time and wake up cranky. I think I feel a bump on his bottom gum, right where teeth are supposed to come in, but we'll see! He's five months old and still doesn't have a tooth to his name. My estimate is he'll have two of them by the time he's six months old.

Tucker sits up for over a minute on his own, now. I've adjusted his stroller seat so that he isn't just laying down, but at more of an angle and can see some more of the world. In the last entry, I touched lightly on this baby's love of travel. Even when Tucker's extra feisty and the day is filled with naught but screaming, he'll mellow out the moment we start walking with the stroller. This week alone, we've easily surpassed trekking ten miles.

Tucker is less than enthused, but that's how he's been feeling for the past couple of days.

Zeeke loves all the walks we've been taking. He gets to swim in the canal when we go to the park. 

Tucker is smiling up at me, thrilled to be outside. Everyone comments on how pale he is and they insist I keep him inside all the time. Nope. He's just a ginger. 

He sits up! He's on my ottoman right in front of my chair, so I'm there to catch him if he starts to fall.

His exer-saucer is right beside my chair too. He'll spend a lot of his time in here, pawing at all the funny sounding items and discovering more and more hand eye coordination each day. He's at the level now where he'll pick up his binky and successfully put it in his mouth. Sometimes, he'll put his thumb in the crevice of the binky, to make sure it won't go anywhere. 

Zeeke is doing great. He will go up to Tucker on his own and start smothering him with kisses. Tucker is incredibly smitten with his dog and will always calm down if Zeeke's within arm's reach. 

Tuck's Traits

Even though he hasn't fully developed his personality, here are some traits I've noticed in Tucker.

He's easily frustrated, but persistent. Sadly, this baby has developed the "Simpson gene" where stubbornness abides in every fiber of his being. I placed a toy at the very edge of his arm's reach so that he had to roll over to get it. Though he was kicking and screeching the entire time, he HAD to have that toy. Tucker got it after ten minutes of effort. Whether feeling vengeful or curious, he shoved that toy in his mouth and began to gum at its head.

A mama's boy. Tucker does best when I'm in the room. I left him at my mom's house so I could go out and ride horses with my friend. We were just in the back yard, but Tucker didn't know that. My silly child screamed and cried the entire time. My mom informed me that he was inconsolable without his mommy. He's seen my mom before and has played well with her before, but he didn't care. He wanted me. Whenever I'm around, he's comfortable with strangers and likes to smile at them. Sometimes, he won't laugh at my faces or antics to make him happy, but he'll burst out in laughter at a stranger's attempts to simply make him giggle.
 He'll stare so intently at me when we're alone.

My little 'homie'. My child will adamantly refuse to sleep or nap anywhere but home, unless he's pampered to dreamland. One has to walk him around, rock him and hold him just right before he'll slip into unconsciousness. Even then, it never lasts loner than an hour. When we took him to Priest Lake, he slept best when he was in bed with me.

 This was the only way my mom could get him to sleep. 

 Tucker loves his exer-saucer. 

Noise sensitive. Unless there's a steady stream of white nose (like a fan) going on for nap or bedtime, he will fight adamantly before going to bed, if he falls asleep at all. Our apartment is generally a quiet, relaxed place. The only time that changes is when Zeeke barks. Every time Zeeke barks and Tucker's awake to hear it, Tucker's face will scrunch up and he'll promptly begin to sob intensely, up until he's presented with a new form of distraction.

Activity is a must! Sure, Tucker will sleep the morning away, but before or at 5:30 every day, he simply needs an adventure. Whether it's wandering the apartment complex, heading to the store or walking the neighborhoods, Tucker hates being home around this time, up until his 7:00 bath and bed.

 I blame the activity trait on David. This picture was taken right before he went to hike the Tetons. 

 He's in the car seat, ready to go see Baba (my mom). 

Tucker in his stroller for the four mile walk to see David at McDonald's.

A true fish. There's no place where he's more inquisitive than in a body of water. When I took him to Priest Lake with me, I put his life jacket on him the very first day and jumped in the lake with him. He loved it, but was so tired he almost put himself to sleep. Tucker never cries in his bath, because he's always having too much fun.

 Check out how buff he is! Baby body builder.