An end and a beginning...

We're changing our blog address. Update your links and favourites to direct you to the new Margenau Family Blog.

www.margenau.wordpress.com

When we first started blogging, blogger was really the best tool available. Since then, a lot has changed. I am constantly annoyed by blogger downtime, by the photo uploading, but the ridiculous little quirks of the site. Additionally, we are reaching the point where we need to integrate our two blogs together. It makes no sense to have two, especially with the new baby on the way. We can't continue to keep 'baby developments' separate from 'family developments', and the maintenance of both is getting exhausting. Wordpress is a new blogging tool that seems a bit more user-friendly and effective, so for now, thats where our blog lives. Come visit us there, as there will be no more updates here at Blogger....

The end?

Its been three days now since Luke last nursed. Some of you may be surprised to hear this is only happening now. We have definitely heard more than a few comments along the lines of "is he STILL nursing?!?". And up until a few days ago, he was. I was determined to nurse Luke until he was 2. There are a huge number of benefits to maintaining breastfeeding through the toddler years. And our main indicator was Luke himself. I always believed that he would stop nursing when he didn't need it anymore. As long as he felt it still necessary, I would continue nursing him.


So for the last couple months, we have been following a 'don't offer, don't refuse' policy. I would follow his lead, and if he asked to nurse, he could nurse. But I tried not to suggest nursing as a way to help him fall asleep, or to get over a bump or scare. Some days he would nurse a lot - every few hours. Other days, he would go almost 12 hours before remembering, then would nurse a few times. Other times, he wouldn't ask at all. I haven't gone through any engorgement, probably because there is very little milk left due to the pregnancy. His nursing is primarily for comfort, rather than for nutrition. So he has now gone three days without asking to nurse. A good friend of mine always says 3 days is the start of all new trends for babies, so if that holds true, its possible this is the end.


I must admit I'm a bit sad about it. Despite the fact that I know I'll have a new baby to nurse and all the complications that will come along with that. I definitely had no interest in nursing two, so I'm glad Luke is also feeling ready to move on. But I just feel like I'll miss looking down at my beautiful boy in those minutes when both of us are focused entirely on one another. I'll miss how his eyes would roll back in contentment and relaxation when he nursed before falling asleep. I'll also really miss having an sure-fire way to soothe his little aches and fears, or to help him fall asleep in a noisy or confusing new environment. I guess I'll just miss him being my baby. And evidently I'm pregnant and hormonal because the thought of him not nursing anymore brings me to tears!!


It has been a while since a new blog post. We've been busy - outside lots - and have had lots going on in the evenings and during naptime! But here are a few pictures to show you what Luke has been doing lately.

Luke sleeping on the couch, one morning when he woke up WAY too early. (Kyle got up with him, as evidenced by his fashion disaster of an outfit)

Luke practicing his use of chopsticks with Chinese Takeout. Much to our surprise, he loved the food, and did pretty well with the chopsticks too! He is branching out to eating unusual things lately, thankfully. Although someone at daycare has taught him not to eat sandwich crusts, which is a bit annoying.

In other food news, Luke is a bit of a Yogurt fiend. We call this charming look "Monsieur yogheurt". Check out the video to see how keen he is... (check back... waiting for it to upload)

Luke had a great time in his new pool with our neighbour Nora. It has a slide, and water-spouting seals. What more could you ask for?

On Fathers Day we went to the Ottawa "Touch a Truck" show. Luke got to see dump-dumps (anything that dumps dirt), whee-a-whee-a's (anything with a siren) and a bunch of other exciting trucks that he hasn't invented words for yet.

Lots and lots of Luke

Luke has had a busy week. His much-loved daycare provider Bev is on a much-needed two week vacation, so he's got all sorts of new people taking care of him. For a couple days that included Grandpa and Nana Sue! They were out in Ottawa for a couple days on their way to a conference in Quebec City. Although we didn't get to see them for as long as we would have liked, they got a great dose of Luke while they were here. Within a couple hours of arriving they got to be Luke's babysitters for a few days, and he loved hanging out with them. It was an exciting week near our house - lots of construction going on. We spent a lot of time watching the backhoes build a new entrance to our townhouse complex, then watching the landscapers put in some interlock in our neighbours backyard. And luckily for our blog, Nana Sue loves taking pictures of Luke! So here are a few photos of what they got up to while in Ottawa...

Watching the dump-dump's near our house

The new sand table that Grandpa and Nana got for Luke. Complete with its own digger! Luke can't quite figure out the digger yet though, but he sure loves having it in there.

Luke also figured out pretty quickly that he could climb into the table to play

They brought Luke a wonderful little John Deere Backhoe that works really well with his little Tonka truck. He and Grandpa had great fun making those work with a pot of dirt on the patio!

We all went out for lunch at a pasta place and Nana Sue caught Luke making goofy faces (And waiting patiently for his lunch...) In case you don't recognize it, the last picture is of the Itsy Bitsy Spider... of course!

Having one of Luke's new favourite snacks: Pudding!

Our baby bean

So we had our big ultrasound today, and I think we were both successful in NOT seeing if this little one is a boy or a girl. Although I don't totally trust Kyle... He had a funny smirk on his face after the ultrasound and I have a feeling he may have peeked.

Our little bean seems to be doing very well - its heart and all organs are formed perfectly. Its about 16cm long from the crown to rump, not including the legs. Somehow it grew a lot more than I had remembered for now! I still figured it was around 10cm long total, including the legs. Its almost a pound in weight and otherwise all the features seem to be perfect. It spent most of the ultrasound with its legs crossed at the ankles and its arms up over its face, just like the 12 week ultrasound.

Overall, this pregnancy, I am still feeling great. I mostly forget I am pregnant, except sometimes when the bean gets an energetic kick. I forgot how at this early stage of pregnancy, movement is so monstrous. Its not the subtle pushes and flexes that you feel later in pregnancy - which I remember well. No, its a full-on sommersault with arms and legs flailing. I'll be sitting in class and start to feel the baby move, then all of a sudden my bladder gets kicked and for a brief second I have to pee, then the urge is immediately gone. Then I'll feel my stomach get compressed, and feel instantly nauseous for a second before it disappears. Its such a funny experience and it always makes me smile to myself.

Out! Out! Please Out?

We haven't really been inside for the past week, so its no wonder the blog updates are few and far between! If Luke is up, we're outside. "Out" is one of his favourite words these days sometimes with a signed "please" added in if he feels we're really ignoring his requests. So we spend just about every waking moment doing things like digging in dirt, finding sticks, shovelling and dumping sand, and dropping rocks down the sewer drains. Luke comes in filthy every night, with his shoes full of sand, leaves in his hair, his fingernails caked in mud, his clothes a disaster - - and as happy as you can imagine. If he leaves grunge marks on the bathtub after his bath, I know he's had as perfect a day as a toddler could ever have. So I guess, for this summer anyways, "out out out" is going to be our daily routine.

He's getting a lot of exercise, which you'd think would make him a better sleeper, right? Oh no, not our munchkin. We've had a very rough few nights in the past week, with him awake for up to 3 hours at a stretch in the middle of the night. Its really very painful for everyone. Kyle sometimes ends up just sleeping in there with him, the both of them curled up on the La-Z-Boy recliner. Its a nightmare but it gets us through. We're coming ever closer to the October deadline when I was hoping he'd be happily sleeping through the night - leaving us the energy to care for a newborn all night. It seems he didn't get that memo.

Luke had a VERY exciting week. On Monday morning at 7am one of his favourite things in the world - a dump-dump - pulled up right in front of our house. And it stayed here for 4 long days! Not at minimal cost, either, to mom and dad. But worthwhile in the end. I meant to ask the landscaper if he does birthday parties - that little bobcat is better than a clown anyday! Kyle's going to post some pics of our new landscaping on our regular blog, hopefully tomorrow. But all that meant that Luke got to watch a dump-dump in action for days. He's also started differentiating between "dig" and "dump" - so his vocabulary is getting a bit richer! Here are some pictures of him greatly enjoying our new scenery.

Luckily the dump-dump owners were really nice and let Luke climb around on it!

We also made it out for a nice walk to the construction site at the hospital by our house last weekend. Who knew that we'd consider one of the best assets of our new home to be the nearby construction site! How priorities change when confronted with a screaming, flailing, bored toddler...

We had our good friends Rich and Jo over for lunch last week. Luke managed to have a great time rolling down the little hill in our backyard with Rich! Oh, and eating rocks. Rich didn't eat any, but Luke sure enjoyed them.

18 weeks

Luke and our Baby Bean have a new cousin this week! Sullivan Turner Wright was born on Thursday night, after making Jamie and Johnny wait almost 2 weeks past his due date. We can't wait to meet him this summer out in BC!

I figure as the posts lately have been pretty Luke-focused, its about time to mention our baby bean, and how s/he is growing. So far, everything seems to be going really well. I first felt a bit of movement around 16.5 weeks - the very same day I was going to the midwife to hear the heartbeat. The flutters were definitely the baby moving, I knew right away what I was feeling. Then we got to hear the heartbeat at the midwife's office. It took about 3 midwives almost 10 (nerve-wracking) minutes to find it, I guess this little one likes to hide. No wonder, doppler waves being beamed at you must not be a comfortable experience... but I'm glad s/he at least gave us a clear heartbeat for a few seconds. It was great to hear. Since then, our little bean is getting more and more active, and I can feel the movement further and further up my tummy.

Pregnancy-wise, I am feeling great. I have gained 2 lbs total at 18 weeks, and don't have any of the heartburn, indigestion, or food aversions I had last pregnancy. I crave a LOT of things, it changes every day, and lately I have really loved drinking coffee again. This pregnancy feels so different from Luke's, where I felt nauseous and could barely eat until a few weeks past now. I'm just really hoping it means this baby is more laid-back and easy than Luke was!! I don't think we could deal with two of them with his personality.

My delightful spring allergies have returned in full force. I never had allergies until I was pregnant with Luke, and they continued last year in Washington. I was hoping we had moved away from whatever tree was making me miserable, but it appears Ottawa has those too. I feel awful, I'm on drugs every 12 hours to take the edge off the itchy eyes, sneezing, and itchy throat. But they do nothing really for the congestion and runny nose, and there is nothing else I can take without worrying about harming the baby. I can't sleep - I'm so stuffed up every time I swallow my ears pop and I have to breathe through my mouth. Its just an awful, awful feeling. So far its been going on for about 3 weeks, and if Washington is anything to go by, there will be at least another month, maybe more.

We got back the results from those ultrasounds and blood tests we did a few weeks ago, and everything looks good! We won't be doing any follow-up testing as the chances of this baby having many of those neural tube disorders is much lower than average. This week our baby bean is about the size of a Bell Pepper, and weighs more than half a pound. My next ultrasound is May 20 - just a week and a bit away.

Luke's new ride...

Grandma got Luke a beautiful new tricycle, and needless to say now we'll never get him inside. It truly is pretty fabulous. It's a Kettler Trike, one of the best brands of Trikes, and after doing a lot of research we spent more money than I think we paid for either of our own bikes and just got it. But it was worth it: we're all pretty much in love.

Luke loved it from the moment it arrived last night. The box was exceptionally fun to play on, plus it had all those great pieces inside! Seats and hats and wheels, what fun. Kyle managed to get the thing assembled in just about an hour last night. And as it can hold up to 400 lbs (yes - four HUNDRED pounds!) Kyle took it for a spin to try it out. No, I don't have pictures but I should, that was pretty hilarious.

Luke got to see it this morning, and since then has rarely gotten off it. Its so much fun. It has this great wheel system, so we can lock the front wheel and then actually steer using the push handle on the back. Because the wheels are big and air-filled, its as easy to push and move as our jogging stroller. The pedals are also free-spinning, so even if the tire is going around, they don't make his little legs spin. The seat is big and comfy, and the best part -- its got a dumping bucket on the back! For a little boy whose favourite expression is "dump-dump!" thats pretty much the best thing ever. So we spent hours today pushing him - and his new bike - around the neighbourhood. He absolutely loves it, and grins the whole time he's on it. Thanks Grandma!