Uncle Jeff's Assistant

Tommy has started making pizza too - he'd better not ask for a brick oven!

It's a...

CARROT!

Well, that's what Tommy said when I showed him the picture and said, "Do you know what this is?"

Apologies and SURPRISE, if this is how you're finding out that we're pregnant. That either means that you're a blog stalker who clicked here from someone else's blog OR we need to talk more.

Today I am 18 weeks and 6 days pregnant and we had our 2nd trimester or "big" ultrasound. We are delighted and blessed to report a very healthy, happy, and active baby. This was our 3rd ultrasound with this pregnancy and it's been so cool to see this kid grow and start to develop physically and personally. The baby is measuring perfectly but had trouble sitting still at times. The ultrasound tech had to take whatever measurements she could whenever she could. We tried to follow on the screen and got to see a lot but it was seriously like, "ok so I'm measuring the femur.... oh... and now that's the brain!"

If you don't spend a lot of time looking at ultrasound photos, don't be shocked by scary shadows or overly lumpy looking body parts. This kid is like skin and bones at this stage so we had some laughs when the kid was caught at a funny angle or something and looked like a Terminator.

Without further ado... Introducing #2 (or "Poo" as we have maturely nicknamed it)

Left profile, you can see the two arm bones above the belly. Don't focus on the facial profile too much, I think there's a hand back there too - that's not all nose.
A 4D (well it was at the time) image of the kid's legs and umbilical cord. Don't go zooming and analyzing the image you crazy/nosy people --- you can't see whether or not there's anything between the legs in this shot. (more on that later) The trademark Cecchin thunder thighs have clearly not grown in yet. Definitely more to come on those later!
Various 4D angles of the face with hands up in front of face so you can see you think the kid looks like.


Right profile with no hand obstruction - kid finally fell asleep.
A foot - I believe.
Here the kid does impressions from some classic movies:

Raiders of the Lost Ark (the face melting scene...)
The Joker, from Batman.
"Hasta la vista" - Terminator baby turns into camera and waves bye bye
(could be Spiderman too....I think)

As for the question you're going to bug me about until mid-December. As most of you know, Tom likes to be surprised on delivery day by the baby's gender and I do not. So once again, the ultrasound tech wrote me a note and when I feel like it, I will look at it and find out the gender of our baby. I am again determined for Tom not to find out and to make sure he is as surprised as he wants to be. It worked ok last time, but there were some close calls and loose lips. So I'm working on my poker face and graciously request that you don't ask, don't over analyze, don't scan this post for slipped pronouns (I didn't read the note yet). I can't even tell Tommy, that kid's a blabbermouth. If you ask him he says he's having a brothersister named TessaAnnie and it's growing in his tummy. While I was typing this post he also though the baby looked like a porcupine and an elephant...so consider your source.

We have a healthy baby and are overjoyed at that. I need your help to make sure Tom gets his surprise in December. Thanks for all your support!

Great Day in Gilroy

Yesterday, G-ma took Tommy and I to Gilroy for a visit to Hecker Pass and to Gilroy Gardens. To sum up, we had an awesome day. Tommy had so much fun and loved every minute of it. The rides at Gilroy Gardens were so toddler perfect. I couldn't believe how much Tommy wanted to ride them. (Not being a roller coaster gal myself, I'm relieved Tommy won't spend his trips to Great America standing outside Top Gun hearing "Danger Zone" 20 times in a row while his friends ride the ride.) Anyway, here's the photo diary of the day:

We start of at G-ma's "farm" in Gilroy. Tommy liked tether ball but G-ma plays hard so watch your head, Tommy!
We were there to get Tommy's swing picture (G-ma is going for a set, Marco has done his). Tommy was distracted by the farm below but posed dutifully by the swing.

Tommy finds out where plums come from (and apples, and apricots, and pears). I love this picture!
Ok off to Gilroy Gardens. Mommy wasn't allowed on all but 2 of the rides so G-ma had to take over in the passenger seat. I don't think she minded. Gilroy Gardens is "California's only horticultural educational theme park" - it's more fun than it sounds.

The first ride we hit was Artichoke Dip. I didn't grab the camera from G-ma first so here's my camera phone capture of the two riding in a spinning artichoke.
Tommy's favorite ride ended up being the caterpillar - we went back and rode it again later. For the rest of the day (and this morning) he said "I rode a caterpillar with Grandma!"
After lunch (super expensive, eat first next time!) we stumbled by the water park area just in time. It was hot! Tommy had a blast and played really well with a lot of bigger kids, who also played very well with him.


These cars were the first ride where he didn't need a chaperone. He was super excited to drive this car, he requested #2. Unfortunately, this kiddie ride has no sun canopy or anything and those hot metal steering wheels aren't very enjoyable in 80 degree weather. I put an extra tshirt over the wheel so he could tolerate the ride (no we wouldn't let him off when he cried) but I think the heat killed his joy on that one a little (he did stop crying, by the way, once the ride started).
The goldfish (like Dumbo ride but no joysticks - does go up and down and pretty fast) were in the shade and he loved it. Props to Gilroy Gardens and their seatbelts on this ride that can only be unlocked by the attendant and a special key. Maybe all parks have this, I don't know. But it helps my anxiety on the outside of the gate knowing he can't undo his seatbelt mid-ride.
Mmmm - much needed ice cream break. That cone was twice as tall as shown here.
Finally, a ride Mommy can go on: spinning strawberries! Tommy had fun; Mommy was getting dizzy and wanted off.
Back to the caterpillar with Grandma again!
Posing with his new best friend, the sassy caterpillar.
We were hot and tired by this point but we found a "lazy river" sort of ride which included water and shade so we wrapped up our trip with this. The frog sounds coming from the speakers were excessively loud but Tommy didn't notice that! He loved when we would bump into the wall. I was on this ride too (spinning and water, good choice Meredith, ugh...) but Tommy looked much cuter and happier than I did!


He crashed in the car after this, but really had a great time there from like 11:45-3:45! We will definitely go back, Daddy wants to see this!

Then G-ma went back to Hecker Pass to do some work and I took the sleeping boy to the outlets to do a little shopping. By then I could stand no more so we went and hung out with Auntie Jo for a little while until G-ma was ready to go home. We got home past bedtime but Tommy was a trooper all day and had so much fun. Though pricey, this place rocks for little kids. We were very lucky that there was nobody there on this Monday afternoon; we never waited in line for anything. Not sure what it's like on a weekend...

Good times, thanks G-ma!

What Happened?

These pictures were taken within seconds of each other. I don't remember what happened to cause the look of concern.

and this one - just because it's cute...

Snip Snip

Well it's done and it looks good. We finally took Tommy for his first haircut yesterday. While his tresses were not out of control, they were getting a little crazy and it was time to clip off some of that wispy baby hair and see what was underneath.

The place where we went is essentially a bribery/toy store with a couple of really simple barber chairs in the back. Fortunately, we walked in without an appointment and were out of there in 11 minutes (according to the parking meter). Tommy was hesitant, of course, but once the lollipop came into play we were able to get things done. There was whining and protestation, but we're happy to report no real tears were shed. He refused the cape and the blow dryer so by the end he, and his lollipop, were covered in hair but that's easily fixed. Not quite the same as a home cut from Great Grandpa Lou, but it got the job done.

Before... in case you didn't realize how long those curls actually were!


During...

For the baby book
an important text distracts himNot a big fan of the clippers over his ear

After!

It's great. It still looks wavy but it looks thicker and more grown up. A success!