20 Week Ultrasound

This last Tuesday was the big day.  Justin dropped Jack off with Grandma and Papa (our daycare lady needed the day), and met me at the doctor's office.   We met with the ultrasound technician, Christy, and began.  She seemingly progressed through the scan meticulously, looking at the baby's brain, heart, spine, hands, feet, and all the other organs.  The baby had their head down low in my pelvis, had their hands in front of their face, and was facing the spine for the majority of the scan.  This made it difficult to get a good face picture, but we did eventually get one and the baby's upper lip looked good.  All in all, the good news is the baby appears to be healthy, at least as far as an ultrasound can show.  We will continue to pray for our baby's health, but the ultrasound was all good news.

As for the information everyone seems to want to know, the baby's gender, we again decided not to find out. We had to turn away from the screen four different times, and Christy did say that this baby was not shy. :)  But we will wait to find out the big news in the delivery room.

Profile

Two little feet

Face

Hesseline Family Photo Shoot

On Friday, June 15th, we finally made good on our 35th wedding anniversay gift to my parents.  My parents have old family photographs hanging in their family room, and they were taken just before Steven went off to college.  As nice as they are, they have become just a bit outdated.  My mom had expressed that she would like to have them updated, and to include their grandchildren (though these were taken just before Harper was born, so they are technically already outdated on that front - guess that's to be expected with a growing family).

We met at Washington Park in the evening to take advantage of the light, had a nice picnic dinner afterward, and it was a fun evening.  The photos again turned out great, thanks mostly to the wonderful talent of Intrigue Photography.  Though the subjects help too. :)  But you can imagine the challenges with such a large group!

More can be seen on Picasa!

Lock It Down!

So our little explorer has a new talent, and yes it is opening doors.  I thought we'd have a little more time before we had to deal with this, but it goes to show you how much I know about child development.  Anyway, Sonia told me Jack opened a door this morning and I was really surprised, not 20 minutes later was he at it again.  Bear in mind there's a flight of steps down to the basement just behind door #1, and one really big concrete step down to the garage behind door #2.  

X-Rays and Dentists

When we returned from France, my mom quickly told us a story about how Jack had a little accident.  It was Tuesday evening, June 26th, and Jack was walking around in the kitchen drinking from his sippy cup.  He fell over and hit his mouth on the cup, and Grandma realized she couldn't see one of his teeth.  After calming him down, she searched around for the tooth but found nothing.  There was some blood, but Jack calmed down pretty well, drank his evening bottle fine, and slept through the night wonderfully.  Grandma called his doctor that night, and went in to see the nurse practitioner the next day.  Beverly went upstairs to talk to the pediatric dentist located in the suite above their office, and he came down to take a peek.  He dentist felt around inside Jack's mouth and determined that Jack had pushed the tooth back up into his gum.  We didn't know that can happen, but apparently it can. 95% of the time, the tooth reemerges without any problems, but the dentist indicated that we should come back in a month just to be sure everything was ok.

So, two weeks after the accident, I still wasn't seeing any signs of the tooth coming back in, so I called my good friend Ashley (Dr. Killin).  She finished pediatric dental school recently, and I wanted to ask some questions and get reassurance that everything was ok.  (I'd always intended on Jack seeing Ashley, but he hadn't been to see her yet, so I didn't give my parents any dentist info prior to leaving on vacation.)  When I spoke to her, she was super supportive and answered all my questions, but she asked me if they had taken an x-ray.  I said I doubted it, as my mom would have told me that, and so she indicated that I should probably bring him by for a quick scan just to be sure everything was where we thought it was, and that no other tooth was damaged.

Today Jack and I went to visit Ashley in Evergreen.  We had a nice little visit, and the entire staff at the office was super nice.  We started with the x-ray.  Normally they would have me hold him, but being pregnant, that was out.  Ashley donned the lead blanket, we handed her Jack (I quickly disappeared around the corner so Jack wouldn't be upset seeing me), they put a blanket on Jack, put something in his mouth, and brought the camera close.  He tolerated all that GREAT, until Ashley had to hold his head down.  She pinned his head so he wouldn't move during the scan, which was all of like 5 seconds, and he whined while fighting against her hand.  They took the picture and it was over!  He was so good! Then he was free to wander while Ashley and I caught up a bit, and the amazing staff watched over Jack.  They totally fell in love with him, as he wandered through their offices, smiling about, playing with bubbles they blew and tried to climb their furniture. He was back in some administrative office for like 10 minutes and when he reemerged, they told me they wanted to keep him there the rest of the day. :) Love that little guy!

So, the big news is that Jack knocked his tooth clean out!  Gone!  Check it out!

The first question I asked was about spacing and if things would close up on the gap.  Ashley assured me that the fang tooth right next door has the longest and strongest root, and it prevents that from happening.  With that concern at ease, I really feel this is the best scenario.  I don't have to anxiously await the arrival of this tooth a second time, worry about it abscessing as it comes in, or anything else. No other chips or cracks in neighboring teeth, and Ashley took a look at his gums to make sure nothing else was going on.  He weathered this storm really well, and he had a relatively nice first dentist visit.  At least I think so. 

The only bad news is this little guy won't have a tooth there until the adult tooth comes in, which is likely around the age or 6 or 7.  Guess he'll just look like a tough little hockey player for the next 5 years. ;)

Gourmet Lunch

Sonia and I were thawing some meat for dinner in the sink today.  I went to work, and then a couple of hours later Sonia left with Jack to run some errands.  Of course neither of us put the meat in the fridge before leaving the house so guess who got a hold of it.  Yup, this little punk.  Ozzie ate two partially frozen New York Strips for his lunch.  It was a pretty expensive doggie lunch and he felt pretty awful the rest of the day... as you can see...what a turd.

Baby #2

We are so pleased to be expecting our second child.  Baby #2 has an official due date of December 1, 2012, but we are thinking the arrival will likely occur closer to Thanksgiving, as early deliveries seem to be in my gene pool.  We have again decided not to learn the gender of this baby prior to delivery, as it worked out nicely for us last time.

I will officially hit the 20 week mark this coming Saturday, which means half of this pregnancy is already behind us.  Time is going SO quickly, and I feel like I've had little time to think about this pregnancy.  Jack keeps us pretty busy, but it is getting very difficult to ignore the growing belly.

During the first trimester, I encountered my typical pregnancy exhaustion, but I think I also have a different concept of tired these days as it wasn't unbearable. I was however struggling to get over the tired feeling, likely due to the energy expended chasing a 1 year old.  But a nice vacation to France helped get over that it seems, and I was glad that my body accepted the extra sleeping opportunity (I was seriously concerned my typical 7 hours of sleep was going to translate to vacation, but was so glad it didn't).

We are excitedly awaiting our anatomy ultrasound, which is scheduled for next Tuesday.  We pray that Baby Buckmaster is healthy and growing stronger with each passing day, and the anatomy scan is the one opportunity we have to learn about what exactly is going on in there.  Justin will be in town for the appointment, so we are also grateful for that.

I felt the baby move for the first time during the 16th week, but could only feel the really big movements, like a full flip, not the little kicks and punches.  The baby has become increasingly active over the past 4 weeks, which is enjoyable to experience.  Justin was able to feel the baby for the first time yesterday, which he was ecstatic about.

I've been having tough dreams this time around.  Usually they are about me being an inadequate mother for Jack (I have yet to have a dream that includes Baby #2), which is just obnoxious.  I'd prefer to be having more cheerful dreams, that's for sure.  But I suppose it comes with the territory.  Truth be told, if I think about it all too long, I am a little nervous about having a second right now.  I am worried it will bring out the worst in me as far as parenting goes, and that I may not cope well with 2 so close together.  But I suppose we'll figure it out as we go, we always do.

Not the best quality photo, as I didn't know it was being taken.  We'll do better in the future.



Jack's 1 Year Stats

Now that Jack is 13 months old, it's probably a good time to post about his 1 year doctors appointment. Guess we just got busy after his appointment with party planning and jet setting.
Jack's appointment was on June 14, 2012. His height was recorded as 30.4 inches (75th %ile), weight was 24 lbs 5.2 oz (90th %ile, and the first time in months he was under 25 lbs), and his head circumference was 46.0 cm (75th %ile). Yes, he is still a big boy, and it seems whenever we tell people his age, they are quick to comment on his size. But he's healthy, and he amazes us all the time with how smart he is!
Jack still isn't saying much. He will say "out" and it's quite clear he knows what it means in regard to going outside, which he enjoys so much! We try to get him to say "up" when he wants picked up, and it comes out in many different variations of the word. We emphasize momma and dadda. As well as Ozzie, dog, and others. We still sign words such as more, bath, night night, milk, eat, thirsty and hot. In the time we were gone it appears he started signing "more" back, which is fun to see.  It is also clear he is understanding so much more of what we say.  For example, if we mention going downstairs, he'll head for the stairs and wait for us to open the gate.

Jack has also become quite the capable walker.  He usually only crawls to get himself to an item to help him stand.  We have watched him stand unaided a small handful of times (usually when he has 2 precious items in his hands that he doesn't want to put down), and he reportedly did it the first time on the day we returned, July 4th.  He has gotten pretty good at going up and down stairs, and knows to kneel down and go backwards.  We enjoy watching his walking improve, and we know how quickly he'll be running.  He seems to pick things up rather quickly.

Finally, Jack has learned to throw quite a fit when he doesn't get what he wants.  He doesn't understand when things are dangerous (hot stove or playing in the street, both of which he would do regularly if allowed).  All he seems to hear is us telling him "no", resulting in an upset baby boy.  Wouldn't trade any of it for the world!

Scheduled Return

As our time in Le Brusc was coming to an end, we decided that 2 weeks away from home was really quite enough. On top of missing Jack tremendously, and feeling like we were missing the exciting beginning stages of him walking, we were just ready to head back to the comforts of our home.

Yesterday, we rearranged our travel plans, and I called my mom to inform her of the changes. In response to our change of plans and early return, she sent me the cutest picture of Jack. The email was titled "Checking the schedule", and it said that "Grandma says you are coming home soon. Love you. Jack"

We will be there as soon as we can my sweet boy! It certainly doesn't seem soon enough...

Harper Lynn Hesseltine

On June 28th, a new family member was born. Her name is Harper Lynn, she is healthy, weighed in at 5 lbs. 12 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. She looks absolutely beautiful!

Grandma and Papa took Jack to meet his newest cousin in the hospital on her birthday. He reportedly was walking up to strangers, and even went up to a little girl in the waiting area and tried to steel her McDonalds cheeseburger. :) Yep, he's a good eater, but I'm grateful he did not succeed in his plot to steal fast food.

Mom (Brandi), dad (Scott) and Harper have gone home now, and I am sure they rare working to find that new normal (sleep deprived yet happy she is finally here). Congratulations to the whole family, and we simply can't wait to meet her. Perhaps next Monday, after we rerun from Europe.