Where Has My Little Baby Gone?

In just one short month (plus 3 days!), my little baby will be two years old. Two years old. Where has my little baby gone?

M is such a character now - and such a delight. Sometimes when I am having a sweet little conversation with him, or I watch him play, I get incredibly overcome by love for him. Each day he shows me something new, and each day I am in awe of how quickly he has absorbed everything around him...

My little guy can count to fifteen, and is starting to demonstrate that it's more than rote counting (he is beginning to demonstrate what is called "one-to-one correspondence" - corresponding objects to the number). For example, he can count each step as he goes up the stairs for bedtime, and he can count out a certain number of Cheerios for me. He loves to be read to, and can ask for certain books at bedtime by their title. He's even memorized the first line of one of his books, and sometimes recites it before I even start! He's goofy and silly and loves to play with his daddy and his grandparents - and has learned to clown around and make silly faces so that they laugh. He is the life of our party.

And he is about to become a big brother. Sigh. Where has my little baby gone?

And an update on our little bean....

I'm thirteen weeks pregnant as of today...and so far, the pregnancy has been smooth. We went for our First Trimester Screen on Friday (nuchal translucency ultrasound and bloodwork) and got excellent results back (negative screen for trisomy 21, 13 and 18), so chances appear slim to none that our little bean has any chromosomal issues. I was on pins and needles prior to this - our age and the cause for our infertility did not escape me, so I was worried about the results. I'm pretty sure we aren't going to take it any further (i.e. amniocentesis), but I'll have to sit down and talk with DH about it all. I have a pretty big bump - similar in size to when I was 4 months pregnant with M - so it's certainly hard to hide the pregnancy. Not that I've tried - I'm pretty overjoyed and want everyone to know it!!

We're looking forward to our next u/s, when we'll find out the sex of the baby. A little boy would bring a ton more energy into the home (more than there already is with M and his rowdy papa...could I possibly handle it?), but a little girl would bring such sweetness. Either way, we feel so blessed and couldn't ask for anything more than for it to be happy and healthy...