It's all in the Pinky?

I'm so confused, y'all.  What is going on?  Is it me?  Is it my body?  Is it a technical malfunction?  What the heck am I talking about?

Sorry, I should've started with the point, but I wanted to start off by making you as confused as me right now.  Did it work?

Last week I had a small win on the gestational diabetes battle.  My nutritionist took a quick look at the results of my glucose levels and said I could decrease my daily pricking from 4 to 2 times a day.  Score!  She was only concerned seeing a few high results from my fasting blood sugar (My results first thing in the morning after I've fasted through the night).  She said I needed to keep up with the fasting prick daily for sure.

Well, as this past week has gone by, I've gotten some really variable results and a couple have reached even higher that what my nutritionist saw for fasting blood sugar.  I assumed that all I needed to do was incorporate a "before bedtime" snack.  That seemed to work for the most part.

However, at first I thought I was mentally looking for excuses or oddities, but I noticed that I got a lot of my high readings when I pricked my pinky finger.  Come on Shirley - I thought to myself - are you really thinking that your pinky has special sweeter blood than the rest of your fingers?  I know, sounds crazy right but I decided to test it anyway.

Just now I pricked my finger after eating a chicken sandwich for lunch.  The sandwich had:  deli chicken, pickles, mustard, mayo, and two slices of American cheese.  Before lunch, my morning snack consisted of 4 plain multigrain crackers.  I decided to prick my pinky finger because the last time that I had a chicken sandwich for lunch, my level was 109.  So I prick.  Prick!  And wait for the results....

Reading.....

Reading.......

Reading..............

151!

What!  The acceptable range is between 100-135, and 151 is FAR OUT, and not in a good way!  So I decided to prick my index finger...

Reading.......

Reading..........

Reading..............

133

Well, that's still within the acceptable range at least.  But just for kicks and giggles, I decided to prick the sweet pinky one more time...

Reading.......

Reading..........

Reading..............

142

Huh?  Wha?!  I don't understand how within one minute I could get such different readings.  Is my meter reader broken?  I need to call my nutritionist, but I'm afraid she'll increase my prickings back to 4 times a day.  Boo!  Me No Likey that!

Oh sweet pinky... what are you doing to me?

The Four-Zero Project: Week 14

Party planning, party planning, and more party planning!  That's been the theme of this week.  I've been so involved in all the party stuff that I've barely noted anything special for this 14th week of pregnancy.
There IS one thing I noticed while I was working on some crafts for my father's party.  I was working from home because my childcare plans fell through.  There I was trying to cut gi-normous airplane cutouts for my father's party, and Diego decides he wants to be as involved as possible.  He touched everything (which scared me because I was using Exacto knives), crumpled everything, and wanted to continuously throw everything off the table and onto the floor!  Arg!

He also insisted on crawling in the small space between my back and the back of the chair that I was sitting in and then proceeded to climb on me as if I were Mt. Everest!  It reminded me of the time I was in the Amazon Jungle and had monkeys on my my head!

Each time he started to climb Mt. Shirley-est, I would scoot over to another chair and continue my very important work.  He would simply leave the chair he was on, and follow me to the next chair.  I gave up, and let him continue to climb me.  At one point he grabbed onto a thick chunk of my long hair and used it as his mountain-climbing rope.  Strangely, I used the word "thick" just now in that last sentence when speaking about my hair.  Come to think about it, my hair HAS been cooperating with me this week, and I've had some very cute hairstyles.

My hair has never been the same since Diego was born and he's basically a year and a half now!  But I think this new pregnancy is giving my hair that new-life-during-pregnancy kick that people talk about.  And I know it's not the prenatal vitamins because unfortunately, I haven't been good at taking those religiously.  :(

So at the same time that my belly is growing, so is my hair and I LOVE IT!  Since I'm still at that stage where I can sorta hide the belly, and yet ROCK the healthier hair, I'm all smiles this week.... yup... all smiles.

SYMPTOMS:  

Great hair - not too shabby!

How to Tell Friends that You're Pregnant On Facebook

What you will need:

• A little creativity
• A cute, existing son or daughter
• A large piece of card stock, poster board, or in my case - a dirty-used pizza box!
• A digital camera
• Photo editing software such as Photoshop
• A couple hours for your photo session
• A buddy to help take the picture or inspire cuteness out of your son or daughter.

What you need to do:

1. On a nice, sunny day call your buddy over for a photoshoot.
2. Get your little one dressed in a cute outfit.
3. When your buddy comes over, grab your camera, the little one, and the big piece of paper.
4. Show your little one how much fun it is to hold the poster board by jumping around like a lunatic with him/her and while holding your own poster board so that they try and imitate you.
5. While all the jumping insanity is going on, have your buddy snap pictures "in the moment".  Take as many pictures as time and disk space will allow.  Don't spare any shots! Remember, bad digital photos are easily eraseable!  We took about 200 photos only to use 6 in the final product.
6. When you've run out of space or steam, give your little one a treat, and download your photos onto your computer.
7. Review the photos and pick your favorites.  While reviewing the photos, note the child's facial and body expressions in each photo, and think of a good wording to compliment those expressions in the story board.
8. Edit the story board in PhotoShop or other editing software
9. Save your picture file and upload to Facebook with a fun, ambiguous status update message.  For example, my message read, "I believe it's time for me to start re-thinking my stance on minivans!"
10. Seconds later, begin reading all the fun comments you've received!

And that's how it's done!!!

The Four-Zero Project: Week 13

It's the end of my first trimester, yay! It's been a week full of finger pricking, dieting, giving back to the community, surprise retirement party planning for my dad, Father's Day planning and so much more! Oh yeah - did I throw in actually "paying the bills"-work in there too? So far, I am coping with this whole gestational diabetes thing, but I find it hard to keep up with my schedule lately.

Last week I had at least three appointments, and then I found out that I totally forgot to bring Diego to his pediatrics appointment! Robbed of another "Mother of the Year" award! Now with the finger pricking, I completely lose track of time when I'm supposed to prick 1 hour after breakfast, lunch, dinner, and once in the morning after fasting through the night. I really need to get my life back on track; I'll figure it out somehow. Knowing me, it will consist of constant alarms, calendars, and to-do lists.

Aside from the pricking, I've had a good week. At work, we were enjoying a company sponsored week of giving back to the community, and I helped my group pack oranges and rice (not together, lol!). It was the day before I was scheduled for a 1:1 with my boss where I planned to let my baby secret out to her. As I stood there and listened to what we were to do, I worried about the part where we needed to lift the boxes of oranges onto a crate. I danced around the issue, and strategically placed myself in a corner so that I wouldn't look like I was too lazy to pick up boxes. Luckily, after awhile the men in our group took on their primal roles, and self-appointed themselves as the official box-lifters. Whew! Saved.

The next day came, and I'm happy to say that my boss now knows that I'm prego and she was very happy to hear it. Now I'm getting ready to tell the rest of the family and "shout it on the mountain" via FaceBook. My sister helped me take some pictures of Diego over the weekend, and I'm working on a little picture project to tell the family. You'll see it here on my blog too when it's ready.

As a thank you to the week of community activities, my company (consecutively rated one of the best places to work) threw a benefit concert. They do it every year. The talent is always a surprise, and rumors circulate around the conference rooms throughout the week. In the past we've seen Bob Dylan, The Eagles, The Black-Eyed Peas, The Foo Fighters, The Counting Crows, Natasha Beddingfield.... This time it was Chris Daughtry, Sheryl Crow, and Maroon 5!

Here are some pics of the sponsored event, aka Diego's first concert. I probably took one too many photos of Adam Levine's Ass! LOL! Yup, it was a GOOD week!

CRAVINGS:

What does it matter.  I'm not allowed to eat anything delicious anymore anyway!

SYMPTOMS:

Nothing much!  I'm glad to say!

How to Make an Airplane Ticket Invitation

What you will need:

• A little creativity
• Photoshop or other editing skills
• Nice 8 1/2 x 11" paper
• Standard size envelopes
• Smaller envelopes to fit for the tear-away, RSVP boarding pass (aka. return envelope)
• A computer
• A printer
• Scissors
• A sewing machine
• Optional (to make your life easier):  A straight cutting board, a tool to round edges of paper, and a buddy to help you

My Dad's retirement is less than a week away.  It will be an airport theme because he's been working for the airlines since he came to the United States.  Here's how my sister and I made the airplane ticket invitation:

1. Come up with a ticket layout.  (We Googled airplane ticket images to get good ideas.  We also decided to make the boarding pass side a tear-away RSVP card.)
2. Create your ticket in Photoshop or other editing software
3. Go shopping with your really picky sister for nice paper (8 1/2 x 11"), a matching envelope that will fit your ticket, and a smaller envelope that will fit the return RSVP card
4. While you're out, pick up a tool to help you make rounded edges on your ticket and a cutting board for straight cuts (optional:  you can choose to leave the edges square or round them and cut them by hand with scissors.
5. Using MS Word or other software, print your tickets on the paper.  Judging by the standard airplane ticket size, you can probably fit three tickets horizontally on an 8 1/2 x 11" sheet of paper (portrait).
6. Cut out your printed tickets individually (Here's where the cutting board will come in handy)
7. Round the edges (Here's where a special rounding tool will help)
8. Run the ticket through a sewing machine to create the perforations for the tear-away RSVP Boarding Pass. (I think this was the coolest, most realistic piece to our ticket invitation!)
9. Print addresses on your envelopes (You can also print your return address on the smaller envelopes)
10. Fill each big envelope with 1 ticket and 1 small return envelope
11. Stamp and close each filled envelope.
12. Mail those suckers out to friends and family!
13. Wait for their responses!

Voila!  A homemade airplane ticket reservation that's a close dupe for the real thing!

Stay tuned for more updates and crafts for the retirement party!

BRAT-A-TOUILLE!

Yesterday's post was on a very serious topic, so today I'm lightening up and talking about something more light-hearted and fun like spoiling your bratty child!  Who doesn't love to do that???

Hubby and I jumped onto Craigslist the other day and scored a beautiful, solid redwood play structure for our backyard that we are in the middle of "remodeling".  Well it wasn't really for the backyard, it was for our spoiled BRAT-a-touille (that's my nickname to him when he's acting like a brat), Diego!  I think we got a good deal for it at 500 big ones; hubby talked them down from 650.  I'm lucky that my hubby is in construction, so he was prepared with his van, ready to dismantle the structure, and rebuild it in our backyard.

And like any child would, Diego LOVED it!  He's still too young to be able to play on it unattended, and we need at least two adults to watch him:  one for the top of the slide and the other to catch him at the bottom, because that slide is INTENSE.  I took some high-speed continuous shots of him going down the slide and halfway down the slide his face came out a bit nervous in the shots, but trust me, by the time he reached the bottom of that slide, he was all grins and laughter!

The face of a happy, BRAT-a-touille!

Self-Mutilation

I've never been really good around needles, and it blows that I'm required to prick myself 4 times a day now.  I tried my best to weasel my way out of pricking my finger during my discussion with the nutritionist at Sweet Success.  No luck there.

She did say, however, that I would need to come back in a week and if the numbers are good, we could possibly do less daily pricking and then take the blood test for sugar levels later on as the pregnancy develops.  I'd rather take a tube of blood than to prick myself on purpose 4 times a day!

I sat there, listening to her teach me about nutrition.  I honestly felt very dumb at times.  I've never been one who had to watch my weight, so I never cared to learn the details about nutrition and diet.  I mean, I know the high level idea of what's good and what's bad for the body, and I spent a lot of time shopping in supermarkets at the perimeter of the grounds:  Produce, Dairy, Bakery, Butcher etc.  I wasn't one to buy processed foods in the middle aisles. 

And now my recent decisions in nutritional values in life lead me here, in this seat with a woman who - Thank God! - had a colorful picture guide of what I should and shouldn't be eating.  For the most part, the diet was doable in my mind, and looking in at the portion sizes, might actually be more than what I was used to eating.

I raised my concerns:  Is there an increased chance that I will become diabetic after the pregnancy?

"Statistics show that 60% of women with gestational diabetes develop diabetes 5-10 years later.  But you do not have the body type for diabetes.  As long as you maintain a healthy diet and exercise, you should be good."

Then she pulled out the meter and began showing me how to use it.  "First you take the cap off..."  -Oh God!  Does this mean she's going to put me on the spot to prick my finger in front of her.  "Then you insert the lancet and twist of the little top..." Jesus!  Is that the needle?!!!!  I don't even like the word 'lancet' it sounds like the Spanish word for 'launch' and there's no way I'm launching that thing into my skin!  "Then you engage it and insert the strip into the meter" -Help me, we're getting close to the end!  "Then you adjust the number for the lancet, people are usually comfortable at the number 2 setting"  -You mean I choose my own pain level?  How mean is that?!!!  "Then you place it to your finger and press the button" - and then there were crickets and silence as I stood there with my free finger on the trigger and no volition to actually press it.  I apologized and explained my history with needles.  She was understanding, but I still felt the pressure of something that I had no choice but to do.  After a few hesitant seconds and uncomfortable body gestures, I finally pressed the button. 

All I can say is that although it didn't hurt too much and I didn't faint, I still don't like it.  She sent me on my way with what she jokingly called a "designer bag" filled with supplies for my new, unaccepted recreational activity. 

It's now been a couple of days since I've been self-mutilating and let me tell you:  I still hate it!  There have been times when the meter doesn't get enough blood for the reading and I prick myself 4 times alone for the first prick of the day!  It's gotten so bad that I've had to increase the number to a "4" from a "2".  Can you believe this?  I choose my pain, and I had to choose to increase it.

Gestational diabetes blows...

The Crazy, Fainting Girl!

Introducing Baby-Dos in 3D!!!!

And here he/she is in "old-school" 2D (snooze!)

I never got any 3-dimensional pictures of Diego, so it was so fun to see the baby in this new light.  Its little arms and legs are so cute and nubby compared to the big head.  It kind of reminds me of a Cherub or those toys with gi-normous heads and small bodies.  The lady taking the pictures said some people are surprised and scared of what the 3D pics look like, but I find it to be the cutest thing ever!

Before we took this picture, I sat down with a counselor to go over the screening process.  Nothing new since I'd done this before.  However, he seemed a little concerned when I told him that I may have gestational diabetes.  He asked me to confirm when I knew for sure because that meant I should have an additional ultrasound later to look at the baby's heart. 

We also went over a problem that we found in Diego during his pregnancy.  There was a larger than expected amount of fluid in his head.  I joked that since he's been born, he's always ranked in the 95th percentile on head circumference at his pediatric appointments,  so it could've just been that he has a huge head.  The counselor laughed at my joke, and said that could have been it since there have been no signs of an explanation since.

After the ultrasound, the combination of pictures taken and my blood work results left me with a 99.99999% chance that this baby will NOT have Down Syndrome.  That of course, is always a relief to hear.  However, there is another part of the screening in a month or so, so news can change.  For now, we can celebrate good news at this stage.

After my integrated screening, I drove to my prenatal appointment where I was able to hear the baby's heart beat.  It was so melodic!  My doctor then asked if I had been told that I had gestational diabetes.  I told her I was told that my levels were high, but I did not know that definitively meant I had gestational diabetes.  It did, and I do.  (sad face)

I explained my poor eating habits since my stepson moved in with us, and she told me that although those foods would certainly help increase my levels, they do not just give you diabetes.  She said that I may have been a little diabetic before I even got pregnant.  I was surprised to hear that, and I didn't know that someone could be "a little" diabetic.  I didn't question her further because I had my appointment the next day at Sweet Success with a nutritionist, so I saved my questions for the expert.

Before I left, I reminded my doctor of the car accident that I experienced when I was 7 or 8 months pregnant with Diego.  When I would lay or even lean on my back, Diego's weight would put pressure on my Vena Cava causing lack of blood to the head and fainting.  Unfortunately, this happened while driving to a city 1 1/2 hrs away in the fast lane of a freeway.  Luckily no one was hurt or involved other than me and my car.  And my "injuries" consisted of a few barely noticeable scratches on my foot because I was wearing sandals.

Right when I mentioned this issue to my doctor, her eyes widened and she said, "That's right!  You're Crazy, Fainting Girl! I remember that!  It was so sad and scary."

I laughed at the new nickname I was given.  Yeah, it was definitely crazy. 

Sincerely,
Crazy, Fainting Girl

Double Up! Weeks 11 & 12

Where has the time gone?  I'm late an entire week on Project Four-Zero.  How dare I?! 

Well, these past two weeks have been busy at work, and by the time I get home I have no energy to fight with Diego over who gets to type on the laptop, so I don't even turn it on at home.  I've really got to get Diego his own laptop to destroy.  It's gotten so bad that I bring my personal laptop to work in hopes of stealing some time on it during work hours to edit videos and Photoshop pictures.  One day my boss is going to walk in on me and catch me!

Other than the high sugar levels in my blood, which has directly resulted in a "no sugar" ban and many exhaustive, low energy moods, there have not been any other significant happenings during this week as far as pregnancy symptoms go.

This afternoon I have a follow up integrated screening appointment quickly followed up by my prenatal appointment where I believe the doctor will let me listen to the beating heart for the first time.

So exciting!

On a side note, this last Project Four-Zero photo session proved to yield a good number of outtake shots.  I found most of them hilarious.... What do you think? 

Runner-up for the Weekly Photo

 
Also, I know it's a little weird and a little "Texas" but I liked how my hair came out in this last session.   I've always struggled with up-do's; they always make me look like a dude.  I even swear I heard the driver say hello "Sir" as I got on the shuttle for my work a couple weeks ago when I tied my hair back in a J-lo type pony tail.  I seriously considered getting short bangs after that!  

I also wore my hair up and somewhat tight on Day 1 of a 2-day training I had for my job last week.  The next day I wore it down.  My flamboyant teacher in his pink shirt came up to me and said, I think your hair looks really nice down!  I didn't recognize you when you walked in today.  I thought - that poor woman!  She thinks today is Day 1 and I'm going to have to tell her that she can't get credit for the course!"  I laughed along with him, but inside I was still considering bangs.

Still no short bangs yet, but maybe the key is loose up-do's and earrings instead???

Is she?

Last night  (12 weeks, 1 day) I happened upon the site of a pregnant woman as I passed the mirror on my way into the shower.  My body is finally revealing a prominent baby bump.  There are no more excuses: oh I'm bloated, oh I've been eating too many donuts.... etc.  No, I took one look in that mirror yesterday, and there would've been no doubt if there were anyone else in the room.  Is she?  Yes, she is...

Fortunately through lose clothing I am still able to hide it a little.  Next week on Tuesday (June 14th) I will have reached my first trimester.  At that point my decision was to start telling everyone the news.  "Everyone"- as in extended family, my boss & co-workers, good friends, and then catch anyone else on FaceBook, because if it's not on Facebook then it's not really happening.  Am I right?

Whereas about 4 weeks ago I was ready to tell the world, right now I don't really want to say a word.  I think it's been the hormones that have caused these fluctuating emotional states.  Unfortunately, right now I'm in a down period.  It's one of those pretty strong ones where I believe that I will have postpartum depression after the baby is born.  Examples:  I'm turned off by how my body looks (I know it's vain, but I'm being honest here), I've got too much on my plate and so I'm constantly tired and frustrated, any small obstacle is enough for me to feel hopeless and lost.

A few days ago I received an unexpected message from the doctor.  They said that my levels came back high and they were referring me to the Sweet Success program.  I had no idea what that meant, and I couldn't get a hold of anyone so I "Googled" Sweet Success.  The first words I saw were:  "Pregnancy" and "Diabetes".  I freaked out!

How could this happen to me?  I don't even crave sugar all that much and I'm a pretty healthy eater.  I finally got a hold of someone from Sweet Success and setup my "first" appointment on Tuesday.  All she could tell me was that my sugar levels were a 5.9 and the expected range was 4.8-5.6 so I am .3 above.  She said that the data tells them I've been high for at least 3 months.

The hamster wheel started turning in my head.  Have I been eating poorly since March?  And it hit me that, yes, actually I sort of have.  Since my 16 year old stepson came to live with us there are new items (in bulk!) in the house that were never available before:  cookies, sodas, chips, and Rice Crispies Treats!  Little by little, the sugar has found its way into my bloodstream.  I haven't had very good discipline, especially with those infernal Rice Crispies Treats!  Surprisingly, soda has also been my drink of choice.  I've never cared for soda that much before.

On the phone, the woman said that I would receive information on proper diet and one of those blood sugar meter thingies to prick my finger.  My heart stopped for a split second.  If anyone knows me, they know I would never make a good diabetic because I am deathly afraid of self-inflicting pain and needles.  It's just against my nature to be able to do it.  Like how it's impossible for a person to drown themselves in a sink full of water; the natural instinct is to gasp for air.  My natural instinct is just not to do it at all...

So now I am sad about this new kink in the pregnancy, sad that I'm going to have to start pricking my finger, and sad that I have yet another thing to take up time on my plate.  On Monday alone, I'm going to 2 appointments and then this new one on Tuesday.  And I'm tired; more tired now that I've cut out the sugar and don't drink an ounce of caffeine.  It's hard for me to think of a fun way to reveal the news right now when I'm feeling this way so I may defer the reveal for a few days or even a week.  I hope my clothes will still allow me to hide it so that people around me don't start wondering:

"Is she?"

No One Warned Me About Elevators!

We found ourselves in Reno, NV over the weekend, and yes that's a picture of the mountains capped with SNOW IN THE MIDDLE OF JUNE!  They're actually calling it June-uary now.

Circus-Circus is the place to be for any self-respecting family.  If you have kids, you just go to Circus-Circus.  Diego was in a dream world at first at the arcade/carnival area.  He loved all the blinking lights, had to reach in the coin slots of all the games, and spent a good amount of time pretending to drive in the race car arcades.  Unfortunately, he quickly got bored of all those things and decided that running around without any inclination to an actual destination was the best thing to do in a place like this.  So he darted...

Mommy followed closely behind, expertly maneuvering around the human obstacles that would suddenly just stand in her way.  This was a test.  Wasn't this a family place?  Shouldn't the people here know better than to block a Momma when she's running after her moving target?  Apparently not!

And then there it was in all it's shining, moving glory... the escalator.  Stairs that move!  Diego decided that he was all about THAT and made a bee line straight for it.  Momma accelerated the gas and caught Diego's hand just in time to give him that extra balance he would need to prevent a nasty fall on moving stairs.

We proceeded to go up and down the escalator for the next 1/2 hr.  It probably would have been easier if he didn't immediately turn around at the top of the escalator and stubbornly believe that "what goes UP, must come DOWN" - this is a hard myth to bust in the eyes of a toddler.  So I would have to pull my tantrum-ready son away from the top of the "UP" escalator as the people behind us were still trying to get off, and direct him toward the "DOWN" escalator - all as my son's body went limp like spaghetti and his piercing screams radiated through the air in his attempts to go DOWN on the UP escalator.

At some point the vicious cycle finally ended as Diego finally grew bored of the escalator.  His last ride was the DOWN escalator and we were back at the carnival area.  There I spied a Dad that had his son on a monkey leash.  I knew I had failed at "Best Mommy of the Year" by forgetting Diego's lion leash.  Oh well, there's always next year's spot. I watched the dad for a few seconds.  His son darted off and crossed in front of three guys that were walking towards them.  Dad yelled, "Be careful now!" and yanked on the leash.  The little boy's body jolted and fell butt-first onto the floor.  The three guys started laughing at what they had just witnessed; a little boy being yanked on a leash like a dog.  The dad looked at me and saw my face, I think he read me wrong.  He seemed to feel guilty as he took the monkey tail and put it away permanently.

If he could've read my mind, he would have seen that I was analyzing what I would've done in that situation, and I was coming to terms with the fact that I would've done the exact same thing with Diego.  The leash is not a win-win situation apparently.  That would've been ME treating my son like a dog too!  I felt bad for the Dad.

But that doesn't mean I'm not going to use the leash.  I found another reason to use the leash later that night.  My husband stubbornly made us ride on the "Parking Garage" elevators instead of the Hotel Room elevators at night when we were ready to get to know our room.  Even though I CLEARLY diverted his attention to the BIG sign that read, "Parking Garage Elevators" he still insisted and we hopped onto the elevator.  There was a man in the elevator with us.  On the ride up, we had a very informative (for my husband) conversation with the man about how this elevator was only for the Parking Garage and we should go back down and take the other elevators.  We thanked him kindly as he got off on his floor and we pushed the button to go back down and waited for the elevator doors to close.  A couple of seconds of silence passed, and like a bat out of Hell, Diego darted out of the elevator and down the hall out of sight.  I screamed his name and chased after him before the elevator doors were able to close.  When I looked down the hall I heard him giggling and saw him running after the man who had just exited the elevator.  He was kind enough to block Diego, as I grabbed him, thanked the man, and returned Diego safely to the elevator.  He was still laughing.

Who will be laughing when they're forced to start using a silly lion backpack leash, huh?  Revenge is sweet!

16 Months!

There was some progress this month, but the main goal of speaking receives a BIG thumbs down.  Do not pass Go, do not collect $200, go straight to jail...

We've I've tried very hard this month, but Diego is just A.D.D. when it comes to books and reading.  Anything that catches his attention, he must touch and interact with.  From a mere flip to the next page - which he must ALWAYS do while I am in mid-sentence, to trying the break the book - he just doesn't want to actually listen to the story.

He even takes the book out of my hand, flips it open, and begins to point and "read" it himself.  The book is usually upside down, and his oration usually consists of soft and droned out cooing.  He is imitating Mommy, and there's no way that she's getting the book back!

So right now we're still at baby babblings of "Da-da" and "Ma-Ma" with no context behind them.  Supplemented with grunts and cries and finger pointing for milk and food.  I am almost at a loss, but I know that would mean that he is winning.  I can't let him do that; I can't set a precedence.  So we will continue.

There has been some good progress on other topics, I'm glad to say!

• Waving goodbye
• Kissing on queue
• Spoon Fork-feeding
• Bath Time Hell
• Swimming Hell

If you have a moment, please watch my vlog which goes into detail about the Hell that is bath time and swimming!

Wordless Wednesday - 2011June01