Things are a little crazy around the Oatmeal house lately, though I can only assume it will continue to get crazier. Little Oats hit the 20 month mark, which has been both trying and delightful, and I hit the 20 week mark in my pregnancy with Baby Oats – also trying and delightful!
So what exactly have we been up to? Let’s break it down a little.
Little Oats: 20 Months (give or take a few weeks)
Language:
Little Miss has really been developing her own personality and sense of humour lately. Her language absolutely astounds me; as a speech therapist, I’m proud and a little terrified. The fact that she can tell us exactly what she likes, wants, and refuses to accept is wonderful, but the fact that she’s still tiny and impossible to reason with makes it tough. When she demands “Hotdogs, pickles, cheese and DIP!” for lunch, I’m thrilled that I know what she wants, and don’t have to deal with tantrums as I guess. But, when she clings to my leg and tells me, “I NEED Paw Patrol, on couch, and blanket!” when she’s already hit her TV quota for the day…that’s a little tougher to deny.
Sleep:
Fingers crossed, we are finally, finally, finally at the sleeping through the night stage. Honestly, it took us this long to get here, but I can rely on a solid night’s sleep 9/10 nights. It is blissful, and I’m so grateful. Remind me of this in four months when Baby Oats gets here.
Behaviour:
The tantrums are real, persistent and nearly impossible to avoid without being a total pushover. Though I know I’m in for this for at least the next year (several? Be gentle…), I’m finding it difficult to maneuver. Most of the time, Little Oats is hilarious, sweet, and fun to be around, which makes the tantrums easier to deal with. She has strong opinions and lets us know what they are, but she also makes observations about the world around her that make me laugh. Her memory is getting better, and she often recounts ‘stories’ from daycare. Her favourite tale to tell is the time she “fell down puddle, all wet!” on a walk. She says it like it just happened, but I think this was back in March…unless she’s falling in puddles every day! She also has an attachment to her ‘buddies’; it started out as one or two loveys that she carried around, and has morphed into a pile of every stuffed animal, pacifier, book or water bottle she’s grown to love that day.
Baby Oats: 20 weeks (pregnant)
This pregnancy has been a lot more difficult than the last. I say difficult tentatively; I know I’ve been extremely fortunate compared to many. The morning sickness lasted all day this time around, and it was awful from about 7 weeks until 16 weeks. There was no vomiting this time, which I’ve been grateful for, but I almost wished that I could just puke and make the nausea go away.
I’m fairly sure that this baby is either a giant, or I’ve got no muscles left. I feel like I’m about 35 weeks pregnant instead of just over 20; I waddle already, have hips that feel like they’re falling apart, and sleep is getting rough.
We found out at 19 weeks that Baby Oats is a boy! I’m really, really excited; a wee bit terrified because I don’t know what to do with a boy, but excited just the same. The name search is narrowing down, and I’m pinning nursery inspiration like mad. Everyone keeps commenting about how it must be so nice that we can stop having kids now that we’ll have a boy and a girl; is that really a thing? I mean…we ARE done having kids (I think), but that would have been the case regardless.
That’s about it in our world. Halfway to being a family of four; I’m sure there will be plenty more updates before then!
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
Yes, I think having “one of each” is totally a thing. We have know a couple of couples at church that went for #4 because the first 3 were boys. We have a boy and a girl, but I will be really sad if we never have more kids, so “one of each” isn’t a thing for us.
You look great and so does sweet little oats! So glad she’s sleeping, so you can get in a small bit of sleep before the baby arrives!
You got a year of maternity leave in Canada, correct? Will you get a whole year again?
pomelo / 5621 posts
So glad she is finally sleeping through the night for you! Just after 20 months was the magical sleep through the night age for us, but we still have the odd wake up every couple weeks or so.
You are looking good. Hopefully you have a good remaining 20 weeks.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
You look great!! I hope the rest of your pregnancy goes smoothly. That picture of her on her pile of animals is so so cute!
I got those comments all the time too about one of each and how we now have the perfect family and can be done. I guess it’s better than the alternative of, “Since you have two girls, are you going to try for a third to get a boy?” or something like that. There is just no escaping comments!
honeydew / 7295 posts
Congrats on your boy! I know my husband only wants two so it’s nice I get to have a son and a daughter but naturally all babies are wonderful blessings and I know I would have been happy with two boys or two girls as well.