Off to bed

Tonight when daddy announced, 'Mowgli, time for bed' Mowgli came to kiss his baby sister goodnight.  

At the time mommy and Rocket were sitting on the couch, and Mowgli tried to pick up Rocket out from mommy's lap. We got Mowgli to sit down on the couch so he could hold his little sister safely, but he kept trying to stand up. Mommy got ready to take the baby back, but Mowgli was very insistent that Daddy hold the baby. 

Finally, Mowgli declared, "sleep with the baby."  He was trying to take Rocket off to bed with him.


In other news, tomorrow is the first day that mommy has to get Mowgli off to school all by herself since Rocket joined the family.  We'll see how it goes. 

Introducing Rocket Girl

Rocket Girl is here at last!!

So far she's been a very sweet but sleepy baby. And really, what else can you ask from a newborn?

Mowgli's been doing great. One of the characteristics of autism is that kids like routine and can get very very upset when their routine is disturbed, and a new sibling can be a big disturbance. So all of Mowgli's teachers and therapists have been checking up on him. But he's honestly been doing fantastic.

When Rocket cries Mowgli tries to soothe her by wiping her eyes. Though we do have to work on teaching him to be a little more gentle when he does this.

Several times now when Rocket has been sleeping, we've set her down in her seat or her bed. Mowgli has come in and when he didn't see us holding her, he's panicked, crying, "The baby!  The baby!" as he searches for her.

Mowgli is going to be a good big brother.

Winter Pregnancy

Those who live in the south where winter is not a big deal can disagree, but up here in the frozen northland, being very pregnant in the winter s**ks ever so much more than being very pregnant in the summer.  For one simple reason: shoes.

When you get to that point in pregnancy where reaching your feet is a major ordeal, you want to wear slip-ons.  Not heavy winter boots. 

If it were just a matter of my toes getting a little cold, I'd still be wearing slip-ons.  That's why car's have those wonderful foot warmer settings right?  No.  The cold is not the problem.  The snow and slush and ice is the problem. 

See, being pregnant makes you clumsy.  Not only does your center of balance get all funky, but all your joints and ligaments get all loose so that the baby is able to come out when it's time. 

Clumsy + Ice = Bad news

So shoes with good traction are absolutely imperative.  At exactly that point when you can't really reach your feet any more, you have to wrestle them into boots, so that you don't die on your front steps. 

Getting Ready for Christmas

We went a-visiting for Thanksgiving.  Big family reunion with all the cousins and much laughter and story telling. 

Mowgli ate a lot of turkey and rice-crispy treats. 

Now over the course of the long weekend, Mowgli was asked several times what he wanted for Christmas.  And unlike his cousins who want anything and everything, he had no answer.  So I suggested that he take his granddaddy to target, and show granddaddy what he wanted for Christmas.  Well, the long weekend was still too short.  We made it to the zoo, but we didn't make the trip to target. 

But Mowgli remembered.  Since we made it back home, he has asked several times to "Go to target and want for Christmas."

Shopping for Baby

I honestly think that we're pretty much set, in terms of baby shopping.  I'm trying to restrain myself and not buy any more until we get the last minute stuff like diapers and formula.

But then I see something like this outfit:

It was on sale.  And it made me smile.

Daddy wanted to get a matching shirt for Mowgli that said "Improved!"

Drums

Mowgli had his first drum lesson today. 

He's learning hand drums because they can be played inside.  I'm not bringing a trap set in my house. 

I'll admit it, my expectations were low.  We had the lesson in one of the percussion studios at CMU where distractions abound.  There were gongs and computers and two trap sets and marimbas and all sorts of things.  So much stuff to play with.  Why would he want to sit down and play just one drum?

But he did absolutely fantastic.  He kept a reasonably steady 4-4, and learned 3 different patterns.  Even if he did have a lot of trouble switching between patterns.  They played along with a Santana song, and he absolutely loved that. 

Mowgli actually came home and wanted to practice!

Baby

Mowgli has finally figured out that there's something going on with a baby in our house.  He understands that mommy's belly is getting big and the reason has something to do with a baby.  But it's hard to say how much he understands beyond that.  In his own words,

The belly got big and it growed like a baby.

She's not gonna be here till February, but we're shopping and working on names and generally getting ready.

We think Mowgli will do better if we can name her ahead of time.  If we can give her a name, that makes her a real person and part of our family, as opposed to a random baby that doesn't belong to us.  The problem is trusting that the ultrasound was correct when they said she was a girl.    We can only hope.

In other news, Mowgli's been drawing up a storm lately.  I'll try and get some posted.