38 weeks and counting

Do I look as big as I feel? Actually, the baby has dropped so my belly looks smaller than it did 2 weeks ago. And--oh, bliss!--now that she's dropped, her little feet aren't constantly pressing up into my ribs. I am SO much more comfortable now.

I'm now heading to appointments 3 days a week, once for the requisite prenatal, once for a non-stress test, and once for a non-stress test plus an ultrasound to measure the amniotic fluid levels. The fluid levels have been ranging from normal to just a bit higher than normal, and the baby has looked fantastic at every visit. It's also reassuring that the baby has dropped, since that significantly reduces the chances of the umbilical cord getting stuck between her head and the birth canal when my water breaks. So it's all good news...except that she's not here yet.

While we wait, I've been keeping plenty busy. Those 3 appointments each week definitely contribute to the busy-ness. I've baked pumpkin bread, banana craisin bread, ciabatta bread, whole-wheat bread, and chocolate chip pumpkin cookies (I think another batch of the cookies will be on the agenda soon). Some of those goodies have even made it to the freezer! I've also been crocheting baby hats. This pattern required a little modification, but I'm pretty pleased with the result. Unfortunately, I'm afraid they're gonna be too small, so I might have to do a little more work on them.

Toby also helps to keep me busy, although he also does GREAT at entertaining himself. He can spend 30-40 minutes at a time doing this:

He's so much fun these days! He definitely has two words (finally): "ma-ma" and "paa-paa" (rhymes with "baa baa" and means "pacifier"). He still doesn't seem to understand how useful words can be, so he's taking his time with talking. We are constantly amazed by how much he understands though. The other day he brought Jonathan a book to read. Jonathan didn't feel like reading that story so he started to make up his own story, but Toby caught on right away that it wasn't the right story and he would have none of it! He protested quite violently until Jonathan started reading it correctly.

We took him to the park a few weeks ago. He LOVES the outdoors.

This picture reminds me of my brother for some reason. 

Time for me to go whip up some chocolate chip pumpkin cookies with the little man. He gets such a kick out of "helping" me bake.