technical difficulties

Unfortunately, problems with the connection between our camera and our computer have prevented me from posting new pictures recently, but I'm hoping to resolve the situation by the end of the week. Currently, any new pictures of Jed would involve lots of sweat with lots of food and dirt stuck in said sweat, so it's probably a good time to slow the picture flow.

In the meantime, please cast your vote in our first bd2 poll! Assuming the ultrasound technician can get a good look, we'll know by the middle of next week if Jed will have a brother or a sister. And you can keep track of bd2's progress with the countdown I've added to the page.

update
As requested, here is some more info regarding bd2's gender and the poll: first off, despite our attempts at explaining, Jed doesn't seem to understand the concept of having a sibling, so, although you can be totally uninformed and still vote for President, Jed's lack of knowledge disqualifies him from voting in this case. And your correct guess only gets you bragging rights. Sorry, Teddie.

As for the pregnancy itself, I was much, much more queasy and exhausted during the first trimester this time than I was with Jed. I've been eating sweets slightly more this time, and I've been eating and drinking a lot more diary, but I've also been gravitating to meat and potatoes just like I did with Jed. Although I felt much sicker early-on, I haven't had any really strong food aversions like I did with Jed. I've had lots of zits, but I haven't noticed any change in my hair. The baby's heart rate has been in the middle/lower-middle of the normal range, but apparently scientific studies have debunked the theory/myth that gender and heart rate are related.

Good luck!

backing up, on the sidewalk and in life

Before we get to the backing-up part of the show, here are some of Jed's words, or maybe I should use quotes and say "words" because they aren't too recognizable unless you're fluent in Jed Speak.

distractedly, Jed responds

Marmie, Grandma and Grandpa

now, the backing up . . .

While we were in Wilmington, Stephanie taught Jed that trucks, specifically his toy trucks, go "beep beep beep" when they back up. Now everything goes "beep beep beep" when it backs up, including our car, doors, food, Jed, books, and any toy or object he can move backwards, wheeled or not. Of course, Jed chooses not to use the "b" sound to make his noise; he goes with "me me me" instead, but you get the idea. And Stephanie gets our sincere thanks.

And for a little parental lifestyle backing up . . .

By December, and hopefully not earlier, we will be backing up into newborndom. We learned about little Baby David 2, aka bd2, in early April and shortly thereafter, he or she began making my life miserable for part of April and most of May.

Thankfully, he or she has started to make him or herself known in more positive ways, specifically through little fluttering movements so tiny that I missed them completely when Jed was the one on the inside. Thus, we figured it was time for bd2 to get a little bit of blog space.

So far, however, there's not much to tell. We've had very good reports from the doctor and I'm feeling much better now. We'll keep you posted, although given the semi-boring, hurry-up-and-wait nature of pregnancy, the blog will remain Jed's realm until the newbie claims the spotlight!

happy father's day

and thank you to all our fathers and grandfathers!

growing news

the first tomato on our Grandpa Joe Memorial Cherry Tomato Plant!

And in other growing-up news, I love hearing happy tinkering while I'm doing something else! This was the scene after I finished washing up from lunch today.

wilmington

We've just returned from a long weekend in Wilmington with Greg and Stephanie. We had great food and enjoyed getting to spend some time with them before their expected baby wrecks their lives . . . I mean before the baby brings pure joy to their lives.

We didn't make it out to the beach, but I think Jed had a good time despite refusing to nap and gnawing his fingers while two (or more) molars emerge. He ate a mess of fish sticks at lunch on Saturday and and he loved all the "bo"s (aka boats), although, apparently, it's easy to confuse boats with choo-choos. And speaking of choo-choos, we didn't get to the Wilmington Railroad Museum, but an impromptu military fly-over provided thrills enough!

Stephanie, Greg, Eric and Jed along the Cape Fear River with the Battleship North Carolina in the background

Sarah, Eric, and Jed

the A. David Building in downtown Wilmington

A. David + two Davids

wow!

Before Eric and I met, we both attended the same New Year's party, but we missed each other by an hour or so. That near-meeting, however, is chopped liver compared to this amazing story. Thanks to Caroline posting it. For once, it is worth sitting through the advertisement at the beginning of the clip.

sunday afternoon

truckin'

hop on pop

sharing goldfish with Daddy

where is Daddy's eye?

where is Daddy's ear?

the after-party

After his birthday party, Jed helped Marmie with her work in our weed beds . . .

by carefully moving dirt into one of his brand new trucks.

By the next day, he was ready for a snack (aka a "na") before Marmie departed.