One more month

One more month until baby Banks #2 is due!  Thankfully my placenta moved away from my cervix, so I can plan a on regular delivery.  I'm just starting to get uncomfortable with aches and pains in my back and sore overstretched skin on my belly.  I also get Braxton Hicks contractions, especially in the evenings.  It's strange and a bit painful to feel my whole belly go hard.  And, the stretch marks are starting to come out.  Somehow they're finding places to grow that I didn't have them last time!  My job goes until the end of September and then hopefully I can relax a bit the beginning of October and prepare for the new baby.  Although, we're taking Claudia out of daycare at the end of the month, so I can have some one-on-one time with her before her sister arrives.

We're having unseasonably dry weather in Seattle.  It has only rained once since July 22nd, so we're well into September and still able to enjoy the swimming pool, the beach, and parks.  Glen is also getting in lots of weekend golf.  Claudia has mastered swimming with her swim ring and is super confident in the pool if she has it on.  She is so much more adventurous this summer compared to last.  She loves playing with a shovel and bucket at the beach and will wade right out into the water on her own.  She is really proud of being a big girl and has to show and tell us at least a couple times a day how tall she is or how big certain parts of her are.  She wants to do almost everything herself "like a big girl" with the except of dressing herself and going to bed.  She was doing these things on her own for probably a year, but now she flops on the ground and says she wants me to pick out her clothes and dress her like a baby, or we have huge struggles at nighttime because she wants me to lay down on the bed next to her to help her fall asleep.  She also got her first (and hopefully last) self hair cut.  She used a pair of her scissors to cut off a good sized lock right in the front.  It could have been worse.  It looks a bit like we tried for bangs (fringe).  Curly hair is good for hiding mistakes!

On Labor Day, Neely & I met Jenny and her three kids at Camano Island State Park.  We used to go there every year to camp growing up, and my grandparents lived just down the road, so it brought back a lot of good memories and we were able to drive by their old house.  Glen, Claudia, and I also made a trip to the zoo, or "Old McDonald" as Claudia calls it.  It was slow going, but I managed to waddle around about half of the park and we saw the new warty pigs exhibit, although they only have females at the park, which don't have warts (tough skin around their cheeks to protect against tusk punctures).

At Old McDonald.

Camano Island State Park.

The very popular swim ring.