37 Weeks

Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. (Some babies need a bit more time, though. So if you're planning to have a repeat c-section, for example, your practitioner will schedule it for no earlier than 39 weeks unless there's a medical reason to intervene earlier.)

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard).

Well, we are 37 weeks along and at this point it appears I have made life much too comfortable for Miss B because she is in no hurry to make her arrival.  I'm dilated to a 1 and made a little progress from last week, but not much else.  At this rate we might have an Easter baby or later!

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Don't even ask me what he was doing here, but I was thoroughly amused by it.  Push the tractor and make it go, run away to the other end and then go back and do it all again.  He's been doing this the last couple of days and again, no idea why.

Book Review

I haven't done a book review in a long time, however, one of my most recent reads is definitely deserving of a little Smoller Family blog love.

The Winter of Our Disconnect: How Three Totally Wired Teenagers (and a Mother Who Slept with Her iPhone)Pulled the Plug on Their Technology and Lived to Tell the Tale by Susan Maushart. 

LOVED this book.  You can pretty much tell what the book is about by the title.  Mom gets this idea to get rid of "screen" time in the house--no TVs, no computers, no iphones, no blackberries, no video games, etc.  The kids can access the internet at school or at a friend's house, but not within the 4 walls of their own home.   

I think I like the book so much because it's something I'd really like to do in my own house.  Our jobs wouldn't allow for it, but a girl can always dream, right?  I do like to think we unplug more than the average Joe, but maybe that's my own distorted view.  The TV in our house doesn't come on most nights (nights involving K-state sports are a different story!) until after Brady goes to bed, if at all, in the evenings.  And as you can tell by my growing book list, I read a lot as opposed to watching TV.  And when we do watch TV, it's all about the DVR so we can fast forward through those commercials and at least minimize the screen time (or so I tell myself). 
The book also struck a chord because I see kids that are the same age as Brady or maybe a little older that are very, very adept at using electronic devices.  They can operate an iphone, they know how to click and drag with a mouse, they can turn on the Wii and play games, etc.  On one hand that's cute and all, but on the other hand, does a 3-year-old really need to know how to slide and unlock an iphone?  What kind of social skills will these kids have when they're teenagers and then adults?  I won't stay on my soapbox for long, but that's a real concern I have, in part based on what I already witness in a generation of people who have no knowledge of a life without the internet.

So, in short, great book to read.  And if you text me and you don't receive a reply for a long time, now you know why.  I'm just getting away from screen time.

Aubrey's Birthday Party

Our good friend Aubrey turned 3 recently and she had a fantastic party at Gymnastics Plus in Manhattan.  It was the first time Brady had been there and he showed no signs of fear whatsoever.  Jumped right into the Styrofoam pit and basically ran around all over the place. 

The party was a lot of fun and we had cake and treats after playing.  Aubrey needs to have birthdays more often! 

Based on how much Brady loved the party, I think we'll be taking advantage of the open gym night they hold on Friday evenings.  Because really, what isn't fun about jumping into a big pit of Styrofoam squares?

Mild Weather Enjoyment

We were able to get outside briefly to enjoy some milder weather a couple of weekends ago.  We got to try out the new wagon as a means of transportation to the playground.  Despite the look on his face in this picture, the wagon was a big hit. 

As you can tell by the smile, we still LOVE to swing.  And really, why shouldn't he.  Swinging is fun!

I just adore the look on his face here.

And no day at the playground is complete with some time on the slides.  I couldn't get a picture, but he went down the s-shaped slide by himself several times.  Looks like this summer will be even more fun at the playground!

33 Weeks

Well, this picture is actually from 32 weeks, but close enough.  I may not look like it, but I feel H.U.G.E.  I waddle, I ache, my sciatic nerve is a pain and generally speaking, I'm just ready to be done!  Not much time left, thankfully!

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.


So, she's a pineapple.  We had an appointment last week and our doctor thinks she's a little bigger than right now.  She's measuring about a week ahead, but that may even out so we'll see.