21/52 - Entering the Third Trimester

Here we are, about to enter the third trimester of Corinne's pregnancy. It's hard to believe that we're here already! Time for an update.

For a variety of reasons, we recently switched to an ob/gyn clinic in Gresham. The upshot is that when the baby is ready, we will be driving to the hospital in Gresham for the delivery, about an hour and 30 minute drive from our house. (Unless, of course, things don't go according to plan.) But it also means that we have access to more advanced equipment, including nice ultrasound monitors. Here are some of the pictures from our most recent appointment.

Face, profile

Face, portrait (aka "Voldemort")

Bicep

He's at about 26.5 weeks and is looking remarkably like a real person. Corinne is still doing well with no major issues other than some sciatica pain and a little less energy than usual, both within normal pregnancy expectations. Onward we go!

---

Meanwhile, we have another child. As we have mentioned before, Anders is a reading junkie. He had a definite preference for non-fiction over fiction, but the Magic Tree House series has helped us to strike a better balance. Out of the 54+ Magic Tree House books, he only has about 3 more that he hasn't read. They are often finished on the same day that they come home; on other days, he is reading 3 at the same time, switching between them indiscriminately. Within non-fiction, he has branched out to more than his past favorites of wildlife and vehicles. A sampling of topics from his current library books includes Greek mythology, The World Series, Pope Francis, Obama, and giant squid. When he is engrossed in a book, the house becomes pretty quiet.

On the not-so-quiet front, about a month ago he decided that he wanted to learn how to whistle. In fairly short order, he went from being able to make a very airy, barely tonal sounds to full-on whistling. It has now become a default action that he seems to do without thinking; when we're playing a game, riding in the car, or even reading to him, he is usually whistling. His two most frequently whistled tunes are Hail to the Chief and The Imperial March, sometimes with the two songs interleaved. (One or more of those songs will be useful to know come this November.)

We're pretty happy that he was able to pick it up on his own. Now, if we could just get him to put it down sometimes...

- Mike, Corinne, Anders, and ??

5/52 - Everyday Life

This was a "slow news week", as they say. But here are a few snapshots.

Anders is obsessed with the show Octonauts. It's an animated show about animals living under the sea, interacting with - and usually saving - a different marine animal each episode. He keeps asking me when the next season is going to be available on Netflix.

For Christmas, he received several Octonaut toys suitable for bath play. He switched to showers quite a while ago, but the new toys enticed him to take a rare bath. We won't get opportunities like this with Anders for much longer.

Anders is reading the book Wonderstruck, which is an interesting combination novel and graphic novel. When he finished, he said it was "the best book he ever read."

In addition to Octonauts and PBS's Nature, Anders has decided that Ask This Old House is one of his favorite shows! He probably already knows more about home repair than I do.

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders

3/52 - Visit from Grandma Lee

We've had a glorious month of perfect, snowy weather. But this week, it decided to rain. A lot. After several dry winters (and the resulting summer fires), we can't complain about the rain too much. But it is sad to see the snowpack beginning to disappear, while simultaneously being uninspired to play in the snow in the rain. We'd much rather have the snow.

While I was in NJ, about 7" of new snow arrived in Trout Lake. Unfortunately, since I wasn't around to clear it before the rains came, the driveway is now impassible. It will likely stay that way until it either dries out enough to not jam in the PTO snowblower, or it gets cold enough to freeze solid again. So when mom and I arrived in Trout Lake with our luggage, we had to trudge up the driveway through several inches of wet snow. Welcome to winter in the country, mom!

During her visit, the weather kept us inside most of the time. We played a few games, including Boggle. Anders has a great time and occasionally even finds a few words that we don't! When the precipitation finally broke, we managed to convince mom to go on a snowshoe walk with us through our property.

Way to go, mom! Thanks for the visit!

---

This week, Anders and two of his classmates were moved to the next higher grade for reading. They are all really enjoying the challenge of 2nd grade reading but we are having to coach Anders a bit on expected answers versus accurate answers.

Apparently, the 2nd graders don't reliably turn in their homework. On particularly bad days, those who completed the assignments and turned them in receive prizes. Anders enjoys that, too!

Anders's plastic snake and lizard collection, courtesy of 2nd grade

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders

39/52 - Reading Fiend

Anders loves his non-fiction books. Whenever he goes to the library, whether at school, at the bookmobile, or the local branch in White Salmon, he goes straight for the kids non-fiction section. At bedtime, we have even had to insist on reading some fiction just to get some variety. (Also to preserve our sanity. How many times can you read a kids book on Trucks or Tractors before going crazy? 8. The answer is 8.)

But this past week, I think we may have turned a corner. Anders has started reading chapter books on his own. Magic Tree House books are a particular favorite now. In fact, he has bookmarks in two different Tree House books now.

It can be hard to keep Anders focused on a particular task, and now we can add reading to the list of distractions. If there aren't any LEGO bricks around, it is likely that he can be found reading a book.

Soccer practice

Library after a soccer game

---

Do you ever get the feeling that you're being watched? Well, we do... and for good reason.

Every once in a while we'll have a deer around who is particularly interested in "the people who live inside." Corinne noticed these two laying in the yard, then soon after they were watching her as much as she was watching them. At one point his antlers knocked against the glass. We had condensation on the window from his breathing.

Ten minutes later, Corinne looked up from the computer to notice that he had circled around for a better view and they were now eye to eye. He stayed here for a while and then moved back to his previous post at the big window.

---

We took a quick trip to Tacoma to celebrate Reidar's 75th birthday. And by quick... we had dinner and drove 434 miles within 8 hours.

Happy Birthday, Reidar!

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders