A butterfly to a lightning bug

Today is Harmon’s first day in his new “Lightning Bug” classroom at school. Since it’s a new school year, most of the kids started today in their new classrooms. While Harmon loved being a “Butterfly,” I think he’s going to love his NEW classroom even more. It has a very cool tree house for the kids to climb and hang out in and, most importantly, his Butterfly teacher – Miss Laura – made the move with him. She now is the lead teacher in the Lightning Bug classroom. Harmon has been lucky in both his moves since starting at Annie’s in 2007. Each time, his previous teacher has made the move with him, totally easing his transition.

The new classroom is considered pre-school so he’ll have a lot more responsibility. He’ll have to pick up after himself after free play; retrieve, layout and put away his nap mat; get his own lunch; maneuver his pants and underwear at potty time; and learn how to dress himself. We’ve been working on all these things at home lately and he’s been doing very well. I know he’ll make strides quickly at school too – he’s such a fast learner! The good news to Mom and Dad is that, with this move, his tuition dropped. So, we’ll have a few months at the decreased rate before we have to add Simon’s tuition to the mix!

So many changes for our little guy: a new classroom and new responsibilities this week; a new big boy bedroom in a few weeks; and a new baby brother in a few months. As is usually the case, he’ll just roll with it! It’s what he does and we’re SO glad he’s our little amoeba!

Cleanliness is next to Godliness

Kevin picked up Harmon from school on Tuesday and, while speaking with this teacher, she commented that Harmon’s cleanliness is rather refreshing.

Evidently, his class had painted earlier in the day – mixing colors to create new colors – and while every other child was BATHING in the paint, Harmon was distraught if the paint got on the wrong finger. We weren’t surprised as that’s how he is at home too. If he gets even a DROP of food or drink on his PINKY FINGER, he absolutely must have it wiped off immediately. Needless to say, our photo albums don’t contain any of those gross pictures of him with crap all over his face!

Harmon is just detailed, meticulous and must have everything just how he wants it. And, coming from me and Kevin, it’s really not a surprise. I actually think his future wife really will appreciate this quality!

Dec. 5

I had a doctor’s appointment today and Kevin and I had ONE goal – get a c-section date scheduled! I alternate appointments between my doctor and her nurse and, when we met with the nurse in July, we asked about scheduling. She explained that my doctor probably would schedule surgery about a week before my due date (Dec. 13) and she only does surgery on Mondays and Fridays. So, that left us with the choice of Friday, Dec. 5 or Monday, Dec. 8. We talked about it over the last month (and with the doctor today) and decided Dec. 5 would be best. It would allow Kevin two free days (Saturday and Sunday) to be with me (and Simon) during our hospital stay and it would be easier for my parents to take care of Harmon on a weekend versus weekdays when they both work.

Just for fun, though, we looked at the two dates from an historical perspective. We found that Dec. 8 was not so cool because it was the day we entered into WWII in 1941 and the day John Lennon was shot in 1980.

Dec. 5, on the other hand, is Walt Disney’s birthday! And, if you’re a kid, is there any better person to share a birthday with?

So, Dec. 5 it will be … unless Simon has other plans!

Working the phone

Most of the time, Harmon is fearless but there are a couple of things that scare him. One, of course, is the black panther. The other is … our phone. Since we rely mostly on our cell phones, we don’t pay for AT&T voicemail and instead have a phone system with a built-in answering machine. We’ve never set our personal message on the machine so we use the default message which is some weird, male, computerized voice. Harmon HATES this voice so much, simply because of the way the voice says “hello!” We can say “hello” in a similarly scary voice around the house or while we are out and it never fails to get his attention. In addition to the scary voice, the phones blink red if there is a message. For some reason, this red blinking also freaks him out. If need be, we’ll remind him – in that scary voice – that THE PHONE IS BLINKING RED and he’ll straighten right up. Whatever works, I guess!

Funny things

Five funny things Harmon has blurted out recently:

1. After seeing one of 10,000 relentless political ads on TV: “I’m Barack Obama and I approve this message.”

2. In response to seeing the Goodyear Blimp at the Ann Arbor Municipal Airport last week (and being grumpy when he saw it): “I’m going to throw Isabel at the Blimp.”

3. His latest takes on my pregnancy: “Mommy, your belly’s getting bigger” and “I just love Simon!”

4. After watching this video (thanks to Awful Announcing):



“Where’d Coach Rod go?”

5. In response to a terse reprimand: “No, Mommy (or Daddy), don’t say that!”

Name origins

The day we shared with everyone that we were having another boy; we also shared the name we chose for our second son. Overall, it’s gotten good reviews but people have been curious about just how we arrived at Simon Abner Bergquist. So, I figured a little background would be helpful. And, one day, when Simon is old enough to read this blog, he’ll know the origins of his name.

After having Harmon – being the planners that we are – we thought we should think of another boy name just in case we didn’t have a daughter (whose name was to be Maizey Bryn Bergquist). Initially, we liked other “H” names like Heath and Hyatt but we quickly gravitated to Simon. We like how it sounds on its own and we like how it sounds with Harmon. Most importantly, though, we like that Simon wouldn’t be sitting in his kindergarten class with five other Simons around him. After being surrounded by other “Kevins” and “Amys” our whole lives, we decided early on that we wanted our children to have truly UNIQUE names.

Simon, according to babynames.com, is a Hebrew name meaning “to be heard.” While Kevin is Norwegian and German and I am Mexican and German, using a Hebrew name doesn’t matter to us in the least. We like it and that is that! And, just to be clear, it has nothing to do with the Bible, Alvin and the Chipmunks, American Idol (believe it or not, we’ve never even watched an episode), OR Michigan football.

As for Abner, this one was ALL Kevin’s doing. One day, way before I was even pregnant, we were talking about boy names and Kevin said “what about Simon Abner, you know, after Abner Doubleday, the inventor of baseball?” Of course, baseball was all I needed to hear and I was on board! We think it’s great because it’s unique and has its roots in baseball, which we both love. Abner is also a Hebrew name, which means “father of light.” Lastly, just like Simon, Abner has nothing to do with the University of Michigan.

So, there you have it! The name origins of Simon Abner Bergquist.

And, so as not to ignore Harmon, a quick note about his name. Kevin and I first became aware of the name while working in the U-M athletic department because of Tom Harmon, former U-M football All-American and Heisman Trophy winner. While we love Harmon as a first name, he is NOT named after Tom Harmon. We love it simply because it’s a TRULY unique name, not registering on the U.S. Social Security Administration’s popular baby names list since the early 1900s. Harmon, of German origin, means, “soldier.” Harmon’s middle name, Spencer, is of English origin and means “butler, steward.” Other than loving how it sounds with Harmon, it has NO context (not a family name, not a U-M athlete’s name, etc.).

Random photos

Two totally random photos from Monday, Aug. 4.

First, Harmon at the dentist with his hygienist, Kim. Overall, he was a good boy for his second dentist appointment, only crying a little during the actual teeth cleaning. He got over it, though, as you can see!

After the dentist, Harmon desperately wanted to go to lunch with his Daddy so Kevin rewarded him with a rare trip to Chuck E. Cheese. They both had a good time, despite the freakiness of the photo!

33

Harmon is 33 months’ old today. In just another three months, he’ll be three year’s old – unbelievable! He’s been doing fine enjoying his summer walks and trips to the park.

Another thing he’s been enjoying this summer is TV and radio ads. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s an advertising genius one day. He loves any and all ads for freecreditreport.com, as well as ads for the DIA, Cedar Point and any window or roofing company (especially call 1-800-4-MR-ROOF)!

One thing he also has loved lately that we’re not too crazy about is the word “butt!” He says it all the time, although never really in context. He instead likes to slip it into nursery rhymes and songs and such. We DO say “butt” but usually in the context of playfully saying “I’m going to smack that butt” or “your butt goes on the potty” and stuff like that. We keep telling him it’s not funny and I think he KNOWS this. He just likes to test us.

We’ve spent a lot of time lately preparing him for his new role of big brother. We bought him six different books about becoming a big brother and he loves them all. The week we bought the books, we read them every night before bed and sometimes a couple of times during the day. This past weekend, we bought “Bear Feels Scared” and “Where’s My Mummy?” to break up the monotony of big brother reading. All in all, though, I think he’s getting it.

Part of becoming a big brother, at least for Harmon, is getting a whole new room. Instead of putting together ANOTHER nursery, we’ll move Harmon into the den and put Simon in the nursery. The den is painted a very dark shade of blue and I’ve already got his bedding. Now, I just need to take care of things like window treatments, lamps, rugs, sheets, etc. I hope he likes it because his new room will be the bulk of his birthday present!

The potty training is going very well. He is doing great at school – leading his class in potty stickers – and is doing great at home too. Although we’ve still been putting him in diapers at night (which are dry most mornings), he is in pull-ups the rest of the time. When we know we’re going to be homebound for a considerable amount of time, we let him wear underwear. He’s done pretty well – only a couple of accidents – but we haven’t ventured out of the house with the underwear yet. I think that probably will happen later this month. So, ALMOST there!

A few other totally random things. Yesterday, he was stacking his cars on top of a semi-truck he has. When we saw this, we thought we HAVE to find him a car carrier. So, last night at Toys R Us, we did just that. We found him a car carrier that holds six cars and he was as happy as a clam! The smile on his face was priceless – he’s a kid with simple needs! While at Toys R Us, we had him try some tricycles. We’ve tried in the past and he’s not been interested but he was last night. So, I think we might get him this one. He’ll get some use out of it before it gets cold and then he’ll have it all next summer. Lastly, and I’ve meant to write about this a million times, he LOVES his photo albums. Kevin and I take WAY too many pictures of him (at LEAST 1,300) and I put them all – complete with dates, locations and captions – in photo albums. So far, there are eight albums and they are in his room on his bookshelf. He pulls these out and will flip through them for huge chunks of time. He just loves seeing his family members along with the places he’s gone and the things he’s done. It makes me feel SO GOOD about all the effort I’ve put into those things over the last 33 months!

Are you ready for some football?

Michigan started football practice on Monday and even though most experts think a .500 season is in the cards, I’m still pretty damn excited about what is to come. Here are 10 things I am SO looking forward to this season:

1. I literally have NO IDEA what the first offensive play of the game will be. The predictability of the past and our stone-aged offense are GONE!

2. The team probably won’t run out of gas and blow a game in the fourth quarter. And, we won’t have to see the fat lineman with their hands on their hips after Ohio State spends an afternoon in our backfield.


3. We probably won’t see opposing offenses - seemingly hemmed in - breaking free and running down the sideline for a touchdown while our slow, fatass players are laid out on the turf.

4. The offense MIGHT go for it on a crucial fourth down instead of wimping out, punting and playing the good ole’ field position game.

5. The new coaching staff won’t coach scared and hopefully won’t worry about dropping 50 on someone if need be. Don’t fool yourself, style points count!

6. Young coaches with fires in their bellies who will get in players’ faces (as opposed to reading them poetry and feeding them milk and cookies).

7. Seeing players actually play to their potential. In the past, SO many players haven’t been coached, developed, prepared or conditioned the right way while at Michigan. And then fans wonder why these players go on to succeed at the next level.

8. Seeing a Michigan football program that is open with the media instead of hiding EVERYTHING inside of Fort Schembechler.

9. Not having to watch Michigan Replay and hearing Coach Carr say “well …” every five seconds while trying to explain away another loss.

10. COACH ROD!

Maternity clothes (and a manatee)

Well, it finally had to be done. At 20 weeks, I finally had to bust out the maternity gear. I took a few hours on Sunday to dig it out of the depths of my closet and then wash it so it was ready to go for work on Monday. So far, it’s been … OK. That might, however, have something to do with the fact that I’m still in my regular PANTS. The shirts were the real problem – just too tight across the chest and belly. I figured it wouldn’t be such a good idea to pop a button and put someone’s eye out. Although, if that DID happen, the unfortunate soul couldn’t be in a better place – hello, Kellogg EYE Center!

With Harmon, I made it to July (my sixth month) before the circus tent clothing made an appearance. I almost made it that far this time (I’m in my fifth month) but, alas, the body (well, the abdominal region) remembers.

I guess I can handle four months of the maternity gear if I get another kid as cute as Harmon in the end. The hard part, though, is looking and feeling like this:

Morning sickness eats it

OK, I’m almost 21 weeks along so enough of the morning sickness already.

I’ve felt nauseous 24/7 since the day I took my pregnancy test – only getting a break while I am SLEEPING. Granted I haven’t puked as much as I did with Harmon but I’ve FELT sicker. Yesterday was a crappy day and today is even worse. I puked right after brushing my teeth this morning and then had to have Kevin pull over on the side of the road to puke again on our way into work. Right now, I’m fighting off another puking spell. I have a meeting at 10 a.m. and then a doctor’s appointment at 11:30 a.m. so I hope I can get through both of them puke-free.

I hope I have a better day tomorrow because this is getting to be ri-goddamn-diculous!

Birthday weekend

Yesterday, I turned 35. Ever since I hit 30, I really don’t even think about birthdays anymore. Sometimes, I’ll even forget how old I am - must be the aging brain. Anyway, despite getting older, I had a great birthday weekend! On Saturday night, Kevin and I dropped Harmon off for a sleepover with my parents and we headed downtown to the Tigers’ game. One of my presents was tickets to the Champions Club. The Tigers’ started offering these last month and it looks like they will for the rest of the season. I must attest that they are worth every cent of the $90 per ticket!

We arrived early and ate WAY TOO MUCH food from the impressive spread (the dessert cart was amazing). We also camped at two seats along the windows and ending up staying there for the whole game. While we originally planned to wander the ballpark (part of the $90 was a standing room only ticket), it was simply too nice up there to leave. The only thing that ruined the night was the outcome of the game – GD White Sox!

On Sunday morning, we slept in until 9:30 a.m. and then squeezed in a showing of Step Brothers (so funny) on the way to my parents’ house. I asked my Mom to make taco salad for dinner and chocolate cake for dessert and both were perfect. As for the gifts, I got a few small things (a new Adidas Michigan LS t-shirt, a cool electronic photo cube for my desk, gorgeous orange daisies, etc.), some cash and some gift cards to do some post-pregnancy shopping. I requested NO maternity items – what a bummer that would be for a birthday. Kevin and Harmon also got me pedicures for August and September at a “real” spa (I’ve never been) so I’m hoping to schedule one this coming weekend. I am so excited and pedicures are SO underrated – especially when you’re pregnant and are having a hard time reaching your toes.

One of the best gifts, though, was having Harmon sing “Happy Birthday” to me this morning. He was too shy to do it with everyone else last night so he sang it to me this morning while he was eating his breakfast. He is the sweetest, cutest kid ever!

You want a piece of me?

Usually the answer is, “no, I don’t want a PIECE, I want the WHOLE THING.” But this was not the case for Harmon who was involved in his first schoolyard rumble (kind of) last Thursday.

As the story goes, Harmon and this other little boy (I will withhold his real name but let’s call him Jordan) met at the gate that separates the classroom from the stairwell. Harmon was on one side and Jordan was on the other and they both wanted to come through. Evidently, Harmon put his hand up (in a “talk to the hand” kind of fashion) and, while he didn’t TOUCH him, Jordan still took exception and bit Harmon’s right index finger. Stunned, Harmon didn’t know what to do so – like most 2-year-olds – he cried. His teachers gave him lots of hugs and kisses and iced his little finger and he was fine. When Kevin arrived to pick him up, his lead teacher explained what happened but didn’t tell him who the culprit was. Harmon was having none of that, though, as he interjected with “Jordan bit me!”

On the way home, Kevin did everything he could NOT to tell Harmon to “bust the kid in the mouth” and we had more than a few bad things to say (under our breath, of course, about the cretin). Kevin also later told me that Jordan was in the classroom and standing near the door when he picked up Harmon. He said he wanted SO BAD to smash his fingers in the door – I DIED!

Although I highly doubt Harmon will get pushed around as he gets older I’m glad, in this case, that he was the bitee, not the biter. If he was biting kids at school, we would have a big problem on our hands!

It's a boy! Oh, boy-oy-oy-oy

We are pleased to report that Harmon will have a baby brother, Simon Abner Bergquist, in December. His due date is Dec. 13. Here is the latest ultrasound photo of Simon, taken July 15. Simon would not sit still during the ultrasound; he kept spinning and kicking and punching, just like his big-brother-to-be. I have a feeling we are in for another active one. Simon did not want to show his "boyness" at first, but finally came around, literally, at the end. The ultrasound tech thought she knew early on, but did not want to say for sure. But, she did say something like, "he is an active little guy," so we had our suspicions. Harmon is so happy; he tells us that Simon is in Mommy's belly and he rubs the bump. Aimee is doing fine, and all was normal during the ultrasound.

On the road again

After a week in Minnesota with Kevin’s family, we are off again this weekend for another Bergquist family function. This time, Kevin’s cousin is getting married in Beloit, Wis., so we’re making the drive. Although we’re going for the wedding, Kevin and I are sneaking off to a Brewers game on Friday night. I can’t wait to see the Sausage Race! To make the weekend even better, we MAY stop in Chicago on the way home on Sunday. If we do, I have these three things on my to-do list:

1. Cheesecake Factory – Note to Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake: I still love you. My pregnancy nausea and food aversions have not changed that.
2. Garrett Popcorn Shop (mmmm, cheesecorn)
3. Niketown (I can buy clothes for when I’m no longer the size of a small manatee)

Harmon will have fun too. He’ll get to use his favorite backpack again, there’s a pool at the hotel and there will be plenty of people there to spoil him rotten!

All in all, should be a good one!

Turning the corner

Kevin and I hope we're turning the corner with this potty training business. Exhibit A - check it:

Harmon went potty THREE TIMES at school yesterday! I was a little nervous he might revert back to trying 4-5 times each day with no results but he stepped it up. He also stepped it up over vacation rarely going in his pull-up and telling us he had to go when we were out and about. I really hope this continues because he's got some really cool Mickey Mouse and Handy Manny underwear awaiting him in his dresser drawer.

Alive and kicking (like Simple Minds)

It’s definitely true that you feel your second child’s movements earlier than your first. Baby #2 has been doing a number on me for a couple of weeks now. It started around my 15th week and has continued to get stronger each day. Even though I’ve felt it before, it’s still so cool. At this point, I just can’t wait for Kevin to be able to feel it too.

Pregnancy Update

I hit the 17-week mark on Sunday and it seems, for the most part, that my nausea has subsided. I would call it morning sickness but it was more like an ALL-DAY sickness. I didn’t throw up as much as I did with Harmon but I think that’s only because I knew what to do this time around – thank God for the combination of Vitamin B6 and Unisom. This little pill cocktail limited me to TWO yak sessions total, as opposed to two yak sessions EACH DAY before. It does work wonders.

I’ve noticed the belly has appeared sooner this time. I guess those muscles are already stretched out so they’re like “what the hell!” I’m still in my regular clothes but will have to break out the maternity gear very soon. With Harmon, I made it to July (my sixth month) but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it that far this time. It’s funny, I thought the body transformation would be easier to deal with the second time around but it’s not. It’s still hard and you still wonder if you’ll EVER go back to normal. I guess, when it comes right down to it, I’m just not one of those women who likes being pregnant.

I feel like I’ve been more tired this time but I think that’s deceiving. Before, I didn’t have a 2 ½-year-old to chase around so maybe that’s a simple explanation. I also feel like I’ve been more hungry but, again, I don’t know. I DO know that if I DON’T eat, I go downhill WAY TOO FAST and it takes a while to recover. I’ve had no real cravings and no real food aversions, other than Starbucks. Before I got pregnant, I would visit Starbucks 3-4 times a week (bad), going through countless gift cards and Starbucks’ cards re-loads. Since I took the pregnancy test, though, I’ve been there ONCE. The mere thought of a Light Mocha Frappuccino or a Peppermint Mocha makes me SO ill. It’s the weirdest thing, I swear. Kevin is STILL stunned. He jokes that a representative from Starbucks is going to call the house to find out what’s wrong! Not all caffeine has been banished, though. I still love Diet Coke as much as ever.

One other food-related item – I would like to pimp Crispix cereal for helping me stave off many yak sessions. While I’m sure I’ll never want to eat it again after December, it has been an important ally in my battle against nausea. In fact, I had some this morning and it helped yet again so THANK YOU, CRISPIX!

My ultrasound is one week from today (July 15) and Kevin and I are SO excited. While Harmon was a surprise, we are hoping to find out the sex of #2. I hope he/she cooperates so we can begin to prepare and, most importantly, we can tell Harmon who is on the way – Maizey or Simon.

A few things I miss already …

I came back to work today after being off for almost two weeks and these are things I already miss:

1. Wearing capri pants or shorts
2. Wearing sandals everywhere
3. Wearing t-shirts (I never realized how annoying collars can be)
4. Not wearing a watch (and thus not knowing what time or, hell, even what DAY it is)
5. Not wearing my glasses

I realized all of this earlier as I got ready for work. I think the worst part was putting big black shoes over my freshly-pedicured, banana-yellow painted toes – UGH!

I guess that’s why vacation is called vacation and work is called work. I am looking forward to my usual Friday off more than I have in a LONG time!

Back from Minnesota

Still trying to get caught up after our family vacation in Minnesota. Will document our five days at the Bergquist cabin on Upper Gull Lake later. Some things we learned: Harmon is an angel on planes, mosquitos love his skin, and The Power Loon is lame. Happy 4th to all!