It's July?!

I can't believe it's July already! This month marks 3 years since we last held Ada, Eleanor's second birthday, and the beginning of Arthur's third trimester. All of these things are rather unbelievable to me! Here are a few of the latest developments around here:

Eleanor is suddenly very into climbing. I constantly find her standing up in the dining room chairs, her little chairs at her table, and even standing on top of the table in her room so she can see out of her window. This all sounds kind of scary, but she is actually VERY slow and cautious about it all so I'm kind of okay with it. (Of course I tell her to sit down most of the time, but only because I feel like that's what a parent should say, not because I think she'll actually fall.) Most kids reach this stage much earlier, so I'm actually just kind of relieved that she is doing it. That might sound weird, but she's always been a little slower with her physical milestones (crawling at 10 months, walking at almost 15) so I'm just glad to know that she can climb. After all, she still can't jump or truly run.

Another little accomplishment of hers that is great for me is that she has learned to climb into her car seat all by herself! I just have to give her a little boost to get up into the car (though she can almost do this alone), and then she climbs over to her seat and sits down. An advantage of having a small car, I guess! It takes her a minute or two, but I use that time to unload groceries, etc. Now if only I could teach her to buckle herself in... We will be turning her around to be forward facing about a month before the baby is due (so she can get used to it), because there is no way she can be rear facing on the side of my Corolla, but by then she will certainly meet the new recommendation of 2 years and 30 lbs. I just hope she can still climb into her seat then. We seriously considered buying a new car to avoid this, but it's just not a good option for us right now. Oh, and another little minor car safety trick she's learned is to keep her hand on the gas cap door (does it have an official name?) while I'm unlocking and opening her door. It keeps her from wondering around the parking lot or standing right in front of the door as I try to open it, and she loves to put her "hand on the square!"

We just finished up a month of parent/child swim lessons. Eleanor did a great job, and can almost float on her back unassisted. When she's wearing a little swim belt (just floats around her waist) she can paddle and kick herself around the pool wherever she wants to go. Her favorite thing to do is to jump into the pool, but she's still not a fan - AT ALL - of putting her face under the water. I can't blame her though, because she gets that from me.

I can tell that I'm reaching the third trimester because it's starting to get a little uncomfortable. My back is usually sore by the end of the day, and it's getting hard to sit on the floor and play with toys with Eleanor because my belly gets in my way! I definitely think Arthur is going to be bigger than Eleanor was, and not just because I don't plan to induce early again. I am definitely hungrier with this pregnancy! I do have another level 2 ultrasound this week and a monthly checkup, so we'll see how this baby is doing. He's definitely an active little thing!