Four months, already!?

This past week, I hit the 16th week of this pregnancy. I can't believe it's been four months already. The time has flown by, much more so than when I was pregnant with Caleb, most likely due to my more abundant work commitments and, well, Caleb... who has been a sweety lately, but probably is bored out of his mind, for the past month has been spent with nothing but work. Work and videos. His favorites are: Cars, The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars (he calls this one "Toaster, Baby" because there is a baby in it, and a toaster of course, the hero of the story), and Elmo's World. He can watch these over and over, requesting one after the other, and I've been having to allow him to watch more of these than I would like, because my work schedule has been so brutal. He sings along to the songs (and I also catch myself singing the songs through the day, and sometimes in the night).

We have not been anywhere this month and it is starting to bother me, because we're usually out doing things all the time. I tell myself, the child surely needs some activities, even if his Mommy doesn't. Of course, it's also been January, yucky January, so there are really not that many places we could go. The other day Caleb and I were looking through some pictures from the summer, of the lake and of the park, and remembering all the fun things we used to do, I found us both wistfully whispering words like "lake" and "swimming" and "park," while Caleb also inquired: "Go?" Yes, we will go, I promise, very soon. We WILL have a life again. Just let me get through one more deadline, first.

We actually had a playdate set up for tomorrow, to a children's museum with a friend and her daughter just to get the kids out, but my friend cancelled due to illness. We rescheduled for next week, so hopefully we'll go then.

Sixteen weeks passed by much faster this time than last, which makes me wonder about the baby years of this next child. For it seems Caleb was just born yesterday and here we are two years later. Will time accelerate with the next one even more? Will having to divide my time between the two of them, and then my work, make the days go by lightning fast? I hope not. They're going by fast enough already.

I have been feeling this baby move for quite a few weeks. I'm one of those "early feelers" - I felt Caleb for the first time around 13 weeks and felt this one around 10. Crazy, I know. They're just little butterfly flutters at this point, but distinct. I think I feel them so early, because I sit quietly at my desk for hours when I work and I'm also consciously "listening" to the baby. I don't feel anything when I'm running around or standing up. The last couple of weeks the movements have become more frequent. I love this time.

I started showing much earlier with this pregnancy. With Caleb, I was well into my fifth month before I showed. They say you show earlier with subsequent children and that's been true. I started showing at about two months, though not necessarily noticeable to others.

I haven't had as much time to reflect during this pregnancy and of course I had already done my research on pregnancy, childbirth, health choices, baby care, nutrition, etc. last time, so there's not that much on my "to do" list. I also have tons of clothes and baby equipment, so I'm not out there shopping. In fact, I haven't bought a single thing, not even maternity clothes. My "to do" list during this pregnancy can be pretty much summed up in one word: PRAY. And isn't that the most important part of any preparation, anyway?

The past few days we've had an ice storm and we had the chance to see one of the most beautiful sights of winter, iced-over trees. I always find this sight so magical, tree branches glazed over with icicles, bending under the weight, like an icy winter wonderland. I ran out one day to capture some of this beauty. Here are a few photos. (Click for larger viewing.)

On second thought, January isn't so yucky, after all.