Round 2 - What do you think? Boy or Girl?

Our "big" ultrasound (aka anatomy scan) is scheduled for July 21st, a mere 10 days away!  I'm excited to get to see the little guy or girl.  S/he's been moving around quite a bit - it feels like more than I remember with Ezra, so hopefully we'll still be able to get some good shots.  

I included the list of old wives tales that indicate boy or girl and colored the ones that show I'm having a boy blue and the ones saying girl pink (innovative, I know).  I tried to locate some more on the internet to add.  

Please take the poll on the right side to tell me what you think! ----------------------------------------->

-Carrying: It seems the same as Ezra, so I'll say I don't know.

-Heart Rate: Has been consistently in the 150's the old wives say girl (BUT, so was Ezra's)
-Cravings: I'm not really having cravings, just aversions.  I used to love steak, but really don't like the thought of eating it.  I have a sweet tooth normally, and it doesn't seem any worse.  I might say that I'm craving more savory things (Mike's carrots, pasta, bagels) so we'll say boy.
-M's weight gain: Definitely not, if M gains weight during my pregnancy they say girl.
-Face shape: I feel like my face has gotten rounder, so the old wives say girl
-Acne: I've had an increase in acne, and just an overall blah feeling, girl
-Age: age at conception 27, year of conception 2011, both odd the Mayans say boy
-Dry Hands: boy, but my hands are always dry...
-Morning Sickness: Worse than with Ezra.  I still get nauseous in the afternoons and if I take a nap, the old wives say bad m/s indicates a girl
-Chinese Gender Predictor: Girl

-Shettles Method: If intercourse is a few days before ovulation, more likely to have a girl, close to ovulation-boy.

-All belly vs. hips and butt: I definitely feel wider, not sure if this is just because my body never bounced back from being pregnant the first time, but the old wives say this indicates a girl 

-Breast size: If left is bigger, girl; if right is bigger, boy - My left is ALWAYS bigger, but we'll still say girl

-Mood: Moodier means girl, well I'm definitely moodier-I'm sure Mike would attest to that

I had to do a do-it-yourself belly shot at 18 weeks 3 days:

8 Month Update

Weight:20 lbs. 8 oz
Height: 
Head Circumference: 


Eats: He's definitely an eater.  We've moved up to finger foods and some purees.  He likes watermelon, oranges, cherios, little pieces of chicken, Mike's cooked carrots, french fries, pieces of bread and he still eats little specks of dust/paper/inedible nonsense from the floor.  I do think he prefers whatever he can scrounge for himself, maybe he'll be a hunter?

Unfortunately Mom doesn't always have the patience for finger food eating and takes the easy way out and feeds him about halfway through.  I'm sure that this is something I can work through ;) His pinchers still aren't quite efficient, but I am brave enough to let him try pretty much whatever we're eating.  He doesn't seem to picky...yet.

He also loves lemonade.  We mix a little with water (like 1 part lemonade to 3 parts water) and it's just about the only thing he'll drink other than formula.  We like Simply Lemonade, it's delicious, and Ezra loves it too.

Sleeps: Sleeping is going a little awry.  Little boy likes to be rocked to sleep, but now it's nearly impossible to put him in the crib, open and close the door, and creep out of the room without making a single solitary sound which means he'll immediately sit up and start crying.  Seriously, this should be part of spy training.  Can you get out of the room without waking the baby??  I can't.

We've resorted to putting him in bed with us a couple times just so that I can retain what small part of my sanity I have left at 2:30 in the morning (I know, bad mommy).  I would like to try sleep training, where you put the baby down and then just come in the room and pat his back for a minute or so every 5 minutes until he figures out how to put himself to sleep.  I just don't have the cajones quite yet.  I've heard amazing things about sleep training, I'm just a big ball of "I give up" around bed time.

Likes: He is still the nosiest person I know. I'm not quite sure where he gets that from...

His ears definitely work and he whips his head around at the slightest interesting sound to see what is going on.  He also must investigate anything out of the ordinary that he may see or hear around - "is that a remote on the floor? I wonder what it tastes like" "Did the mail man just show up? I should try and poke my head over the edge of the couch to look out the window without falling on my head" He is definitely fearless.

Climbing over people and things and up stairs.  I can't keep him away from the stairs (and the dog food, see photos below).  We finally put up a gate at the bottom of the stairs to keep him from climbing up them.  He also like to overturn his toy buckets and climb over the toys to get inside, he likes to use Mommy (and his future brother or sister) as a jungle gym.  His elbows, knees, and toes are bruise inflicting.  He is still quite determined to get where he wants to go regardless of what might possibly be in the way.

Dislikes: Being away from Mom, Dad, or some other adult that he recognizes.  He's starting to go through a little bit of separation anxiety, which is giving me anxiety.  I'm most definitely not a clingy person, I love a good cuddle here and there but I definitely need my "personal space."  I like to walk away while he's playing and go get the laundry, or a snack, or pee.  No sooner that I walk away do it hear the little slap, bump, slap, bump of Ezra crawling behind me and the tears when I go out of sight.  I'm hoping it's just a phase, because I don't do well with letting him cry.

Milestones: 
He can crawl - quickly.  He roams around the house and finds all kinds of interesting artifacts that I didn't know existed, which he quickly tries to eat in some way.  We are definitely in need of some more baby proofing...

Beginning stair climbing.  I'm not sure if this is a milestone but it scared the crap out of me.  He figured out how to get up 4 of our stairs the other day - gate is not firmly in place!

Pulling himself up to standing.  He can pull himself up on just about anything that he can reach.  He's still quite wobbly and needs to hang on to stay up.  He also isn't quite aware that moving his feet will also move his body, and will usually fall on the floor and crawl to whatever he's eying. 

Third tooth - on the bottom.  Still no top teeth for this bulldog. 

Things I want to remember about this age:
Your scrunched up smile.  Your little nose gets all scrunched and your eyes squinty and you smile the biggest 3 tooth smile I've ever seen.  It melts my heart.

How funny you think everything is.  Like biting mommy's big toe, or yaking on daddy's bottom lip, or chasing your dogs' tails or spitting carrots all over the kitchen.  It's like everything is so new and exciting.  I hope you cherish that for a long time, too.

How fearless you are.  I mean 4 stairs! That's like twice your height but you weren't one bit scared.  I'm hoping you learn to fear a little bit when you start riding motorized vehicles or deciding to do other daring things, but it amazes me how unafraid you are. 

Here are some 8 month photos for your viewing pleasure:

First family trip to story land! I'm trying to hold on and fly in a wooden shoe... multitasking

And we couldn't stay away from Bike Week in Laconia while in NH

Mowing the lawn with daddy, strapped in of course!

The newest face - now we get a lot of "oooooo" sounds

Look at me!

Floating in the pool

Wild and crazy guy!

First Cheerios!