28 weeks baby 2.0

z taking a break from harvesting tomatoes to take a picture with mama

alright, here we are people, in the third trimester!  oh man, just 12 weeks to go.  on one hand i'm freaking out about how soon that is, how much i want to get done in that time (to do list in my head---finish transforming the front room, nursery, z's big boy room, deep clean the house, make nursery decor, get z potty trained and able to fall asleep all by himself in a big boy bed, and on and on), and on the other hand i'm thinking how the hell am i going to be pregnant for 3 more months?  i remember feeling like this last time at this point, too, just really big.  also at this point in the pregnancy with z, the nursery was finished, and i haven't even started on this baby's nursery.  well, today i did purchase a lamp, a few frames and a mirror.  but this weekend we are planning on picking up all the big furniture that we need for those three rooms; z's room, nursery and front room.  then there's the painting and decorating and all that, all stuff that i love to do, but seems like so much work right now.  anyway, this last week has been great.  we came back from california on monday, so we got to enjoy the weekend with hubs' family.  z was pretty good on the plane, especially considering that we had to sit on the plane at the gate for about an hour and a half before we could takeoff.  z has been in a pretty darn good mood since being back home, and the days have been pleasant and fun.  he has been acting silly and making jokes, laughing and still getting into some mischief, but nothing so bad.  yesterday i hear him dragging his little chair somewhere in the kitchen and then silence.  i decide that a quiet toddler is a mischievous toddler so head into the kitchen asking z what he's up to.  he is standing on his chair reaching up to the fruit bowl.  he stops and looks at me with his big brown eyes and says, "i want a plump!" which means he wants to get a plum.  so cute.  and not too much mischief.  also, inspired by the books "Bringing Up Bebe" and "French Kids Eat Everything", i have really cut back the snacks that z has throughout the day in order to make sure he has a healthy appetite for dinner and will eat well, without too much struggle.  he has always been a pretty good eater, but dinnertime has always been a bit stressful with him throwing food on the floor and whining and screaming.  but lately, he has become a little more of a picky eater.  so when we got back from vacation i decided to change things up a bit in order to help z eat better at dinner.  so, when he wakes up from his nap he gets a small snack and then i keep him busy, and baba keeps him busy until dinnertime, and so far, for the past few days, it has worked well.  i serve a veggie starter, and he has been eating it up before the entree.  today i served salad, which he normally doesn't eat, but he took a bite of the lettuce and even tasted (but did not eat) a piece of tomato, and then ate the cucumbers and carrots.  it's a good start.  so we'll keep this up and i plan to implement some of the other concepts from the books.  french people generally assume that picky eating around 2-3 years old is only a phase and the kids can be educated to eat all foods eventually.  so i've been working on that since we've been back.  along with really making some planning progress on the three rooms we're working on.  this baby has been moving a lot lately!  sometimes she kicks out with her foot or hand, sometimes she dances on my bladder, other times she makes big movements like her back or bum is moving across one side of my belly.  what's weird is that i can feel her feet on one side of my belly and her head or hands on the other side of my belly, and she will kick and punch with both simultaneously.  it is the strangest feeling.  i hope she starts to move head down within the next few weeks though!  we don't want to deal with this baby not being properly head down.  alright, now here is the weekly update:

i feel like i'm about the same size belly this week as last time, but she seems to be a little lower than z was

How far along: 28 weeks
Size of baby: about 2 1/4 lbs and 14.8 inches, the size of an eggplant or a head of cabbage, baby can blink, eyesight is more developed and can see light, billions of neurons are developing and baby is gaining more weight.  in fact, i read that in the past month the baby's weight has doubled.  which is why i feel soooooooooooo biiiiiiigggggg!
Total weight gain: about 20 ish lbs
Gender: girl, which will be confirmed on monday
Movement: lots more!  kicking and flipping and punching, but still much more gently than z was
Sleep: have been sleeping well in the last couple of days, although i've had some very strange dreams
What I miss: being able to move around like normal and not getting physically fatigued
Cravings: oh man--chinese food, brothy asian soups, fruits, cereal, chocolate---i NEED to eat chocolate every day, popsicles, ice, mexican food, so many things
Symptoms: same as normal, nothing really new from last week except a little sciatic pain here and there
Best moments this week: spending our last days in cali with family, having some really good days with z this week

pregnant lady shadow selfie