19 Weeks Pt. 2

I guess it's true that all good things come to those who wait. Let's begin by saying that Pauly has had a slow start in mastering some things. Not abnormally slow but slower than I'm used to. This week made up for a lot.

The little dude has never liked tummy time so getting him to crawl has been a work in progress. I can happily say he has mastered the art. In his own special way of course! He started by sitting up on his own. Easy peasy. From there he managed to lean on his hands with one leg extended to the side and the other still tucked under his bum. That's where he was for a while. He would rock back and forth lifting his bum off the ground but never managed to get his bent leg out from under him. And when you'd try to help him out...plop! On his tummy he'd be and the whining and crying would begin. Now he has figured out that he can lift his extended leg and drag the other to move foreword. Tah dah! The Pauly crawl. There is no stopping him now :)
And to add the cherry on top, the following day he started going into a sitting position on his own. It's actually very amusing. He doesn't like rolling over so it you put him on his tummy, he'll be sitting up and crawling in less than 5 seconds. My how much he's grown in the last week.

This made for a very happy Easter. The weekend started with a Fish and Chips dinner with my in-laws. We had a good time chatting and dining together. Then Easter Sunday was spent at my sister's. Again good food and good conversation. The kids also had a blast playing together except for Ciarán. He decided to have a loooong nap.

For a long while I've been contemplating on replacing my Hoover vacuum with a very coveted Dyson. Now, my hoover isn't a bad vacuum but over the years I was spending more and more time trying to get all the dog hair out of the carpet. I probably would have put up with it except for one important point. Pauly was going to be crawling and picking things up off the floor, and I didn't want everything covered in dog hair. So over the last few months I've been researching and watching for sales. It didn't take long for me to decide which Dyson model I wanted but these vacuums NEVER go on sale. So I though of other ways I could get one cheaper. I even e-mailed Dyson to ask if they had any promotions or coupons I could take advantage of. They only directed me to their refurbished section. I didn't have a problem buying a refurbished vacuum but they didn't have the model I wanted. I thought about picking one up in the USA since the dollar is so strong but they didn't sell the model I wanted there. So it was back to the old drawing board. I did a little more research and found that if you subscribe to Bed Bath and Beyond, they'll send you a 20% off coupon and keep you updated on sales and other discounts available. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to use this coupon on a Dyson but what did I have to loose? So I got my coupon and it so happens that Dyson vacuums were $100 off at The Bay the weekend I decided to look into using my coupon. You read it right. The vacuum that never goes on sale, was on sale. But, it was still cheaper to pay full price and get 20% off than only getting $100 off. So I called Bed Bath and Beyond to find out if they had my model in stock and the lady on the phone surprised me by saying they cost the same as the sale price at The Bay, but they didn't have any in the store. I said "oh, you've got them on sale too!"
She said "no that's our regular price."
"Really?" I said. "OK well what's the next closest store that has them in stock?"
"Oakville. But you might want to call them just to be sure"
"OK I will. And I'll be able to use my coupon to buy the Dyson"
"Yes, absolutely"
I was so excited. I called the Oakville store and they quoted the same price and told me they had 3 in the store. So off I went. But when I got there (about an hour later), the ticketed price was not the price they told me. I could feel my blood begin to boil so I took a deep breath and walked to Customer Service. I calmly explained what happened and they called the manager for me. I once again calmly explained to him what happened and he told me he could give me the quoted price but he couldn't take my coupon. I asked why and he said that they weren't taking that coupon for the Dyson. That's when the cashier piped up and said the STORE manager said they were allowed to. So the guy let me use the coupon. So all in all I saved a whopping $230 on vacuum that NEVER goes on sale :)
I was very happy. And now I have a vacuum that picks up all the dog hair (amongst many other microscopic particles) and it will "never loose suction". Thank you James Dyson.
As for the lil' bean, this week he/she is the size of medium zucchini which is about 6 inches crown to rump. He/she is now covered in vernix to protect it from the amniotic fluid and the skin underneath appears red due to the visible blood vessels. There are motor neurones developing which are nerves that will connect the muscles to the brain. And along with that comes sensory development. The brain is designating areas for smell, touch, taste, hearing and vision. Under the gums, there are permanent teeth buds developing behind the already formed milk teeth buds. His/her arms and legs are now proportioned to each other and the rest of the body. There is hair sprouting from the scalp this week as well.