Monsters and Dragons and Dinosaurs, oh my!

Jacob's imagination has sprung to an entirely new level lately. I'm not sure what sparked it, but in the last few weeks, we are slaying imaginary dragons in the bushes and running away from monsters in dark corners. When we're driving, he likes to point out dinosaurs in the trees and on the road..."Mommy watch out! There's a dinosaur!" I'm a little confused as to whether or not we should be encouraging this type of play (which we usually do) because I'm not sure if the fright factor is something of concern. There was a period of time when he wasn't sleeping so wonderfully recently and we thought maybe it was due to nightmares which I was attributing to the whole monsters/dragons/dinosaur introduction into our lives. Fortunately, the night wakings are subsiding (knock on wood.) I do find this phase hugely entertaining though. Now, if he ever starts talking about seeing ghosts or imaginary people, I may have to find a way to deal with my own nightmares regarding that situation. I've always been freaked out about hearing stories of small children saying that they "see people" that we don't see. Jacob, please don't do that to mommy.

On a very different note, Jacob started a new preschool on Monday. We decided to take him out of the other school for various reasons but mostly because there wasn't really much true learning going on (that we saw) and it just felt like a glorified daycare. And, when we made the decision to switch, he had been having some rough days at the school (crying during his whole nap) and we just felt it was time to try something else. Unfortunately, we had to give 2 weeks notice and in those 2 weeks that he had left, he apparently fell in LOVE with his old school and made a friend named Ryan that he never stopped talking about. Great timing. So, Monday was a rough day for him since he was at a totally new school and this "Ryan" kid wasn't there. By Wednesday, though, he was crying because he didn't want to leave his new school -- which was an awesome sign. I'm really excited about the skills he's going to learn there and love and nurturing he'll get. I just keep praying we made the right decision!

On the baby front...no news yet. I was officially "full term" on Tuesday when I hit 37 weeks which means that baby can come any day now without any concern. I am not holding out that baby will come super early, but I keep sending up prayers that baby will come before they want to induce me. Don't worry -- I won't be consuming any castor oil this time around, but I have no problem trying to walk this baby out of me and eating lots of pineapple. :)

37 weeks: