Tom took this one of Ben as they were about to leave his daycare last night. Ben is getting into doing things for himself (very handy, as the more he can do before #2 arrives, the better!), and so with very shortened straps, he can carry his own backpack, which has his lunchbox, cups, and blanket inside.

Doesn't he look so very, very grown-up?

Polly in the snow

It should have gone by the end of the day, but oh how she loves it! Ben less keen so far.

We are finally emerging from coping with the aftermath of Hurricane/Nor'easter/ "superstorm" Sandy. Our power and heating came on around 4pm yesterday, six days after we lost power on the night of the storm. It was just in time really, as temperatures dipped to -2c overnight, and it's a very brisk 4c with a colder wind this morning. The day after the storm something like 70% of our town was blacked out, as of yesterday it's down to something like 35%, so much credit to the people working to restore all the power and heat in the area.

We've had a couple of cold nights and chilly days, and it's been very draining trying to keep Ben warm and entertained once daylight went and it became too cold to feasibly play outside. He's been an absolute trooper, totally unbothered by most of the big changes and resolutely cheerful and energetic, despite all of us having a foul cold, and his ending in a lingering cough that still sounds awful at night. 

We've spent a lot of each day in the town library, which had power after Thursday, and Ben is now a dab hand at lots of their jigsaw puzzles. He's always loved going there (generally a Saturday morning activity) and so this week has been quite the adventure for him. It's been lovely seeing how very grown up, thoughtful, and funny he is becoming. I can't wait for everyone to see him again.

Tom has been amazing, keeping all the balls in the air (and all the candles lit!) and giving me valuable breaks to put my  feet up and drink something hot when things got a bit much. I'm at the stage now where too much lifting, standing, or walking brings on quite strong and uncomfortable Braxton-Hicks, so at least I get a strong message to stop what I'm doing and take a brief break.

 I do feel for everyone whose lights haven't come on, it's so tiring and depressing being cold all the time. Today Ben is back in his daycare, Tom is heading into work this afternoon, and I'm about to go and get in a queue for petrol. There's statewide rationing to try to control the queues, depending on the last number of your licence plate you have to go on 'odd' or 'even' days. Tom has enough petrol in his car (which needs to see a mechanic, but can be nursed through this week) but mine, the smaller more fuel-efficient one we've been using to get around this week, is almost on fumes. I've seen a lot of people run out of petrol while waiting in   queues to buy more, and needing to push their car along - here's hoping that doesn't happen to me, as I'll have to beg strangers to help me!

I hope we can post more photos and news about Ben soon. We're getting closer and closer to meeting our new child, too, so I'm enjoying the last weeks we will spend together as just the three of us, before everything changes.