Sneaky Sleeper

Aidan,

 

You've been sneaking into our bed for a few months now. Nightmares, bad dreams, sleepwalking, checking on us, cold, thirsty, lonely? Who knows why (well,sometimes we do know that it's bad dreams, because you tell us), but pretty much every night/morning around 5 am you wind up in bed with us, and your mother doesn't have the energy to take you back again, and I'm a deep sleeper, so I don't know you're there until the morning unless you drape your arm over my head. Sometimes you manage to sneak in unnoticed by your Mom and we both wake up surprised to see you. Last night, though, was an even more amazing sneak sleeper maneuver.

 

I tucked you in, and you were fast asleep by 7:25 (those swim classes really tire you out). Your Mom and I worked out, we ate some dessert, we watched some television. There was a huge pile of laundry in the bed. The evening consisted of a few trips back to our bedroom: putting away the weights, changing into PJs, letting the dogs out, and in, and out again.

 

We made our way to be around 11:00 and your Mom says, "Did you know Aidan was in our bed?" I did not, but there you were, adorably sleeping in our bed. You had snuck in there- which is really interesting, because if you wake up while we're still up, you typically come and see us, but last night you must have simply wanted to sleep...some where else. This is also impressive, because you're not exactly light-footed. Your thud-thud-thud isn't exactly stealthy usually.

 

But last night, you snuck out of your bed, climbed in ours, tucked yourself in, and got nice and adorably comfrotable..

 

 

I don't know if the huge pile of laundry was good enough camouflage, or if you had tucked yourself in so deeply that I didn't see you, but with the multiple trips to the bedroom, I somehow missed your beautiful face sleeping in our big bed.

 

I'm glad we got to see you there, so peaceful, so at home, so comfortable- exactly the things we want for you to feel in every room in our home. I couldn't resist taking a picture; you looked so beautiful, sleeping there basking in the soft light coming from the closet.

 

When I see you sleeping, I am immediately transported back to your early days as an infant.

 

You have grown to be a creative, impressive, hilarious, complicated, emotional, confident, sensitive young boy. But when we catch you sleeping, especially dwarfed by the big comforter in our bed, it's not hard to recall the day you first held my hand and used to sleep on my and your mom's chest during long naps, drenched in afternoon sunlight.

 

We kissed you and took you back to bed for the night.

 

I awoke to the sound of my alarm at 7 am, and was pleasantly surprised to find you there, cuddled between your Mom and me.

 

 

Do Fetuses Dream of Embryonic Sheep?

There you are, a big, bountiful baby bump on week 28 of this journey. I know it seems like I've reported almost every movement, every kick, every turn, every hiccup you make. That's because when you move, it's very exciting for everyone here in the outside world.

But, as you are now almost fully developed some cool things are happening in your off time too. When you stop kicking or rolling we normally say, "I guess he went to sleep," and either wait for you to wake up again or jostle you to wake you up for more playing (rude, huh?)

Scientists know that you- and others in your predicament - can actually sleep in two different ways: inactive AND active sleep. On the outside here, we sleep inactively first, and then actively. On the inside, though, you do the opposite- active first, then inactive.

Active sleeping is synonymous with REM (no, not the band, silly; Rapid Eye Movement). And, REM sleep is when we on the outside of your Mom's belly tend to have dreams.

There's no real way to tell, but because you engage in REM sleep, scientists actually think that you might be able to dream too!

In a rare role reversal, I found that absolutely fascinating and amazing, while your Mom took a pragmatic approach.

"But dreams are just your brain trying to make sense of random synapses firing off in your brain- brining in random images of things you've seen or witnessed," she said.

And that's true, as far as I know.

But I still think you have plenty to dream about:

• Certain flavors of food or smells
• Your Mom's heartbeat
• My singing
• The dogs barking
• Your Mom's internal organs
• Being jostled (like in a car ride)
• Kicking
• Music
• The Paul McCartney & Ben Folds Concerts
• Guitar Music
• The feeling of being on a walk

You probably also have a few things to even have nightmares about:

My singing

• That time we put the flashlight up to the belly
• My singing
• Spicy Food
• My singing

So, even if you're not dreaming or just don't have too much to dream about, I can still dream that you are dreaming, right?

And, I know that your Mom and I both are having tons of dreams about you.

While you continue to get bigger and bigger, we'll continue to dream about you coming out to meet us - and, maybe, you'll be dreaming about meeting the people connected to all the voices you've been hearing and internal organs you've been cozying up to for the past 7 months.

Or maybe, you'll just keep dreaming of embryonic sheep.

Cosmic Happenings

Things have been having cosmic coincidental undercurrents lately. I think it has something to do with the magic of being pregnant.

For example, last night your Mom and I both had dreams about me eating Fruity Pebbles, the cereal. In my dream, I could taste the cereal (which I'd never had before). Your Mom told me this morning that she too had a dream in which I ate Fruity Pebbles, and I loved them! (by the way, I did try them this morning, and they were alright. Cocoa Pebbles are better). But is being pregnant tying your Mom into some sort of cosmic connector? How else could she have received the signal I was transmitting and had her own Aaron and Fruity Pebbles dream?

What, that's not fruity enough for you?

Okay, check out this weird Twilight Zone connection. Remember yesterday's entry about the pigment (or lack there of) in your hair? I joked about what your Mom and I would look like with all white hair.

So this morning your Mom went into see our friend Myra for a haircut. And guess what they found growing from your Mom's head?

A single white hair.

And it was short, too, which means it's relatively new. Perhaps even one day old?

So, what do you think? Is pregnancy tapping your mother into some sort of cosmic interconnectedness craziness or are you just giving her grey hairs already? Is having you in her belly tapping your Mom into the world's unconscious and cereal-related desires, or is it just a mere coincidence?

Whatever the meaning behind these ESP happenings, nothing really compares to the magic of feeling you kick. Your Mom told someone the other day that everytime you kick, she can't help but smile. I had my hand on her belly last night, and I got to feel you kicking up a major storm. I couldn't help but smile either. Now THAT is a cosmic happening (not me smiling (i do that a lot); i was referring to the feeling you kick part!). Oh, and Belly Button Watch Day Whatever it is: It's still an inny!

Ice Cream and Odd Dreams

Last night after spaghetti dinner and a pomegranate and before the dried fruit, your Mom requested some ice cream. I gave her what was left of the Moolenium (less than a spoonful), and then started filling up her bowl with Bluebell's Chocolate Brownie Overload. The ice cream broke out in a giant clump, which, pre-pregnancy, she would have definitely refused. But yesterday was different.

Me: "Is this too much?"

Holly: "No way!"

Me: "Do you want more?"

Holly: "Oh yeah!"

So, I broke out two more big clumps of Chocolate Brownie Overload. Her eyes turned into shark eyes and she proceeded to devour the tasty treat.

And since you can now taste everything your mom is eating, that means that you devoured it too. And it most likely means you had shark eyes too. But, then again, why wouldn't you go crazy for ice cream that describes itself thusly: "A luscious, dark chocolate ice cream containing chocolate peanut butter brownies, flakes of dark chocolate, roasted almonds, chopped pecans, and walnuts surrounded by a caramel sauce and a whipped topping swirl."

Just for the record, I shall rename this ice cream flavor "Chocolate Brownie Overlord."

You must have enjoyed the Overlord too, since you were kicking like crazy after she ate it!

But, following this sweet treat, your Mom didn't exactly have sweet dreams. Ice cream mixed with pregnancy (or actually just pregnancy alone) makes for some odd sleep stories!

Your Mom recounted this odd tale to me today over lunch.

Near the end of the dream, she reached in her purse and pulled out a bottle of Tylenol which, upon inspection, had expired in 1973. Holly then chided the owner of the Tylenol for having such an old bottle. Then, she opened said bottle and out came a cockroach!

This cockroach tried to run from her, but like an Iraqi journalist, your Mom kept throwing shoes at the bug until she finally struck it.

One of the dogs approached the roach and sniffed at it. Your Mother was worried that they would get sick from eating the roach.

But before anything could be done about that, she was on her back giving birth. Except, instead of a traditional birth, you just sort of teleported out of your womb and stood on her stomach.

Apparently, you were about 2 years old, had an elvish look, were butt naked and had a mop of curly blonde hair.

You looked at her. You said "Hello" in a goofy voice, which your Mom can repeat for you. And then you up and r-u-n-n-o-f-t!

But, before any emotional impact of this could sink in, your Mom woke up!

What does it mean? Who knows! Apparently, your Mom is not alone in having crazy pregnancy dreams, so she's not worried that you'll magically teleport out of her belly as a naked two year old.

Two things we do know, though, is that all purse Tylenol will have its expiration date checked immediately, and this dream will probably NOT curb late night ice cream eating. We will continue to bow down to our Chocolate Brownie Overlord.

Dream Machine

Things have been pretty quiet on the Pregnancy Front for the past couple of days. Of course, your mother is still having cravings and aversions, still feeling a bit nauseous from time to time (though the nausea is waning), still feeling tired and has acutally been getting headaches semi-frequently.

But don't worry, headaches are a supposed common occurrence during the second trimester...which we are almost officially in. In fact, if my calculations are correct (which they're probably not...I was an English major, after all), then on this coming Sunday we'll be in our last week of the First Trimester!

Then, in the second trimester, the major action comes! The bump will grow, we'll find out your gender, and we might learn more about delivery and breathing and all that junk. But, I will be a little sad to see the first tri-mester go; after all, the first tri-mester is when you were our little secret! It's when you grew from basically nothing all the way up the small-to-mid-size produce section (from a poppy seed all the way to a lime!) It's when you grew from some sort of water-dwelling tadpole-like naked baby hamster-looking creature to be humanoid!

And the first tri-mester is when all of our dreams for you and our life together (and apart, if you ever want to spend the night at a friend's house...as long as that friend isn't a nogoodnick).

With the nausea, though, I seriously doubt your Mom will be as sad to see the First Tri-Mester end.

Speaking of dreams, though, I've been having a couple weird ones lately.

They all involve your mother, pregnant with you, doing extremely dangerous things for a pregnant lady to be doing!

In one dream, she went down the world's most terrifying water slide.

I'm a bit fuzzy on the details of that dream. But the next one was much more vivid. In this one your mother, more pregnant than she acutally is, ascends a long, winding staircase; she climbs higher and higher into the sky.

At this point, I'm growing more and more concerned.

At the top of the stairs it's revealed that she's on the world's tallest diving platform.

Despite my protests and abject concerns, your mother jumps off the diving board and into the pool far, far below.

I even woke up mad at her, but then had to remind myself that our inflatable pool is only 2.5 feet deep and that nobody, pregnant or not, can really be submerged in it, nevermind diving into it.

But don't worry, I'll make sure your Mom doesn't sign up for the USA diving team any time soon.

In the meantime, though, I hope you're ready- because next week (I think) you're over a third-of-the-way toward coming out into the world!