All Hands on Deck: Pre-Thanksgiving Edition

We've made it to week 25, and you've finally graduated from papaya to the next produce item on the list. That's right, buddy, in perfect time for Thanksgiving, you're, no, not a turkey, but an eggplant! (Mimi makes the best Eggplant dish on Thanksgiving...so, it's not a total non-sequitor)

That doesn't mean you're a purple, moslty mushy food that hardly anybody likes; It takes a LOT of effort to get as mushy as an eggplant. What this does mean, though, is that you're growing- probably about 1.5 pounds and 13.6 inches long from head to toe.

But we don't need to play guessing games to know you're there or that you've grown. We can see AND feel that just by watching and touching your Mom's belly.

Over the weekend you were kicking for what seemed like 10 minutes at a time and we both just watched and felt in amazement. In fact, you seem to react a lot to music too! Your Mom and I were playing Beatles Rock Band and at this one point with a lot of bass your Mom saw you dancing along. But more on that later.

We can't help but smile every time we feel you kicking. This show was too good to keep to ourselves, so we had to take it on the road.

At a Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving feast at the home of our friends BJ and Kari, we were all just sitting around talking after the meal. I went over and put my hand on your belly to feel you kicking and then your Mom grabbed Michelle's hand to let her feel too. She felt you kick and, also, couldn't help but smile and laugh! Michelle said she could almost even feel a little foot kicking her hand!

Next thing we knew, everyone wanted to feel you kick and squirm and move, and you didn't disappoint your future "Uncles" and "Aunts" and friends: they all got to feel you kick, and all reacted differently. Uncle Jeremy didn't even realize it when he felt you kick- he thought it was just a muscle spasm!

But everyone overall loved "meeting you"-- and they, like me and your mother, can't wait to meet you for real.

Feeling you kick definitely makes your arrival seem more real...but it still seems so unknown, so far off and altogether UNreal. That is to say, we still can't fathom what it will be like when you're here, nonetheless, we still can't wait for it!

To feel you kicking and hold your feet and see your eyes for real will be beyond words; but for now, feeling and seeing you kick against your Mom's belly is incredible enough and, on this week of good food and family, seeing you kick, feeling you move, watching you grow and knowing you're in there definitely and being able to share that with everyone gives me something to be Thankful for.

And THAT's how you get as mushy as an eggplant!

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!

Food with a Little Kick

Last night your Mom and I made dinner (okay, well mostly me, but she watched), and we had to add this special ingredient: Chipotle Peppers in Adobo.

Your Mom had one request: "Don't make it too spicy. Bad things happen in my tummy with too much spiciness."

Actually, she said spiciness gave her heartburn, but the way I wrote it is better.

Well, I only put in the called-for amount of Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce, plus a little extra to "man-up" the recipe, like I normally do when I cook. You see, most recipes go light on flavor, so I always man them up a little. So, when it called for 2 peppers, I put in 3 and then a fraction of a 4th one plus a few spoonfuls of the sauce.

The manned-up dish wound up having a little kick. Not cry-your-eyes-out spicy, but spicy enough to get your attention (and Spicy enough to make your Mimi cough for 10 hours).

So, after 1 bowl and 3 glasses of water each, your Mom and I were satiated. It was actually a good dish (Smoky Chipotle Mac and Cheese), and I'll make it for you once you, well, you know grow teeth and eat people food.

But, then something really interesting happened, and it wasn't heart burn. I don't know if the caliente cuisine spiced up your night, but you were dancing the night away all over your Mom's internal organs.

You kicked for about one and a half hours straight! We both could feel you kicking and punching just from putting our hands on the belly.

I'd say that the spicy food night was your most active night yet!

But who knows if it was truly the dinner or just a coincidence. The good news, though, is that there were plenty of leftovers, so we'll get to test again tonight to see if it was food with a little kick that caused the kicks or if it was just spicy food with kick on (in) the side.

I've got a feeling & a Stroller Coaster

Baby W, you are now 19 weeks old! We're getting closer and closer to that official half way point!

You keep growing, and so does your Mom's belly! This week you're the size of a Mango!

Seeing as how you're really climbing up the produce food chain, and that you're moving like crazy in your Mom's belly, it's no wonder that she's been feeling you kick and turn and move for just about a full week.

But, what was a wonder to me, was that I felt you move too! We were on the couch watching a movie (oddly enough, a movie about an expectant couple called "Away We Go"). During the movie, I had my hand on your Mother's belly and...POP!...I swear I felt you move below and to the right of her belly button.

Was that you in there?

Holly said that she "wasn't paying attention" to know if what I felt was, indeed, you moving...but I'm pretty convinced that was you! It felt almost like being gently flicked, but very quick and abrupt. Was that your foot? Your hand? Did you hit your head?

No matter what it was, it made my night! No, it made my whole week! Maybe you could hit your head against her belly again tonight?

Speaking of moving, you'll be happy to know that your Mother and have moved forward in a particularly difficult arena: registering.

As you'll recall, we were both incredibly overwhelmed by Babies R Us and hightailed it out of there with our tails between our legs. I was happy with never going back to that store again, and figured you'd do just fine in hand-me-downs and old cardboard boxes taped together to create a crib. Little did I know, though, that your Mom found her comfort zone for registering and basically went through every category of everything you'll ever need by registering online. It was way easier!

But, when I got filled back in on the loop, there were still two items that were vexing your mother: your crib and your stroller. So, I figured we should take it up a notch. Biting the bullet, we headed to another baby superstore: Buy Buy Baby.

They even let me park right up front!

This store was A LOT better: each employee is an expert on baby things, and the store is laid out to not induce hyperventilation and vertigo. So that's a plus. On our first trip there, we learned a heck of a lot and saw about 15 million strollers and cribs.

Stroller Over-Load! We felt like this couple, except that I still have my lucious head of hair! (as of this writing)

We definitely still felt overwhelmed...but not as badly as before. I guess going to these baby stores and registering is like being bludgened: the more you experience it, the less pain you feel! But we ironed out a lot of ideas and brainstormed and discussed and talked and thought and thought some more and sought advice and turned inward and...we made a decision on both fronts!

So yesterday, we decided that we needed to go back to Buy Buy Baby to see if our idea would even work! In order to make ourselves feel better about being bright-eyed and deer-in-the-headlights at these baby stores, we decided to bring some folks who would make us feel like old pros: enter the Nodelands! So, with BJ and Kari in tow, and confidence artifically heightened, we went back to Buy Buy Baby to register for more amazing junk for you and test our stroller idea.

Registering can stink. Is that a fake burger patty in your hands or are we in a PetSmart?

After a hands-on demonstration from three different associates, encountering an even-more bewildered couple than us, and test driving (and test lifting) about 10 carrier and stroller combinations, you might have thought we'd high-tailed it out of there again. But no! Consider your stroller and infant carrier registered-for! You're gonna be so comfortable (and safe (and stylish))).

I've got a good feeling about this!

Your new ride! We don't look too scared, do we? Plus, check out your Mom's 19 week bump!

Kicking, no Screaming

According to the Bump at week 18 a fetus is moving like crazy, doing things like:

• yawning



• hiccuping



• rolling



• twisting



• kicking



• punching



• sucking your fingers



• swallowing

Now, where I come from, yawning and swallowing aren't big on the list of physical activities; in fact, I think those events were removed from the Winter Olympics for being not competitive enough. But for a baby, that's a lot of activity!

And we on the outside world have taken notice. Or, more specifically, your Mom has taken notice.

In the past few days, she has begun to feel you moving around inside her tummy! At first, she wasn't sure if that sensation was gas bubbles or something else, but ever since Monday afternoon she's become more and more aware of your movements!

This totally makes sense: now that you're 18 weeks, you're big enough to be felt. And, since your mother's belly seems to be growing by leaps and bounds over the past week, she's big enough to feel you!

In fact, she just called me and told me that she felt you kicking her just now!

Please refrain from kicking like this...or sweeping the leg.

Being the jealous and curious type that I am, I asked her to describe it to me.

Basically, she said, it feels like a series of quick little bumps. It seems to happen pretty close to meal times, although she did feel you yesterday while she was driving her car.

I haven't been able to feel you move from my vantage point yet, but I keep my hand on the belly, poised to feel your kicks!