9. Earth: A Precusor

In honor of the fact that in week 38 of the pregnancy, you only have NINE days left until your due date, I wanted to let you know of 9 things that I really think you'll like about being a human being on earth.

9. Smelling Smells- The nose knows, and as you know, when a nose is heightened - like your mother's was- or deadend -like mine was- things are just kinda out of whack. But there's nothing better than smelling pancakes cooking in the morning, or the smell of freshly cut grass, or popcorn at the movies. Although there are some bad smells which, lets face it, you'll probably produce quite a few of as a baby, smelling is pretty much where it's at.

8. Colors- You probably haven't seen much of any colors, since color needs light and there's no light in the belly except when I shined a flashlight on you (sorry about that!) I'm particularly fond of blue and green. Your Mom like purple and blue. What are your favorite colors going to be?

7. Breathing- I simply can't say enough about breathing air. When you're not doing it, you tend to miss it quite quickly. It's pretty awesome.

6. The sky- I know that your Mom's ribs are about the limit of where you can go upwards now. But, we have a saying here on earth: "the sky's the limit." It's that big bluish grayish thing up above us and it often contains clouds, birds, and celestial bodies. Lots of people want to go up in the sky, but even when you're up in it in an airplane, there's still more sky above you. I really think you'll like the sky.


5. Grandparents - You're a pretty lucky guy! You're gonna have all four grandparents in close proximity. AND you have a set of great grandparents too. From what I know, Grandparents are pretty awesome: they get you stuff, change your diapers, babysit with no notice and generally love everything you do...even if it's smelly. You're going to like your Nannah, Baba, Mimi and Pops. And your Great Grandma and Great Grandpa too! And, on top of Grandparents, you have tons of Aunts and Uncles too!


4. Dogs (and other, minor animals)- What's better than having 4 grandparents? Having 2 dogs! That's an old saying we have here on earth as well. But you're so lucky that you have both! Dogs are kinda smelly, kinda annoying and they make really good lap warmers. They love to play outside and love to sleep all day. Preston and Toby have been very curious about what's growing in your Mom's belly, and I think they'll be really surprised when you come out. But, we know that they'll love you..especially once you start leaving crumbs for them to eat everywhere!


3. Making noise- In space no one can hear you scream. That's a saying we have on earth about that thing above the sky (space). It's kind of true for you too: where you are no one CAN hear you make noise at all. Probably because you can't make noise yet! But the second you come out, you're gonna really get to test your vocal chords and cry, and scream and eventually giggle and gurgle and talk! I really like making noise, much to your Mother's chagrin, especially early in the morning.

2. Food- Now, for a long while you're not going to get to eat grown up food. All you're going to hopefully get is breast milk, and if that doesn't work out then Formula. I'm not sure how good any of those things taste, but I got to imagine they're better than being fed intravenously through a weird cord sticking out of your belly button. That's a bit too Matrix-y for me. Eventually though, you're gonna get to eat all sorts of things: bread, cookies, spaghetti, pizza, apples, grapes, bananas, water, noodles. Food is right up there with my favorite things in the world.

1. Parents- Okay, so this is the power of positive thinking. I'm sure there will be times when you won't be too happy with us, like on Shot day or when we ground you for God-knows-what. But, just so you know, whether you're mad at us or not, we're the two people on this planet who have pretty much been assigned to be your guides and show you around, let you kick the tires and eventually help you find your own little piece of Earth that's all yours. But up until that day, we're gonna be there for you. It's pretty sweet: we're human beings, like you, but we're bigger and have really big arms that are perfect for holding you and rocking you and bathing you. We have really big heads and mouths that we can use to make faces at you and talk to you and teach you things about stuff (since we KNOW you're going to like stuff!). We have cars, and those will come in handy to get you places. Plus, we already have this really awesome thing for you called unconditional love...and we can't wait for you to come and meet you so we can show what that one's all about!


So, there's kind of a crash course on life on earth. It's pretty cool and, in 9 days (give or take a few), you're going to get to see it for yourself! And we can't WAIT for you to get that opportunity!

Cribbage!

Just in time to celebrate your 36th week, your crib finally arrived at Buy Buy Baby! Your Mom couldn't wait to go get it. So, after the class on Saturday, we rounded up Mimi, Nannah and Baba and Baba's pick up truck (Pops was out of town) and headed up to the store to get your crib and mattress!

But, your Mom had to wait a WHOLE day to put the crib together (due to pre-existing plans). But, alas, on Sunday night, after the Super Bowl, your Mom and I got busted out our Allen wrenches and put your crib together.

Expecting this process to be as painful as they show it to be in the movies, I was all ready to pull my hair out, get frustrated at poorly written instructions and spackle over whatever mistakes I made.

But, this crib was surprisingly easy to put together! In fact, here's how to do it in 6 easy steps:

Step 1: Get a giant box and put it in the nursery.

Step 2: Open said giant box and remove contents

Step 3: Scratch your head

Step 4: Attach Mobile.

Step 5: Move Camera to take bad picture!

Step 6: Add your parents and a giraffe to said bad picture

And now you're all set! Your crib is built, the sheets are on the mattress (as is the waterproof pad) and all we need now is... you!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...and Self-Thermoregulation

You are now 30 weeks old...which means you'll probably be here in 10 week's time! The days keep slipping by, and you keep developing more and more. We had a busy holiday break: Hanukah, Christmas, visitors, movies, housework, exercise, eating, etc. But you had a busier holiday break!

According to some books I was reading, at week 30 of development, the folds of your brain are developed enough to show major advancement of your brain function and capabilities. In fact, your brain is so advanced now, that your brain can now regulate your body temperature on its own. That means that you will start losing that Lanugo- the thin coat of white hair that covered your body to help with temperature regulation- in the days to come. And your temperature regulation couldn't have arrived with better timing, because here on the outside world, we had a White Christmas.

That means it snowed. And stuck. In Dallas. This doesn't happen very often, as you can tell by my over-use of punctuation. But, it was so cold that the dogs had to wear sweaters, just as you were losing your built-in sweater (your lanugo). So, it's probably nice and toasty in the womb, especially with your brain now taking on higher functionality.

And it was pretty cool that your first Christmas (or Zeroth Christmas) was this cold! But it was anything but cold inside. First off, you got to spend some quality time with your Aunt Rebekka, who you'd never met before, and with your Uncle Joe. Neither had the chance to feel you kick before, and they both really liked feeling you move around. And they both were aptly weirded out too. But, they still like you. Aunt Rebekka even sang you a lullabye!

And the Holiday warmth kept coming too. Even though you're not quite out here yet, you were already getting amazing, handmade Hanukah and Christmas presents.

Mimi finished the blanket she was knitting, and Nannah finished the quilt she was making! The grandmas gave them to you as presents! You're going to love them- they're so soft and warm and, well, hand-made!

Even though we knew the grandmas were making these gifts, it was great to finally be able to see them, hold them and imagine wrapping you in them!

But, you did get one gift that was a complete, and amazing, surprise! For almost two months, your Nannah Joon has been workign behind closed doors on a super secret project. By super secret, of course, I mean that everyone knew about it EXCEPT for your Mom and Me. So on Christmas eve when your Nannah Joon revealed a hand-made cradle for you, engraved with Hebrew, Farsi and English prayers provided by Mimi and Pops, Baba and your Great Grandma, we were floored!

Check out how amazing this cradle is!

If you can't tell from all this holiday warmth, you have a pretty kick-butt family, who loves you very much already! But, at least now you don't need to worry about it getting too warm, since you can thermoregulate all by yourself!

Your Smiling Face

Yesterday your Mom and I went to the doctors, with Mimi and Nannah June in tow. This was a very special visit, as it was our last sonogram appointment, and our last chance to see your smiling face until you come out!

Before the doctors came in, though, I woke you up and got you all riled up: you were rolling, and stretching and maneuvering and kicking everyone's hands- and actually moving our hands so that others could see them rise and fall. Both Mimi and Nannah had a lot of fun feeling you kick.

But they had even more fun when we got to see you! You've grown a lot since we saw you last. You're now 2.5 pounds, and have a lot of definition on your face. You also are moving so much, that the sonogram lady had to chase you around your Mom's belly. She said you were almost "too fast" for her- but she managed to get some pictures:

The doctor said everything was looking great- your spine, your brain, your heart, your umbilical cord. And he even gave your mother a compliment that she'd never received before (and probably never will again): "Your Cervix is Awesome!"

Despite that moment of awkwardness, the appointment went wonderfully. It's hard to imagine how much you've grown...just a month or so ago, you looked like the Skeleton King, and now you bear a striking resemblance to Elmer Fudd!

They said you are a happy, healthy baby. And we already knew that you were an active baby, but you didn't have to show off at the doctors. Perhaps we shouldn't have riled you up first!

Look at that profile! It looks like you may have your mother's nose, and her cheeks. But then again, your Aunt Deborah did call me "Elmer Fudd" for a long enough period of my young life that I actually thought that was my name. So maybe you take after your old man a little too!

Making Room

Seeing as we're 19 weeks along (which means you're about 21 weeks away from coming out here to meet everyone), we've seriously been making room for you! But getting all the pieces to fall into place has been pretty tricky!

And the ground-breaking ceremony all relied on us finding a new home for one piece of furniture.

You see, the dining room is going to be your nursery, so we needed to clear out the dining room closet to make room for storing your belongings. But, my bass lived in there, so we needed to find a new place for that. The only spot it would fit was the front hall coat closet, but then we needed a coat closet. So, we decided to convert the decorative under-the-stairs nook into a coat closet. But the piece of furniture that lived in that nook needed to go before any of this could happen! Finally, the keystone was removed (we gave it to BJ and Kari to decorate their guest bedroom), and the nursery project could begin!

This is what I look like when I do house repair. Except I have bigger muscles and greener overalls.

So, here's a sample of the fun we've been having over the past week:

• Coat closet converted into bass closet
• Nook converted into coat closet

It may look like I'm playing with Toby, but who plays with a dog with a drill in their other hand?

• Doors mounted on coat closet (thanks to a lot of help from expert carpenter, Nannah Joon)

Take that, Nook! You're a closet now!

• Decorative Bass moved from entry way
• Buffet (and record player stand) moved from kitchen area to entry way
• Decorative Bass moved to bedroom
• Dining table moved to kitchen area
• Book shelves constructed
  

And, blammo- you've got yourself room for a baby! We're well on the way to an awesome nursery!

Uncle Joe, Nannah Joon and your cousins Devon and Jeanessa playing Uno in your nursery when it was a dining room


And now look at it! It's really starting to look like your nursery in there!

The hardest part about creating all this new storage space is to not fill it up immediately. Even though you're just gonna be a teeny tiny baby, you come with a lot of hardware; so we're gonna need a lot of space to store it!

And even though we've always had emotional room for you, now we have physical room for you too! And you even have your own physical room!

Speaking of making room, your Mom is certainly doing a lot of room making too. Her belly continues to grow and grow! In fact, her belly is growing so much that she's out of pants again (it's too cold to wear her maternity capri pants). So, on Sunday we went off to Target to buy her new pants. Instead of the more expensive maternity wear, she decided to try and buy a regular pair of jeans, just a few sizes up. Dejected, she walked out of the dressing room: they did not fit! The ones that fit her waist are too long or too big for the legs, the ones that fit her height are far too small for her belly! And the sundress she tried on looked like a Muumuu. That probably didn't help matters much.

Seriously, who invented these?

But, ever resourceful, your Mom decided to make her own drawstring pants.

Pants or no, though, your Mom continues to make room for you! Last night alone she had a bowl of broccoli cheese soup, a bowl of ice cream, (Moolenium Crunch again), two pieces of buttered toast and...right before bed, she hit the fridge again for some dried fruit!

At this rate, there's going to be plenty of room for you!

James (or Jane) and the Giant Peach

Here we are: week 13! I would think it's safe to say that we are officially in the Second Trimester now. But "The Bump" says that doesn't happen til NEXT week. But, either way, you, my friend, are roughly the size of a PEACH!

This is big news because, well, Peaches are pretty big! This means that soon enough, your Mother will be entering the "definitely showing a baby bump" phase that has thus-far eluded her. (She's still convinced she's in the "lay off the sweets, lady" phase [aka a root beer belly])


But, speaking about size, things are supposedly progressing quite nicely for you in your Mom's belly. You are quickly reaching human proportions: your head is now only about 1/3 the size of your body. That looks a lot more normal than you did a couple weeks ago when your head was the same size as your body!

See? Having a head 1/3 the size of your body looks almost normal. Though, I feel that champagne flute will be useless to someone with those proportions.

Something else is happening to you this week, and I gotta say, it's gonna make a world of difference for you down the line. According to sources, this week, your intestines are making a strategic move. They're relocating from the umbilical cord (which you don't get to keep) into your tummy! I think you'll really be pleased with this change; your intestines can serve you a lot better inside your tummy than housed in a weird-looking tube hooked up to your belly button. And trust me, as a Weinstein, you'll be using those intestines!

Speaking of the old intestines, your Mom's nausea has almost gone all away! But she still is not hungry for a lot of food. She is, however, hungry for a little bit of food about 76 times a day. If you're an old wife (like Mimi or Nannah (which is the decided-upon name for Nita!)), then you might use this eating-pattern information to predict your gender.

Of course, we already discussed the speed of the heartbeat indicating that you might be a girl (based on nothing but fiction, of course).

But, the other old wives tale that says that women pregnant with boys can't stop eating and never get full; women pregnant with girls eat more like birds, picking only what they want, eating little amounts frequently and having their mothers regurgitating that food into their mouths (or something like that). Well, your mother is quite peckish, and gets full pretty easily. So that would also indicate "girl!" But, my co-worker had two baby boys and was also peckish with her eating habits during pregnancy.

So there you go. Another gender prediction busted! So, as for now we don't know if you're Jane or James (neither are names we're considering). But, we do know that you are one cute peach!