Fudging the Diet

When our friends Buck and Jen stayed at our house before they drove to their new home in Seattle about two weeks ago, they had to leave something behind in our freezer. There was no way these could have survived a 4 day drive across the country. But, don't worry, from the second your Mom opened the freezer, she knew that we would find those left-over items a good home.

And she's been devouring Blue Bell Fudge Bars ever since.

In fact, the cravings for these Fudge Bars are so extreme, that, between dinner with friends and hanging out with them at our house, we HAD to stop at the grocery store to buy more Fudge Bars. There was no other option.

Oddly enough, your Mom has developped a serious aversion to the grocery store. Her heightened powers of smell transform the store's aroma (especially back near the deli and butcher sections) into an olfactory deflector shield.

Since I only had been able to have one Fudge Bar, I didn't know exactly which ones to get. Luckily, I recognized the creepy Coach from the box. He seems like just the type of person NOT to be selling confections to children.

Shouldn't he be keeping his eyes on the game?

But, I digress: Fudge Bars are THE most-craved food of the past two weeks. We're about to be on box number Three.

On another note, I think it's safe to say that the "Prune Experiment" from earlier this week was a complete failure. Though I tried to whet her appetite through offering nibbles here and there of my prunes, Holly has probably only eaten one prune in total all week. I, on the other hand, have had half the bag. Which means I'm lucky to have enough "down time" to sit at the computer and write this entry without having to run...if you know what I mean...which you don't, because, quite frankly, you probably don't even DO that yet!

Finally, though, I wanted to let you know that as we approach the end of your 10th week in your Mom's belly, it seems that the nausea is decreasing day by day. In fact, she's not feeling too sick at all! She's not passing out on the couch and drooling all over it, she's not turning green whenever I suggest food choices, and she's no longer seeking elixirs like hot tea, honey on crackers, Jolly Ranchers, Seltzer, or Voodoo chanting to help lift the nausea. Also a good sign, she's been increasingly more giddy, giggling, happy and fiesty; it must feel so good to not constantly feel sick-ish!

But, being in a love affair with Chunky the Coach and his fantastic Fudge Bars is bound to make one feel giddy... I mean, that's a lot of chocolate!

Jean Genie

We all knew this was going to happen. It's supposed to happen. But this weekend, we're gonna go shopping for some new pants for Holly.

Her pants don't fit her anymore!

As much as I know she's been enjoying the forced-casual look (ahem...leaving pants unbuttoned under her body band), when I saw her struggling to get in to her britches this morning I said, "Why don't we just go buy you some bigger pants?"

This line of questioning was met with great support from Holly, her belly and, of course, her pants.

Holly in her favorite jeans atop my shoulders. Please note, my face doesn't usually look like that. Please also note that we will not be assuming this formation for approximately 7 months.

On a separate note, the prune test from yesterday was a failure. I ate three prunes right in front of your Mom, but she wanted nothing of it.

Her eating habits appear to have nothing to do with the weekly fruit that you are comprarable in size to. Example: yesterday she ate both almonds (you in week 8) AND mango (you in week 19). So I think we have nothing to fear on that front!

But, I must say, prunes are pretty big. Dramatically larger than a green olive. You've grown a lot in the past week! It was very weird to hold a prune and think that you are actually that size right now in your Mom's belly.

I put my hand on her tummy every night; she is really starting to grow! Your mother, of course, was worried that it was "all fat." But that tummy's tight-- that's you growing in there. Prune and onward!

Don't worry, by the time you're the size of a lime, we'll have your Mom in some better britches!

Prune...I mean Dried Plum!

That's a prune. But the powers-that-be decided that prune wasn't marketable. So they renamed it a "dried plum" (which it is)...but we don't call raisins "dried grapes," do we? But, I digress.


That's a prune. And so are you! That's how big you are this week, now that you're 10 weeks old! Hopefully you're not as wrinkly, but I'm not making any promises.


Now, call me sneaky, but after last week's "you're-the-size-of-a-green-olive-and-your-mother-ate-a-jar-of-green-olives" issue, I've laid out quite the experiment to test a theory. You're the size of a prune, and your mother is hungry. So, I bought us a big bag of prunes.


We shall see if she feels compelled to binge eat whatever fruit/veggie you are comparable in size to week after week.


As of today, Tuesday, the prune bag remains unopened. But, perhaps this evening I'll taste one and see how she responds.


I'm only looking out for your welfare in doing this. We need to know early on, while you're still a snack-sized fruit, if, in week 37, your mother is going to feel the urge to binge eat 23 Watermelon. That won't be good for any of us.


Sure, it looks harmless now; but this could get dangerous.


P.S. The Bump has this to say about your development: "With bones and cartilage starting to form and vital organs beginning to function, baby is making major progress. Body length will almost double in the next three weeks, and arm joints are now working. (Soon, legs will too.)"

That's awesome! Your arm joints are functioning! That means we could probably have our first official High Five!