Boy, oh Boy!

It feels really cool to know your gender for sure! First, off, I just changed the text on the blog's banner from "watch as baby grows from a red line on a pee stick to a baby boy or girl" to "watch as baby grows from a red line on a pee stick to a baby boy!"




This is also great, because now we know the cool clothes we've been registering for and buying you (and receiving as gifts) don't need to be returned!



I got you a totally awesome t-shirt (for when you're one year old) featuring Darth Vader (seen here playing bass and floating above the band):




Your mom got you a retro Ghostbusters t-shirt that looks like this:

And your Auntie Sham got you the coolest Beatles onesie:

If they made that Yellow Submarine onesie in adult sizes (and if society would allow a grown man to walk around in a legless unitard) I would totally get a matching one!

So, even though we don't know if you'll like Ghostbusters, Star Wars and the Beatles (and you won't be exposed to two out of three of those until you're at least three), we've decided to impose our cultural likes and dislikes upon you! Enjoy!

But, you'll be oppressed by our pop culture tastes in style, my son! And, if, when you get older you want to ditch Star Wars, Ghostbusters and the Beatles for Star Trek, Ghost Hunters and The Rolling Stones, we'll be there to take you shopping!

28, part I : Sand Dollar

Today is your Mother's 28th birthday! What does that mean to you? Well, it's pretty cool because

a) that's the age she'll be when you're born!

b) she will be eating lots of cake!

It turns out that both you and I got your Mother birthday presents!

I gave your Mother a silver Sand Dollar on a necklace for her birthday. Back in the summer (early June, actually), we went on a trip to the beach down in Padre Island, Texas (don't worry, you'll get to go there too). On our very last day, your mother found a WHOLE Sand Dollar! She'd never found a sand dollar before in her life!

Here's the sand dollar in question:On the drive home, we put the sand dollar in a very safe place in the car. Or, at least, we thought it was a very safe place. Turns out NOWHERE is safe from me! It seems that the weight of a simple I-pod is more than enough to split a sand dollar in half.

When we found out the sand dollar was broken, we were both upset. Your Mother was more upset than I was. In fact, she looked like she was going to cry and didn't talk to me for a long while after that, no matter how many times I apologized. I promised her that I would get her another sand dollar.

Later on the drive, she started talking to me again, and when we got home, she successfully glued the sand dollar back together.

But I kept my word: I got her another sand dollar. And I gave it to her today! She loved the necklace, but loves it even more than I could have guessed.

Your mom told me this story today:

You see, back in the summer, we had been trying to make you for such a long time. Your mom was trying everything: temperature taking, special medicine, special diets, etc. And just before that trip, your Mom thought she was pregnant, but the EPT said that we weren't. So, we were both dejected. Your Mother more so than me (which is odd, because in this duo, I'm normally the pessimist, and she's normally the optimist).

So, at the end of that vacation, when your Mom found that sand dollar washed up on the shore- her first WHOLE sand dollar- she subconsciously took it as a sign, took it to mean that you would arrive one day! And I think she even made a wish on that sand dollar that you would come sooner than later.

So no wonder she was pissed at me when I broke it!

But, as it turns out, the EPT test was wrong, and the sand dollar was right: we were pregnant with you already (very very very early). (That explains the extra "emotions"!) So, the power of the sand dollar works; and the present that you have given your mother for her birthday is you, yourself! She wished on a sand dollar back in June that you would be here, and here- on her birthday- you are! And your mother's now wearing a silver sand dollar around her neck!

How cool is that? I wish "sand dollar" was acceptable as a baby name...but it's not. Totally not. Don't worry!

She felt you kicking today during her Birthday Burrito Lunch (weird cravings, man) and just couldn't stop smiling. How many ladies get exactly what they want for their birthdays: a growing baby kicking her tummy like mad AND a burrito!

Oh, and you're giving her another cool birthday present too: a rapidly growing belly! Check it out!

Week 18

Subject seems to have developed a growth on her back.

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!

Nom nom nom...

So, here we are in Week 18, and your Mom is still pretty tiny! Considering you're the size of a sweet potato, one would think that she would be a bit bigger; but she has a naturally small frame, so we're not expecting her to get too huge.

But, it seems like ever since our appointment yesterday, your Mom has been on an eating tear. Check out her menu from yesterday:

Breakfast: Count Chocula
Lunch #1 (around 10:30): Lean Cuisine Pepperoni Pizza
apple sauce
orange

Lunch #2 (around 1:00): Wendy's Chicken nuggets and fries

Lunch #3 (around 4): Peanut Butter and Jelly

Dinner (at 7): Lasagna Bake
Dessert (at 8): Moolenium Crunch Ice Cream

Latenight Snack (at 10): Frosted Mini Wheats


She had more lunches than a Hobbit! Now, I pride myself on eating A LOT, but I couldn't keep up with her yesterday! So, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw some major belly growth in the next coming weeks!

But, from what I can tell, it doesn't seem that you two are starving for nutrients. According to the Bump, the average weight for an 18 week old fetus is 6.7 ounces...and as of Monday, they calculated that you weigh 9 ounces!

So both Mommy and Baby Boy have been chowing down! Nom nom nom!

Here Comes...the Son!

Your Mom, Aunt Shamsy and I just got back from your 18 week sonogram and it's 100% positive now: you are a boy!

They even took a nice picture of your "boy parts." Don't worry, I won't embarrass you by displaying this picture at your graduation or anything. But, I am gonna post it right here, right now:

See that arrow? See what it's pointing at? Now stopping looking at it, before you go blind!

Your appointment went perfectly: 8 fingers, 2 thumbs, 10 toes, 4 ventricles in your heart, 4 brain lobes, 1 tail. Everything was just as it should be!

You are a consistent little guy too: your heartbeat was, again, 150 bpm! Way to go!

But, you were sleeping with your hand draped across your face, so we couldn't get a good look at your profile! The nurse even tried to wake you up again by jostling you, but you wouldn't budge!

So, instead of a cute-as-a-button profile pic, we got a series of more "Skeleton Baby" pictures!

The good news is that you've really graduated from looking like an alien child and/or Predator. But, your skeleton REALLY makes you look like Jack the Pumpking King now (which is quite fitting for the upcoming Halloween!).

But, since you do now have a lot more subcutaneous fat, giving your face a little more shape and a little less skeletal appearance, you kind of also look like the ragdolls from "9."

So, you're clearly moving up on the cuteness scale! That's definitely a plus, but it's not like we had any doubts! Take a look for yourself...at yourself!

There you are, in all your glory! I think you're cute! It also looks like you have your mother's eye sockets! But, as we officially learned today, there's one trait for which you're definitely following in your father's biological footsteps!

Stepping Out With My Baby

On Wednesday night, you officially attended your second concert! But this one was at the Meyerson Symphony Center Downtown. Classy! Don't worry: your folks are classy ones. We'll be taking you (as a bump) to listen to symphonies and operas and all that culture. We won't force you (too much) to attend these type of events once you come out though. But who knows, you might like them!

But, the musical experience at the Meyerson on Wednesday was not of a Classical nature. We took you to see one of our favorite current artists play with the Dallas Symphony: Ben Folds!

We had a really great time at the concert, and he even played the song he wrote for his daughter: "Gracie." Even though you are a boy (we'll find out for sure on Monday!), this song still makes me excited for the feelings of fatherhood and has a lot of sweet lyrics that reflect how I feel already:

You nodded off in my arms watching TV
I won’t move you an inch
Even though my arm’s asleep
One day you’re gonna wanna go
I hope we taught
you everything You need to know

and of course, the opening lines are really sweet too:

You can’t fool me I saw you when you came out
You got your momma’s taste
But you got my mouth
You will always have a part of me
Nobody else is ever gonna see

Take a listen to the song, yourself! Just ignore all the "gracie" and "girl" parts and replace them with your unknown name and "boy!" (and ignore all the images of other people with their children, just like you ignore the pre-existing picture that comes with a picture frame)





Also, I heard a Ben Folds song I'd never heard before at this concert, which also reminded me of you! It's called "Lullabye," and who knows-- we may sing you to sleep with it some night :)






Of course, one of the best parts of the evening was getting to "dress up" the bump and show you off in a beautiful setting. Excuse the picture of the three of us...the usher who took the picture kinda made it blurry. Oh well!

But check out that bump out in public!! Some people call a night on the town "Stepping out with my baby." I was stepping out with my baby and our bump! You clean up pretty good, kid!

Bumps: Growing and Arriving on our Doorstep

It's very odd to consider you a 1/2, rather than a third. But, statistically, week 17 is just about half way for a normal pregnancy! Heck, that means you're 5 months old (in utero...and sorry none of this time counts towards birthdays...because the day you're born is your Zeroth birthday...sorry, Charlie (and no, that's not your name)). You've really come into your own, and while I hope you're getting comfy in your Mom's belly, you shouldn't get TOO comfy...after all, March is sooner than you think! It's already October! That means We've known about you for almost 4 months!

And, baby, you've come a long way already! We've been taking pictures of your growing bump for 10 weeks already! Take a look for yourself:

Weeks 8- 17

Fall is definitely your Mom's favorite time of year, and it seems that by the end of this Fall, we're definitely going to have a pumpkin on our hands!

So, the progress is remarkable, I know, but the arrival of yet another bump on our doorstep this week has made the growth of your bump seem slow. One minute I'm just sharing the bed with 2 dogs, your Mom and your growing bump; the next minute, I'm sharing the bed with 2 dogs, your Mom, your growing bump and this cushy monstrosity:

'C' is for " 'C' ya later, Aaron. There's no room in bed for you!"

That giant letter C is your Mom's body pillow! It finally arrived! And despite coming with worse instructions that a piece of IKEA furniture named "SKÄRPT," we figured it out and set your Mom up just right. And boy is she sleeping like a gem now!

Those are the instructions? Seriously? I'd have better luck putting together "KERPLOONKTER"

The only problem is that the pillow itself is the size of a large hobbit, which means I'm even more convinced that a King-Sized bed will be in our future! Seriously, this pillow looks like a speed bump in our bed, or some sort of small hobo under the covers.

But your future is about 4.5 more months of growing in your Mom's belly. For me, this means a lot more time with my favorite growing bump on the block! For your Mom, though, it means 4.5 months with her two favorite bumps: the body pillow and you!