As I've said before, pregnancy is boring. Aside from the biweekly doctor's visits, we don't have much to report. Kristina continues to grow--and be constantly tired and uncomfortable. The baby's room is coming along nicely, however. We've got a crib, a glider chair, a changing table, some wall hangings, and a slowly growing collection of clothes, blankets, and diapers. Kristina and I have settled into a nice routine in the evenings. We take a leisurely walk around the neighborhood at dusk, do the dishes, make dinner, watch House or Law and Order reruns and fall asleep. I know that these quiet moments will become few and far between, so I cherish them now.
Another week, another new set of words to learn. This week Kristina will teach us "ouch," "help" and "change." I realize that "ouch" is straight out of E.T. It will take everything I have to not say "Elliot" and giggle every time the baby makes the sign to tell me he or she is in pain. I can also admit that the sign for "change" cracks me up for some reason. Anybody able to tell me why that sign is hilarious?
Kristina had a doctor's appointment this week. These bi-weekly appointments have become anti-climatic. She goes in, pees in a cup, gets weighed and, unless she has questions, leaves. 15 minutes tops. We did find out that the baby's head is currently down and his or her booty is pressing up against Kristina's lungs/liver on her right side and causing great pain. On the positive side, the pain will only get worse. Other than that, no news is good news.
As we've gone through the pregnancy process, Kristina and I have researched many different ways to make Nemo's life easier. One such way that we became very excited about is baby sign language. All the research indicates that it will help our baby express his or her needs long before speaking.
However, for this to work, we need your help. With that in mind, we have decided to include video examples of different signs in each week's blog update. We'd ask that you study these and, when Nemo comes to your house, you use them. In theory by the time he or she is 6 months old, the baby will have incorporated the signs and be able to communicate with you.
This week's signs are "more," "eat" and "milk." I realize that "eat" and "milk" are one in the same for several months, but someday they might mean different things. Enjoy!
Some of you may remember training to be a lifeguard. When you are taught first aid, you learn that there is an artery in the upper leg that can help slow the bleeding to a wound in the leg. In lifeguard training you press on this artery of your partner and they do the same on you. I pressed on Lindsey Robinson's leg and she told me to press as hard as possible until her toes lost feeling. It took about 45 seconds.
When Kristina is seated and leans forward even slightly to eat or grab something off a table, her stomach presses against the artery in her legs and can cause her toes to lose feeling.
We traveled to San Francisco over the weekend and had a great time with my brother, his girlfriend and Auntie Sara's boyfriend. We had a wonderful time in the City--Brooke turned 21, we slept well for the first time in 4 months, hugged giant Sequoia and Redwood trees, had a great Easter Sunday, and finally came home on Monday. The pictures below are from our trip.
Today Kristina went to a book signing with Kate Gosslin from the TLC show "Jon and Kate Plus 8." It is a reality show that follows the children--a set of twins and a set of sextuplets--of Jon and Kate. She watches it with a maniac's regularity and has also read her book. Anyway, the bookstore was craziness--I thought Obama was in the house.
Hope all is well with you and we love your continued support and love. More next week.
A much more eventful week to share with you. Kristina and I had our first baby shower with the teachers from Cathedral on Friday, we bought Nemo's first Renaissance Faire costume on Saturday, and, on Monday, Kristina had an appointment with her doctor.
First the baby shower. A lady I teach with is pregnant and is thrilled to have a "belly buddy" in Kristina, so she hosted a party for us at Cathedral. It was so humbling to see so many coworkers go out of their way to support us. They were so generous and thoughtful with their gifts that I was quite overwhelmed. The guy who took pictures for us at our wedding also took pictures at the shower and the picture above is from him. If you want to see more, you can gohere. You may have to refresh the page a couple of times.
For many years, Kristina has gone to the Renaissance Faire and her interest has grabbed me. She likes the costumes, the irreverent humor, and the people watching. So we went Saturday and had a great time. People had many humorous comments about my pregnant wife, all of which were made in good fun. But the real highlight was the costume we bought for Nemo. At next year's Faire, Nemo will be 10 months old, so we had to project his or her size and find a costume that we thought
would work. Very cute, but who knows how quickly he or she will outgrow it.
This morning Kristina went to her doctor's office for a quick check up. Really it was mostly business--questions about inducing and cesarian sections, when to stop working and the like. I guess the most important thing to report is that all is well. The baby is the right size, right weight and the doctor even kidded with her about Nemo's sex during the ultrasound.
So, enjoy the pictures and thank you for the continued support and love.
It was a pretty quiet week. No doctor's appointments or surprising body changes. We have our first baby shower this Friday with the teacher's from Cathedral. They are a pretty amusing group, so it should be a good time.
But, we already need a babysitter for two nights. The first night is September 24th, because the Beastie Boys are playing at the Hollywood Bowl--can't wait to "Ch-Check It Out." The second night is October 25th, because U2 is playing at the Rose Bowl--it will be a "Beautiful Day."
Perhaps the thing that got me the most excited about Nemo this week was the release of the "Where the Wild Things Are" movie trailer. I remember the book so well. It helped me understand the power of imagination as well as the fact that even when my parents punish me, they still love me. I envisioned myself as the story's protagonist, Max, and I could travel to distant places without leaving my room.
That's why, when my brother and friend each sent me a copy of the movie trailer, I was so happy that I cried. I had visions of reading the book to my child and taking Nemo to his or her first movie when it comes out in October.
When I was in Denver last weekend my parents and I decided to rummage through our old baby stuff and the first book I laid hands on, without being able to see it in the box on a high shelf, was "Where the Wild Things Are." Of course I brought it back to our apartment and placed it in a prominent place in Nemo's room. Below is the preview to for this movie--every time I watch it I feel like a kid again.
