Starting Fandom Early!

As a Pastor's Kid, the Bean is fairly accustomed to being in houses of worship. But this week was a real treat, as we went to one of Boston's most sacred sites.

And yes, we lost... giving up five runs in the first inning really hurt. But the Bean kicked and bounced and danced through nine whole innings, only very rarely giving Mommy a break. And if you listened very carefully through Mommy's belly button, you heard these tiny little cheers:

"Go 'Tek!"

"Yooooooouk!"

And even, in a surprise appearance, "Pa-pi! Pa-pi!"

It's okay, Poppy - just pretend the Bean was cheering for you! (We certainly were. I'm still over the moon. You rock.)

YAY!

Cat toys for Baby?

Okay, so one of our "how your baby is developing in utero" books said that at about this time, the baby would react to a light shining on Mommy's belly, and either roll away from it or punch at it.

But not so much. Tricks that work for cats do not, it seems, necessarily work for babies.

Tickling, on the other hand... now *that* gets a reaction!

Why we love our church

Among so very many other reasons, of course - we have made friendships there that will last for a very long time, I have no doubt.

But they do throw a good party, and they turn out in force for a baby shower! With unbelievable generosity, might I add. It was a wonderful day of hanging out with great people, eating yummy pot-luck food (church lady food! yay!) and playing a fun shower game at intervals during the present opening. Indeed, we are delighted to announce that we're renouncing Hepzibah and Obadiah for the names suggested during today's festivities. The list is a little longer now, but then, there were four categories.

So in about seven weeks, we hope to announce the birth of:
Paloma Buchakjian-Tweedy or Rainbow Crayon Buchakjian-Tweedy (winners of "most artistic name")
*or*
Lincoln Roosevelt Buchakjian-Tweedy or Barney Franken Buchakjian-Tweedy (winners of "most political name")
*or*
Danica Patrick Buchakjian-Tweedy or Rocky Buchakjian-Tweedy (winners of "most athletic name")
*or*
Queen Nefertiti Buchakjian-Tweedy or Nicholas Copernicus Buchakjian-Tweedy (winners of "most historical name")

Anyone care to help us whittle these eight down to a final two?

Another fascinating aspect of today's shower was our first-ever glimpse at a diaper cake. Given that we're planning on using mostly cloth diapers, we're figuring these should last us... well, quite a while. Or until the Bean sprouts too far.

Not just diapers, but washcloths, onesies, pants, a cup-bowl-bib set, and baby lotions and potions. And yes, each individual diaper, onesie, washcloth, and pant is individually tied.

Just to give some size perspective, here's Luna checking things out:

Wow.

Best Aunties Ever!! (second edition)

Today, we set up the nursery. Why, then is this a picture of the living room? Well, because up until now, the nursery has been our guest room, and the home of our futon. But the futon and the crib will not both fit, so a little rearranging was in order in the living room before anything else could happen.

Without the futon, the nursery seems so spacious!

Then the crib had to get cleaned off, hosed down, and allowed to dry in the sun before it could be brought inside and assembled.

And by "assembled", of course, I mean that the Red Sox mobile had to be installed.

Mommy in what will surely become a frequent hang-out: the rocking chair.

The rock-star Aunties, admiring a job well done...

...And maybe, just maybe, getting a little punchy.

Thank you, Jen and Sarah! We love you!

Recent Lessons Learned

Just a few things we've learned recently, as we await the birth of our Bean:

Lesson 1: The laundry may be smaller, but it takes twice as long to dry.

Lesson 2: Tom and Jerry, and other 60s cartoons in the same vein, were not all wrong. Pregnancy apparently inspires knitting, even during the hottest and most humid days of the summer so far. (the following is actually M.'s first-ever sweater. awesome, no?)

Lesson 3: Said hot-and-humid days inspire creative cooling off. Kiddie pools: not just for kiddies.

Lesson 4: The people who write instructions for putting strollers together are sadistic. Now we know where the folks who write the directions for Ikea are trained. The kind who create illustrations that are designed to make it so much harder than necessary to actually assemble the object at hand.

Lesson 5: Sometimes bears need baths, but they don't dry easily. Squeezing their ears does help, however.

Latest Glimpse

As of this past Friday, we know that we no longer have a schmoo, or King Tut, or a Bog Man. Hello, Baby!

The ultrasound tech kept trying to get a profile shot, but Bean was hamming it up, looking right into the "camera". There were occasional brief glimpses of the profile, as the Bean rolled all the way over, and then all the way back... just like Mommy.

On Friday, Bean was 3lbs, 6oz, and about 16 inches. About the 40th percentile, we understand, which made Mommy breathe a huuuuuuge sigh of relief.

But mostly, we loved the pudgy cheeks.

New Game

It started last night. The Bean was kicking, visibly, so I poked back... and got kicked. From there, the conversation went something like this:

Me: (walking two fingers along M.'s belly, right under the baby's feet) "Who's my wiggle worm? Wiggle wiggle wiggle!"

Bean: Kick. Kick kick.

Me: "Wiggle wiggle wiggle!"

Bean: Kick. Kick.

And so on.

Tonight, it was a similar game, played to Pete Seeger singing "I Know an Old Lady".

Mommy may not have swallowed a spider, but something is wriggling and jiggling and tickling inside her!