Sunday, February 28, 2010

More photos

Y'all seem to like pictures, so here, have a few more! (It had been a while since we took photos, but having friends over this weekend certainly remedied that problem.)



Time flies, belly grows

Here's a quick comparison of belly sideviews from a couple of weeks ago (in the rainbow sweater) and from this past weekend (does it remind anyone else of the blueberry girl from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory? -- in a good way!). I'm up 19 pounds, with more to go in the next month and a half or so.



Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Rrrrrregistry

No, it's not pirates. It's aggravation.

For us, making the baby registry has been difficult. Somehow, listening to Metallica makes it much easier to shop for onesies.

EDIT:  People have been asking about top priorities (ie., what do we actually need to get before the baby is born), so here are a few of the top things we'll want to have on hand before Hunahpu arrives.

~ co-sleeper (Baby Delight Deluxe Snuggle Nest)
~ stroller (Baby Trend Expedition Travel System Stroller - Stride)
~ nursing pillow (Boppy Bare Naked Pillow; Boppy Protective Cover; and Boppy Slipcover)
~ sling carrier (Moby Wrap Baby Carrier - Pacific) @ Amazon
~ carrier (BabyBjorn Baby Carrier Original - City Black)

Exciting!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Our First Donation!

Hugs thanks to Nathan & Beth for giving us two big bags of baby clothes, and to Belina for transportation!

Going through these clothes is fun for so many reasons.

I get to hear Lynn experience many changes in vocal pitch as she discovers new treasures, some of which induce cute little moans or mock fashion shows. Keep in mind, this is newborn clothing. Too small for this lady.

We're also discovering that we really like bright colors like orange in addition to the simple whites and greens that we already gravitate towards.

Any clothing with polka dots or stripes automatically gets bonus points, especially if it includes green.

Did you realize how cute tiny clothing can be, no matter its esthetic appeal? This stuff is so small! Miniscule! And they mark it not by pounds or inches but by the number of months. Starting at 0.

In conclusion: little onesies with stripes are awesome.

. . . and dancing parents too

We've been keeping up with our weekly dancing (mostly historic social dance from across the centuries), and so far I'm not sure if or when I'll decide to stop. I hasn't gotten uncomfortable yet, so I'm going to keep it up until then. I'm often tired on Monday evenings, but as soon as the music starts I get a huge energy boost and don't want to stop two hours later. This week we did some new Regency footwork, a 6-person Scotch Reel set dance, racket, polka redowa and polka mazurka, rotary waltz, cross-step waltz, and schottische. What fun!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Dancing Hunahpu

This baby likes to dance! We spent the morning lying in bed watching parts of my belly undulate and protrude very visibly. This is way too entertaining. Max jokingly chanted the counts for some of the dances we do ("slide, cut, hop -- slide, cut, leap!"). The little one has rhythm.

Currently the head is down, the rump is butting up against my right side, and the legs and feet are kicking my left side. There's still enough wiggle room for this orientation to change, but I'm really hoping the head stays down for the rest of the pregnancy. Brains are heavy, right?

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Skysocks and Footstars

We've been practicing ASL (American Sign Language), particularly signs that might be useful with babies and toddlers, because of the potential communication benefits (imagine having a kid able to sign "more" "diaper" or "milk" before he or she can communicate as much with spoken words). Plus, it's fun! I studied ASL a while ago, and Max has been picking it up quickly with a book on baby sign language and with an iPhone application that has a video dictionary. We've been trying to use signs in our regular conversations with each other, integrating new signs as we learn them. The latest humorous result was when Max learned the sign for "socks," leading me to proclaim "foot stars!?" because the sign for socks looks quite a bit like a downward-pointing version of the sign for "stars." We now refer to socks as "footstars," and to stars as "skysocks." :)

Friday, February 5, 2010

Dad Tip

Pregnant women have lots of extra hormones during pregnancy. Watch out for those hormones, they can be a doozy!

The Terrible Tips

Your Pregnancy week by week is a popular pregnancy book, and seems on its face to be a useful resource.

It is not.

The book is poorly organized, often telling you about preparations after you are supposed to perform them in the timeline.

But the worst part is the Dad Tips. I will not publish them here, in attempts to maintain your sanity, but will instead contribute some of my own, inspired by this book and other horrendous advice we've seen.
My partner is the AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
<3

Edit: This note was written while I overheard Max navigating the formidable and totally opaque bureaucracy of our health plan, with its many many phone transfers, dead ends, and vague answers. I love listening to his polite, tactful, friendly but totally-not-taking-any-crap phone manner. He is quite effective, and I love his willingness to persevere.

We're going to have a doula whether the health insurance will reimburse us or not, but it feels good to advocate for this kind of coverage. (Not to mention pushing them to consider covering home births and birthing centers in the future, which are not currently an option . . . don't get me started on that.) Studies have shown that the presence of a doula, or professional labor support person, correlate with lower instances of costly medical interventions, so perhaps the economic rationale might appeal to the insurance provider?

Thursday, February 4, 2010

30 weeks

How can it be that we're already three-quarters of the way through the expected length of this pregnancy? Time has passed so quickly! Here are some more recent views. My navel is almost completely flat, and I'm expecting it to pop out any week now.