these pictures sort of look like they were taken on my phone but they weren’t.
should you come to visit, the comfort of that ikea couch is yours for the taking.
We don’t have photos from Yo La Tengo or Ben Folds which both got much bigger reactions, but I saw Quintron right after the baby’s movements were easily identifiable as person-not-food. Back when I could stand at the front of an unruly, dancing crowd and breathe in fake fog unaffected and my ankles remained their normal size. If he ever asks, this was his first show; his ears were technically functional. I hope Quintron and Miss Pussycat are still touring when he’s old enough to enjoy the puppet show.
I doubt you’ve even been to this site since August. Actually, I doubt you’re even here reading this right now. However, we’re still here and the wich baby is getting bigger and bigger as the big day approaches. We’ve just hit the 33 weeks mark and we decided to celebrate the occasion by taking the baby to his first live music events, in utero. Monday, we saw Ben Folds in Bellingham, but left before the encore due to the thunderous piano pounding. Once the sound waves started rattling our adult bodies, we felt bad for wich baby, and decided to split. Last night, we had a late night in Seattle seeing Yo La Tengo. Hopefully for the baby’s sake, he’ll take this latter outing to heart because I can assure that he’ll be hearing a lot of it in the future without the buffer of mom’s belly.
As I type this, Stefanie sits next to me crocheting as we fly high over the country on our way to Oklahoma for a long weekend visit to my parents’. In an attempt to ease some of wichbaby mama’s flying anxiety, we settled in to watching a soothing episode of the relaxing TV show Breaking Bad.
I’ve been wracking my brain trying to think of what to eat once we land, but the old home turf is basically openly hostile toward vegetarians. Sometimes it seems like even the ketchup has beef broth in it. Luckily, once we make it to Durant in earnest, my mom will do a nice job of making sure we have enough to eat. Undoubtedly, this will require a trip to Super Wal-Mart, where I’m always amazed to find so many meatless foods. Maybe my parents call in favors when I visit and Wal-Mart workers wheel in a cart of Morningstar nuggets and Soyrizo. Of course, I guess it’s possible they might not..
p.s. I posted this as we taxied in!
Today, I finished the first present for wichbaby that has a definitively boyish feel to it. Though the picture suggests otherwise, it did not require tons of (or any) elastic:
I’m happy with it and judging by the amount of wiggling he did during the finishing process, he may feel similarly. Either that, or the sound of the sewing machine was freaking him out.
I’m hoping to find more kid-suitable fabric that straddles the line between overtly “masculine” and, like, classic Winnie the Pooh and settles firmly in the palatable zone. If this kid doesn’t like homemade stuff, he’s in for a lifetime of disappointment.
So the vast majority of you would undoubtedly scoff at the prospect of a 90-degree plus day in the middle of the summer. Of course, another considerable percentage of those folks would also probably be doing so from the comfort of air conditioned quarters while likely unpregnant. However, here in our household in the extreme northwestern U.S., we are all to varying degrees: 1) living in a house whose cooling equipment list features such favorites as “box fan” and “fridge” 2) not expecting such heat, even in the warmest of seasons and 3) ever-increasingly with child. Last week during the mercury’s high point, my mother’s phone voice let me know in no uncertain terms how dreadful summer pregnancy can be (my sister and I both baking in the summer belly). She suggested that I find an air conditioner locally, but I assured her that in a city whose temperature rarely rises above 80 (with a corresponding low inventory of window units), during this heat spell they’d long since been plundered. I also assured her that the heat would break soon, and that we’d be fine. She continued, asserting that I had no idea what it’s like. I couldn’t argue.
The next morning I awoke to my dad’s sweet drawl letting my voicemail know that “while he probably shouldn’t have” he had not only bought us an air conditioner, but also sent it NEXT DAY AIR FROM OKLAHOMA. When I told Stef the news we both spent a few minutes overwatering the garden in delighted shock. Over the course of 24 hours between the news and delivery of the new Frigidaire, if you’d been a fly on our walls, you would’ve heard “I can’t believe they bought us an air conditioner” punctuate nearly any conversation.
The newest addition to our family!
Now, with the unit in and efficiently keeping the living room below boiling, we’re able to once again join the land of the whole house living. I realize that while the gift was aimed at helping Stefanie find comfort in the summer heat, I’m also winning on several fronts. I not only get a nice cool house, but also a happier partner and future mom and a pleasant boost from generous parents who continually surprise me.
-Nathan
Filed under: ultrasounds
I’m pleased to report that during the ultrasound, he was extremely cooperative:
the ultrasound tech noted the roundness of his head. it was really, really round.
This is easily her best quality; a source of endless hilarity.
For those of you who who have pets and never anthropomorphize them, there’s a gold mine of entertainment that you’ve yet to tap. Our Stanley is the hissing, growling, teenager of our three cats. We imagine her being a totally boy-crazy, Twilight-obsessed teenager with braces and a spitty speaking voice, oozing with attitude. Seemingly out of step with this image of the impossible tween (and most cats I’ve ever known), Stanley is butt-crazy in love with Stefanie; dog-like in her devotion. She wants to sit next to Stefanie at all times, most often touching her at least with one foot as if to communicate to the rest of us, “She’s my mommy, stupids” (remember: braces voice!). When recently flipping through some photos from Valentine’s Day with Stef opening her new computer, we cracked up as we noticed several consecutive photos with Stanley just staring at Stefanie.
"You're sooooo pretty Mommy."
I’m convinced that since Stanley was never spayed, she’s just chosen Stefanie as her life partner. Unfortunately for Stan, it seems that she’s never gotten the hint that she’s part of the critter crew. So what does this mean for the future non-furry member of said crew? I’m worried. You can’t walk behind Stanley without her freaking out, hissing and trotting along in front of you just fast enough to be under foot, thus encouraging more hissing, etc. She bullies Esther, terrorizes Mamushka and can’t keep her raptor-like claws out of flesh or fabric. Once Stanley has a bonafide baby to contend with, the countdown to claws 1, baby 0 can’t be far behind. Furthermore, once the baby starts scooting around the cats’ stomping grounds, I can’t see how the greasers and socs can avoid a rumble. I foresee a year of Stan stalking the baby, taking cheap shots when she can, followed by a good couple of years of the baby getting his revenge via “accidental” tail and whisker pulls. Stefanie seems to be convinced that Stanley can behave herself. I hope she’s right.
-Nathan
Filed under: gratuity
today, the god of small favors said, “stefanie, have you noticed that your orange phillip lim dress has a very generously cut midsection?”
