Abuelitas Gone Wild

Well, this past week we had a visit from the abuelitas.  Both Kit and Margaret came at the same time (on the same flight, wearing the same color shirt and pants even!), and they each brought two suitcases and big carry-on bags.  We had asked each of them to bring a few things, but nothing that we thought would require too much space.  Of course what we asked for had only the slightest relationship to what all came down...

Yup, this is what abuelitas gone wild looks like.  I suppose that given the fact that my dog gained something in the realm of 10-15 pounds in only 5 months with my mother the slightly grandiose tendencies of my mother could have been predicted, but combine she and Margaret together and it looked like the 0-3 section of Babies-R-Us had decided to set up a branch in Barranquilla.  Given that none of these items includes booties, little sweaters, socks, or any stitch of extra clothing for warmth, the sheer magnitude of items is all the more impressive.  And who would have thunk that a baby bouncer chair could fit in a suitcase?  Or that my mother-in-law and my mother would have brought down virtually the same one...?

Who knew this could all fit in a suitcase? from Richard Williams on Vimeo.

We are very grateful for such great gifts and such great grandmothers.  We look forward to when they come back in September/October to get to know Peanut and help him/her try on all these cool clothes.  And we know they'll be back because, well, the shirt says it all!

Barriga Benefits

In Colombia one's belly is called your "barriga" (bah-REE-gah).  Some days I get asked how the baby is doing (a question I rarely know how to answer), but other days I just get comments on how my barriga is growing.  There still isn't a lot to look at.  I continue to wait for the day in which it will "pop" because most folks do not believe that I am five and a half months pregnant right now.  I keep assuring them that the sonogram has clearly shown two arms, two legs, a head - generally all the right parts - but they still look at me a little sideways and wonder whether I really know how to count.

However, I definitely do have a slightly more noticeable belly than before (though one that many in the States would still fear to take note of on the off-chance I am not actually pregnant), and having that belly clearly has its benefits.  Here, with no trouble at all, I can skip metal detectors (at the airport for instance) with one word "embarazada" (em-bar-ah-SAH-dah - or pregnant).  Two days ago in Bogotá I needed to use the restroom in a bookstore that has staff-only bathrooms.  However after asking a clerk and motioning ever so slightly to the barriga, I got a quick nod as she scurried off for the key.  If I am tired, I get an automatic get-out-of-whatever-free card, and if there is an extra serving of just about anything then it is offered to me first (like it...or not...).

Though nothing to shout about, we will now offer you what you have been clambering for...belly shots. 

From Collages

Happy now?  :)

What's in a Name?

This naming stuff is hard.  In Genesis 2 God brings "every animal of the field and every bird of the air...to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living thing, that was its name."  I don't know how Adam managed it.  Perhaps getting to name a blue million creatures makes it easier because you can basically choose every name you could ever want and still have things like a blobfish or a star-nosed mole left to just sucker punch.  Regardless, the power of naming something is significant.  You have to think about middle school, initials, possible disturbing rhymes, etc.  And, of course, it is just the start of the big decisions to be made in the upcoming years. 

Richard and I have an extra trick with Peanut because we want to find a name that will work well in both English and Spanish.  I am not a fan of "translated names."  To me, your name is your name, so if it is Santiago then I want to call you that and not James.  It is why Richard is called Richard here (okay...Reeeeechar) rather than Ricardo, and why Mamie is just Mamie.  But Mamie is not simple (anywhere, I know), and I certainly deal with my fair share of "Mommy-ay," so we want to find names we like but that also come out of Texas, North Carolina, Illinois, and Colombian mouths fairly well.  No small task. 

So, we are always up for suggestions.  Just remember, we haven't got quite as many chances as Adam did to work this out...

(For some fun you can go to the Social Security Administration website to check out how popular your name is in any given year or the most popular names in particular years.)

The Better to See You with my Dear...

For Richard's birthday we gave him an ultrasound so that that Peanut could send greetings on Papi's special day.  We went to a different place than we have gone before, and it turned out to be a 3D sonogram - and we didn't even have to wear the glasses!  Dang but those things are amazing.  We could count fingers and toes, see eyes, ears, nose, all sorts of stuff  (though we tried very hard not to see some stuff as we are waiting to find out whether Peanut is a boy or a girl until her/his birthday.  I figure, gotta have some reason to keep pushing...).  

It is not common here to wait to find out the sex of your child.  Not only do folks here ask us all the time, the doctor himself could not believe we didn't want to know.  He would stop the Doppler wand in places he seemed to think very telling, but I think we did a mix of not looking and of not actually knowing what was going on.  It turns out that even with clear pictures it is not always evident what you are looking at if you are not trained to see it.  Still, he had to have asked us minimally 5 times if we were sure we wanted to wait to find out, and of course he was kind enough to add how very strange it was that we didn't want to know.  Thanks...  

Given the nature of the Spanish language, it is also challenging to keep the secret because all adjectives have a male and female form.  If the baby is "pretty" it is either "lind-O" for a boy or "lind-A" for a girl.  If fat, "gord-O" or "gord-A."  To complicate things at least a bit (which is helpful if you don't want the big answer), the word for baby is "el bebé" - masculine - so that even if you have a girl the doctor might say you have "un bebé muy activ-O."  I must say that with all those factors working against us, we will not be surprised if someone spills the beans ahead of time, but we are doing our best to not know.

Below are some shots/videos for your viewing pleasure.  Remember, if you feel like you have figured out, we still don't want to know.  :)  

A 3D Peanut at 21 Weeks from Richard Williams on Vimeo.

At week 21 (we think), it looks like Peanut is doing just fine - good spinal column, good cerebral blood flow, very tumbly.  Also already showing us that Dad's traits are strong because after a little while s/he started hiding from the photos.  "Enough of the paparazzi people!"  

(In case you can't tell, Peanut's head is facing left with a hand over the eyes toward the top/middle of the photo.)

So while at the end of our appointment we saw a lot of Peanut's ears, I must say, they are some good looking ears...

Kickin' It in Rio

Yeah, so Rio de Janeiro is WAY cool.  You should totally plan to go there after you visit us.  :)  

Peanut must have also been impressed because the kicking started there, and it ain't never turning back.  It is nothing quite so strong as the picture on our earlier post (which I quite frankly can't decide is real or not), but I have officially seen my shirt move and Peanut even bumped our little computer up and down a few minutes ago.  Wild.  I am not sure this experience reduces the sense of alien being inhabiting your body, but we are just hoping the nutter is more friendly than any movie counterparts.  

We also know that Peanut's ears are now supposed to be in the right place (thank goodness, they were moving for weeks), and the eyes are able to distinguish light from dark.  Dra. Lily (regular doc, not OB) told us that we are supposed to shine a light on my belly through a colored cloth and tell Peanut what color it is.  Thus, not so regularly, we press my shirt on my belly and say, "Esta es ROJA Peanut"  (This is RED Peanut) and proceed to name all the things we encounter regularly that are red.  This is more challenging with purple once you get past eggplants and the color Mama Kit mistakenly died her hair one Easter, so feel free to add your suggestions.  

At any rate, in Rio, on the top of Corcovado (where the big Christ statue is, see above) we decided that if we could tell Peanut what color something was, we could show Peanut what Rio was too...so we have included a small video for your viewing...giggles.  :)

Peanut and Rio from Richard Williams on Vimeo.

PS.  It should be noted that Dra Lily also gave us an actual prescription (written on her prescription pad) to have Peanut listen to Christian music for an hour every day.  We have potentially broadened the definition of Christian music she had in mind, but I don't think Shakira will mind.