baby

Mother By Nature

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I think I experienced my first bit of parental panic today. Melissa and I were swimming in the ocean and she got taken out by a wave. In the moment I was all, “holy shit my kid!” while watching her wash towards shore. I rushed to her, in hopes of helping her up… and maybe helping her back to the beach. Then she stood up, laughing, and said, “at least my bikini stayed on.”

I was in awe. If you saw her, six months pregnant, rocking a bikini, and fearing no wave, you prolly would have been too. Not only was she unhurt, she was thoroughly amused by the whole thing. She didn’t wade past her knees after that, but she’d already owned that moment so it didn’t matter much. Suffice to say, we got both smiles and stares from our fellow ocean enthusiasts.

Don’t panic! She fell on her bum and the kid is still right-side-in like half a day later. I can’t make any promises that there won’t be some embelishment when we tell Small Fry the story in a few years. I have a feeling it’ll be way more harrowing… like zombie land sharks, or something. Regardless of the details, it will always feature a woman that will undoubtedly teach our child to take chances.

Small Fry’s Registry is Live!

We posted the link on our original announcement, but said it would be locked down until we could do a bit more work getting our ducks in a row. Two months later, we think it’s in a place where we can actually share it. I should mention we’re also using this as a list of things we want to purchase, so it may have some items that are kinda atypical for a registry. I actually have no idea what’s typical, ’cause you know, we’ve never done this before. Does it matter? Probably not. Anyway, here ya go…

http://derecola.com/tiny/registry

While I’m writing, I wanted to mention something I noticed when we were putting together a list. Melissa and I worked together (full disclosure: she did more than I did) to tackle all the items;  we had multiple choices for a diaper bag. I was looking through our choices one night and noticed this description for the one I liked the most:

The new updated Babyboo Signature bag comes with new features to comply the needs of any mom. The easy-use magnets on the pockets allow easy open and close. The bag comes with a total of 6 easy-access pockets inside. The material is made pure canvas leather to insure durability and comfort. Finally the design is simple and stylish, being a mom doesn’t mean one should be out of style. NEVER GO OUT OF STYLE – being a mom doesn’t mean you should not be stylish. At Babyboo we want our moms to look great while they nurture their babies. It comes with a clean design perfect for traveling and outing.

I know moms make a majority of the purchases and I support any mom’s right to do whatever makes them happy. What I’m not a superfan of is doing so in a way to seems, to me, that you’re assuming dads aren’t carrying the bag. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I’d prefer products be marketed to parents of any gender ’cause chances are we’ll both be using it. In case you’re wondering, we didn’t pick that one. We are getting more signs that we support dads choosing family (I get six weeks paternity), so all is not lost.

Also, this happened today. Strange days…20160521_125217

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21 Weeks

532016_13 Good news – Small Fry appears to be a human being and not some parasitic alien species. We confirmed at our 20-week ultrasound (taken at 21 weeks) that everything is going swimmingly in there. Apparently SF measures a gestational age of roughly 22 weeks, but the docs tell us that does mean a whole lot. We’re still on target for a 9/13 date… although I’m convinced we’re gonna welcome him/her a good five(ish) days early. Other than that, we really don’t have much to share. Melissa is now showing, although she’s way tiny compared to her self-perception. We bought a new family car, does that count as news?