And Then Some

Two. Hundred?! Posts.

So this is what it feels like to be prolific. And it just snuck right up on me.

But here I am, writing #201 - which just happens to be a lovely shower of Code Yellow brainfall...

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We're on the third of four weeks of community center swim lessons for the boys. Calvin "went under" for the first time today, and was thrilled to find it wasn't as scary as he anticipated. "I just closed my eyes and my mouth and jumped in, and I didn't even know I went under!"

Henry, of course, has spent all of his lessons so far launching off the pool side every time his teacher sets him there and turns to the other little boy in the class. He sputters and giggles and pretty much accomplished the goal of the class for his age group before it even began: overcoming fear of the water.

I have one watcher and one jumper. Never ceases to amaze me how differently two children from the same gene pool approach things.

Meanwhile, I am also wondering if it's possible to do the breaststroke in utero. I feel more convinced of the possibility with every passing day, as I feel simultaneous kicks / pushes in two different areas at the same time. It's not so bad when he tries it sideways, but when he's positioned up and down - yeeeeOOUUUCHHHH! on the ribs. And other things.

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We've painted our bedroom and put it back together. Got some bedside lamps this weekend and they are one of those simple things that makes the place feel a little less "still-trying-to-grow -out-of-the-dorm-room" and a little more "real-grownup-home." They please me.

We also painted the boys' bedroom and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of bunk beds. Calvin has wanted them for over a year now and we've delayed their advent until we're reasonably sure a broken collarbone won't happen. We're actually not reasonably sure yet, but in the interest of freeing the crib and settling the boys into their room before the brother baby's arrival, bunk beds - and with them, quintessential childhood - are on their way. I'm excited to see their room pulled together and situated.

Next up is the spare room, and then the fairly large closet that we are going to convert into a nursery. Hopefully this next week or two will see it mostly complete. It's been a long time coming, but there is nothing like paint and a little furniture rearranging to make things feel fresh and new. I need fresh and new.

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This week we also have a "4D" ultrasound. At my regular 20 week ultrasound, the office where it was done offered a complimentary 4D - one of the ones that look like photos instead of inkblots and sketchy skeletons...so we get it for free at an actual medical imaging place instead of at one of the newly cropping up everywhere sonogram "studios" around here, where they charge boocoo bucks for a preemptive photo of your baby.

To tell you the truth, I'm a little creeped out by the idea. I mean, I already feel a little like I've peeked at the present early by finding out it's a boy, so it's a little crazy to think about how he actually looks in utero. I feel like I'm really invading the little guy's privacy or something. And I've also had more sonograms this pregnancy than I ever would care to have again.

But the topper was a conversation not too long ago at a church activity in which a lady was talking rather spookily, if you ask me, about how in her culture it is "the kiss of death" to find out boy or girl beforehand or to buy anything for the baby until it is delivered safe and sound. I don't have those kinds of superstitions, really, but being pregnant and all, I'm more inclined to get nutty about all that.

On the other hand, the 4D things I've seen before are pure fascination and totally awe-inspiring, and hey, it's free, so cool. Let's go for it. Calvin has been crazy curious about the baby, so we are taking him along for this one. I think that will actually be the greatest part of it - to see his little gears turn and hear what he has to say about it.

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In terms of the family expectation of the baby, Calvin has been talking about all the things he is going to teach his new tiny brother, "Because he won't know how to talk, he won't know how to eat anything but milk, he won't be able to walk or even crawl..." This topic comes up at least once a day, with something new that the baby won't be able to do, and Calvin assuring us that he is going to teach him.

Yesterday, we got Henry's understanding of the baby's initial helplessness, as he has interpreted it from all the things Cal says the baby won't be able to do: "He not gonna have any legs...And he not gonna have any feet...And he not gonna have a mouf...And he not gonna have a face..."

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We're looking forward to spring and beyond now. The winter hasn't been harsh here, but it still seems like a long time of bleary stagnation this year.

But now we have visitors coming and my favorite Cherry Blossom / Kite Festival in a couple weeks, Calvin is going to start soccer on Saturdays, I get to go to NYC with David for a weekend in April, a baby is on the way, Henry is on the verge of potty training, and we'll also be waiting to hear in the next couple months about an overseas assignment for next year.

Not to mention a little trip to the beach again, then school in the late summer / early fall for almost everyone in the family - the boys at a little preschool with their cousin Lily, and Dad in language training.

I myself have almost completely gotten my head around going back for the last year of my Master's degree. I'm just trying to gauge at this point whether it will overwhelm me or actually be a sanity-saver postpartum. Saving my sanity is actually quite possible, if I know me with a newborn. The whole reason that it's a consideration amidst everything else right now is that it's the last year I can go back without losing the (expensive) credits I've already earned, but it's tricky timing, so I'm still working it out. And yet it is something to anticipate and plan, so it's good for me.

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I'm getting a little spring in my step (if that's possible with sciatica and general tired butt), and I am loving the clear blue skies, my funny little boys, and all the expectations in life right now.

So, happy spring to you, too!