The sneak peek!

Tuesday we got to go get our ultrasound; it was very thorough, and hence very fun. Still, it seems like the sonographers make up what they see on the screen. Like, how do they know that that black circle is the stomach?

Good news: Everything looks healthy! We saw the heart pumping away at 140 bpm, the defined four chambers, the beautiful spine, the brain... What a miracle!

Fun news: According to the baby's current size, the due date got moved up nearly six days! Still, the first date is probably the most accurate, they say; but if so, then the baby is a pretty big little bambino. Yes. Big and little all at the same time.

Annoying news: We still won't tell you what brand of baby Bethany is growing. Because we still don't know either. (But we have a hunch...) It is definitely weird to know that a random technician knows more about our baby than we do; but we still are glad we closed our eyes and turned our heads during the between-the-legs part of the ultrasound. Four more months. "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..."

At the end, our sonographer asked if we wanted a few pictures. Of course. So she handed us two rolls! Here are three of the clearest shots. Enjoy!

And we welcome theories of whether Il Bambino is a boy or a girl--they say you can tell a lot by that foot shape and nose profile. Ha.


The cute little button nose.


The wee foot.


And a thumbs-up! The 21-week-old does it even better than Luke does. "Hi Mom! Hi Dad! Everything's okay in here!"

We were so happy after the ultrasound that we treated ourselves to See's candy and then went out to lunch. There's nothing quite like See's.

It became so real that there really is a baby in there, and our time as a family of three is very, very short. Four months is not long! Especially when you have a toddler to keep you ever busy and constantly entertained.

Speaking of which, here's a conversation from Tuesday night:

Richie: Luke, Lilo is going to cut Dada's hair. Do you want him to cut your hair, too?

Luke: NO!

Richie: Do you want Dada to cut your hair?'

Luke: NO! Papa!

Richie: You want Papa to cut your hair?

(silence, while Luke looked deep in thought)

Luke: No. Pop Pop!

Richie (laughing): You want POP-POP to cut your hair?

Luke: YEAH!

(Apparently, great-grandpas give the best haircuts of all.)


Another toddler story: Last night, Bethany tried to cook dinner before Richie got home. This does not happen often. It is usually very much a joint effort. She soon realized why. She was just trying to make a box of already-seasoned rice pilaf, cauliflower, and tofu (don't make fun of the meal, please; we are playing it cheap and these are the only dinner ingredients we had in the house), but Luke went wild. Here is a sampling of how he kept himself occupied:

- Tugged his yo-yo around the house and practiced dipping the string in the toilet.

- Flossed his teeth with a piece of floss he found in the garbage.

- Played with his train set and tried to drive his semi on the train set, too. The train set got destroyed.

- Took books off the bookshelves and strew them about. Then stood on them like they were skateboards and tried to slide along the linoleum.

- One by one, took pictures off the refrigerator, removed the tape from the backs, and methodically inserted each picture underneath the refrigerator.

- Begged for Mom's spatula. He banged it on the floor, he got a pot out and walloped the pot, and then the spatula disappeared. Later, Mom needed her spatula. She asked Luke where her "metal tool" was, and he walked right to a random kitchen drawer, opened it up, and pointed. There it was.

- Pulled down his toy basket. Strew rubber snakes around the living room. One went under the couch, one under a pillow, two under the desk, one hidden in a drawer. (He has a knack for hiding things. The other day we couldn't find his yellow Croc anywhere. We searched our 500 square feet through and through, and finally found it in the storage compartment of Richie's "bus" he had as a kid, along with a rotting apple core and a sippy cup. Such precious possessions must be stored in the most secure of places.)

And this is just a sampling of how our little toddler occupies himself. (If he's in the self-occupying sort of mood, and not in his usual clinging-at-the-legs-needing-constant-attention sort of mood.)

Last story, lest we bore you: This morning, Bethany and Luke drove into Orchard Park after doing some errands. Luke saw Timothy's apartment, of course, and shouted out, "Tatum!" (This will be hard when Timothy moves! Their apartment window is right above our parking spot.)

Bethany then asked: "Do you want to play with Tatum?"

Luke: "Yeah. Ma-mow!" (mower)

Bethany: "Will you share your mower with Timothy? Will you take turns?"

Luke: "No da dum." (no, thank you)

Bethany: "Oh dear. You want to be greedy?"

Luke: "Yeah!"

Confessing his not-so-good sides. At the ripe age of 1.


And so you now have proof of why the next four months will fly by quickly. There are lots of rubber snakes to pick up.