Min dae!

Gorgeous as ever!

38 weeks...YIKES ! 

Most boys don't know how the whole "weeks" thing works (we just know its 9 months) but even I know that 38 weeks is pretty deep into the game. We are now 2 weeks from our due date and the excitement and fear continues to grow...as does Erin's belly. She is now at that stage where strangers smile and congratulate her and folks on the bus regularly offer her their seat (not the case on the Metro though where people are more than happy to watch an 8 month pregnant woman stand).

Not surprising is that she still looks incredible (does help if you looked incredible before the pregnancy began). And as we draw near to the end of the first part of this journey I consider myself rather fortunate: Not too many crazy cravings, not too much nausea and a wife who at 8 and half months is still coming to happy hours - despite not being able to drink!

VT girls showing off the baby

The last month and a half has also seen us attend three baby showers. How is it that this little girl is already spoiled so much and one set of grandparents haven't even been to visit yet? As the saying goes, "It takes a village"...Well we have one; it's just not your traditional village. The members of our village here in DC are pretty cosmopolitan and include folks from countries like Serbia, Germany, Lebanon, India, Botswana, Iran and New Jersey (its a whole different country over there!). And when you add in the support networks in Vermont and South Africa, you realize that this is one seriously well loved little girl. We have been simply blown away by the generosity of everyone. A massive thank you to all for the gifts and to the three hosts Barb, Barb and Sarah a special thanks from me for not making me play any crazy baby shower games.

Tonic asleep in the stroller

Having received all of this baby stuff, the next step has been to first assemble all of it and then figure out where to put everything. According to Babycenter.com, the worry that you do not have enough space is apparently something shared by all fathers (although a number of my friends say it doesn't stop once the kids stop being babies either). These are the times that I miss my big old house in SA. That said, not everyone is struggling with the new arrivals. The cats love the new baby stuff as they believe everything in this apartment belongs to them. So whether its the cradle, the gliding chair or the pram (Americans read "stroller"), the cats have been testing them all out as new places to sleep.

Thanks Terry - I need the guidance

During the great assembly phase I unearthed one of the great truths of fatherhood: all baby stuff require the use of D-sized batteries. I haven't used a D-sized battery for anything in years. I was shocked even to find that we had a few in our closet. Not surprisingly they weren't sufficient. I ended up having to make two trips to the local hardware store for D batteries within in one hour last weekend. Why cant they just use the normal AA batteries like EVERYTHING else in the world. I bet Fisher-Price and Duracell are in cahoots.

One other part of the deboxing/assembly phase involved us washing a ton of the baby gear that we had been given. Firstly let me say that there are a lot of insanely adorable baby clothes for girls. Good job baby clothes people, even me as a dad thinks this stuff is too cute for words. However, the laundry process left me feeling completely helpless now that the tags have been removed. I'm not sure I can tell the difference between a receiving blanket and a burping cloth. If Erin wasn't around, I'm convinced my child might end up wearing her onsesies back to front for most of her babyhood. 

Hurry up baby, the Nats need you!

Despite this type of nervousness of STILL feeling like I know nothing, I think we are ready for her to come say hi. It's a bit sobering knowing that our little bundle of happiness could arrive any day now...but then I'm reminded that it's almost football season and I was going to be on my couch chilling out anyway...now I'll just do it with a baby. Like everything about her, even her timing is perfect. 

Finally,since the last blog post we have come to learn that 6 other couples we know are having babies. Moreover, three of those couples were in Vegas with us for our joint bachelor/ette party and those folks are all having kids within a week of each other. Which raises the question: WHAT type of deals are girls making with each other at these bachelorette parties??? We are of course overjoyed that our little one will have a bunch of "cousins" here and in SA to go jolling with in her future. Let's just hope these kids of ours aren't as wild as their parents.

Hope this finds you well,
Much love,
aL

PS You can still make your pick as to when the little one is due to arrive...just click this link and make your pick http://babybookie.com/pools/1672-baby-girl-golding/bets/new

Is this blog post over yet?