Here's the finishing touch on Hank's room. He requested a fox, and I finally got it painted today.
Love it. :)
Thursday, April 21, 2011
the fox!
Ready for the baby to come ANY MINUTE....
Whew, I made it through my last court appearance yesterday. It was pretty funny, though, and I thought I should write it down as a reminder. The family law community is pretty tight here in the East Bay, so the court staff knows me and the judge always remembers me, so when I walked in, the staff took one look at me and the court attendant got very serious with me and said, "so, where are you planning to deliver? because if you need to go, you just let me know and we'll get some of the deputies to drive you over there!" And the clerk went white and said, "I'm really not prepared for babies to be born in this court room!". One of them must have run back to warn the judge, because when she came out to take the bench, before she sat down she looked at me very sternly and said, "counsel, I just want to be sure that you are aware that this courtroom has very strict rules about NO CHILDREN in the courtroom at ANY TIME." Everyone had a good laugh, and when the hearing was over there was much well-wishing, and see you when the baby is out kind of stuff. It was a really nice way to wrap up my work commitments, seeing as I'm a solo and don't have any "coworkers" to give me crap about taking a leave.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Testing out the Bouncy Chair
Hank has been remarkably helpful in the last couple of weeks with respect to getting things ready for the baby. He's helped with testing out the baby equipment, sorting the baby clothes (which he has also insisted on trying on), and painting his room (which he will be sharing with the baby). The painting project was pretty huge -- he picked the wall color himself, and told me what he wanted to see on the walls. When it was done he was so happy, exclaiming, "I like it!! I like it!!" over and over again, and, "The baby will like it too!!"
Hank has actually been pretty good about the baby coming. He asks me every now and then if the baby is ready to come out. He also likes to tell me that there is a baby in his tummy, too, and that he is just going to "push and push and push and it will come out!" (and then he lifts his shirt and pushes his hands against his belly three or four times, throws his hands up in the air, and exclaims, "the baby is out!!"). He has suggested a couple of names: 'Zoom', and 'Trouble'. Trouble! I love it. (well, maybe for a middle name).
Exploratorium
We hit the Exploratorium a few weeks ago -- it is amazing to see a three year old exploring all the experiments.
Trip to Rock City, Mt Diablo
On the way down the mountain from the snow trip, we stopped at Rock City, a place I had never taken Hank to. Oh he loved it! the climbing, the jumping, the holes!! Definitely keeping this place on the List Of Things To Do.
Snow on Mt Diablo!
We had some unusually cold weather this spring, including snow on Mt. Diablo. I took Hank up there to see what it was like, and we had a lot of fun! I wasn't sure he would be into it, as he's historically had a hatred of snow, but he surprised me and really had a good time.
Big Sur
We took a weekend trip to Big Sur in March. It was lovely to be there again, but I couldn't help comparing and contrasting how things were the last time we had been there with the way things are right now. We were in the aftermath of that sucky miscarriage and this time here I was all pregnant and stuff. Life really can take turns, and things can change so much from year to year. We hiked along the same river we always hike along, to the same beach we always hike to. Last time we did that hike, as we were gathering ourselves to hike back to the trailhead, a hugely pregnant woman appeared on the beach, making me feel like I couldn't begin the return hike quickly enough. The river we hiked along reminded me so much of the mizuko jizo ceremony we had participated in, and mediated on the concept of life flowing in and out like tides. This visit I felt the same meditation as we hiked along the river, but this time I was the pregnant woman arriving on the beach. I still wasn't feeling 100% confident at that time, but I was finally starting to relax into things a bit, and my mood gave the weekend a calm contemplative vibe, and it was really very nice.
1st Day of Preschool!
Another fun thing we did recently, was start preschool! Hank has taken to it really well, and looks forward to going on his preschool days.
First Time Playing Mini Golf
One of the greatest things about having kids is getting to experience all sorts of things as though it were the first time I was experiencing it. Taking Hank minigolfing was no exception - it was a complete delight! He didn't really get the hang of using the club to hit the ball, but he really enjoyed "helping" everyone get their balls in the holes. He just loved it so much. We haven't been again, yet, but we definitely will go again (and probably again and again and again). The experience was similar to the first time he went bowling. I think that was about a year ago. Seeing him experience things for the first time is just so much fun, it makes me feel a sense of joy and satisfaction so incredibly deep. I hope that parenting always brings this sense of joy and fun to me. If it does, then I am truly lucky in life.
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