Well, it looks as though we have missed a week of updating the blog, so I guess this one should be twice as interesting. But the good news is that no news is most of the time good news. The past couple of weeks have been smooth. No major set backs but no major elations either. Leslie is feeling very well, and the baby is doing well too. Her checkup went as well as could be expected, and we now wait for the greatly anticipated twenty week checkup (a week and a half away) in order to find out which sports the baby will play when they get older. I mean which colors to start decorating the baby's room. All kidding aside, Leslie and I really go back and forth deciding whether we want a boy or girl, and frankly, we don't really care which one it is. Grant it that once we know we will be able to pick a name and decorate the room and talk about the baby like it's a real person with a real gender, but until then we will just have to settle for gender ambiguous references and produce comparisons to keep everyone connected to this new life. (Btw, He/she is the size of a bell pepper this week, in case you were wondering,)
Other than developing a slight back ache throughout the course of the day, Leslie's first Mother's Day was very pleasant. Buying her first real Mother's Day present was just as exciting, if not more so, for me as it was for her to receive it. Nothing elaborate, I gave her a card and some very smelly lotion she had hinted that she wanted a couple of times. Hopefully this will induce a state of relaxation, and every time she smells the sweet smell of Noir (whatever that is) she will think of her sweet husband and how much fun he had picking out his first of many Mother's Day presents to come.
On a more existential note, I had a very nice conversation with the eighty year old man next door on Saturday while I was washing our car. He commented on how nice it was, and with a very gracious "thank you," I told him the reason we got the car was because we had been wanting to start a family. After telling him we were pregnant, and him congratulating us over and over and shaking my wet sudsy hand, I could see the wheels turning up in that aged and seasoned mind of his. He was fighting the urge that many have once they know someone is pregnant to impart all of the wisdom and knowledge they have learned over the years all in one conversation, and he told me he didn't want to bother me anymore. He shuffled off following behind his polished cane, saying, "I'll let you get back to washing your car. Congratulations again!" So I had no choice, I went back to washing the car.
But before I knew it I saw him right outside of the corner of my eye. He was back. I had secretly hoped that he would say what it was he was saying, because unlike the vomitous ranting of most strangers once they know you are pregnant, most old men choose their words carefully, wanting to say as little as possible to relay a message that someone will actually appreciate and find useful. He cut to the chase, "You know my favorite thing about raising my kids? Even though I enjoyed when they were this high," he put his hand at his knee, "I didn't have a lot of time to spend with them. I was too busy. I worked too much. But my favorite thing was when they got older, and I was able to spend time talking to them. It's when they got older that I could appreciate them and take pride in them. Just having a real conversation with my boy when we are able to relate to one another, that is the best. And now, one thing I feel I missed was having lunch with my father. I didn't take the time to go and just have lunch with him. My kids now, they come and have lunch with me. And that is the best. So enjoy when they are young, but remember, if you raise them right, it will only get better."
I told him how much I appreciated that, because I know first hand. I told him that children take a certain satisfaction with having those conversations with their parents too. Just sitting and talking with my mom or my dad is something that I cherish to this day. Although I am not able to take them out to lunch as often, I can still have those conversations, and I know that they enjoy the same, but probably more.
So as we are preparing for sleepless nights, constant confusion and frustration, loud cries and bad smells, anxiousness and fears, we are trying to prepare ourselves for the over joyous times, the pride and the satisfaction of knowing that we can influence a life that we were able to bring into this world, that we are able to impact enough for them to impact someone else.
Love and Sincerity,
Aaron and Leslie
