Mom's Night Out

Tonight was so fun and out of the ordinary! Awhile back my sister invited me out to this meeting put on by a mom's group called CHOICES. The speaker at the meeting was the natural doctor that Christopher sees, which is why she wanted to go to the meeting; she'd never been to anything with this group before. I was surprised by how balanced it seemed! They were advertised to be a pretty crunchy group, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but what I was able to hear was very informative and not too hippy-dippy at all. (Meaning, it stayed within the realm of "natural" instead of turning into "wacky-psychotic-anti-EVERYTHING.) Also, all of the moms seemed really nice, and covered a wide spectrum of "types". I'm pretty sure the guy I talked to was high, but hey, who's to judge? I attended the meeting looking for opinions, not babysitters.

Sarah and I took Bella and Anja with us and her friend Stephanie met us there too. I was nervous that nobody else would be bringing older babies or toddlers, but I was wrong! The people who showed up without any kids were the minority! Anja had fun playing with the other little kids, although I'm beginning to see that she has not inherited her shyness from her parents, nor her ability to share. She's so grabby! And she's recently started this frowning thing, which is not attractive when she puts it on right after grabbing a book out of some poor baby's hands. The meeting was at the West Side library, so afterward Sarah, Stephanie and I walked over to Vienna. So it turned out to be a really fun night! And I didn't have to worry about Martin because he had made plans to go out with a friend of his from his Wabash job! So we both had fun away from home this evening. That's something that almost never happens!

Anja has been just delightful lately. Those teeth must've finally come through their rough patch. Today I finished the cute green hat I've been knitting for her. I had to alter the pattern a little bit because it was written as a knit-in-the-round pattern, but I prefer to use straight needles and make a seam. Unfortunately, I messed it up a lot and had to rip out over and over again. In the end, I got it finished and it looked good--until I put it on Anja's head. It didn't really fit. It came above her ears, so her ears stuck out like Dopey the Dwarf. However, it didn't matter in the end because we stuck it on Bella's head at the meeting, and it fit her perfectly!! So now Bella has a nice new green hat to wear and I have PLENTY of the same yarn to make the hat over for Anja. (As it turns out, I'd left out about 2 inches of the pattern. Whoops! However, it's just two inches of stockinette stitch that I didn't do, so it'll be easy to remember to add it in on the next go-round.)

Anja has a doctors appointment on Thursday and I'm kind of glad because I'm afraid she might have stuck a piece of broccoli in her ear. She kept messing with her ear last night at dinner and I found a little bread crumb inside and a little piece of broccoli resting on top of her ear, and she's not stopped messing with it since. So I'm slightly worried about it.

I'm so ready to be done with pregnancy. I think it wouldn't be so bad if I were a member of an indigenous tribe in some hot country where they don't ever wear clothes, but I am SO SICK OF MATERNITY PANTS!!! The pouchy pants NEVER stay up, no matter how big or small I am throughout my pregnancy. The under-the-belly pants are great for awhile, until I get too big for my maternity shirts and then my belly shows. And no matter what belly style I wear, there are far fewer choices in the area of "length" than there even are in normal jeans, so all of my pants are about three feet too long. Martin put it well the other night--I look like I'm wearing pants my mom bought, assuring me that I'll "grow into them." Except I stopped growing [vertically] like ten years ago, so it's hopeless. I'm destined to walk around with my pants either falling down or showing my belly, but either way, dragging through puddles, for the next four-to-eight weeks. Ugh!

When I think that my due date is approximately six weeks away, I feel like I have plenty of time to prepare. When I think that Anja was two weeks early and if this baby is two weeks early it will arrive in less than four weeks, I a little bit freak out about the amount of stuff that has to get done before that time. When I think that Anja was early so this one will probably most definitely be late, meaning I have up to eight weeks more, I want to kill myself.

Okay, it's not that bad. I'm just eager to meet our baby. And I'm most eager to find out if it's a boy or a girl. Martin is SO SURE we're having a girl that he agreed to name a son Gyo Fujikawa. This is an important name, as it is the name of the author of Anja's current favorite book, entitled "Babies," which we read to her AT LEAST four-hundred-twenty times a day.

Oh my gosh! Martin recently joined the NRA and they sent him a hat in the mail!!!!! HE LOOKS SO COOL!!!!