These last 10 months have been a crash course for Ralph, our 4-legged only child, on the ins and outs of babies. The odd noises they make, the unnerving way they continue to grow larger, and their unparalleled ability to absorb all of the attention in the room. It's a lot to take in for a dog who, for the last 5 years, has been under the misapprehension that he himself is a person and arguably, the most important person in the family.
This invaluable training has been made possible by roommates extraordinaire, Amy and Todd, and Jackson, their dog-loving bundle of joy.
Happily, the training has been wildly successful. Ralph has undergone a 5 Stage progression as follows:
Stage 1. Curiosity: What is this small bundle of smelliness? I think I need a taste.
Stage 2. Concern: Should the bundle be making those noises? It doesn't sound right. Perhaps a taste will reveal further information.
Stage 3. Infatuation: This bundle is somewhat larger and smells much more interesting these days. Also, the other humans don't seem to barricade him from me quite as much. Mmmmm....he tastes so good! Those toes, those fingers, that lovely bald head!
Stage 4. Apprehension: I'm not sure I signed up for this. The bundle continues to grow, and I think he's stalking me. I can't get away. I'm not sure what he plans to do with me, but the whole thing makes me very nervous...
Stage 5. Acceptance: He's agreed to share his food. Anything he doesn't want for himself, he places on the floor for me to enjoy. To show my appreciation, I will sit relatively still while he bats at me with his chubby little hands and occasionally steals my ball. This may be the beginning of a beautiful relationship!
And voila! Baby and dog existing in peaceful cohabitation. Just wait until he realizes that the Cowbaby doesn't get passed back to another family at the end of the day...
Here's an extreme close-up of belly. As you can see, my belly button - and my pants - are barely hanging on. I'm feeling great these days - except when baby tap dances on my bladder. I started taking an iron supplement and have really noticed a change in my energy. I hardly nap anymore! Baby is now about 2 pounds and is opening her eyes this week! She also likes to tug on her umbilical cord during playtime - which, by the way, is ALL the time. Not much sleeping for my little one!
On another note, Sunday marks 6 weeks until we leave this sunny island of Grenada. We've been here just shy of 10 months, and it will all be over soon. I wouldn't trade this year for the world, but I can't deny how excited I am to be home again in Canada. Even if it will be winter!
Things I will miss:
1) Having the ocean and the beach a 5 minute walk away
2) A yard full of palm trees and fruit trees with plenty of room for Ralph to chase lizards all day
3) Fresh mangoes
4) Living with the best roommates in the world
5) Swimming with my prego-pal Lauren
6) Coffee dates and book club with the desperate housewives
Things I will NOT miss:
1) Frogs in my lettuce
2) Cockroaches in my shower
3) Catcalls...even when pregnant!
4) A grocery store without tomatoes, eggs, milk, lettuce - and the list goes on, depending on the day
5) SWEATING!!!
6) Mosquitoes
Today I began my quest to enjoy the last bits of Grenada life. This morning I found myself awake way too early (had to pee, as usual) and realized that the sun was about to come up. In a rare moment of pre-dawn lucidity I grabbed a camera and went outside to witness a sunrise. My first Grenadian sunrise! It was beautiful.
32 does sound a little scary.
But what's another year when you get to spend your birthday being spoiled by loved ones??
I had a fantastic birthday that started a day early with brunch at the Aquarium restaurant, followed by a little stroll on the beach. And on my birthday morning I was surprised with breakfast and presents in bed, courtesy of darling husband. Then I found a little room for a delicious brunch with the desperate housewives (complete with more presents!). Later, J and I enjoyed a sunset dinner at the marina and came home for a cake and ice cream celebration with my favourite roommates (and more presents!!!). I even got to pick the movie we watched, and you can't go wrong with a little Sex and the City.
It really was the perfect birthday. In fact, I'm almost looking forward to the next one!
Well, somehow time keeps flying and I'm 5 months pregnant today, or in weeks it'll be 22 tomorrow! I'm past the halfway mark and sometime in the last week and a half I really popped out. I must admit I am loving the belly, even if it does make me feel a little stretched out and breathless at times. Right now baby is around 12 ounces and 7 inches long - my little eggplant! Here is a picture from the 20 week ultrasound. Baby was rolling and kicking and moving around non-stop for the whole appointment, and had a killer heartbeat!
In what I hope will be a continued effort to remember that this blog isn't just about mama and baby, I thought I'd dedicate this post to darling husband and what he's up to these days.
J is just about to start his 6th term of medical school at St. George's University in Grenada. This will bring us to mid-December, and the end of his two years of classwork. After that, it's into the hospitals - finally!! Right now he's struggling to memorize drug names in Pharmacology, delving into diseases in Pathophysiology, and going to the local hospital once a week to see how it all works in real life. Today he did rounds in Orthopedics and saw a patient with osteomyelitis! It's probably much cooler if you know what that means.
On the home front, he has been a very attentive daddy-to-be. Of particular concern to him is my diet. He worries about the water quality, whether meat has been cooked enough, if I'm getting enough protein, if I'm eating enough in general. He even brings home chocolate bars! He has also taken on the role of "Mosquito Hunter" in an effort to ensure that I do not succumb to Dengue fever. I couldn't ask for a better baby daddy!
In fact, given all of his wonderful qualities, I've even decided to forgive him for destroying our computer this weekend. To make a long story short: a) computers can only stand to be dropped so many times, and b) men are not designed for multitasking. It's a good thing he's cute.
Here is a shot of me at 18 weeks, 5 days. There's no denying it these days! I used to hate the term "baby bump", but it has grown on me recently...pun intended. My belly button hasn't popped yet, but I don't think it will be long now. I've been feeling baby moving around in there since about 15 1/2 weeks. My favourite part of every day is when we get to feel baby kicks. J started reading to the belly last week now that the ears are working. I think baby likes Green Eggs and Ham!
Okay, so no one here is really going back to school (I figure J can't really be going back if he never left), but I always get the fever around the beginning of September. I feel unnatural urges for things like buying new pencils - and sharpening them and placing them carefully into a brand new pencil case - and planning out a detailed daily schedule. I long for new school clothes that I can lay out on my bed and plan my first week's wardrobe around. I'm a bit of a planner.
The one thing I'm missing this year in particular is the back to school weather. The smell of summer changing over to fall. The turning of the leaves. The mornings that are just a bit chilly, eliciting last-minute panic about adding an unplanned sweater to my meticulously styled outfit-of-choice. No, we don't talk about words like "chilly" and "sweater" in Grenada. Or seasons at all, for that matter, outside of "dry" and "rainy".
So, for this year, I will live vicariously through the images I see on our American TV programming. I will hop into a cold shower and pretend I've been caught in an early fall rain and relish the goosebumps that will spring up, if only for a second. And I will think of the days in the not-too-distant future when I will have this little one in my belly to buy pencils and new outfits for, no doubt wishing that I could turn back to a time before "back to school".
I'm hopping on the bandwagon!
Now family and friends who aren't on Facebook (not on Facebook?!!) can stay in touch with what's happening with us. For years it seemed that there was never anything to report when the dreaded question came up: "So, what's new?" But in the last year and a half our lives have taken a turn for the more interesting and - in my opinion - blog-worthy.
With J starting medical school, Ralph learning to adapt to a tropical climate and Team Cowfam getting ready to add to the roster, there's a lot to talk about, and we're looking forward to sharing it with everyone!
