When it rains, it pours

We can count on the fingers of one hand how many times mom and dad spent the night apart. We're starting to think that maybe they shouldn't do it ever again. Here's why: every single time dad travels something odd happens, be it something malfunctioning, breaking or a dog getting sick.

Yesterday night was no exception. As dad had just turned around the corner to go spend the night in the company of nurses (*) boydog started gagging, curling up in bed and yelping. mom is not known for keeping her cool under such circumstances and freaked out, but managed to make it to the vet ER in once piece with a seemingly recovered boydog. They waited for an hour and a half to get an OK from the vet anyway. We're all fine and trying to look on the bright side of things, this is good preparation for the mighty adventures to come, so help us God.

(*) Get your heads off the gutter. dad went to get a sleep study done.

Horror-mones

We know that pregnancy is the hormonal equivalent to one of those so-called Perfect Storms like the 1991 Halloween Nor'easter, the encounter of huge air and moisture masses that turned the Andrea Gail into an artificial coral reef.

Leaving aside all the physical consequences of such smorgasbord of body chemicals, it's funny to observe how it plays out on the emotional spectrum of things. While mom is ecstatic about finally becoming, well, a mom, she's also having trouble with conflicting feelings that keep seesawing, like the joy of finally starting to show, and the self-consciousness of looking like Tweedledee or Tweedledum.

Hang in there, dad, and don't try to understand, and try not to cry or laugh. One confused parent is enough for Lil' Genghis, so... let's sing along!

Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Agreed to have a battle;
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle.

Just then flew down a monstrous crow,
As black as a tar-barrel;
Which frightened both the heroes so,
They quite forgot their quarrel.

Genghis reconsidered

Aunt Becky steered us toward a humorous column on a man who had been thought to have been an ancestor of the great Temujin himself. The would-be ancestor is an accountant named Tom Robinson:

No wonder I cruised right through every accounting course at the top of the class. I had to, to fulfill my destiny and become the modern-day Genghis Khan with an eyeshade and a calculator, the most feared chartered accountant the world has ever seen, the scourge of every H & R Block office! Even IRS auditors will tremble in my presence! I'll command whole vast armies of bookkeepers and notary publics and Quicken experts, and they'll have to hand over gifts—chickens, precious spices, Rolexes—and call me "Sire." I’ll show no mercy to those who resist buying my six-CD set on the Tom Robinson Road to Riches Home Double-Entry Accounting System, With Two Sets of Books.

It's funny stuff, worth a read. dad is careful to note though that the great Khan kept taxes relatively low, was benign and even helpful toward cities that surrendered, and had a strong appreciation for international trade. =)

The author also seems to be paying homage to a certain Monty Python sketch involving piratical insurance folks and actuaries. Coming on the heels of that brother-in-law's celebration of "Talk Like a Pirate Day," maybe all this makes sense to somebody.

mom adds: This family already has its share of economists, lawyers and CPAs. Enough with the nit-pickers! Our kid deserves better.

Cat-astrophe

On the positive side, some family friends blogged about earlier are all feeling much better. On a very sad note, though, Cousin Marcus' favorite furry friend, Prozac, is in poor health. Marcus may not remember the little guy; Lil' Genghis may never get to meet him. Let's keep hoping for the best.

Prozac is an unusual cat. His family lore includes a story about a vet commenting on how playful a kitten he was for being older -- even though the vet misread his age, and he was actually a decade older than the "older" she thought he was. He's now 14, and while very sick, is still awfully cuddly.

Here's a picture we took of him last year:Hang in there, little buddy.

ETA: The blood test results came back and things don't look good. Prozac is getting his angel wings this afternoon. We'll miss you, buddy. Wherever you go, make sure you be a good cat and don't behave.

Guest belly

When dad was growing up, his parents would make a mark on a doorway every birthday so we could all see together how much I had grown over the previous year.

Great idea for mom, huh? Yeah. We thought of it too late.

So here's a guest belly!


It just happened to come up on YouTube. Now dad has to figure out what he was looking for the first time ... Hrm. Yeah. Pregnant brain.

The legend of the Bigfoot

Won't be a legend anymore in a few months! @_0

From a pregnancy symptom page found here:

It's not your imagination, your shoes really are getting too tight. Many women's feet grow with each pregnancy due to the general loosening of ligaments going on throughout your body. What is most surprising is that this growth is usually permanent.

The return of morning sickness?

mom had been feeling really good for a while, then miserable, then fine, and now morning sickness may have returned.

As dad types, a certain someone is munching on a sandwich made from pickles.

At least she hasn't gone for the unusual ice creams yet.

EDIT: "Sandwich, the sequel" is now premiering.

Where there's a preggie woman...

... you will surely find another. That's what mom has noticed lately. Preggies everywhere, and I don't mean only when we walk into a maternity clothing store. Yesterday we went to the CambridgeSide Galleria (and missed some big good'ole fun by one day!) and there they were, strolling around doing that funny ducky walk that mom is now starting to show when she strolls.

The preggie double vision makes us think of a funny theory that appeared in Brazil a few years ago. This guy named Luis Moraes started going out with his camera and every time he spotted a VW Beetle he'd sure enough see another (not necessarily of the same color) following right behind. Unfortunately Moraes's website is not up anymore but you could actually see dozens os pictures submitted by intrepid followers that'd set out to the streets and photograph the double Beetle sightings.



P.S. On a not so funny and a tad self-conscious note, mom now thinks she looks herself a lot like one of those cute little German cars.

All hail globalism!

Much of mom's family* will get a prenatal introduction to Lil' Genghis before too long. The trip will be a welcome exploration for the little guy, who is widely expected to join in a multi-cultural and yet globalistic adventure.

We refer, of course, to the banana pies made by McDonald's. They're just not available in the United States. Bastards!

Fortunately, Lil' Genghis will get a crack at them in mom's hometown, albeit second-hand. The mother will enjoy the taste; the baby, whatever scant amounts of nutrients are found within. =)

Apparently, folks in the hometown have realized the value of the banana pies, such that they feel the need to highlight them:




* To clarify: It's entirely possible that we won't see a few thousand of mom's first cousins, based simply upon the requirement to pack people into various buildings. She has approximately 6.02 x 10²³ first cousins, plus exponentially more second- and third-cousins. All hail Catholicism, too! =)

Futebol

mom felt the first kicks from Lil' Genghis just while touching the outside of her belly. Pretty cool, huh? Maybe he's going to go grow up to become a great futebol player like Pele, who, of course, is also known to Brazilians for beginning his international career ... clobbering the Argentines. Go figure.

In other news, we've stumbled upon more advice about managing the baby/dog barrier, which is, essentially, to say it's not going to happen. Aunt Cristina, who will surely kill dad after hearing about this blog post, used to share her pacifier with a dog. She turned out OK, at least, for a lawyer. So maybe there's hope.

Not everyone turns out OK. For that, we must turn to the artists who try to portray other artists. No, this link really has little to do with anything else, but, hey, cool art, eh?

Obstinado, part II

Lil' Genghis was moving a bit too quickly for the doctor to get a good track of him, but we did get about 12 seconds of audio. It was so neat to hear our little guy!



If the above link doesn't work, try this one.

And if that doesn't work, try this one. dad is going to bed.

Or this link ALMOST SURELY WILL WORK. Bed.

Obstinado

Yep, this part is official: Lil' Genghis is already a part of the family.

See, certain members of both sides of his family have a well-earned reputation for being strong-willed.

Determined.

Obstinate.

Stubborn.

Pigheaded.

... and today Lil' Genghis proved the point, bouncing up and down like a caffeinated and sugared 6-year-old after awaking from a long nap in the summer sunshine. The little guy (or gal) wouldn't stay still for the ultrasound.

Initial indications are that the little guy will be just fine -- there's now an even-more remote chance of a genetic abnormality (besides him being born into both families, that is! =) ). More test results will come in about a month.

In the meantime, though, here's the pictures!


ET phone home! Our little guy's definitely more like a baby.



With big legs like that, he'll be taking on his Uncle Bernie and Uncle Eddie in the swimming pool in a few years. Strong swimmers run, er, strong in mom's family.



That's just the umbillical cord there. Relax. Wouldn't ya be proud, though? =)



Is he already trying to bite his toes, like Cousin Marcus? Only time will tell.

Edit: In response to a question from Aunt Sharon, who just discovered she's about to become a mom, we have to say that, sorry, it's too early to tell if we're getting a boy or a girl.

To head off a response from Uncle Oliver, who taught dad how to edit, we need to say that "Here's the pictures" are grammertically incurect. We should say, "Here be the pictures. Yo."

International studies

In just a few hours, mom's Brazilian countrymates will begin celebrating their nation's independence. A discussion of this, in turn, led her to discuss with dad several things, all of which are kind of ... odd. See, the idea is for Lil' Genghis to grow up in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual environment. All this gets a little curious, given the evening's conversation.

See, mom says, in 1822 Brazil gained its independence on Sept. 7, creating the holiday. dad quickly asked a few more questions. Here's the real deal: Before the big independence date, Brazil was controlled by a line of Portuguese royalty, with monarchial rules of succession. After the big independence date, Brazil was controlled by a line of Portuguese royalty, with monarchial rules of succession. In fact, it was controlled by the same guy, from the same family.

Brazil dabbled in military rule and democracy for decades, seemingly getting its footing with the election of a president in 1984, who died before a 1986 constitution took hold, so he was replaced with the vice president, before another president could be elected to serve under the new constitution ... before the new president was yanked from office before corruption. Anyway, so, let's argue that 1984 was really the turning point for Brazil. Remember 1984? Let's help you out a little:

Yeeeeaah. NOW you remember 1984. Michael Jackson was already white.

Anyway, somewhere in this conversation dad offered up a sentence in Portuguese, getting only two words completely wrong. "Bedoote!" mom exclaimed, using a made-up nickname. "You're no longer American! You know more than one language!"

She insisted she wasn't yet an American, though, because she didn't have an inherent feeling of factual superiority. Riiight. All Brazilians have exactly that feeling over Argentinians. So mom is definitely on her way to being the stereotypical American, there, right?

Yeah. Except Argentina got a working democracy in 1983, not 1984.

Happy birthday, Brazil! =)

The family, in photos

mom's been feeling a little under the weather lately, so we haven't been blogging so much. Sorry. We thought it'd be nice to share some photos of family and friends, except Cousin Dante isn't easily photographed. Lil' Genghis should be photographed on Friday. So, we'll put up these pictures and explain 'em all, but we also need to talk a little bit about folks under the weather.

boydog is worried about some of his friends. His aunt down the road isn't feeling very well, and her roommate is recovering from a troublesome surgery. His sweet lady friend around the corner (non-furry) is recovering from her fifth stent. Let's hope everyone feels better soon!

There was another family trip to a beach, a different one. Here we see mom looking over the frigid waters, with Lil' Sister toweling herself, reflected in the sunglasses.

Here's boydog hunting for some attention.

Isn't girldog pretty? What you can see of her? =) You can see even less of Cousin Dante -- the black legs at the bottom.

More pictures Friday, we hope, of Lil' Genghis. =)