His Inheritance

I often think about what traits this kid will inherit from his parents. Here's what I hope he gets from Andrea:

Her silliness. Seriously, this girl is silly. She's a little shy when you first get to know her but just wait till she's with her family. Then she busts out her robot voice (I least I think that's what she's trying to sound like). She answers questions in a high-pitched, loud, monotone nasal voice, and says things like "affirmative." She also does these weird dance moves to her self-sung sexy song (it's a song that she composed herself that she sings with "duh duh duh duh duh DUH DUH DUH DUH" noises). Her silliness makes me laugh. I hope our little Merlin gets that.

Her work-ethic. This girl knows how to work! She gets extremely high marks in her employment, doesn't cut any corners, and deserves a big raise in any job she has. If our son gets just a fraction of her desire to work he'll do very well in life.

Her frugality. I hesitate to put this. Sometimes I really like it when Andrea's strict with money, but sometimes it drives me nuts! On the whole, our little guy will be blessed to inherit this trait from Andrea. She keeps a meticulous budget and knows exactly what's coming in and out of our bank account. It's certainly served us well during this time of employment uncertainty.

Her smarts. Andrea's very smart, and it shows in how well she performed in school. She should have been the one in law school; I'm sure she'd do much better than I did!

From me? I hope he gets:

My hair. I like my hair. It's thick. Nice color. I'll be honest here, he'd be lucky to get hair like mine. Ha!

Science & Pregnancy Blog and Consciousness

For those interested, I thought I'd pass along this gem of a blog:

Bumpology - The Science Behind Pregnancy

The author is a pregnant scientist herself, and provides some cool information.

The latest article, the baby's level of consciousness, is especially interesting. I've often wondered whether, or to what degree, our little Merlin is conscious. Is he self-aware? Does he have memories? Does he reflect on those memories?

Consciousness, I think, is largely informed by sensory experience. But what sensory experience does he have up to this point? He's apparently been able to taste differences in the salinity of the amniotic fluid. He's no doubt been able to sense differences between light and dark (we've shined lots of flashlights on Andrea's belly to see if he would react). He can hear muffled sounds. And he's probably felt me push back on his little limbs that he puts close to the surface.

But these episodes barely scratch the surface of what WE experience in our daily life. How can he build an identity, a sense of awareness, from these incredibly watered-down sensory experiences? Does he even recognize the gradients in salinity, light, pressure, or sound?

She confirms in the article what I've always imagined his existence is like to this point: "[T]he fetus remains for the most part sedated by low oxygen levels and anesthetic chemicals that are produced by the placenta . . ." I think our little baby is mostly in a sleepy, anesthetized state, not unlike the foggy state that I remember waking up from when my wisdom teeth were removed, or when I woke up from that nasty concussion in high school after I was hit in the head with a shot-put (I'll tell that story later).

I'm excited for this guy to "wake up" and experience the joys of this outside world in a more conscious state. I think he'll like it.

Honeymoon Stage?

I have a feeling about this son of mine. And I hate to admit it. But in the interest of preparation, and reality, here it goes: there might be times where this kid gets on my nerves. I can't possibly imagine how his cute little whimpers could be annoying, or how his constant need of attention would interfere with my heretofore selfish lifestyle. But if I'm honest with myself, I must concede that the honeymoon stage with little Merlin may not last forever.

You know what I'm talking about, right? There's that beginning of every relationship where the whole world is alive with happiness and everything is glorious to behold. You want to spend as much time as possible with that other person, and he or she can do no wrong! "My son! Oh, look at you!!! You just pooped all over yourself. For the third time today! What a good boy! Oh, and what's this? Poop in your hair? How adorable! So proud of you son, for pooping like a champ! Can't wait to snuggle after your bath!"

Sadly, this utopia may come to an end. "My son! What the hell did you do in your crib?! Why is there crap smeared all over your back and in your sheets?! And, WHAT THE . . . how did you manage to get poop in your hair?! Who poops in his hair, Merlin?!?! Now I get to wash your sheets and clothes for the third time today! But don't worry about me. It's not like I'm not busy studying for the bar or anything! Oh my gosh, please go to your mom as soon as I'm done cleaning you up."

You get my drift? Of course I'll always love and cherish my son. I'll do anything for him. It's just that I might bug him at times, and he might bug me. But until that day comes, I'm going to cherish the blissful state of our budding relationship. I cannot WAIT to spend every waking minute with that child. Just five weeks to go.