well, if you're gonna stay at home and stare at your toes, at least make sure they're pretty

Idelle came to visit us this weekend, and though she claims she had nothing to do with it, brought the rains of Rankapour with her. Overcast skies full or rain and more rain make for a less than perfect sightseeing weekend in Chicago. However, if you're two beautiful ladies looking for a bit of pedial pampering, well, a pedicure requires no time spent in the great wet outdoors.

Overboard and Idelle went to the pedicurist yesterday and got some much needed soothing for their soles. On top of that, if you check out the pictures above, you'll see that in addition to a bit of repair, they went ahead and got a bit of artwork done as well. Toe art -- the new trend sweeping today's feet? Hell if I know, somebody gets within ten feet of me with a nail file and I get a massive case of the heebie-jeebies, but that's neither here nor there.

Fortunately, Idelle is a fantastically low-maintenance gal, and enjoys lounging around Chez Rolnick as much as we do. We watched a phenomenal movie called "Paradise Now" yesterday afternoon, after a nice homeade waffle breakfast. Afterwards, we hung out a bit more, then ventured out for a nice dinner. Not terribly exciting, but sometimes time with family is good enough. At least, that's what I've been telling Idelle so she doesn't go back to New England and complain how incredibly boring we've become now that we're suburbanites.

week 35: is it cramped in here, or is it just me?

At this point, Dr. Rosenberg is somewhere between five and six pounds, and is pretty much done "forming." He has definitely descended a bit, and is in position to come out...in a few weeks. For now, all he has to do is hang around and put on weight. Not very exciting, but what are ya gonna do?

In an interesting note, Dr. Overboard's uterus has now expanded to nearly 15 times its original size! Yowza.

As for Overboard, she's definitely noticed that the good doctor has encroached upon her bladder's personal space. Frequent trips to the restroom aside, Overboard is feeling pretty good, albeit a tad sleepy. Yes, the insomnia factor of pregnancy has kicked in, and a good night's sleep is unfortunately eluding my wonderful wife. She is dealing with the renewed fatigue so common in the third trimester, and often goes to bed early. However, whether it's the good doctor or hormones, she tends to wake up in the middle of the night, or the wee hours of the morning. Always one to look on the bright side of things, I told her to think of this little "hiccup" as training for when the good doctor finally arrives. She wasn't amused. Must be cranky from that lack of sleep...

week 34: t-minus 6 weeks and counting

According to our baby sources, Dr. Rosenberg is growing exponentially, and is developing more layers of fat on his body. His lungs are in good shape by now, and we even felt him having a bout of the hiccups yesterday afternoon. Poor little guy. While I was admittedly thrilled to finally feel him moving around again (see previous post about how he likes to fake me out), it was heartbreaking to feel the rhythmic little bumps, as he tried to figure out what the heck was going on. Did mommy eat something spicy? Did he take a little amniotic fluid "down the wrong pipe?" Was this some sort of cruel joke? Who can say.

Meanwhile, Overboard is once again feeling a bit lethargic as her body demands more rest these days. However, she's still having a pretty easy time with things, and hasn't yet had any weird cravings (unless you count the way she dove into the Passover gefilte fish, but maybe that's just me).

My favorite Overboard-ism these days is when she looks over at me, rubs her belly, and announces that, "I love this baby so much, and I haven't even met him yet!" I know the feeling. Yeah, we're sappy, but it's our kid. If you haven't had one yet, you'll be spouting little Hallmark comments yourself one day. And if you have had a kid, well, you've probably said a lot of things that would make others squirm.

Speaking of which...feel free to respond with a comment! We want to hear from everyone!

week 34: i can't see my cankles!

Cankle: (noun) The physical change when a woman's leg loses definition between the calf and ankle. An unfortunate side effect of pregnancy, and the weight gain that comes with it. Example of use: "Evenkeel, I can't see my cankles while standing up, but I know they're down there. Damn cankles."

check out dr. rosenberg's new crib

While the good doctor's room is still being pieced together, Overboard and I took a big step forward last weekend. We went to a great baby furniture store and picked out a crib and dresser/changing table for our little boy. Even better, the store delivered AND assembled both pieces of furniture as part of the deal.

Now, while I was kinda mulling over the myriad comedic possibilities of trying to put together a crib, I decided it would be in Dr. Rosenberg's best interest if I just let the professionals do it. Heck, it was in my best interest as well. Imagine the wrath of Overboard the first time the baby mattress slipped downward and the entire wood structure started sagging to the left. Yeah, I didn't want that to happen either.

The other important pieces of baby items pictured are the baby carrier/car seat and the incredibly important diaper champ (not to be confused with the diaper genie). So basically, at this point, we can get him home from the hospital, change his diapers (of which we have a few), put him to sleep in his professionally constructed crib, and dispose of his "business" with a minimum of stinkynesss.

As soon as we get the room in working order, we'll post up some more pix. Of course, even now, Overboard loves to point out that Dr. Rosenberg's room is her favorite in the house. We'll see how that stands up around 4:15am when our pride and joy is wailing from his shiny new crib...

hello, my baby...

As any good Looney Tunes aficionado knows, before there was a WB Network, there was a cartoon about a singing frog, entitled, "One Froggy Evening." Of course, the frog wouldn't sing for just anyone at anytime, he only performed when the one person who found him was around. My point? My son is acting a lot like Michigan J. Frog these days.

As mentioned in the previous post, Dr. Rosenberg is quite the squirmer, and his mother is often admonishing me to feel her belly as he bumps around. Of course, just like the frog in question, he almost always decides to go "silent" when I put my hand on her belly. I think my kid is messing with me. Well, either him or his mother.

Tonight I'm going to try an experiment and sing "The Michigan Rag" to Overboard's tummy and see what happens.

week 32: dr. rosenberg's sweet tooth

According to our sources, the good doctor has now grown finger and toe nails, and has either a decent amount of hair on his head, or a lovely crop of peach fuzz (reminiscent of his father's high school facial hair). He's pushing close to four pounds, and probably in the neighborhood of 16 or 17 inches. More easily noticeable, however, is his mobility. The good doctor is now often referred to as, "Senor Squirmy Pants."

After each meal, Overboard notices how Dr. Rosenberg reacts. Anything sugary sets him into a frenzy, and I'm starting to worry that my boy who hasn't grown any pearly whites yet is developing a sweet tooth. I admit, I do have a pretty amusing mental image of him post-sugar-rush, hands flapping around, legs churning, swimming tight little circles around Overboard's belly, emitting what could only be a little, "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Overboard's favorite saying these days seems to be, "Oh, wow, he's really moving around in there!" I think I hear that 50 times a day, through phone calls, emails, IM messages, and occasionally, in a mumbled voice that I think is real, as I'm seconds away from drifting off to sleep...