#3
hi arlo,
just want to send you a quick note to let you know that you're freaking us out a little bit. you're due here in, um, somewhere just over 30 days (just), except...you seem to be settling down a little. and by down, i mean, literally, down. as in, down, with your head right there in my pelvis, ready to go. dr. hersh (who has yet to find out about your southern movement) says to expect you sometime around april 19, though first babies are often late. that's 5 weeks from this coming monday. aimee the doula, and all the the books i've read tell me that once you've dropped (or "lightened", how pretty is THAT?!), we can expect you out in 2-4 weeks.
um, arlo? you come from a LONG line (on your mother's side, anyway) of people who are late. i don't know if they were born late, but once on this earth, both the italians and the brazilian/portugueses have taken being late to a high art form. for better or for worse, members of my family have been DAYS late to things. now, i know that a few weeks ago, i was saying, "only nine weeks left, look around, say your goodbyes...", but arlo! please please pretty please, be a bit of a buddhist and find the middle way between my people and your dad's folk (who are always very on time), and try to stay a little longer in there than two more weeks.
we're excited to meet you, i promise, and your crib is set up, and your stroller is put together, but don't you want a nice place to change your diapers? and a pretty little sunlit kitchen play/read/nurse area? of course you do. so hold tight.
plus, i'm sure you want me to finish up all my work at work, right? i will probably spend the rest of my life trying to explain this to you, but hey kid: i have to finish these grants! there are so many people out there who have so much less than we have, and we need to be diligent about making the world more fair (another thing you will get about me once you're out and get to know me a bit better, my devotion to making the world better. its kind of why i'm so excited, ON ONE HAND, for you to get here, as your mere presence - i just know - will do a lot toward that cause).
so, my little, how 'bout a compromise? do you know what april 5, 2010 would have been? your great grandpa john's (my mom's dad) one hundred and eighth birthday. no fooling. he was an amazing man, born in 1902 in portugal, and he came to hawaii on a big ship, sailing all around south america when he was only 5 or 6 years old. and he grew up and worked for franklin roosevelt, and traveled all around, and wrote lots of letters to newspapers, and was a member of the harry s. truman appreciation society. and he loved einstein. and flowers. and grapefruit and chocolate milk. and he was, is, in fact, hands down, the smartest man i have ever known, plus he had a dirty sense of humor, which is almost always a good thing. you just wait, you'll hear tons of stories about him...
anyway, you could do a whole lot worse than be born on his birthday, so lets try for that, ok? that's about 3 weeks and four days after your "lightening" adventures of last thursday. you don't have to decide now, just promise me you'll think about it.
also, have i told you your middle name? nicole helped decide (or maybe just announce) it: jacob. perhaps a little obvious, but when andy vetoed hemingway, all i could think of for a couple of weeks is brett and jake, and "you've got a hell of a biblical name." there aren't many people i'll willingly take advice from, but i usually sit still and listen to hemingway.
ok. so see you on the 5th, right?
xo
mama.
just want to send you a quick note to let you know that you're freaking us out a little bit. you're due here in, um, somewhere just over 30 days (just), except...you seem to be settling down a little. and by down, i mean, literally, down. as in, down, with your head right there in my pelvis, ready to go. dr. hersh (who has yet to find out about your southern movement) says to expect you sometime around april 19, though first babies are often late. that's 5 weeks from this coming monday. aimee the doula, and all the the books i've read tell me that once you've dropped (or "lightened", how pretty is THAT?!), we can expect you out in 2-4 weeks.
um, arlo? you come from a LONG line (on your mother's side, anyway) of people who are late. i don't know if they were born late, but once on this earth, both the italians and the brazilian/portugueses have taken being late to a high art form. for better or for worse, members of my family have been DAYS late to things. now, i know that a few weeks ago, i was saying, "only nine weeks left, look around, say your goodbyes...", but arlo! please please pretty please, be a bit of a buddhist and find the middle way between my people and your dad's folk (who are always very on time), and try to stay a little longer in there than two more weeks.
we're excited to meet you, i promise, and your crib is set up, and your stroller is put together, but don't you want a nice place to change your diapers? and a pretty little sunlit kitchen play/read/nurse area? of course you do. so hold tight.
plus, i'm sure you want me to finish up all my work at work, right? i will probably spend the rest of my life trying to explain this to you, but hey kid: i have to finish these grants! there are so many people out there who have so much less than we have, and we need to be diligent about making the world more fair (another thing you will get about me once you're out and get to know me a bit better, my devotion to making the world better. its kind of why i'm so excited, ON ONE HAND, for you to get here, as your mere presence - i just know - will do a lot toward that cause).
so, my little, how 'bout a compromise? do you know what april 5, 2010 would have been? your great grandpa john's (my mom's dad) one hundred and eighth birthday. no fooling. he was an amazing man, born in 1902 in portugal, and he came to hawaii on a big ship, sailing all around south america when he was only 5 or 6 years old. and he grew up and worked for franklin roosevelt, and traveled all around, and wrote lots of letters to newspapers, and was a member of the harry s. truman appreciation society. and he loved einstein. and flowers. and grapefruit and chocolate milk. and he was, is, in fact, hands down, the smartest man i have ever known, plus he had a dirty sense of humor, which is almost always a good thing. you just wait, you'll hear tons of stories about him...
anyway, you could do a whole lot worse than be born on his birthday, so lets try for that, ok? that's about 3 weeks and four days after your "lightening" adventures of last thursday. you don't have to decide now, just promise me you'll think about it.
also, have i told you your middle name? nicole helped decide (or maybe just announce) it: jacob. perhaps a little obvious, but when andy vetoed hemingway, all i could think of for a couple of weeks is brett and jake, and "you've got a hell of a biblical name." there aren't many people i'll willingly take advice from, but i usually sit still and listen to hemingway.
ok. so see you on the 5th, right?
xo
mama.
Comments
hope little A arrives according to plan. sadly, my friend, these babies generally don't pay much attention to what their mom's wishes when it comes to this whole birthday business. it's really up to them, so just be patient, keep folding those onesies,and let arlo show you the way...