we love this silly leka baby gym from ikea. it’s simple, straightforward, wood, and nice looking. in these photos ramona is first starting to notice that this thing even exists (even though it hung over her head at our makeshift changing station on our dining room table for the first 6 weeks of her life). now (about two weeks after these photos were taken) she’s grabbing for the hanging items and spinning the attachments on the side. today i even saw her take hold of the red ring (seen dangling to the right of her face in the first photo).
it’s quite exciting to see your child develop simple abilities such as tracking with their eyes or grabbing with their hands. each day, it seems, she does something new.
***
andrea: it’s nice to hear that i’m not the only one experiencing this situation. it does seem that ramona recently discovered otto and i look forward to when they can (maybe) be friends.
brandon: he works hard for the money!
robin: we love those diapers! thank you so much!
ramona. i first considered this name while listening to bob dylan on an airplane in college. the song is called to ramona and, while it isn’t necessarily the lyrics that inspired the love of this name, it’s definitely where it all started. and, yes, i did read the ramona quimby books and loved them but, no, this is not where the name comes from. also, i love when spanish-speakers say her name. i wish i could type out how beautiful it sounds.
marilyn. she is named after my maternal grandmother, a great woman who i deeply love and admire and miss. after a mighty battle with ovarian cancer, grandma marilyn died at home surrounded by all her loved ones (including me) on my birthday, may 7, 2004. she lived life so truly and so generously and so lovingly. we yearn for ramona to inherit that legacy.
i popped!
this week is where, i think, my belly made the transition from inexplicable-weight-gain to pregnant tummy (i mean, i LOVE potato chips but c’mon guys, i have some self-respect). samantha, the pastry chef at work, was the first to point it out and after that, each day, more and more people exclaim: “look at that belly!”
i’m still waiting for a customer to point it out–knowing that will be when i either a) REALLY look like an undeniably pregnant woman or b) just encountered someone who doesn’t know the etiquette that you are not to comment on someone’s possible pending pregnancy unless they have told you themselves they are pregnant (lest they are not pregnant and are just well-endowed in the torso area).
i’m in pajamas with bed head (and so unashamed) bc we got a call from our midwife this morning that our monthly meeting is postponed since they are at a birth. jonathan and i were fine with this–actually a little happy–since we know one day in july, if all goes as planned, we will be giving birth in our tiny home with the assistance of two amazing midwives and that other people and their appointments will just have to wait for our little bean to be born.
so grooming was postponed, pictures ensued, pancakes were eaten and now piles of laundry are waiting to be folded and put away.
LOVE!
i’m thankful my tummy isn’t the only thing that’s getting bigger.
if you know what i mean.
here is me at week 16. my belly isn’t actually that big. it’s just the LBD i’m wearing that i only have a few more days to fit into and so squeezed into on a hot date w jonathan. somehow, it miraculously emphasized my growing belly.
by the end of the night my back zipper was all the way down just so i could breathe.
welcome
