Willow's World

Dear Willow,

Due to a series of recent past events (which you are too young to understand) the world as you know it now is about to change in many ways. You are soon to become a big brother & with that title will come many responsibilities. It is time for you to take that step from puppy-hood to dog-hood & will have to let go of the many habits of the past. Mom & Dad will do our very best to help prepare you for this adjustment.

You will have to learn to be more gentle. It will no longer be acceptable for you to go around stepping on people's feet. Us grownups can handle it, but the baby will be very delicate & you will have to refrain from rough-housing in his or her presence. At the same time you will need to pay more attention to where your back end is relative to your surroundings.

You already know that humans make all sorts of funny smells. The baby will make smells that you will have never witnessed before. You may have to ignore these smells from time to time so to not get in Mom & Dad's way. As well, you may come across areas in the house that smell like someone else's territory, but it is very important that you do not attempt to reclaim those spots & know that it was most likely an accident.

When a baby is so small & unable to care for itself, it will require much attention from Mom & Dad. Remember when you were young & got very sick & Dad stayed with you in your bed? You had very similar needs. There will be days when you will have to accept it is too cold to go out for a run, or that Mom & Dad are just too busy. We will do our best to get you out as much as possible, & we ask that you do your best to accept that part of growing up is understanding that other's needs sometimes come before yours. Hard for any kid to accept, I know.

You are big enough to hold the responsibility of teaching your little brother or sister many life lessons. For example, as we taught you, to stay on the sidewalk, stop, sit & look both ways before crossing, & to stay within site so you don't get lost. To let him or her know when he or she is being to rough & that biting is unacceptable. To clean up after himself or herself (you may help) & to ask politely when he or she wants something, & which tricks to perform for company. Later on to catch a frisbee, go down the slide on his or her own, & to retrieve the birds for Dad on hunting trips (we will continue to work on this one with you). These are skills you have mastered mostly very well & we know that you will do an excellent job of teaching them to your future sibling(s).

This may seem like a lot to ask of you, but you are a good dog & we believe that you are very capable of achieving these expectations. Please remember that although we may not always be able to show it, we will not love you any less than we always have, even with another baby to love. You will always be our Willie & with your help we will work our hardest to make life the best it can be for the all of us.

We love you!
Mom & Dad

The Perks of Being Pregnant

Pregnancy is an adjustment for sure.  There's an art to carrying all that excess weight around (on an overdose of relaxin) which has its share of countless aches & pains (I am sure I don't know the half of it yet).  But I have also discovered the many benefits to being pregnantly plump.  Here is a little dissection of such perks for those of you that are fortunate & unfortunate enough - depending on how you look at it - to have not experienced this annoyingly wonderful experience:

 

Why Wonder, Baby?

No, we aren't anticipating our child will have super powers, The title Notes from the Wonder Belly is more so depictive of the many unknowns that come along with being future first-time parents.  So, since we do not have a name for this he or she, I've decided to refer to it as Wonder Baby.  Rodd thinks I'm nuts.

I contemplate why, up to this point, I haven't gained 50 lbs as a consequence of the drastic increase in my appetite, & when it is going to catch up with me.  I am quite sure my motivation to bake & cook up things I've never tried before is a result of my cravings, but Rodd argues that I am "nesting".  Regardless, he reaps the benefits.  Ok, we both do.

As I'm sure every pregnant women does, I often do think about labor...the scary, exciting, painful, unpredictable, & surreal event that happens before our lives change forever and ever.  I try to prepare myself as much as I think I can with having a baby books & The Learning Channel but I know that it will be something I will have to try for myself to really know.  I'm not really worried (yet) about all the things that could go wrong during labor, it seems counter-productive to waste energy on such thoughts when there is not much I can do to change the future at this point.

As for life thereafter, I just watch TLC's Make Room for Multiples & it makes everything better, knowing that we are just having one at a time, & not 2 or 3 or 6.  I'll leave the title Wonder Mom to those blessed people on the TV screen (& all you other people that like to reproduce in multiples).

There is something exciting about introducing our very own hybrid into this world, a something that has never been created before.  To wait & watch to see what this he or she will look like, will be like, will like (imagine the possibilities!). Then if I decide I like the results of the first try, I'll consider making another, and so on.

The name game is an ongoing conversation (mostly one way) that we (I) have on road trips to pass the time.  For a girl that refuses to be called "Jessica," - my given birth-name - I sure have come up with a lot of girly girl names (I will not tell), & boy names are surprisingly difficult to think up - or agree upon...I suppose that's what I get for marrying a lumberjack.  I fear that if we do make a boy, this child will be referred to Wonder Boy, then Wonder Teen & eventually graduating Wonder Man before we finally make up our minds (indecision is unfortunately an inevitable trait in Wonder Baby's gene pool).

So now that I have invited you (whoever you are) into my deepest thoughts, you no longer wonder what I wonder & it has been made clear that Wonder Baby has no special powers (although at the rate of the kickboxing performance this little creature puts on in my belly, I do sometimes wonder).

I think I'll go have some pie now.

I Wonder...

As I sit back and ponder what the future will bring,

I can't help but wonder about this one little thing.

And as I keep thinking and more wonders arise,

something is telling me we're in for a surprise...

I wonder...

Will it decide to come out as is planned due,

or will it come a-flyin' without thinking it through? 

Will it hold-hold-hold-on with all its mighty-might,

and refuse to come out when the timing is right?

I wonder.....

When it arrives what will this child be like?

A sweet happy baby that sleeps through the night?

But I hear some babies cry twenty-four hours a day...

and I don't want that, no thanks, no way!

I wonder........

The more I go on, the more fears that arise,

All the things that could go wrong, I start to realize...

If genetics have a say this could be one wreck of a kid!

Oh the disasters that could be, is this a bad thing we did?

I wonder...........

Long monkey arms dragging knuckles on the ground?

A fat-squishy-Thorson-face all rosey and round???

Pictures become horror films that fill up my head,

maybe we should've stuck with another dog instead...

Wonder Belly Diaries

Although "Wonder Baby" is well on its way towards making it's ultimate debut, I was only recently inspired (for whatever reason) to journal about my experience as a first time 'baby incubator.'  Up to this point of expansion aside from waves of nausea, itchy itchy skin, dry sensitive eyes, bursts of ligament pain, weight gain, a natural breast enhancement, dramatic moodswings, sore feet & utter exhaustion, really its been free sailing!  Ok, its not so bad...just a little bit of an adjustment, thats all (& well, coping with change hasn't always been my strong point).  Only recently is it becoming more real & we are truly excited for this highly anticipated miracle to make an appearance.

So I hope you join me in this baby bump banter as I waddle my way through the last few months of this maternal destiny. Wonder Baby is ready, are you?