June makes a prediction

Because we have decided to wait until the baby is actually out of my body to know his or her gender, it's become quite a sport to make a guess.

(We're at least hoping for the big declaration at the appropriate moment this time. Due to a confluence of factors the first time around, neither the doctors nor the nurses attending June's birth knew we didn't know yet, so no one made any announcement. In the haze of it all, I spent the first 5 or so minutes of June's life believing we had just had a boy. But believe me, at that moment it made no difference at all; I was just so happy to hear those lusty, healthy cries.)

So far, the boys have it. There are lots of superstitious, old-wivesy explanations, but mostly it's because I'm showing later and less so far and also because I was so very much sicker and for so very much longer this time.

June and I talk about the baby all the time, and mostly we do a little script. It's very rote. I ask her what's in my tummy, she says "bigger...bigger...come out...baby" or a variation on that. Then I ask her what she's going to be once the baby is here and she says "big sister" and we talk about mommy, daddy and Junie holding the baby.

Just for kicks, I parted with the script a couple of nights ago and asked June whether the baby will be a boy or a girl. Girl, she predicted. Encouraged by her alacrity, I pressed further and asked her what we should name her. No hesitation: "Stickers". Since then, she has gone back and forth on whether the baby will be a boy or a girl, but either way the baby will be named Stickers. So hopefully June's prediction will be correct, the baby will be a boy or a girl.

Hey, speaking of names....in Charlottesville two weeks ago Lloyd, June and I went to their children's museum. June enjoyed it, but it is much smaller and pretty much in every way inferior to our own Museum of Life and Science, which is pretty much down the street from our house. We came away feeling pretty smug about our museum situation. (Also, this museum was full of frightening uber-mommies who had loud conversations about what midwife they used and how there were far too few midwives in the area, and talked loudly about their political positions and how unenlightened others people who don't agree with them are. There was also some aggressive public breastfeeding. I'm very much pro-breastfeeding, and pro-public breastfeeding, but something about this display felt like a challenge. Really....it quite scared me.)

Anyways, of course there were lots of little kids running around and lots of moms calling out after them. No kidding, there was a little boy there named Dasher. Seriously. Come on, Dasher? And Dasher had an identical twin brother, too, named.....Duncan. What did you think I was going to say? Prancer?