Dear Bear- 24 weeks

Hi there little one.  Well, it has been almost a month now since we learned that you are a little boy.  At the ultrasound your father and I were so eager to learn this all important detail about you.  You were moving around quite a bit - pumping your legs, waving your hands, and then a glimpse - a boy!  I felt that much closer to you learning this.  Your father expressed that he feel a new sense of pressure in being a male role model to you.  I think it really struck him at this moment that he is going to be a father.  I am so excited for you to have him as your father.  He is sweet, gentle, a natural teacher, and loves adventures.  I know the two of you are going to have a wonderful father/son relationship.  As for as myself goes, I am very honored to have the opportunity to raise you.  I can't wait to experience the world through a little boy's eyes.  Brand new territory for your mama! 

Oh, and we have a name picked out for you.  Your dad chose it for you just before we learned that we were having a boy.  We think it is a special name and have called you that ever since.   Your mama chose your middle name - and the whole name flows off the tongue beautifully.  

What else has been going on outside your water filled home?

On January 20th Barack Obama, the first African American president and the first president in decades with a first rate mind, vision, and grace, was sworn in as our president.  I took the day off work and watched the festivities with your grandparents.  I even had a sip of champagne!  Did you feel the bubbles?  We were all teary eyed to behold millions of people touched to the core watching this history unfold.  The world is falling apart right now in so many ways - the economy is crumbling, the environment is under seige - but, the world came together in this important way and we will all never be the same.  I am so happy that you will enter this new world.  Some day you will come to appreciate the historical significance of a President that will most likely seem as natural to you as the blue sky.  What else?

Lately your father and I have been reading the "Little Prince" to you.  Each night we take a turn.  Also, I have tried to create symphonies for you outside your wall.   The earphones rest on my belly pumping in classical music - Shanghai quartet (a group from Duane's Summer in Connecticut) I wonder if you like this?  

Your mama took you to Yosemite with your Aunties - we snowshoed at Badger Pass.  We also had a special goodbye blessing for your Auntie Katie who is moving to North Carolina to be with the new love of her life.  On this trip she crocheted for you an organic washcloth.     Well, little guy it has been a treat to feel all of your kicks lately - they are getting more and more frequent.  I know people say that they start to hurt, but I can't imagine caring.  Each little bump and movement reminds me that you are alive and well.  That their is this new life inside of me growing by the day.