baking my cravings at 29 weeks

last week i made some zucchini bread with 2 friends who wanted to learn how. yesterday, i wanted more cake, so i baked some oatmeal cake. it is totally delicious. suddenly, i am craving cakey things. no salt, just cake. i guess sometime this weekend i will be baking another cake. lucky for A. and JG.

yesterday JG had swimming. he did fantastically well - he was having so much fun he couldn't seem to stop bouncing up and down. gave him a little pump-up talk before class, and told him to push himself harder this time, and try to do things that are difficult for him instead of doing things the easy way. it worked! he was so pleased with himself, for reals. dude's got no choice, really, since he needs to be swimming on his own by this summer. one thing that has been going on with my little man that is new...for the past week or so, he has been hella emotional. is it the whole contagious pregnancy symptoms phenomenon? he has had a few moments when he just starts to cry, for no apparent reason, and when i ask him why, he managed to sob/wail, "why? me love you soooo much!" just overwhelmed by emotion. it's really sad and cute all at the same time. he never cries, so it's even more sad. and he definitely has wanted more physical affection lately. but he still continues to talk to bebi2 ("wait mama, me need to tell baby something. a secret! ..whisper whisper..."), and take care of me ("you cannot hold that heavy thing, mama. you are pregnant with baby. me can do it."). he rocks.

bebi2 is growing growing. feels like it! the kung fu is definitely getting more sophisticated, but the strange thing is that this bebi does grabby things with her/his hands! well, that's what it feels like. i don't remember that with JG. little hands grabbing at my uterus walls? not pleasant, but not necessarily painful either. just...weird. ultrasound coming up next week, so new bebi2 photos to come!

and my ankles are swelling up - sad sad sad. cannot figure out what is the trigger, it's happened about 2-3 times, and it goes away in a day or so. everything i read says it is normal, and to "rest during the day, and put your feet up. even better, lay down and elevate your legs." what planet are these "experts" from? it doesn't hurt, it's just uncomfortable, and more than anything, very sad looking. i guess it's just the extra 30% of blood my body is carrying now, and it just cannot keep up with the circulation demands. dude! 30% more!!! otherwise, all is peachy, and we are all happy it's spring!

a very private baby shower

the other night when JG was going to sleep, he suddenly asked me, very solemnly, "mama? me know baby is in your ponpon (tummy), but where was baby before that? me can't understand that. before she came in your ponpon, where was baby living??" this kid, man...it was of course impossible to answer that question when he was supposed to be asleep already, so i scrambled and told him that if you love each other a lot, then you can make a baby out of love. more on this later as it develops...

mad spring cleaning going on in our house. we brought down all of JG's infant things from karuizawa, so the house is FULL of baby gear. it was really fun to put away clothes and shoes and hats with joaquin - he was tripping on how small he used to be, and tried on some bibs and hats, giggling madly. bassinet, crib, bumpers and a million blankets, toys, car seat, diaper changing pad, boppy, activity gyms, things that jingle and make music...baby madness in the studio!!! it's really cozy though, being surrounded by all these things again - each piece reminds me of somebody. the person we received it from as a gift, the friend who helped me pick it out, friends we were with when JG was wearing a specific outfit, the fantastic baby shower way back when...and are we ever so glad we saved all this gear! we are not going to have to buy a thing! (ha!) and the extra bonus: seeing bebi2 wear and use all of JG's things - kind of special. it was like having a private little baby shower, just me and JG.

one more thing to let you all know about...not only has the belly grown in the past week or so, it has also started to morph and change shape! unlike my pregnancy with joaquin, this belly has been low and round. it is now MUCH pointier and out in front, like jg was. what does that mean? nothing, probably, but interesting. old wives' tales say low and round = girl, high and pointy = boy. go figure. haven't seen any truth in that one yet. and by the way, i have been 5 and oh since last year! i've guessed right for ALL friends and family babies, including kintaro and adila, plus 3 babies here in tokyo. but i am not speculating on this one.

27 weeks already?

here we are last weekend...right outside our building. busting out of my jacket, all ready for cherry blossoms at the river and shibuya. feels like the belly has grown double in size this past week.

JG started school today - new class (grade:plum, class:1), new teacher. he says he had a great morning; saori sensei is "really nice", and all the new kids in his class are "good, and so is my new classroom and cubbyhole." woe is me...he only has morning hours until mid-may, so it was bittersweet to have my first day of being completely alone in almost a month - for just 2 hours. but i am not complaining. that is probably what i miss the most from life BJ (before joaquin). solitude.

and march really just marched right past me...

A.'s birthday.....the end of JG's first year in school and subsequent "japanese mother duties" and parties and play dates.....spring holiday.....nigh-nigh carin's visit to tokyo: tooling all around town, bike riding (!) by nigh-nigh in the neighbourhood, 2 day trip to kyoto, and overall good times had by all....."hanami" cherry blossom season with loads of picnics.....friends visiting from afar.....a few days in karuizawa where it dumped snow and blessed us with our last winter wonderland fun.....and bebi2 and mama getting bigger, and bigger, and BIGGER.....