(I can no longer stand to insert pictures of developing fetuses here - the image search turns up too many miscarried babies born around this time - so just imagine a cute image of a 22 week fetus in utero...)
My 2nd trimester energy has continued - I've canned a ton of pickles, some apple pie filling, and a few jars of grape jam (Jordan did most of a batch and ran out of pectin, I finished the last few jars). I've also decided to make pear cider for the first time - we now have a system to get a bunch of the pears from Sego Lily, which usually end up on the ground as the tree is too high. I am sure we will make some pear jam & nectar, and the rest will make cider. Which, of course, I won't be able to enjoy myself much until after baby comes, but I got so inspired about the whole idea that I just can't help myself! I've also been trying to catch up the scrapbooks at least a little - starting now & working backwards has been a good strategy, as I'm about 3 years behind, YIKES! Joe & I got the hallway at Sego Lily finished (painting) & I've done most of the prep work in the playroom, which is the last planned project for this summer. Then of course, there is the compulsive cleaning/nesting, soccer tournament & practices for Gabe, and all the usual stuff - laundry, meals, dishes, etc. It's no wonder I feel tired, but I just can't seem to help myself...
In other news, I was asked three times yesterday "Any day now, huh?" My belly is big - I always tend to show a LOT, due to my relatively short torso (baby has to go somewhere, and out front seems to be the logical place). But really, at 5 months, I don't think I look ready to pop! Perhaps it's my own knowledge of just how house-like I get by month 7 or so; to others, it's all relative, they see a large belly & think it must be almost time. I never take offense to this, but it does make me giggle to see people's expressions when I tell them "Not until Christmas!"
The other thing everyone wants to know, of course, is "are you having a boy or a girl?" This one does bother me a tad. First, just the whole idea that as a society we need to know the answer to this question before babies are born. Ans second (and more importantly) why does it matter? I saw a great cartoon a few weeks back, with a woman holding a small infant, where someone asked "So what is your baby's gender?" The mother's reply was something like "We don't know yet, we're waiting until she is old enough to discover that!" Sex, of course, is obvious at birth. Gender is something wholly different. And most people have no idea what that means. Which for me, is an issue.
Let's say I have another boy. OK, sex = male. Gender = ?. When he is old enough to gender identify, will he be heterosexual? Will he identify as female, and chose to live that way? Or somewhere else altogether? No infant has gender identification of any kind. And I don't feel that as a parent it is my duty to decide how to answer that question for my babies/children, anymore than I would tell you what my child is going to chose for a career when he/she grows up. There have been a lot of stories in the media lately about families not even disclosing their child's sex, so as to ensure no one places gender roles upon them. I personally wouldn't go that far, but I do try hard to not place gender roles on my children (boys are strong, girls are pretty; boys play with trucks, girls play with dolls). Speaking of, do you know how freaking hard it is to find gender-neutral baby clothes????? Just give me some damn yellow, green, and white clothes that don't have trucks or flowers on them for goddess's sake. Is that too much to ask?
When I was a child, my mother apparently gave me a truck for Christmas, and gave my brother Jesse (about 2 years younger) a doll. She says we took one look at each other & traded immediately. OK fine, that was our CHOICE. My boys have all had dolls - in fact when Gabe was born, Corbin would carry his doll in the little sling I got for him, nurse his baby, and put it to bed when Gabe was napping. I know if I have a girl she will have dolls, too - this nurturing is a learned behavior that all people need to experience & explore. But she will also have trucks, and legos, and anything else she enjoys. My boys have had plenty of those things, too. Oh, and I promise that any daughter of mine will NOT own any of the new 'girl' legos - I'm disgusted that construction toys have become gender based and segregated. I have my own Lego collection of both the Frank Lloyd Wright houses (I have Falling Water & the Robie house), and the collectible street series - hotel, pet store, city hall, cafe, etc). I'm a pretty girlie girl, in many ways, and I did NOT need these things made in pink for me. I was just as capable of building them & enjoying them in their real colors that reflect the brick & wood of real construction without having them 'feminized.' For those that haven't seen them yet, here is what I am talking about:
Pink Lego. Because Goddess forbid a girl enjoy the blue, red & yellow ones....
Anyway... I do enjoy screwing with people when they ask "Do you know what you are having yet?" My response is always, "A baby!" and if they give me a confused look, I add, for clarification, "A human baby!" And you know what? I know I'm right, even though the ultrasound tech never did directly confirm that particular assumption.
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