Once again I had that bout of nervousness while sitting in the waiting room in the doctor's office.  Times like that remind me how glad I am to have Joe and how lucky I am that he's taking such a part in this pregnancy and goes with me to the doctor.  He's quite interested in what's going on and reads the appropriate chapter in his "Expectant Father" book each month.  At times he gets a little too much like the "pregnancy police", but I know it's only out of concern for our health.  And I would much have it this way than than an uninterested, poopy husband.

Although it was cute when Joe waited and waited to speak to the doctor in order to tell him I was having McDonald's once a week.  Of course, Dr. Cook said exactly what I always say: "As long as it's in moderation." 

Here are the newest pictures of the baby.  Both pictures show a side view of the baby lying on his back with his head toward the left.  In the first one, you can see a really nice profile, although it's still hard to guess whose nose he/she has.  You can also see the fingers of the right hand over the belly.

The second shows a really nice view of his vertebrae, and you can see his legs curled up at his bottom.  There wasn't any way to see the sex, unfotunately, but I don't think anything is determinable at this point.  He was quite active, having full grown arms and legs, and you could even see fingers and toes.  He would reach up above his head, then reach down and grab his toes.  At one point he (or she) even had one leg straight up to his head; Joe thought he had three arms.

When we first looked, he was lying on his back facing us, so we got a great view of his eyes and mouth and heart, but he moved before we could get a picture.  The P.A. thought he was quite a ham.

The baby is now 3 inches long (doubling his size since the last visit), which is amazing since he really looks and acts like a full-grown baby, but is just the size of the Barbie baby, Kelly.  At this point all the parts are there, the babies just grow in size.  I'm trying to resist calling it "Mini Me" but it's difficult.

We also got a crib this week.  Joe's mom has been doing a great job of helping us find a crib second hand, and she hit the jackpot.  A huge, beautiful white Childcraft crib, including a mattress, for $60.  I would have perferred a natural stained wood, but I could not pass up the quality and price of this crib. And I couldn't help but think it has good kharma, since the boy who used it was so cute and intelligent.  I talked to his mother at some length about signing, something I've seen books on at Barnes & Noble.  She had taught her child to sign before he could really speak.  She says that it made all the difference in the world, since he could communicate with her his needs.  We discussed the pros and cons and she has me convinced that this is something that I want to try with our baby.  It seems a quite remarkable program, although I bet the books are quite expensive.  I'll have to see if there are any at the public library.

We also purchased a beautiful dresser/changing table.  It was one of the discontinued models at BabysRUs, so we got it for relatively cheap.  It's rather sturdy and the hardware on the drawers is quite solid.   Appropriately, the only color they had was white, although it is more of a whitewash than a solid white like the crib.  The finish is called "Aspen" and the grain of the wood shows through quite attractively.  I fantasize about stripping and staining the crib to match, but I think that's just a pipe dream.