We are nearly there, and happy to say that the room is pretty much set, a bag is packed and ready to go, and Jona really wishes the baby would just come out and be done with it. He has learned many new skills, such as kicking and hitting, and thanks to months of practice is turning them into -combo moves. I'm pretty sure I recognize one from Street Fighter 2 (Spinning Bird Kick: Down-Up-A). We are told this means he is getting along well, he is also head-down and we hope this means that he wants to come out soon.
When he comes, we will be ready. In my earlier days, I would look at the huge Babies R Us store (right next to a Carters for Kids), and wonder how they stayed in business. I would shake my head, and pick-up a six pack of beer or the like. I now no longer wonder - they do it through insanely clever combination of cuteness and guilt. Something like: You want your baby to have a nice life, right? One where he will be able to bounce in a bouncy thing and swing in a swingy thing and play with little animals that float above his head? It could be the difference between happiness and sadness, a positive outlook or a negative one, a normal development and the Ivy league school or dropping out of high-school for a life of petty crime. So you give up the beer and buy the stuff.
Clothes are where the cuteness comes in. You know that he has many hats, you know that he is likely to have only one head, but it has a frog on it. He does not have one with a frog on it. Wouldn't it be cute?? So he ends up with the hat with the frog on it. Chances are he will pull it off and chew on it. But this will also be cute (babies can do no wrong).
But in the end, we're really excited. I'm still weirded out by the whole life-stage change thing. I'm pretty sure I'll miss sleeping in and being able to just go out to a movie or do whatever without worrying about childcare, but in the end it will be good. Worse come to worse, we now have toys to play with.
