See, here's the thing

My sister and her family, all of whom I adore, live in Seattle. We get to see them fairly frequently and we were with them at Christmas. Being 8 months pregnant I would sometimes ask one of my eager nieces or nephews to get me something that I was too lazy to get. I also didn't help make dinner or clean up. Or take care of my kid. Nathan, my 14 year old nephew was making fun of me and we came up with this perfect response / request. "I would (fill in the blank), but see, here's the thing" while patting my prohibitively large stomach. I got a lot of mileage out of this delightful phrase. I tried it this past week when this delightful family came down to visit, but its just not as effective when said stomach is simply jiggly leftover baby belly fat. "See, here's the thing. I'm disgusting, so could you please do it? Or get it? Or feed my kid? Or bring me the playing cards? Or bring me the deodorant?" (Not real requests. Well, not all of them.)

Enough about my belly. Annika has a toy piggy bank which sings, counts and snorts. She, the pig, also sings a song about her piggy snout. I think any toy that can combine porcine anatomy with fiscal responsibility is truly valuable. I just wish I hadn't stubbed the freak out of my toe on this treasure this morning.

Jacob is an easy baby and nursing is going great. The problem is, I keep calling him Isaac. Hmm. I'd always liked the name Isaac and kind of assumed that I would name a son Isaac. Then, two of my cousins named their sons Isaac in the space of a week. John has a cousin named Isaac. My uncle and aunt just named their son Isaac. (Granted, they named the twin Jacob.) And, Annika's best friend, who we see several times a week, is of course, named Isaac. There just seemed to be too many Isaacs in our lives to justify adding another. And, Jacob looked like such a Jacob. Really. So, I'm feeling pretty lame that I can't call my son the right name. I keep practicing. Really.

On the subject of names. We really liked the name Luke but realized that with a sister named Annika, we were setting ourselves up for too many Star Wars jokes. Being a big fan, (of the originals) I could see someone believing that it was a deliberate homage. Now, having called my daughter Annikin at least 4 times in the past two weeks, I'm realizing that not only did we act sensibly, but we really have averted disaster, therapy and complete estrangement from our daughter for all of her teenage and adult life. (I think John has done it at least once.)

At least we feed them and recognize them amidst a crowd.

P.S. Go to Eliza B's site for pictures of us.