I can't wait to meet my daughter

Becky gets to be in contact with our daughter every day - although most of the time, she wishes she could get a break! But my only experience with our baby girl has been watching and feeling the incredibly odd (yet cool) squirmings and moving lumps on Becky's belly.

I can't wait to meet my daughter.

Hopefully, the other parents out there can relate. I'll often spend a few minutes - sometimes more than a few minutes - before I go to sleep, thinking about what she'll be like. I picture her as a one-year-old, a toddler, a little girl heading off to school, a teenager. I wonder what will make her laugh. I wonder what she'll be afraid of. I wonder if she'll be athletic, if she'll be cuddly, if she'll be quiet, if she'll be loud. I wonder what her favorite subjects in school will be (aside from economics, of course). I wonder what her dreams will be. I know that I'll love her no matter what, but I can't wait to meet her. Here is this person that will be a part of our lives for the rest of our lives. She's so immediately close, yet we have to wait a little while longer to really meet her.

Please feel free to remind me of this when I'm up to my armpits in diapers and haven't slept in a week.

On a related note, I've been reading up on the birth process. You'd think that a process as critical to the propagation of the species wouldn't be so traumatic. The pain, the straining, the exhaustion, the weeping - and it's even worse for the mother! I will do my absolute best to remain attentive, helpful, supportive, and (ideally) vertical. I gave blood this week, partly to test my ability to remain conscious during medical stuff (I know, I know, delivery is a teensy bit more traumatic than giving blood, but you gotta start somewhere).

In other news, we're settling into Vermont, and trying to branch out a bit. I know this will surprise everyone, but Becky has taken the lead in contacting acquaintences and turning them into friends. There are a bunch of great people among the new faculty at St. Michael's (and their sig others), some ofwhom have already offered to help Becky in labor if I lose my verticality.