Ben's First Portraits!

We had a 3D/4D ultrasound done today, and we got some great views of Ben. The sonographer ended up giving us a CD with 45 pictures on it because she was just so excited over the great shots she was getting. She said he was the most cooperative baby for the past 3 days, and she's really excited about us sending her before-and-after shots after he's born. Here are a few from the session:

Sucking on his hand, which is apparently one of his favorite things:



















Now he's got he's left wrist in his mouth, right hand up to his head, and BOTH feet pulled up to his face:



















Finally, we get to see his whole face!



















And here, he's getting a bit grumpy with all the prodding and poking:



















It was so awesome to be able to see his face and watch his movements - especially after feeling so much lately. And we really liked the woman who did the sonography, Melissa Dachs. If you're looking for someone in the Puget Sound area to do a 2D, 3D or 4D ultrasound, I highly recommend checking her out. Her business is called Baby Pictures (http://babypicturesultrasound.com/) and is located in Bellevue.

The Symbolism of Candy

Rachel just got home from preschool, where they had an Easter party today. She had this to say:

"Why do we have candy? Because Jesus ate it for his dinner."

I told her I didn't think He did, but she's pretty sure she's right.

Am I a bad influence...

...if my daughter is singing along to:

"If I get drunk,
Well I know I'm gonna be,
I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you"?

I made a mix CD of some of my favorite songs. Some of them I skip when she's in the car, like "Brickhouse," because I really don't think Rachel needs to sing about a woman built like a brickhouse. And "Tubthumping," with all the talk of pissing the night away and the various kinds of drinks they like to drink.

But I've let her hear "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers, and it's become one of her favorites on there, along with "Who Says You Can't Go Home" and now "Safety Dance." Most of the song is fine, and she hasn't been singing along with all of it, but today she did sing along with the "get drunk" lyrics, and I had to wonder if I'm being a bad Mom by letting her hear and sing with that one.

I think it's a fairly minor thing in the grand scheme of child-raising, but it still made me wonder a little.

Robbed of Cake!

We went to a 4-year-old's birthday party 2 Sundays ago. She's a friend of Rachel's from church, and there were 13 kids there altogether, ranging from around 2 1/2 to 12 years old, although the vast majority were under the age of 6. Pandemonium!

When it came time for the dessert, apparently Rachel got a bowl with some ice cream, but she didn't get a cupcake, nor did she get a piece of cake. Nobody realized it because she didn't speak up at the party, and it was a little chaotic when the adults were scooping ice cream and handing out cupcakes. But when we were in the car on the way home, she asked us "Why didn't anyone offer me cake or a cupcake? I enjoyed the ice cream, but why didn't anyone give me cake?"

And yes, she did sound like a 13-year-old when she asked. She often does these days :)