I have come to the conclusion that this baby already has a definite personality – and I am certain he is one stubborn and determined little guy! I first realized this while I was visiting Jen, Paige and Peyton during the day. As I sat there going over different birthday cake design options, I kept leaning forward over my computer (mostly to keep Paige from pushing all the buttons in her excitement about seeing pictures of Dora and Map). Apparently, this little did not like me sitting that way (I must have been cramping his style!) so he would kick the heck out of me. When I leaned back, he would calm back down again.

Now is probably a good time to briefly detour and tell you how adorable my little nieces were during our visit. We went to lunch and to a petting zoo, and Paige was running around naming all the animals with a huge smile on her face. She loved petting the goats and seeing the horsies. Peyton also shrieked with pleasure at some of the animals and wanted to get close enough to touch the goats. Even better . . . when we were in the car driving, the girls started singing together. No words, just humming and cooing in unison. It was just beautiful to listen to them!

After I returned home, Elliot and I decided to go to Friday night services because there was a special dinner. The woman leading everything . . . well, let’s just say if my mom was around, she would have echoed my thoughts that we should call someone to shoot the poor, dying animal and put it out of its misery! The caterwauling was just painful! It turns out, my little boy agreed with my opinion. Every time she opened her mouth to sing on her own, the little guy would start kicking and squirming – it felt like he was trying to break out to strangle her. I kept imagining him with his hands over his ears and throwing a little temper tantrum about the awful noise. When the woman stopped singing, he was nice and calm, and when those with beautiful voices were singing, I could feel him dancing and swaying along (yes, that is my story and I’m sticking to it).

We finally made it home late to watch the Olympics on the DVR, and I’m fairly certain he helped me cheer on Michael Phelps to victory in yet another historic race (the 100 m butterfly that he won by .01 seconds). My mother watched the Watergate hearings all summer when I was born, and I have always been drawn to politics/litigation/lobbying my whole life, so it could be my current obsessions with Wimbledon, the Olympics, and the upcoming US Open will mean this guy will spend his life striving to achieve some great sports feat. Poor thing. . . I have a feeling he will be at a genetic disadvantage, however, if this is his life’s dream!

When I went up to bed, I decided to take out a book and read. As I sat there reading a particular scene in my book that described a touching moment between mother and son, I could have sworn this little guy knew what I was reading. At the right moment, he sort of reached out and touched me, and then kind of swirled around in a way that made me feel like he had just reached out and given me a huge hug! Yes, I know how crazy a thought that is . . . but I stand by it, and I’ll blame the pregnancy hormones! I got all teary-eyed and weepy. Elliot thought I was crying over a cheesey book, and just laughed at me. Of course, I thought that was less embarrassing than what I was thinking, so I declined to correct him.

I am pleased to say that I am starting to feel better . . . the cold is gone, and the antibiotics seem to be working on my latest UTI (and perhaps might have nipped my impending sinus infection in the bud). I am loving all the movement I have been feeling from the little one lately – remind me of that later if I start complaining about that!