The 37th Week

Hello Little Bugger! It is your dad here again. It feels like we have been waiting for many moons, but your big day is almost here! Your mama and I are a little anxious to see how this new adventure commences, but more so we are super excited to meet you! What's your name? What do you look like? What do you do? How do you feel in our arms? (How much do you sleep?) Soon enough we'll know!

It has been an active couple of months. You are thoroughly exploring and getting into everything that you can as you grow big and strong within your mama. I sit out here and watch your feet and knees and elbows move all about. It is a strange but fascinating sight!

For our part, we have been assembling your gear and attending classes and garnering bets on your birthday and putting on some entertaining photo shoots and making all sorts of preparations.  I think we are about as ready as we can be. At some point, we just need to jump off the end of the dock and see what happens! But for now, we bide our time by sleeping in and reading books and skiing and enjoying quiet evenings around the Christmas tree.

Your 37th week started on December 24. So close to your January 14th due date, we spent our first Christmas in Colorado. The three of us went to the 7 o'clock and 10 o''clock service - your mama really belted out Hark the Herald Angels Sing! I went for a sunrise run on South Table mountain the next morning and came across some reindeer grazing - boy do I have a story to tell you next Christmas! We visited a couple of gatherings later in the day, eating plenty of ham, potatoes, and cookies! Your mama hung your first ornament on the tree - which happens to be a noble ponderosa that takes up most of the middle of our living room.

Now we continue to wait. Today we went for a short hike around icy Echo Lake. The wind swirled the new snow all about as the sinking sun painted the clouds tangerine and salmon and lavender. Winter is the most beautiful and wild and wonderful off all seasons - hence your namesake.

In two days it will be January and the new year. When you are ready, we are here for you...waiting. But we will see you soon enough! Sweet dreams, Little Bugger.

Love, dad