Welcome Home!

Jonathan has proved to fulfill all of our expectations! He is (in Dr. Chang's words) "very tall like Dad" at 53 cm (21 inches); his fingers and feet are really long (at one week old, the fingers are a third the length of my own); he has a perfectly sweet temperament; and as anticipated, a giant head (14.2 inch circumference). We assume, of course, his head size is because he's so brilliant.

After two days in the hospital, we finally took our (not so) little boy home in a blue taxi. We couldn't help but remember another taxi ride we took home, also after making our family a little more complete.

November 5, 2011 in Singapore--On our way home from the hospital where we became "three"

January 9, 2009 in Salt Lake City--On our way home from the Salt Lake Temple where we became "two"

My dad always says, "Bringing a new baby home is like having a ten pound mortar dropped on your house," in the sense that everything is different. Different in such a good way! Jonathan started rocking our world from the minute there were two lines on the little pregnancy test, but "rocked world" has taken on a whole new meaning now.

We find ourselves looking at each other in total disbelief that we could love someone so much in an instant; that we could find this much joy in just watching someone sleep; that somehow we love each other even more as we watch one another love him.

How is it that every yawn, head turn, wiggle, and cry can be so endearing--even when he sends a shockingly powerful stream of pee in our faces without warning as we change his diaper? We look at each other, laugh, and love him that much more.

This Saturday a nine pound, twenty-one inch mortar was dropped on our little apartment here in Singapore--and we could not be happier about it. Welcome home, Jonathan.

Jonathan Gaertner

On Wednesday night at 11:30 I had a contraction. Fabio was working in the other room when I sent him this g-chat:

Katie: "Fabio, I think the party is starting."
Fabio: "Our baby party?"
Katie: "That's the one"
Fabio: "Wow"

Seventeen hours later, the best thing that has ever happened to us was born! We named him Jonathan, and I can tell that we are going to be friends.

Just What I Needed

Mirrors are hard when you're pregnant. As the months go by it becomes harder and harder to not walk past a mirror and wonder whether you will ever see your old self again. The woman that didn't have stretch marks, expanded hips, a giant belly, and circles under her eyes because she can't seem to sleep longer than three hours without having to go to the bathroom. This last month has been especially disheartening. Getting ready in the morning had started to become my least favorite part of the day because it involved the bathroom mirror. Horrible mirror.

Until the other day, when I woke up and went into the bathroom for my first encounter with the mirror for the day. I took a deep breath, preparing for the sad sigh to follow, walked through the door, and stopped, startled at what I found. During the night, Fabio had written all over the mirror with dry erase markers reasons he loved me. The sigh still came, but it was one of relief and love instead. I didn't even notice the circles as I brushed my teeth, or the stretch marks as I changed my clothes. I was way too busy greedily reading over and over again the little messages of love that stood between me and the reflection I hardly recognize these days.

This morning I woke up and marched confidently into the bathroom, eager for what is now my favorite part of the day: the part where I'm greeted with reminders of who I really am written all over my mirror. Fabulous mirror.

Thanks, Fabio. That was just what I needed.

26 and Overdue

Let me begin by answering the question on all of your minds: two are still one... I have not had the baby yet, despite Fabio's encouragement to "just push, that's how it works in the movies."

The 27th was my birthday, now I'm 26. My mom and I went out for lunch and foot reflexology, which felt amazing! Then, since we don't have an oven yet, we went to a D.I.Y. Cake place in the mall where they give you a little cake and tons of icing and let you go crazy. Fabio and I topped off the evening with a romantic dinner at a delicious vegetarian restaurant in town. It really was a perfect day.

It was so perfect, I almost didn't notice it was also my due date: almost. I guess the little slow poke didn't want to share birthdays with momma. That's okay. He can be his own man, I understand. Now, though, the waiting game has re-defined "agonizing." With the due date come and gone, the hours feel as though they're crawling by: we're just so anxious to meet the little guy!

In my "personal life plan" I wrote in 7th grade English, I decided I would have my first baby at 25. I just missed it, but I think I'm close enough that 13-year-old Katie wouldn't be disappointed. Besides, she's probably used to me running slightly behind schedule by now.

I have a really good feeling about 26. I think it's going to be a great year.

I Win.

Fabio and I do not see eye to eye on baby boy names. When it comes to girl names, we are good to go, but boy names are another story. We discovered this about eight months ago when we realized we were responsible for determining what a human being would be called for his/her entire life.

Fabio likes crazy old man names like Leroy, Merle, or Wolfe (no offense to anyone reading this who has these names--you are probably an old man, but I admit it's not fair to assume you're crazy). I like more traditional names like Seth, Samuel, and Joseph. Generally speaking, we're pretty good at compromising on stuff we don't agree on. However, about once a year or so, Fabio and I find ourselves in a disagreement that each of us refuses to budge on. We dig our trenches and a war of attrition ensues... each of us waits, hoping the other will give first.

Baby G's name has proven to be just such a situation. For the first six months we pretended it wasn't something we had to decide, waiting for the other one to forget his/her preferences. Now as the big day comes closer and closer we've both grown increasingly concerned... maybe the other one isn't going to give, after all.

Well, the war is over. Fabio made a naive bet with me this summer, grossly underestimating my determination when properly motivated: if I finished my Portuguese Rosetta Stone course (which I hadn't worked on in over a year) before the baby came, I could name him whatever I wanted; on the other hand, if I didn't finish before he came Fabio could name him whatever he wanted.

I win.

Happy Full-Term Day!

It's true, this week marks our 37-week anniversary with little peanut, which means I am officially full-term. He can come anytime now and be perfectly healthy and on-time. Anytime. Like... now! How about now? Okay. Now!

I may be slightly anxious for this little guy to show up and really join the party.

We kept the celebration simple, since walking a block to the bus stop feels like a major athletic undertaking these days. It was a quiet night with our friends Ben and Jerry (happily on sale this week--"only" $9 per pint) and a foot massage from Fabio. Baby celebrated by discovering my ribs and kicking them. A lot. He thinks he's so funny.

We can not wait to find out all about him, especially based on what we know so far: he seems to be a Johnny Cash and Jay-Z fan, he likes to stay up late jumping around, and he gets really excited when Fabio tells loud jokes. All good signs he'll fit right in.

Fabio captured my reaction to the price of ice cream when I first got here. 

You are reading correctly: $17.80 for a pint of Haagen Daz. Not good news for the pregnant lady.

Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

The melting pot that Singapore is, it's no surprise there's always someone celebrating something. September's no different! To mark the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, people basically make fantastic lanterns and eat cute little cakes. This is the kind of holiday we can get behind.

And so we did! We ventured to the aptly named Chinese Garden by our house to take in enormous bright lanterns, funny little vendors, and an awesome magic show where a ornately-dressed woman danced while her mask suddenly changed over and over again with the music. It was impressive, to say the least.

We, of course, had to take a family photo by the Rabbit Lantern, since our little guy is going to be a Rabbit on the Chinese Calendar. (Don't worry, there was a line of six Chinese families behind the camera with little babies who had the same idea... not as original/clever as we thought.)

I was serious when I said "enormous bright lanterns."

Sometimes, Fabio wishes he was a tiger. So, we humor him.

This was by far my favorite lantern. It was huge, and just floating on the water... so beautiful, just like the rest of this little island we call home.