Little Brother Notes

That's right. For the estimated one of you that hasn't already seen it on Franny's blog, the Mizz is getting a brother this May. Of course the ultrasound tech wouldn't say for certain, but it seemed obvious to all of us.

This is a little weird -- not bad at all, just weird. Both Franny and I were thinking of a girl, as was just about everybody else, for whatever reason. I guess it just made sense to think that a girl would balance things out, so that's what it must be. Rationally, of course, this doesn't mean anything, but we just never really thought about it any other way. My sister even checked the Chinese birth chart or whatever, and decided that we were having a girl and she's expecting a boy. According to her, "It's always right, with everyone I know anyway." Wrong on both counts. It's nice to know that the discount, made-in-China, lead-painted, melamine-filled astrology and old wives tales are just as bunk as ours.

On the one hand poor Franny is going to be surrounded by testosterone. Good luck with that. On the other hand, we don't really have to buy much this time around. A bit of new furniture, but that's about it. For those of you feeling the need to get us something, I think this kid will need and Xbox, a flat screen high-def TV, and a new laptop. Other than that, he's pretty well covered.

We've been having issues with names. I think part of the reason for imagining a girl was that we already had a girl name picked out, left over from the Mizz. Now we have to come up with something else, so we're back at the same place we were last time. We've had some of the same arguments and issues as last time too. Franny has a few names that she likes that I can't consider because they make me think of particular people that I don't want to name my kid after for one reason or another. Sometimes, I didn't like they guy or maybe it's a friend or whatever. She even wanted to name him the same name as the husband of one of her friends. She even said she'd be willing to stop being friends with them, she likes the name so much. That's not going to work for me though. She gave me a lot of grief for that, but some other friends agreed with me, so I think I won that battle. What concession will I have to give now, I have no idea. However, I suggested a name the other day that she wouldn't stand for. "I've never met a ______ that I liked." It was actually a little ruder than tha, but I think she now at least partly understands my logic, if not my particular name vetoes. (However, as I mentioned before, the naming rights could certainly be bought for the right price. Franny can't afford them, so she's stuck trying to find names we can agree on. I'm sure some of you probably have deep pockets though. The more outlandish options may cost more, but I'm sure there's a price. Heck, if the bid's high enough, and it would have to be high, he could be George W. Bin Laden, if that's what you want.)

The other issue we've got lately is nesting. Both of us this time, but in different ways. She wants to buy new furniture, paint the whole house, build an addition, and dig out a basement, and throw everything away. I'm more into reorganizing the Titanic's deck chairs. As you can imagine, this causes some friction. I think we're starting to meet in the middle and have made some progress on realistic ideas for how to deal with another person in the house. The Mizz wasn't such a big deal, since we had an extra room that I think we both knew was eventually going to be a nursery. However, this one will require some rearranging of things. It's gotten somewhat easier however, since we now know what we're in for.

That's pretty much where we stand with the new addition right now. Franny's getting bigger, but then, she's supposed to be doing that. I'm getting bigger too, but without such a good excuse. I've got to do something about that. (From what I hear, I'm suffering from OBD, or Oregon Butt Disease. That's what happens when it rains all the time and you're stuck inside in a place that's famous for drinking beer. It's nice to know it's a syndrome, so I don't have to feel any personal responsibility for it.)