Preggers at Christmas

After a mad-dash through the maddening labyrinth of Philadelphia airport, we arrived (panting) to discover that our connecting flight out to Chicago was delayed by more than an hour. So it gave us some time to grab a bite to eat and settle in for our own little long winter's nap.

It is always sad to leave the McDonnell's at the end of a visit. And this was a particularly nice visit. In addition to the lovely baby shower that Denyse threw for us, we enjoyed a big family "brupper" (brunch for supper) with the extended family on Saturday. Everyone wore their Christmas pajamas while we enjoyed quiche and Pat's masterful pancakes. After brupper, we played a Christmas exchange game that involved rolling dice and picking from a pile of small gifts in the center every time we rolled doubles. Much fun was had by all.

Friday night while sitting together on the couch, Terry's sister Bri became the first person other than the two of us to feel the baby kick. The next night at Brupper, after a nice dose of delicious maple syrup, he was pleased to oblige more of the family, so Denyse and Pat both got to feel their squirmy little grandson. Terry's cousin Jenny barely put her hand on my stomach and she got one of his stomach-shaking Pele-style kicks.

We also went out for a delicious steak dinner to celebrate the dual birthdays of Terry (31) and his brother-in-law Jesse (30). I lamented the need to have meat that was fully cooked instead of deliciously rare.

On Sunday, the day of Terry's actual birthday, we went out for Five Guy's Burgers, a Washington DC favorite of his that is spreading out its roots. I don't know whether it was those mouth-watering burgers or the cajun fries, but the munchkin started doing these crazy flipping acrobatics. He's usually a pretty active kid, but he was unusually squirmy and vigorous, rolling around and punching out with all four limbs at once. And he's kept up that level of activity ever since. Last night was the first night since I've been pregnant that his little antics have made it tough for me to sleep. Normally he's a pretty chill little guy at night. I'm hoping it will taper off sometime soon as he settles back in (perhaps recovers from the holiday sugar rush? Mommy was a little less than disciplined with the cookies). Otherwise this is going to be a long, sleepless, Tums(R) filled final three months.