Baby Shower
Today my Mom and sister threw a beautiful baby shower for Buddha and me. They made tons of delicious food and the entire house was decorated for Christmas so it was very festive. So many people were very generous and brought beautiful gifts for Baby Buddha- toys, books, clothes to last till he's ready for kindergarten, and a "What Would Buddha Do?" bumper sticker. The best part of the day was just seeing everyone that came, especially my friends from college Liz and Megs. We all had fun showing off our buddha bellys (even if they had to cheat and add pillows to theirs). I want to say thank you to everyone who helped prepare and everyone who came to celebrate with us from the bottom of my belly.
-Claire
Our first major pieces of baby equipment came last week. I started to put them together, scratched my head, cursed a little bit at the directions, and then continued. No wonder they tell you to figure out the car seat before you go to the hospital. We got the stroller and car seat working with each other. I should say INFANT car seat because I am finding out everything you buy for a baby needs to be replaced 6 months to a year later. I thought the wedding business was a money maker. It doesn't come close to the baby business. I am very impressed with the Zippy and how well it fits with the Graco car seat. For those of you who have not looked at baby stuff before, just ignore the last sentence. Claire practiced strapping Lamby (childhood stuffed animal) into the car seat and I practiced doing 360's with Lamby in the stroller. Good thing Lamby has a strong stomach. 
A couple of days ago, I had my first real interation with Buddha. Just about every night since Claire first felt the baby move, I put my hand on her belly and wait for him to kick. Usually, Claire tells me when he is kicking and I place my hand there. Sometimes I feel him kick and other times I don't. A few days ago I decided I was going to take matters in my own hands. I didn't want to wait for Claire to feel him kick. So, I got real close to her belly and spoke through my hand like a megaphone... "Daddy to Buddha.. Come in please." Sure enough he kicked my hand. "Say again Buddha. Over." Another kick. This went on for a couple of minutes with him kicking back after I said something. It was one of the coolest things to happen so far. Of course, this is nothing new for Claire. She feels Buddha moving around and kicking her all day and all night. But for me, it was an unreal experience.
