Week 16

Wow hard to believe we've reached week 16 and the 4th month of this pregnancy. This week, the baby develops to the size of an avocado and is covered in "lanugo" - a layer of fine soft hair all over its body most of which it will shed before its born.

Strange thing is, I too seem to be growing lanugo, or something like it. Small soft hairs are growing all over my stomach! Very Weird - and this symptom doesn't seem to be depicted anywhere in any of my pregnancy sources. It may be time for me to finally enter one of those pregnant women discussion forums...

Thus far I have been an occasional spectator but not participant in these pregnancy discussion forums. Although they are interesting, sometimes entertaining, occasionally informative, there are also times when you come upon comments that make you want to cover your eyes, click that close button on your browser and fast! Teen and red-neck moms especially make me cringe as they inevitably say something that makes you want to call the child protection agencies! Also all too often, people seem to think that they can share the graphic details of their sex life simply because they're pregnant and they wonder if its "normal" to feel this way when one is pregnant. TMI! TMI!

This weekend I bought our first book on parenting called "Parenting with Love and Logic". So far, U and I both very much agree with its philosophy which in brief, teaches parents how to raise responsible children by giving them, starting from a young age, enforceable options. It teaches parents the benefits of allowing children to learn by making their own choices (with limits), and if necessary, facing the consequences of their choices so that once they reach adolescents/adulthood, they will be prepared to make real life choices. In today's middle class society, I see so much over protecting from parents - parents who hover over their children to satisfy their every need and/or controlling their every behavior. In both of these parenting styles, it seems that the parent loves their child and Im sure they do, but you can also imagine that come time to leave the nest, the child will have difficult coping and making the right decisions as its the first time in their lives they will have had the opportunity to do so.

I know it will be REALLY hard for me, as my mom and dad always thought that to love us was to protect us, and I already have an innate desire to shield my avocado from any and all foreign and potentially harmful objects. Nevertheless, U and I want to learn to treat our children almost as adults, when appropriate, let them make their own choices and learn that some choices lead inevitably to certain consequences - and actually allow them to experience some of those consequences. We want to raise our kids to go out to the world, optimistic that they can take it on and confident that they can make the right decisions because we've given them plenty of practice.

I am not sure I will have the patience and discipline not to let emotion take over at times, but I certainly want to try. After reading some of the book, U and I both feel like we need to clean up our acts - and fast!! One thing however is certain.. parenting will be one of the biggest challenge of our lives...!