16 (and a half) Weeks

Yes, yes. I know this is late. I'm sorry. There is a part of me that wants to type "now don't be alarmed" but I know that if I type that that you all will become alarmed so I won't do that. Here is the statement that I will not warn against being alarmed about:

Today did not start off ideally for Nicole, Chris, and the Bun.

I know, you're freaking out right now even though I didn't tell you to not be alarmed. Hang in there, though. Here's an explanation:

Chris got a phone call this morning from Dr. Pott (don't freak out). Dr. Pott is Nicole's dentist. Nicole missed her appointment to have her teeth cleaned that has been on the calendar for about six months. The next available appointment at Dr. Pott's office was in June. (That is not a typo. June. That is four months away.) Nicole was frustrated to say the least. I believe that this is the first real opportunity Nicole has had to use the "the baby is eating my brain" excuse. So we're going to. The Bun has now begun to encroach upon Nicole's clear thinking. Poor Nicole. (The dentist story does end happily, though. Nicole was able to get an appointment at another dentist's office thanks to a referral from sister-in-law Melissa. You all can now rest well knowing that Nicole's teeth will be, not just clean but, dentist clean after her appointment on Monday.)

The Bun has also begun to communicate with Nicole by letting her know that even short stretches of unhealthy food are a bad idea. After two consecutive meals that were not particularly healthy this week, Nicole felt, well, not good. Not horrible but not good. We are trying to make sure that our meals in the future are consistently well balanced.

On a side note that has a little to do with poor eating (the not-too-healthy meals included Super Bowl Sunday), perhaps we should do something to honor the New Orleans Saints victory. I haven't run this by Nicole yet so we'll see what she thinks. Maybe we could name the Bun "Who Dat" or something. Thoughts?

Our baby now measures about 4.3 to 4.6 inches from crown to rump and weighs about 2.8 ounces. Fingernails are well-formed and the fine hair, lanugo, may be growing on the head. Arms and legs are moving. The nervous system is functioning and muscles are responding to stimulation from your baby's brain. We have been able to hear the baby's heartbeat in the doctor's office. Our baby's fingers and toes are well-defined; eyelids, eyebrows, eyelashes, nails and hair are formed. Teeth and bones become denser. Our baby can even suck his or her thumb, yawn, stretch and make faces. The nervous system is starting to function and the reproductive organs and genitalia are now fully developed.

Thanks for catching up with us. Feel free to leave us more comments! We love reading them.