Introducing...The Crumpet!

Round about August, we will be expanding to FOUR mooses of the north. No longer just a gal, her pal, and a fuzzy black dog, we will need an entirely new blog tagline (in addition to a crib, some baby clothes, and the complete works of Dr. Seuss and Sandra Boynton).

And here is the new star of our show:

No, we can't tell which end is which, either. (We can pretend that's a head on top and a torso on the bottom.)The still photo can't show the coolest thing about having this ultrasound, which was seeing the heart beating. Improved pictures will be had in early March, when we have our big fancy "anatomy ultrasound."

Until then, we have secured an exclusive interview with the crumpet, who has agreed to answer some questions in return for more chocolate and naps:

DP (doting public): Do you still look like a blob?

LC (little crumpet): NO. That photograph is entirely out of date...that was Christmas Eve, and I was only 8 weeks old. Haven't you got something more recent on file? I am now much bigger...about four inches. I have fingers and toes and a face. I move around, though Mom can't feel me yet. Seriously, there are a lot of changes going on in here between 8 and 15 weeks. This week I'm going to be working on eyebrows and making a fist.

DP: Are you a boy or a girl?

LC: I plead the fifth (Grandma F- taught me about that). Mom and Dad are still talking about whether they are going to find out. I am playing my cards close to the vest, Mom has no intuition whatsoever on this subject. (If she claims it retrospectively, don't believe her.)

DP: So, "crumpet"? Where did that come from?

LC: Apparently I was the "proto-crumpet" well before I even existed. "Bun in the oven" does seem a bit objectionable, I suppose. "Croissant" was out, as the French are rather out themselves these days (Freedom Pastry?). "Broetchen" was suggested by Dad, but Mom could not pronounce it. "Scone" was in the running, but "crumpet" was cuter. So, crumpet I am, at least for the moment. I hear rumblings of name discussions occasionally, but nothing is remotely settled. There was a beautiful moment when they had decided on "Ethan" for a boy, only to realize the next day that their old New England name is now #4 for American boys, so that's been scratched. (Then they contemplated alternative spellings like Ythan and Ethyn and Eeeethan...no, just kidding, they did no such thing.)

DP: How are you staying warm out there in Minnesota?

LC: Mom is doing a good job of keeping me warm, even though sometimes it is at the expense of her fingers. She's been wearing a lot of layers. She spends a lot of time curled up on the couch, sleeping.

DP: What does Jasper think about you?

LC: The more time Mom spends sleeping on the couch next to him, the happier he is. So he's pretty happy these days.

DP: We saw those pictures of your mom on Vieques and in Italy. She was holding some suspicious-looking drinks. What was in those?

LC: Mom and Dad have been safeguarding against underage drinking. It's been nothing but tropical fruit juice for me. (And soymilk. And tea. And lots of acqua naturale.) Mom keeps talking about something called an "apple martini" that she wants after she comes home from the hospital, but I don't know anything about that.

LC: I think that's enough for now, I must return to gestating!