Newsy Post with Giant Nephew, Boy Wizard and Shaking Belly Syndrome

I participated in an important civic duty this morning. Yup, folks. I didn't try to get a medical exemption from jury duty. I showed up. The fine people in our county clerk of courts office summoned 68 people for a jury trial... and by random luck, I was number 68 of 68. I knew for most of the morning that there was almost no chance in hell I'd get chosen to be on the jury. And of course I wasn't. Shortly before lunch, prospective jurors 27 and above were dismissed.

To tell you the truth, I was mostly annoyed at listening to my fellow citizens bitch and moan about being summoned and how inconvenient it was. Hell yeah, it's inconvenient. And I hope that more employers are like mine and fully compensate employees for time spent on juries. But I was proud to be randomly selected to serve, and I would have been proud to serve the whole 12 days even if it meant that I'd be uncomfortable sitting for so long without breaks and water. I'm done preaching now.

My Anna belly is really active now. She's kicking and punching and squirming a lot. It's even gotten to the point that I can see the movement. My dear husband has only felt a few nudges and some moving from side to side, but even those brief encounters have made him much more interested in my belly. He'll come over by me and start petting my belly to say "hi" to the baby. It's quite sweet, really.

Ben is... well. He's a toddler. What can I say? He's a toddler who is cutting four molars at one time. Just one tip from each molar has cut through so far, and I'm sure his gums are very sensitive and swollen. Not one to complain, he expresses his frustration and bitterness by being naughty and easily annoyed. Last week, he had a meltdown when we came to pick him up from daycare. He wanted to stay there and play with his friends some more. Yesterday, he had a playdate with my boss's son, and he had a total meltdown when we came to pick him up and take him home. This morning, he refused to hug us goodbye at daycare, instead running to hide behind the legs of dear Amber, his caregiver.

Really. We're not getting worried about that. Nope. Not at all. Sure, it seems like he prefers pretty much anyone else over his mommy and daddy, and I've rarely heard of toddlers who do that... but we're not taking it personally. Really. Do you believe me? Or am I not laying the sarcasm on thick enough?

I know it's just a phase and he still loves us. When we finally do get home, he shows us affection. It's just that given the choice right now, he'd rather be elsewhere. Oh well.

Our weekend was fine. My sister and her son came over Saturday afternoon. My dear nephew Gage is 8 months old and 24 pounds. He's already cruising on furniture and is wearing the same size clothes as Ben. He's huge. And Ben loves him dearly. He kept going over to give him hugs, and while Gage was in his walker, Ben enjoyed pushing him around the house. Later, we all went to the public pool to let the kids play... and I actually scored a tan line.

The purpose of my sister's visit was to bring over all of the baby stuff she had at her house. Lots of it was stuff I had given her before Gage's birth. Some was stuff she had acquired at her baby shower. And totes and totes full of baby clothes and opened packs of diapers. A couple of the totes were full of items she's picked up at rummage sales this summer. Lots of stuff for Anna and stuff for Ben this winter. It's nice to have a sister like that.

Chester accused me of glowing and beaming while I went through the stuff for Anna. I couldn't help myself. I'm really excited to have a daughter.

Yesterday we left Ben at my boss's house while we went and saw Harry Potter at the movie theatre. I ate a huge bucket of popcorn and had to get up and pee no less than six times. Despite the constant up and down, I enjoyed myself, and Chester enjoyed having me to himself for the "date." We aren't able to be intimate like we would normally be as a young married couple, if you know what I mean, and while our relationship remains strong, it's easy to forget that we're man and wife when we're not partaking in the pleasures of the flesh. Whoa. TMI. Time for me to stop typing.