It's a Boy!

Well, the faithful readers of Nub in the Oven seemed to be onto something with our poll. Turns out, as the majority of people suspected, we are having a boy! Niki and I had a funny feeling ourselves that that's what we were going to have. But after the first doctor who examined Niki said that's what it was, and the second doctor came in to "concur," we knew for sure. Of course, they are quick to warn you in the same breath that you can't be 100 percent sure until you're actually holding your baby. But while we're pretty patient people, we can't wait that long, so we'll go ahead and start planning for our little guy now. We started discussing names on our drive into work this morning, but turns out the 405 Freeway between Long Beach and Los Angeles may not be the best place for inspiration. Crenshaw? Westchester? Inglewood? Ford Ranger? Kia? Goodyear? Marina del Rey? Definitely a work in progress...

Forest Fire?

Today is a big day for Nub. Later this morning we've got an appointment where we're hoping Nub will reveal itself as a little boy or a little girl. Our niece Rachel thinks we should have a girl and that her name should be Amanda. But our nephew Benjamin thinks we should have a boy and that his name should be Forest Fire. We're not exactly sure how that would work though. "Come here Forest Fire! Didn't we tell you not to play with matches?" Hmm. Well, first things first. Let's figure out what we're having, and then we'll continue our search for a name.

Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming

Niki and I were driving home from work tonight and the duet "Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming" with Jermaine Jackson and Michael Jackson came on the radio. And Nub, to its credit, seemed to know that Michael was completely singing around Jermaine during the song. Niki said Nub was moving around when Michael came on. Such musical appreciation at such a young age! I think we're all going to get along quite well.

Eyebrows

This week, Nub grew eyebrows! We are hoping that Nub will, of course, have normal-looking brows, maybe something classy if Nub is a girl and at least something separated if Nub is a boy. (Or a girl come to think of it...) In other words, we're hoping Nub doesn't look like Bert, Andy Rooney or Joan Crawford, which, come to think of it, maybe are additional names to add to the will-not-name list...

All Aflutter

So we've been secretly willing Nub to spend as much time awake as it possibly can while it's in the glorious confines of the womb, in hopes that it will just want to sleep through the night a whole bunch when it's born, maybe like for the first five years or so. And so far, it seems to be heeding our advice! Niki felt Nub's first flutter of activity last week and, last night, Nub woke her up with its fluttering movement. Stay awake Nub so you can sleep later!

So Far So Good

Niki had another appointment yesterday and everything is going swimmingly. But speaking of swimming, one thing we learned in one of Niki's books is that it is no longer advisable for her to be water skiing at this point. Or horseback riding. There goes our winter vacation at the Lakefront Dude Ranch.

What's in a Name?

So far, the list of names we absolutely don't want appears bigger than the list of names we like. I think some of that has to do with baby-name books that suggest ridiculous names that no one would possibly ever want to name their kid. Zanthippus? Would you call it Zanthy? We'll keep a running tab of what's out of the running. Here's the latest to be scratched off the list:

LaToya

Zanthippus

Sheniqua