Passover plans

Passover dinner plan:

* Soup + matza balls

Appetizers:
* Chopped liver
* Charosset
* Hard-boiled eggs

Main course:
* Roast beef
* Potatoes
* salad

Dessert
chocolate mousse?

35 weeks

i think i almost look like i'm wearing a pregnant lady costume.
but let me assure you - i feel very very pregnant. and starting to feel pretty big too. the baby and i are still doing well, i'm still tireder than normal, but that's not surprising - she's supposed to gain at least another Kg or so (~2.4 pounds), going by average fetal growth.
and to show you all (and us...) that i AM gaining weight, we wrote down the measurements from the doctor's office - here's a plot. the error bars represent our uncertainty in the ability of the nurses to actually measure weight with the old-fashion nurse-office scale.
the solid red line is taken from this "Average fetal length and weight chart". i shifted it so that it coincides with my weight at the week 16 appointment.
you would notice that there's no "zeropoint", i.e., i don't have a pre-pregnancy weight measurement... sorry... i just have no idea what my weight was before.
but since it doesn't look like i changed much (besides the watermelon under my shirt), i can only assume that it's balanced by the cumulative weight of placenta, my larger boobs, larger uterus, amniotic fluid, and increased blood volume... well, it's hard ot be super scientific when you lack data-points!



by the way, look at the orchid in the picture! isn't it nice? it's been doing really well. all 4 flowers are open and blooming :)

more sweaters

just finished the green sweater last night. can't wait to have a model to put in these garments!!

33 weeks

this weekend we moved all our stuff to a 2-bedroom apartment in the same building. poor Ben did most of the heavy lifting (i had to force myself not to work too hard...) with some help from our friend Chris, and by the end of the weekend we were sort of settled in and had most of our stuff organized. we still have to hang pictures and shelves, which we'll probably do at the end of the month after getting some extra furniture from ikea (always wanted to have one of these book cases - now we have room for it!)

the new apartment is on the south-east corner of the building, and the living room faces the lake, which is very nice. i'll still miss the old view though.

moving is hard, especially when you're in the 8th month!!! it seems to have been a lot easier last time we moved. but now we're happy that it's all done and that we're all moved, and can lay back and relax for a little bit.. that is, in these precious moments that the little person inside me decides to give me a break and not kick me around.
i'm so pregnant.

everybody's at home

at last!
ben is back from his meetings at Stanford and Berkeley, and this marks the last time anyone is allowed to travel. i'm grounded to a 2-hour radius from chicago (doctor's orders!) and ben, well, i grounded him :D he's not going anywhere!
the scroogim are grounded because they must have done something to deserve being grounded (here's me, practicing mom skills).
it feels good to be home - even though it's only for a few more days, before we move to our new, larger home.
i bet the baby feels the same way. i think she's running out of space in there, and to demonstrate that, she keeps pushing and turning and kicking. especially when i'm sitting in the car (or at a boring seminar).
we gained 2 lbs (about 1kg) over the last month, and the last two doctor visits the baby was standing on her head. the doctors said she will probably stay that way - head down, feet up - until the delivery (i.e., until she moves to a bigger home!).
i sometimes feel sorry for her, because really, who wants to live in such a tight space? no wonder she tries to stretch it out all the time. and it's not like she never knew any better, she did have more space earlier on, and could move around and swim and flip and what not. and gradually her home is shrinking on her. maybe that's why babies decide to come out at some point.

i'm feeling ok, my knee is almost 100% - ben commented today that i'm walking really fast. i'm just so tired all the time... i think a cup of coffee will do me good, but don't want to get all addicted again.

fishing for ideas

i got a couple of skeins of this beautiful, soft yarn from Sandy, and i need ideas for a project. this yarn is really really nice, so i want to make something that will be used for longer than it takes a baby to grow out of a sweater :)

any ideas for projects/patterns?

(needless to say that it's for the baby... also, i can get more yarn of the same brand, so it can be a larger project)

see the new post below - Paris III

afternoon nap

sometime last weekend...

32 weeks

(3/3/09)

(see all the belly pics here)

belly shelf

black scrooge decided that it's a good idea to just sit on my belly, between me and my laptop (he used to have enough space to sit on my lap, but now there's a big belly filling up all that space). of course it makes it kinda hard to see what i type.. :S


(luckily, black scrooge is much lighter and gentler than gray scrooge. gray isn't welcomed to step on the little one)

spring?

i still have 2 posts in the drafts folder ("paris III" and "baby shower...", promise to finish them this weekend!) so look for them later.

it's spring today - temperatures climbed to over 10C, in the 50's F, that's super warm in chicago weather. it's really nice. i had to borrow one of ben's short-sleeve shirts, since i don't have any that fits over my belly (ordered some yesterday, just in case it gets warm again...). the climate in the office isn't that pleasant, the heating is set too high - i'm actually considering taking my laptop outside!
i'm glad that i won't be pregnant in the summer.

ben is away all week, meeting people in california, and i feel lonely. gladly he'll be back soon.

we're moving to a 2-bedroom apartment (in the same building) next weekend, so when i get tired of working i pack a little bit of the apartment into a box, so it's easier to move. another upgrade in out living situation, is moving our car into the indoors parking garage at the building. so nice! i think it's worth the extra $$ we're paying now...

i'm getting more tired lately, i guess what they told me about the 2nd trimester being the easiest is sort of true. i find myself craving coffee in the middle of the day and daydreaming about napping on my desk. also, i have to run to the bathroom a lot more, since someone is head-butting my bladder. not nice!

and lastly, workwise -- work is kinda fun lately. i've started to enjoy what i'm doing again, and this is a very good feeling. i was quite miserable for a while, doing things i didn't care for and wasn't enthusiast about. i'm almost happy to be going to work in the morning! yayy!
also, my thesis was finally approved and got good reviews. i've officially started my fellowship (i was employed on a temporary position until now), but still waiting for the actual letter saying that i got my phd. i wonder what i'll be first -- a Dr or a mom!

these are the updates for now... and don't forget to check in early next week for those two other posts in the pipeline.

Paris (III)

those two days in paris seemed a lot longer - we got to see so many things! here are some pictures... and for a full description, read about it in Assaf's blog :)



1. pricey little espresso at a pricey little deli; 2. Venus over a building across the street; 3. Molin Rouge; 4. Montmartre; 5. river Seine

our last destination in Paris was Musee Picasso - the Picasso museum.

a few years ago when i was visiting Pasadena, i followed a friend's advice and went to the Norton Simon museum. that museum is quite tiny, but it has an amazing collection. in a very nonchalant way, it has hanging side by side Degas and Rembrandt, Monet, Renoir, van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin...
and there was one painting by Picasso, that caught me.
growing up with all those are books so accessible, it wasn't the first time i've seen a Picasso - i have to admit, i didn't make much of Picasso's art before seeing that picture. couldn't understand what's with the asymmetric features, the cross eyes, just didn't get it.
and then, looking at that one painting from up close, its thick layer of oil paint, bright vivid colors, i finally got it. it's hard to explain exactly what "it" is that i got, it could be something emotional that i can't explain in words... but i think i finally learned to appreciate Picasso. maybe you have to see it in real life and not in a picture in a book.

next to the painting, there was a small plaque with a couple of paragraphs of text -- it was probably similar to this (from the Norton Simon museum website):

In early 1932, Picasso painted a number of large canvases of women, brightly colored and elaborately drawn in heavy dark lines that flow into great sweeping curves. His model for these paintings was his mistress, Marie-Therèse Walter, who in this picture looks up from her book and momentarily daydreams. In Woman with a Book, Picasso referred to Ingres' great portrait, Madame Moitessier (National Gallery, London). Striking similarities can be noted in the pose, the graceful, sensuous lines, and the reflected image in the mirror behind the sitter.

the last part, about this painting being somewhat of an answer to a classic, probably commissioned, portrait, made me look at this picture even more closely and appreciate it on a deeper level.



i was excited to see more of Picasso at the Picasso Museum in Paris. here are a couple of paintings that i was moved by:

"Still Life on a Pedestal Table" - it's your basic still life paining, in "Picassish". when i was in, i don't know, 5th or 6th grade i took art class, and the teacher would put a bunch of fruit and a vase on a table, with some table cloth draped around them, and we were supposed to draw. i think i did a pretty good job.
i think Picasso did a better one :)
it's the vase, and the fruits, floor, background... all told in the language of Picasso.


"The Sculptor"
i think i stood by this painting for 15 minutes and stared. here's a sculptor, sitting in his studio, and admiring his art... he's sitting there looking relaxed, but has two faces: one face is looking at the sculpture, but the other face is looking at you - maybe looking to see what your expression is, looking for the approval of his audience. isn't that what many artists secretly (or not secretly) crave? after all, art is a way to express oneself. i think it's not only means to get your feelings out there, but also to have your thoughts reflected off of other people's perception.