Our Little Portuguese Explorer

So there was a little quiz hidden in last week's post about the house. Some of you may be wondering who Magellan is. Others may recall that Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan led the first European attempt to circumnavigate the globe. (It didn't turn out so well for Magellan, but some of his crew finished the trip, and he ended up with a strait named after him, so maybe it wasn't all bad, either.) Even those probably wonder why there is a room set aside for him in our new house. Well, if you belong to either of these two groups, kudos to you for reading all the captions and/or remembering sixth-grade social studies! But the Magellan in question is not the famed explorer. Rather, the Magellan who will be moving into the blue bedroom sometime in November is Rachel's little brother-or-sister-to-be. Yet another reason that we're glad to have the house thing finally coming to fruition! We'll have a few months to live in what Rachel has taken to calling "yeyyow house" and get settled in before we become a foursome.

"Why Magellan?" you ask? "Why not?!" we say! Actually, Magellan was Rachel's first word. She was about three months old when David carried her out from a diaper change saying, "Rachel has a favorite explorer. I could swear she just said, 'Magellan.'" Rachel's fetal name was Avogadro, a chemical nod to her due date's proximity to mole day. We couldn't find any such connection for Magellan's due date, so we chose this other significant word instead. (Fear not--Rachel will not be the one to choose what we playfully refer to Magellan's after-birth name. (Quick aside: Do you know anyone who names their placenta?) That role rests squarely with the parents in this house--er, family.)

Anyway, with no further ado, we would like to present Magellan's first blog photo. Well, I suppose it's more aptly called a sono, since there were no light waves involved in its capture, but it will do until Magellan meets the light.

For those unschooled in interpreting these skeletal heiroglyphs (Props to ultrasound techs. They see what we mere mortals cannot--it's really amazing what they can decipher from the fuzzy, moving images they see.), imagine that you see a wee infant lying on its back, with its head to the left of your screen. You'll note the ribs in cross section along the chest, an arm held above the chest, and a cute little face in profile. Very little--this creature is currently the length of a banana!--but we hope you'll agree that it's also very cute! As proud parents, we should also point out the nicely developing brain. That's what parents are supposed to do, right--talk up how smart their children are? This one actually waved at Big Sister during the first ultrasound. (Big Sister, by the way, would like everyone to know that she, too, is excited to meet the baby. What's more, she, too, has a baby in her belly, as does Daddy. We could have a very busy fall if all these babies are born at once!)

So there you go. Meet Magellan. His/her interests include sleeping, wiggling, kicking, and break-dancing. (Quite a mover and shaker, this one!) Oh, and she/he has recently added sucking, hearing, and peeing to his/her list of skills. We're very proud, and excited to introduce you to (ahem!) after-birth Magellan late this fall!