Dear Boo,

Now that we’re home from Thanksgiving in Atlanta, we’re starting to officially prepare for one of my favorite times of year — Christmas!

Christmas is for us primarily a celebration of when Jesus was born, but it’s also just a fun time to enjoy family and friends and winter holiday traditions. This week Tucker and I are putting up our Christmas tree, and then Tucker and Mama will decorate it together. It will be a few years before you really know what’s going on, but I have no doubt that Christmas will be a very special and exciting time for you and Tucker for many years to come.

This week you weigh about as much as your average cantaloupe, which are a type of melon that is usually eaten by itself or in a fruit salad, but some ingenious people even have it wrapped in prosciutto. It has a lot of Vitamin C and some antioxidants that make it really good for you. One of the things that’s really unique about cantaloupe is that its skin is covered in a neat net-like covering. You’ll be unique too, but hopefully without a net.

Love,

Dad

Dear Boo,

We’re finally back home and enjoying a little bit of quiet compared to last week.  You’ve were so good at letting Mama be comfortable for the drives to and from Georgia, but now she says you’ve found a new position you seem to like a lot and it’s making her sore.  Try to mix it up a little more, buddy.

It’s so nice (for me!) that you are now so big that I can almost always feel you moving around when I place my hand on Mama’s belly. She says that you can tell when it’s me, because sometimes you are still but start moving just at the sound of my voice or the feel of my hand. I hope that’s true! I can’t wait to get to hold you.

You’re now growing so fast that you weigh about as much as a big pineapple!  I LOVE good, fresh pineapple, and I suppose Mama does too, though she doesn’t like it when it’s cooked for some reason. I think she’s crazy on this point, but to each their own, right?

Love,

Dad

Dear Boo,

You’re so used to your routine every day with Mama, that this week must be feeling different, because we’re off on an adventure! We’ve driven aaaaaaall the way down from Allentown to Georgia, to spend Thanksgiving with your Uncle Dave, Auntie Maia, and a gaggle of cousins.

It must be strangely loud to you.  Including your brother Tucker, there are SEVEN little boys running around, and they make a lot of noise.  They are all very excited to meet you though.

Your Mama and I are so thankful for you, Boo.  We’re thankful that you’re healthy and growing, but mostly we’re thankful that you are joining our family and that we get to meet you so soon.

This week you weigh about as much as a large jícama (pronounced HICK-ah-mah), which is the tuberous root of a Mexican vine.  Jícama are something I only recently got to try, and I was surprised how delicious they are — the texture is like raw potato, but they are sweet and yummy and have a lot of good fibre.  Just don’t eat the vine they come from, because those are poisonous. Yikes!

Love,

Dad

Dear Boo,

It’s been so cute this week watching Tucker try to interact with you, even though you’re still inside Mama.  He likes to talk to you a little, gently pat and kiss Mama’s belly. But those kisses are meant for you! He’s just practicing being a good big brother.

This week you have grown to weigh about as much as four large naval oranges! Naval oranges get their name because there is a bump at one end that looks like a belly button, but did you know that that bump is actually the orange’s underdeveloped twin? Neato! We go through oranges pretty fast around here, because they are super yummy and good for you. Tucker loves sharing an orange with Mama or Dada, and I bet you will too.

Love,

Dad

Dear Boo,

I cannot believe we are already at Week 30! That’s about 3/4 of the way! Over the past months you’ve quickly grown from a small cluster of cells into a little tiny person with arms and legs and eyes and ears, and you’re almost ready to meet the world.

What a little miracle you are.

You now weigh about as much as a large head of cabbage! I told you about Chinese (Napa) cabbage before, but head cabbage is more common. It is similarly used in a lot of different ways though: raw in things like coleslaw, pickled in a funny sounding food called sauerkraut, and even stuffed with meat and vegetables in cabbage rolls.  Yum!  Cabbage is also very good for you, packed full of vitamins, but also has special properties that make it be used sometimes as medicine as well!

Love,

Dad