Baby Brain

We've been experiencing a really strange phenomenon around here lately. It's something that I've only read about but I've never seen in person. Kind of like angel sightings and UFO's. This one seems only to strike households that are expecting a baby. It's called "Baby brain". If I understand the concept correctly, the baby has some magical, mystical power that sucks away average, everyday brain power that keeps one organized and on track. It's a fascinating concept, especially since I'm not the one suffering from it- Alex is.  I've been trying to capture as much of it as possible on film. I need the physical proof because I know its only a matter of time before the denial stage of this phenomenon sets in. Here is my list of proof so far:

• Weight gain. Today, I have about 38 days left before Baby P is due. I've gained 14 pounds. Alex has gained 25. 

• Ice cream in the refrigerator. I haven't had one constant "craving" throughout this pregnancy yet. One week I'll eat a grilled cheese sandwich every day then the next week peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Last week I only wanted to eat Taquitos covered in cheddar cheese and sour cream. A couple of weeks ago, I had chocolate ice cream once a day. I think the only thing I have consistently gone through has been bags upon bags of Cutie Mandarin oranges. I demolish a bag every 3 or 4 days. Anyway, one night Alex fixed up some bowls of ice cream. It was tasty and delicious. He even cleaned up afterwards. Come the next day, as I opened the refrigerator to make some breakfast this is what I found:

          Half a container of completely melted chocolate ice cream. Make that foamy chocolate milk product. 

• Dryer sheets. That's the box of Bounce dryer sheets in with the laundry. The intended-to-be-used single sheet was sitting on the shelf.

• Forgotten keys. Alex has now forgotten his work keys at home on average of 3 times a week. Today included. They haven't moved. They're right where he always leaves them. On the hook, by the front door. 

• Razor blades. Several times now, he's reached in the drawer for a new disposable razor, removed the blade cover and tossed the razor in the garbage.

• The sliding glass door. Just about every day, Alex will open the back sliding glass door, stick his head out, and evaluate what the weather is like outside. It doesn't matter if its raining, snowing, sunny, or a tornado is headed directly for the house. He doesn't open it just a little. He opens it wide enough to hang his manly frame out the opening at the most unnatural angle. I would not be surprised if one day his hand slips and he falls down the stairs. Well, today, he forgot to shut the door behind him. I watched him turn right around, walk toward me, kiss me goodbye and walk out the garage door to go to work. Door wide open. Thank goodness the dog was sleeping in the other room. Our backyard is not fenced in and Davey is not trained to stay put. 

• Mood swings. This just might be my favorite. My mom asked me the other day if I'm starting to get cranky. The answer: not that I can tell so far. Well, at least not me. Alex has been very cranky. Some days he wakes up cranky and won't be himself again until after he eats lunch. The other night he came home from work early and lied on the couch while I was finishing up a letter. Thinking that he wanted to take a nap I quietly kept myself busy. Nope. He wasn't napping. He was pouting. Turns out he wanted to go see a movie and my thank you card writing took to long. (Seriously, it was one card. That takes, what 7 minutes if one writes slowly.) So he put himself to bed at 7:30 pm. With no dinner. On another occasion, I asked if I could have a bit of his hazelnut chocolate cake roll. A tantrum followed. The other day, I wanted to sleep on his side of the bed (he sleeps on the left side, I'm supposed to sleep on my left side, it's easy to sit up when you don't have to crawl over yourself just to go to the bathroom). Another tantrum. And I thought I was the one who was pregnant. Yikes.

I bring up all these points not to husband-bash, of course. It's just that none of this has ever really been normal behavior. At least not in the past 13 years. Alex has always been a very routine-like kind of guy and likes his stuff to be in the same place.

What can I say? I kind of like this version of baby brain.