Kick It!

Well what a week this past one has been. According to Nicole's lady doctor, Goose should have begun moving around by now. Nicole thought she felt him move for the first time 2 weeks ago... over a box of nerds no less. I guess the thought of a sugary, candy-coated high was too much to stay still about. But even his movement then left Nicole unsure that it was actually Goose and not any of the multitude of changes her body is undergoing (i.e. gas). So we weren't completely certain then. This past week; however, is a completely different story. Where last week was more "I think that was the baby moving", this week has become "What the &*^% Goose, knock it off already!" He has been gettin' with it.

So I believe it was Wednesday night... Nicole and I were watching some mindless television before we go to bed (our usual routine), and Nicole comments that Goose is really moving around. Then, she asks me/tells me to put my hand on her belly so I can feel him. I'm sure it's the same for all dad's the first time this happens, or maybe I'm a little different, given my uneasiness with all things slightly out of the ordinary. I much prefer thinking everything through so that I'm completely prepared for what's about to happen to me, in hopes of warding off the girl screams that are both untimely and unbecoming. But I balanced that side of me with the side that says that I'm not just a man, but rather, "THE" man, and therefore I did what I always do, fake some manliness, push myself through and I say "Sure" and I put my hand on her belly. And then... I wait. I'd compare the situation at this point, to a kid that wants to hold a bug, or a bird or anything else that they haven't felt before. They want to experience it. They want someone else to put the bug or the bird on their hand and they cringe and close their eyes and turn away in the moments before it happens because they don't know for sure what is about to happen. (Sure, some of them probably pee their pants and scream like little girls too, not saying I know of this personally, I'm just guessing it probably happens. It's a big world.) Anyway... so I wait. And so I realize that I'm on somebody else's time line. And I think, "Can he feel my hand on Nicole's stomach? Is that why he's not moving?" "Did I just freak him out?" "What's going on in there son!" Then it happened, and I will never forget it. Goose kicked and moved and rolled all at once. Sort of like a whale breaching the surface of the sea. Or maybe like the roll a gator does when it catches something. Sure, maybe a dog doing the roll over trick, but that is much less glamorous. Add a kick to all these things and you've got it. It happened so fast that it took a few seconds to process, so if anybody is curious, I didn't yelp like a girl or yank my hand back quickly. I just felt happy. Such a strange feeling. Hard to completely describe, but it was monumental to me. I will no doubt carry the feeling with me forever. Good for me, but great for Goose. He's going to be a quick one. He's going to be a soccer player. (Ref. Billy Madison).

Also this past week Nicole and I learned that Goose has been developing his sense of touch. Probably why he has been so active. I have a few theories on this. The first... that he is much like his father and is uneasy to the "new" experience of feeling things and he continues to freak himself out repeatedly. The second is that he has been playing a game with Nicole that she is unaware of. The old childhood game of "I'm going to start kicking, and I hope you don't get in my way." The third, while extremely doubtful, is the vision I have of a jailed inmate pumping iron to pass the time. He's got nothing better to do than say, grow some eyes, so in the downtime, why not beef himself up a little. Now, I'm in no way calling Goose a criminal so much as saying that when he arrives, there's a good chance he is going to be a bad a$$... and possibly a smoker.

That is all.