Happy Relatives, First Gifts!

So my partner and I were away for the last week for my brother's wedding (Congrats Andrew and Fatima!), and a lot of my relatives found out about the coming baby for the first time. It was kind of hilarious because most of them kind of went "meh" when they found out about my PhD (they didn't really get it), but they totally understood the whole baby thing. They were losing it. It made me feel like we belonged!

We also received our first baby gifts from our friends and my mother-in-law, including a ducky towel, a lamby doll, a Sophie the Giraffe, and a very generous cheque. It's so exciting to get these, because it helps us start imagining what the baby's environment is going to be like. It's going to be hard to stay cool with such cuteness overload, but I'll do my best. Actually, who am I kidding... Cool people don't use the word "Cool."

I also started reading my first baby book on the plane today. It's called Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting, and, as the title suggests, it's about an American woman's explorations of the unique and rather brilliant style of parenting many use in France. My wife just finished reading it and she was rapturous about how great it was, and I thought it was about time I hit one of these parenting books to see what all the fuss is about. I'm enjoying it so far. I'll keep you posted.

Anyway, I'm exhausted from a day of travel, but I promise a longer and at least moderately coherent post tomorrow. I just didn't want to be truant from the blog any longer!