Hoax, n. [Prob. contr. fr. hocus, in hocus-pocus.] A deception for mockery or mischief

Well, what a drama yesterday turned out to be! Whatever ever your name turns out to be little one, you're obviously destined to be a little drama queen!

It all began at 1:30am when Linda woke with what seemed to be the beginnings of labour. Like I said in the previous post, the onset of labour is like a bomb threat. Even if you're sure that it's a hoax, you've gotta take it seriously. Linda isn't due until December 17, but any time after three weeks prior to the due date is considered full-term and not a problem. So anyway, 1:30am and the contractions kick in. No breaking water, but that often doesn't occur at the outset anyway. Linda was attempting (in vain) to get me to properly wake up, but I was lying in bed listening to all this happening and offering an infrequent supportive grunt. After Linda become seriously nauseous (listening to someone trying to vomit is a lovely experience) and then finally settled down again, it seemed that there was a bit of a lull in the proceedings. However Linda couldn't get back to sleep again and had a whopping 45 minutes sleep last night. I had a few hours and felt like a train wreck, so I can't imagine how she must have been. Then in the morning it all started to crank up again. We had nowhere to send CC, so we were a bit concerned as to what to do. I obviously took the morning off work and awaited developments. Some calls to Mum and Dad got the whole family machinery into full swing.

The problem was that there didn't appear to be any kind of pattern to anything. Contractions would come in rapid succession and then there would be nothing for an hour. They would be really intense, humourously reducing Linda to a blithering idiot, and then the next series would be barely noticeable. Jen (Linda's Mum who is a naturopath) came over and was certain that labour was upon us. (I had my doubts but was ready to believe.) I took off for a couple of hours to finalise some things at work in case this was the real deal and returned home at 2:30pm to find Linda finally sound asleep in bed and Chelsea and Jen watching Toy Story 2 for the second consecutive time. When Linda got up again there was nothing happening and when we went into the hospital for our regular Thursday night checkup the midwife assured us that while this wasn't labour per se, the real thing would likely be upon us with 24 to 48 hours. Dean and Erin (Linda's younger brother and his girlfriend) stayed overnight in case something happened and we needed a babysitter for CC. Armed with that comforting knowledge Linda and I both got a good night's sleep last night and when we awoke this morning there was absolutely nothing happening.

So little one, what was all THAT about? Causing Mum and Dad a whole lot of stress for nothing! That's it - you're grounded for a week.

Chelsea has gone on a day care excursion today to the RSPCA, the local fire brigade, and Amber's Playhouse (a kid's play centre). I think it's her first excursion. Cute. Speaking of Chelsea, Linda and I uncovered the cause of something that has been causing Linda some distress: Chelsea has been calling her "lover" when she says goodnight. I had no idea that she was doing this (it has been happening for weeks apparently) and only became aware when Linda told me the other night. It didn't occur to me that I was the cause and the penny only dropped last night when Chelsea and I went through the usual pre-bedtime ritual. After we've put on her PJs and brushed her teeth etc, I always tell her to "go say goodnight and tell Mummy you love her" but I usually do it in a silly Aussie accent (imagine Steve Irwin saying it) so that it sounds like "go tell ah yoo love ah". CC took this as meaning "go and call Mummy 'love-ah'" which she dutifully did every night. :-) Funny kid. (Not as bad as the time she announced in front of a supermarket audience that she had a sore "wee-wee" and that I should "kiss it better". Supremely embarrassing, and no doubt my flustered response was highly amusing to all around.)

Anyway, in summary it looks like kid 2 could be coming any day. I realise that I say this constantly, but this time it could be for real. (My actual prediction is that she will be born on December 15 but everyone else seems so desperate for her to be born now that I think I'll have to go along with it.)

Oh, for posterity's sake here are the names we're considering:

• Kristen
• Phoebe
• others that I can't recall and will add later.

Sunday (December 5) is Linda's baby shower at Wooliams' house too (if the baby hasn't come yet), so Sunday afternoon is looking good for some serious Halo 2 time. Yeah baby!

Today's dictionary.com Word of the day: empyrean - The highest reaches of heaven, in ancient belief usually thought to be a realm of pure fire or light.


See you soon!

J