t h e . r i d i c u l o u s . p a n d a

my father has always said to us "you kids have been everywhere" and i believe him. anytime we went anywhere new, he would say it. anytime we talked about past adventures, he would say it. i don't know if it's his way of reassuring himself that he has provided us with plentiful opportunities, exposure to the world at large or just his not so subtle way of reminding us that he and my mom have done everything they can to set us up on the good path, but i know he's right. i've been everywhere, thanks to him, thanks to the sense of courage they have instilled in me and thanks to my ability to make decent decisions.

now i have a child of my own. and ever since the first day that sam and i realized i was pregnant, i've been filing away all of the places this little baby has been. even making notes of his adventures when he was nothing beyond a few divided cells. we heard his heart beat at seven weeks, so i felt justified in telling this baby very early on "you, little baby, have been everywhere."

ahem...

every saturday morning for the first eight weeks of the pregnancy, i took you on a slow walk in one of my favorite places in chicago, the fern room of the garfield park conservatory. i took a gardening class at the conservatory and it just happened to kick off the first weekend that i figured i was pregnant, i was right. i will always remember sitting in that class early in the mornings trying to concentrate on all the urban gardening lectures, but instead constantly thinking about the crazy adventure going on inside of me. spending the first fifteen minutes of the day inhaling the humidity and thick greenery of the fern room just made sense.

that february (before anybody knew about the baby besides us and the grandmothers-to-be) we took you to a birthday party for a cat, to see bob mould, blue man group and sarah vowell.

in march we took you to a wolves games for a bit of ahl action, i was so worried that our friends would notice that i wasn't drinking draft beer and bust me on the oddity.

on april fool's day we went to dinner for your godmother lisa's birthday and before she could get in any news about herself, sam blurted out that i was pregnant. right at that moment lisa pledged to make sure you always had the best kicks.
when i was twelve weeks pregnant we spent a few days in door county, wisconsin.

the next weekend we went to nyc for your cousin priya's naming ceremony.

near the end of the april, sam and i spent an evening after work wandering around navy pier in chicago, gawking at the perfect city skyline and staring at the lake.

the first weekend of may we traveled to the smoky mountains in tennessee to spend a few days in a cabin in the woods, using our days to hike and explore.

when i was sixteen weeks pregnant, we went to see sigur ros at the lyric opera house. sam liked to imagine you during the concert floating a warm, dark bath. the next weekend, we traveled to columbia, missouri to visit our friends and share the news of you. there was a big "i told you so" at the breakfast table when sam told of your impending arrival. little did we know that you would be born on elizabeth's birthday.

when i was eighteen weeks pregnant, sam and i rode passenger on an early summer vacation with scott and jerilyn. we stopped in the badlands,

mount rushmore,

and finally arrived at yellowstone national park in the middle of a snowstorm.

we camped at yellowstone for three days

and then headed to grand teton national forest.

we spent two nights in the teton range and

on the drive back home we passed through lander, wyoming

but your cousin, li, was not at home.

in june, when i was twenty-one weeks pregnant, we were invited by the muzzumullinses to spent the weekend up in michigan. we played tackle football in lake michigan.

the next weekend we saw the black crowes play down by the lakefront in downtown chicago. we could feel you dancing all around during the drum solo. then we spent the day at your grandparent's house in mchenry visiting with your cousins in town from nyc.

when i as twenty-three weeks pregnant, we flew to the east coast to go to a friend's wedding in connecticut.

there were quite a few of my college friends at the party and we spent the weekend dancing and laughing.

in july, we went to a cubs game and i only had one old style.

our balcony garden back home in chicago was starting to flourish: kentucky pole beans, strawberries, lettuce, peppers, mint, chives and grasses.

in august, your cousin li came to visit from wyoming. i went up to my parent's lake house in wisconsin and spent the afternoon floating with li in legend lake.

when i was twenty-eight weeks pregnant, sam and i flew to philadelphia for a friend's wedding.

we celebrated my 31st birthday when i was thirty-one weeks pregnant.

in september, we went camping up at nelson dewey state park with a group of friends. we camped, we made big fires, we hiked, we canoed, i tried to learn japanese.

we also spent a saturday at my parent's house in mchenry getting in our last swim of the year and helping weed the garden.

in october, sam and i celebrated our one year wedding anniversary by taking a walk at lake michigan, shaking our heads at the fact that we were weeks away from meeting you.

i wasn't kidding. this whole "we've taken you everywhere" is off to a fairly kick ass start. welcome to the adventure.