To the boy: Today

Dear baby boy,

Today your dad and I woke up early and went Downtown to the Rock-n-Soul Museum, where we used a Smithsonian Museum Day coupon to get in for free. That’s a savings of $22, little man. We are so clever, aren’t we? You thumped around inside me while we watched the museum’s intro video, which pulsed the sounds of Carl Perkins and Elvis and Otis Redding into the air.

The museum attendant handed us our tour headphone sets and I placed the little speakers over my belly and turned up the volume so you could hear Robert Johnson crooning* and Otis Redding wailing and Sam and Dave defining Soul Men. You didn’t seem to have much of a reaction so I guess I caught you while you were sleeping, or maybe you were so impressed with what you heard that the sounds stopped you short and you just sat there, still, letting the music soak in. Your dad put his hand on my belly and thumped along to the rhythm. Did you hear?

We walked around Downtown trying to decide where to eat but my heart was set on the Majestic Grille, since it had been so long since I’d been there. Your dad was relieved that the hostess sat us near the bar so he could watch football while we ate our spinach dip and flatbreads. He had the duck and I had the chicken. Protein, little man. That’s where it’s at. Your dad took extra paper towels from the restroom because he thought they were so fancy. “They’re like napkins!”

It was a nice day. I wore a cardigan even though it was a probably a little too warm for it, just because it’s cute and lets my belly poke out. It’s fall now and it’s the little things that sustain me, see. We came home and I took a nap before work because I have learned that from here on out, I need to sleep whenever I can because this ol’ body of mine is working really hard to get you in good shape for your big debut.

I am ready for you to join us on our little adventures, kiddo.

* about beating his woman until he gets satisfied. Which, of course, you need to understand is very wrong and not at all a joking matter and … I will explain this to you when you get older.