Babies

Max is kicking so much these days I feel like he is having his own private disco party every night. It's definitely very cool to feel him moving around so much in there. Just now as I've started to write, he has kicked me once above my belly button and then a double punch below. His little movements are getting stronger each week. I can't wait to show him the pictures of my trip someday and to tell him about the little adventure we took together before he was born.

Now that I have only 3 days left here in Ollanta, I am starting to look forward to the next leg of my trip to Ecuador and then to coming home. We have lots of planning to do for when Max arrives. It will be fun to be able to share all of Max's little movements with Morgan and Phil and the rest of the family.

I have been thinking a lot about how basic things are around here when it comes to babies. It's very refreshing. In the States I had been stressing about all the stuff that we will need to buy and register for in terms of baby "equipment". Those big baby stores are overwhelming and give me a headache. It's stressful because we don't have a lot of space in our house as it is. I'm not sure where we would even be able to store all of the baby stuff. Toys, swings, mats with plastic toys suspended above the baby, ridiculous videos for infants (are you kidding me?), toys that make noise, etc. etc. So much of it is totally unnecessary. Infants are learning about the world around them. They don't need all the extra junk.

Being here has made me even more certain that I'd like to keep all the stuff to a minimum. The babies in Peru are strapped to their mother's back and all they need are a breast to feed on. They don't have baby toys and contraptions and they are as happy as can be. They are learning about the world around them, while perfectly content riding along with mom.