We're getting very close to entering the eighth month; very soon, there will be closer to eight weeks expected until the due date than nine. What's most amusing about this is that my brain apparently can't deal instinctively with time scales like this: while it's easy enough to calculate how long it's been and how long remains, if I search my feelings, those feelings say "Christina is pregnant. She has always been pregnant, and she will always be pregnant. Now is the same as forever."

The newest Olive trick is that she can now, instead of simply thumping, actually brace herself and exert constant pressure in one area. Sometimes she'll use her head—or so it feels—and there'll be a large, round area of pressure in Christina's belly. Sometimes she'll use her arm or her leg, and we'll feel the linear pressure along the limb. It's a bit startling, at first, but I interpret this as a sign that our daughter is strong, which I can only heartily support.

The pregnancy books say that infants of this age can react to strong light sources even through the belly, and will adjust away from them and shield their eyes with their hands. Unfortunately, despite experimenting with the brightest flashlight in the house, we couldn't produce any definitive results, except that Christina had the sudden need to urinate that she associates with being kicked in the bladder. We haven't given up on this yet; we just need to figure out how to source a brighter light source without actually purchasing a work lamp.

Other than that, the house is beginning to fill with the paraphernalia of parenthood. There's a stroller in our front hallway; a baby nest and breastfeeding pillow on our couch; tiny clothes and cloth diapers washed, ready, and waiting to be needed. A stranger visiting our house wouldn't need to see Christina to know that we're expecting; simple observation would do the trick.

One thing that we don't have as yet are infant-specific toys and books. She can get along quite well as a newborn playing with simple spoons etc., or so I hear. The books are a little more worrisome, but I suppose the plan¹ is to simply read to her from whichever of our books we're into in the moment. There won't be pictures, but she'll hear the stories without much understanding in the beginning anyway, so we might as well read from whichever book we're currently in. That way, she gets to hear the sound of our voices, which is what she's into as a newborn, and we get some proper reading time of our own in.