Mort AKA Octogenarian, I have updated my blog to make it easier for you to read. I am honored to have you reading and appreciate your comments.

I am wondering if I need two separate blogs at this point. When I began this process, I didn't have a vision for what I was to create here. Now I realize that I have a duel purpose: to document my life as it happens, much in the way that I used to write in my journal and to air my views on current affairs and our political landscape.

I really only have two readers at this point (Thanks for reading Mort. You doubled my readership!) So I don't know if I have the need to write two blogs. Any suggestions? You are both much more experienced in this forum than I.

That said, I will start with the personal and move on from there.

Yesterday, Friday, D and I listened to our baby's heartbeat for the first time. As you can imagine, that was an awesome sound. I can't really explain the feeling of wonder, awe and amazement that papoose's beat-box rhythm inspired in me. It's visceral and as such, hard to pin down and discuss. Let's just go back to my initial description - awesome.

The nurse practitioner warned us as she approached me with the Doppler that we might not be able to hear anything yet. She said I'm in Week 12 as of December 1. So, it was the last day of Week 11 when she was listening. She said that they usually can't hear anything that early.

I'm confused by that as all the literature I read on the subject says that hearing a heartbeat is unlikely in Weeks 9 & 10 but by Week 11 you should have audible confirmation and by Week 12 it is a standard appointment practice to hear the baby's heart.

When she heard the sound she said she was surprised and impressed with the fact that we could hear it. After listening for a minute or so she went on to say that the heartbeat was very strong and that our baby is very healthy.

She seemed authentic in her conviction but the facts don't line up. So I'm left wondering if Kaiser's equipment is sub-standard or if, as D suggested, she was just trying to make us feel good about our baby's progress and health. I suppose it's possible that she's right, in a practical setting that they often don't hear hearts that early. Or maybe the average woman has a larger layer of fat around her belly pre-pregnancy than I did or do. Regardless, I am taking her comments in conjunction with a similar statement from my acupuncturist and am confident that our baby is the epitome of health.

I've been talking to D about reading to the belly. If he reads aloud he wants to go through Harry Potter or Shel Silverstein poetry - something "fun." I've got something more meaty in mind, like the encyclopedia.

When I was in grade school I remember watching a television program with my mom about a family of genius kids. The parents were of average intelligence, maybe slightly above average, but neither was a genius. However, each of their children were prodigies. One was graduating from an Ivy League school (maybe Harvard) when most kids would be graduating from middle school. When the scientists who were reporting on this phenomena gathered the facts, they theorized that this hyper-intelligence related to the parents reading aloud to the fetus in utero.

Ever since then, I've had it in my mind that I would read to my baby before it was born. Though I couldn't begin to theorize why an infant with a brand new brain and no language skills would be able to learn from the parents reading factual information as opposed to just talking to each other about day-to-day life, it wouldn't shock me to learn that reading helps them build the neural net and offers them an advantage when they do start attaching factual strings of information together.

Anyhow, what could it hurt? I certainly wouldn't mind learning what's in the pages of my encyclopedia. Of course, my brain is the opposite of the baby's brain right now. I can't retain much information at all. In fact, I'm acting like an air-head more often than not.

For example, I drove to the doctor's appointment yesterday. D got out of the car and purchased the parking ticket, placed it on the dashboard and locked the car.

Two hours later as we made a left turn out of the parking lot we heard an odd sound. He, smartly, suggested we go back to see what it was. I got out of the car and began to examine the pavement around where we made the turn in question. D looked on the roof. In one hand he held my cell phone, which is wrapped in a silicon non-slip sleeve. In the other hand he had my keys (the noise-making culprit.)

Retracing my steps I realize that when I got out of the car I opened the back door, put on my coat and put the two of my most important personal items on the roof and then promptly walked away. Duh. I need to get a compartmentalized handbag so that it is evident when things go missing. The cavernous purse I tote now is like a magical bag where things disappear even after I've just had them.

I could say that this is an isolated incident and fool myself (and you) into believing that my mistake was caused by an urgency to get to my doctor's appointment on time. But I have evidence that I am suffering, "Baby Brain." On Thursday I went to a taco shop for lunch. I ordered and paid for my burrito. When they called my number I got up and approached the counter. Somehow I walked out the door without my lunch! I got two steps out and realized that I had everything except what I went in for. So, I have to admit it. The rumors are true. Pregnant women get ditzy.

Having ranted about this I think I'll put off writing about current affairs until tomorrow. I do have something in mind, so I will return to post promptly. In the meantime, enjoy the crispness of the season.