26 weeks

It's just a baby boom in our family! My cousin Tara had her little girl, Cate, last Tuesday, and she joins Emerson and Casey who were born in August and September to my cousins Todd and Tucker and their wives. We're so excited to have all these little ones in the Tubbs/Veazey families. They are beautiful and healthy, so we are so grateful. We can hardly wait for Elijah to meet his cousins! We're under 100 days till our due date! In order above they are: Emerson, then Cate, then Casey.

Our little pumpkin is growing, and this week, the email update I get said that his eyes are really starting to open. I guess he is bored with the mostly dark environment he's in, but it's neat to think of another awesome development happening. Here's the info:

Your baby's eyes — which have been closed for the past few months (so that the retina, the part of the eye that allows images to come into focus, could develop) — are now beginning to open. What this means is that your baby is able to see what's going on now (unfortunately the view in your uterus isn't all that exciting). The iris, the colored part of the eye, still doesn't have much pigmentation (that'll fill in over the next month or two), so it's too early to start guessing your baby's eye color. Even the color your baby will be born with might not be the permanent shade; so you may be kept guessing until your baby is close to six months old.

Look what else is going on this week: Your baby's brain-wave activity is kicking in, which means your little one can not only hear noises but can now also respond to them. Not in so many words, of course, but with an increase in pulse rate or activity.

And talking about activity, at your baby's current height and weight (about nine inches tall and two pounds), and at the rate he or she is growing, your baby will soon be feeling a little cramped in your uterus. Not to worry, there's still plenty of room for your baby to grow. It just means your gymnast will have less room for those somersaults, cartwheels, and other Olympic feats.