Ben’s Musings

We just found out this morning that we’re going to have a little boy! The name we had already chosen for a boy is Toby Jacob Gibbs, so this is what we will call him from now on - I might even shorten it to “Tobs”!

We have had 2 scans this week, one was on Tuesday and that was to check our baby’s heart (I was born with Transposition of the Main Arteries and there is a greater risk that my children could have a heart problem - our baby is fine) and today was the 20 week anomaly scan.

The chap who did the scan was very nice and pointed out all the things he was measuring as he went along. We saw our baby’s heart beating and we saw it squirming around too. He didn’t find any problems with our baby, which is reassuring to us. He then told us it was a boy in the middle of a sentence like it wasn’t that important! I said “Oh, so it’s a boy then?” just to confirm and he said it was and pointed out the testes and willy which were quite clear.

We got a picture from the scan and once I’ve scanned it into the computer, I’ll pop it on this blog.

After the scan, Mary-Lou and I went into town and bought a blue outfit for Toby as a celebration. I can already feel the dangers of easily buying too many things because they are all so cute and I love Toby so much already.

I have been feeling a bit wierd since finding out we have a boy. I think it’s because everything to do with pregnancy and having a baby has always related to a girl in my head - that’s obviously because we had Amy and I had wanted a daughter first. So now we have a boy, my head is having to do a bit of a shift to imagine it all with a boy. I don’t know why this is the case, afterall, Toby will need the same things from us as he would if he was a girl. I’m a little nervous that this mind shift process will reveal more about me and my misunderstanding of masculinity!

I hope to be a great Dad to Toby. At least, I hope to be able to cope better than these Dads!

Brussels holiday, miscarriage fears, smut stories, first class rail travel, a historic voyage, 18 weeks pregnant, bad parents, boy or girl?

Download Episode 6

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I came across these and thought I’d share. They are by Linzie Hunter and are the subject lines of spam messages…made pretty!

I’ve started doing some more freelance web stuff recently. I’m trading under the name “bobop” - it’s what we used to call my Grandad.

I used to trade under the name WooWoo-Web, but I think bobop is more memorable, and I like my logo!

So if you’re interested in asking me to do some web stuff for you, take a look at www.bobop.co.uk and get in touch!

Mary-Lou and I took a trip to Brussels last week. Mary-Lou wanted to break-up the time between the summer and Chrstmas so that the weeks of pregnancy would go by quicker. We were initially looking to go somewhere in Britain because we didn’t want to spend too much money and Mary-Lou didn’t want to fly. But then we spotted an offer to travel on the Eurostar train to Brussels and stay for 4 nights in the Hilton Brussels City Hotel for only £170 each!

Brussels wasn’t what I was expecting - actually, I don’t know if I was expecting much. The center was quite small so we were able to walk everywhere easily. The architecture of the old buildings is awesome, especially in the Grand Place (it’s like the main square in town). The Mannequin Pis was a bit of a disappointment though - it’s the symbol of Brussels but I thought it was going to be more…magnificent.

One thing I did enjoy were my waffles for breakfast! I’ve never really had waffles, but I’m well into them now - although I won’t be eating many since I’m on my “life-style change”.

It was great to spend 5 days with Mary-Lou in a different place. Everybody speaks English so the language wasn’t a hassle and it felt safe walking around in the evenings. It was a nice, restful time, but I wish it was for longer.

I found two of my favourite buildings in the world in Brussels. The first is what I’m calling the Rainbow Building. It is just what I imagine buildings ought to be like in the future. It displayed information in a ticker tape style for the whole of Brussles to see and at one point in it’s light display, the building becomes a big rainbow - it was amazing!

My other favourite building is the Atomium. Again, it looks really futuristic but was actually built in 1958! It is the shape of an Iron molecule and each orb contains a number of floors. One of the orbs is a museum, another is to host events, another is to host slumber parties for kids and the top one is a restaurant. I loved going around it and I loved the reflections of the orbs.

I would recommend Brussels for a long weekend, but we became a bit bored towards the end of our stay. Maybe it’s because we weren’t up for going to the museums or galleries.

On our way back to London, we realised we were on the last Eurostar train to arrive in Waterloo Station and in celebration, there was free champagne in the shop area and a little band on the platform when we arrived! I felt historic!

I’ve talked about some of my feelings about our baby during our stay in Brussels in the latest Daddy Diaries episode, so have a listen.

“The music that you hear is coming from the sparks that these two identical high power solid state Tesla coils are generating. There are no speakers involved. The Tesla coils stand 7 feet tall and are each capable of putting out over 12 foot of spark. They are spaced about 18 feet apart. The coils are controlled over a fiber optic link by a single laptop computer. Each coil is assigned to a midi channel which it responds to by playing notes that are programed into the computer software.”

A pregnancy scare, the first kicks, latest baby development, maternity shopping and a holiday.

Download Episode 5

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These kids obviously don’t need to go to school, they’re clever enough!

If you want your preconceived and media enforced ideas of Iran blown apart, click here.

A friend lent me a Myers-Briggs personality type indicator book the other day. I’ve discovered I am an ENTP.

This means I am generally extroverted instead of introverted, I take in information through intuition rather than sensing (or observing), I make decisions by thinking rather than feeling, and I deal with the world in a perceiving rather than judging (or analytical) way.

This is the overview of my type:

Quick, ingenious, stimulating, alert, and outspoken. Resourceful in solving new and challenging problems. Adept at generating conceptual possibilities and then analyzing them strategically. Good at reading other people. Bored by routine, will seldom do the same thing the same way, apt to turn to one new interest after another.

I don’t think I’m great at reading other people, but the rest makes sense to me. Other famous ENTP’ers are Alexander the Great, Thomas Edison, Lewis Carrol and Tom Hanks! Suggested careers interests for me are Physical Science or Computers - I studied Physics at University and am now a web developer.

On the other hand, Mary-Lou is the exact opposite - an ISFJ:

Quiet, friendly, responsible, and conscientious. Committed and steady in meeting their obligations. Thorough, painstaking, and accurate. Loyal, considerate, notice and remember specifics about people who are important to them, concerned with how others feel. Strive to create an orderly and harmonious environment at work and at home.

All these point fit Mary-Lou very well. St. Teresa of Avila, Queen Mary I (”Bloody Mary”) of England, Louisa May Alcott (Author of Little Women) and Jerry Seinfeld are also ISFJ’ers! Community Service or Teaching are suggested career interests for Mary-Lou - she has said that all she wants to do in a job is “to help people”.

They do say that opposites attract!