I love craigslist!

Adam and I bought a crib today!

We found it on craigslist. A single-child family in Winchester bought it several years ago at Boston Baby (now defunct) and kept it in beautiful condition. It's a sleigh crib by Pali, a higher-end baby furniture manufacturer that we would never have considered at retail prices. Solid hardwood with a lovely cherry finish. The best part? The crib, plus a good crib mattress by Colgate, cost us less than half of what they would have cost new!

Double Trouble

I threw my first baby shower last Sunday, for my good friend Lauren, who is exactly 10 weeks further along in her pregnancy than I. I did a bunny theme, with bunny ears, bunny prizes and carrot cake. We played silly baby shower games, like "Celebrity Baby Names" and "Nursery Rhyme-Down", and we ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the cute baby gifts.

It was lots of fun, although there's a part of me that can't quite believe we've reached a place where maternity leave policies, life insurance and the relative benefits of cloth versus disposable diapers are normal topics of conversation.

Baby Bump

Conventional wisdom holds that you should never assume a woman is pregnant based on her body shape. After all, if you comment on a non-existent pregnancy, you could really insult someone. But over the past few weeks, strangers have started asking about my baby. And since it's so obvious, I thought I would post a photo of the bump for all of you who don't see me regularly!

"Very Superstitious"

Now that I'm in my 22nd week of pregnancy, I've been thinking a lot about superstitions. In the Jewish community, superstitions about pregnancy and babies abound. Most couples keep the news that they're expecting private until at least the end of the first trimester. When they do finally go public, the traditional response is the Hebrew phrase "B'Shaah Tovah," which means "in good time." You're not supposed to say congratulations or mazel tov over a pregnancy -- it's tempting fate.

Lots of people also avoid buying things for the baby before he or she is born. Some couples will bend to expediency and buy a few necessities, like a car seat and some diapers, while other couples literally buy nothing, sending family and friends running to the stores after the delivery. Baby showers are generally avoided. Jews of Eastern European descent won't name the baby after a living relative, lest the angel of death become confused and take the baby when he comes for the older person. For months, my mother-in-law's favorite phrase has been "Kain ein horeh,"which is Yiddish for "No evil eye." Her mother says it, too.

It all traces back to medieval European Jewish folk traditions, most of which were frowned upon by the rabbis and scholars of mainstream Judaism, but which nevertheless survived. These traditions involved angels, demons and other spirits, and people invented ways to protect themselves from the demons and evil spirits. Remember the spitting in Fiddler on the Roof? Warding off the evil eye.

I have to say, after a few months of intense exposure to this stuff, I've come to have a bad opinion of it. It was really hard for me to keep my pregnancy a secret from most people during the first trimester -- I was going through a lot, and it was lonely keeping it to myself. And as someone who prepares for change by gathering lots of information and generally being prepared for eventualities, I really feel the need to buy baby gear before the baby comes.

Maybe the whole superstition thing has to be ingrained early in life. I don't know, but I am officially rejecting all of it. (Kain ein horeh.)

Purim 5769

Last year, Adam and I were on vacation for Purim. We spent the day walking around in the warm Jerusalem sun, delivering mishloach manot to our friends. This year, Purim was a regular work day for me and, even worse, an exam day for Adam. But we still managed to have some fun. A few highlights:

• Purim night with the Washington Square Minyan. We dressed up as Antony and Cleopatra. (Cleopatra had two children with Marc Antony, so the pregnancy bulge did not spoil the costume!)

• Daytime megillah reading with the Newton Centre Minyan before work. Don't ask me what time I woke up.
  
• Matanot l'evyonim through Yad Chessed, an amazing local organization that runs a Purim program where needy families in the community get certificates to the Butcherie (a kosher grocery store in Brookline). Thanks to Brandeis Hillel for organizing this!
• Mishloach manot put together with items from BJ's, the wholesale club of the east coast. Wouldn't it be great if Israel had BJ's? 24 perfect little packs of peanuts for under $10! It's amazing!
  
• Seudah (festive meal) with Meg and Eli and Taam China, the finest kosher Chinese food in Boston!