This is continued from an ongoing tale of the life and times of me and mine. The last post can be found here.

My visitors left on the morning of the 25th, and by that same afternoon Catherina and Richard had finished moving in. Over the weekend they hung curtains where there have never been curtains before ... me not being into a lot of extra hoo-has, but happy enough for them to do the place up to their liking ... and the few items of furniture they own were added to the bits and pieces in the house. I've not yet been invited in, but I'm sure it looks nice and cozy.

Through the fronds of the coconut tree, I can occasionally catch a glimpse of them sitting side-by-side on the veranda, each with a book in hand, and at night we can hear their TV playing softly ... it doesn't disturb.

Catherina is really starting to show now, but there seems to be some confusion about just how far along she is. She had a sonogram last week and the doctor announced to her then that she was twenty weeks pregnant, but when he confidently predicted a delivery date of the 13th of June his skills as an expert came into some question. Ten months gestation just doesn't sound right to any of us.

She's scheduled for another scan on the 7th of February, and I'll be going with her for this one. Seychellois are not big on asking a lot of questions of those they see as coming from positions of power, so it will be up to me to pin down the professionals and find out what's up.

She's beginning to get comments, and all the silly 'advice' young 'experts' feel compelled to pass along, no matter how unfounded or downright wrong. Thankfully, she feels comfortable running things by me, so I'm able to pass on real information. Any online resources or helpful tips anyone has will be greatly appreciated, as we are very limited here and my experience is limited to my own births almost 40 years ago.

I'm seeing the inklings of excitement, finally. Having some security and a home is soothing away a lot of the the Oh no! response of earlier and letting her think ahead in a positive way. Unfortunately, her family is still very negative, but I'm suspecting they'll change their tune when the baby comes, and when they see that she's doing well in spite of her "mistake".

She seems happy in her work, so I'm happy with that, too.

All in all, so far, so good.