Dear Tootie,

first off, you're a naval orange now. I know you were wondering.

You probably don't realize it, but you had a pretty sweet weekend. Thursday night, your Dad and I went to the midnight showing of the last Harry Potter movie. I don't know if you enjoyed it, but we did. You probably enjoyed it more than I did because, not having read the book, you weren't constantly comparing the two in your head. This wasn't your first movie, as it happpens. You also saw X-Men: First Class, which I think you probably liked too. (You have also been to your first concert. You saw the Crystal Method at the Orange Peel, and you're going to see Toad the Wet Sprocket at the Handlebar next month. Tell me you're as excited as I am!)

Then, on Friday, you and I pretty much slept all day. We finally got off our butts around 6:00 and started packing up the spare room (also known as Tootie's future bedroom). There are so many books in there! Most of them are going into storage until we buy a house. I hope you love reading as much as I do because there are a ton of books I can't wait to share with you.

On Saturday, you and I drove down to Greenwood and saw Harry Potter again with your Aunt Christina, Uncle Alan, and your cousins Al and Johnny. Later on, we had dinner with the whole family, which also includes your cousins Gracie and Lucy. They gave you some awesome presents. I love the clothes, but since you won't really be able to read or understand the words on them, I think you'll probably get more enjoyment out of the swing and the very cool book. You'll have to hang out with the Greens a lot after you are born because they are a super cool family. Your little cousins are all really sweet, smart, neat kids, and I know you will be able to learn a lot from them.

We'll find out in about a month whether you are a boy or a girl, but I'm not going to lie. We'll probably keep calling you Tootie. I apologize in advance for any way in which this may traumatize you.

Oh, I have such high hopes for you, Tootie.

I look around me and see so many small-minded people. I see so much veiled racism and classism, so much not-really-veiled homophobia. All joking aside, I know there WILL be things your father and I do wrong. It's almost inevitable that we will do SOMETHING that might land you in therapy later. But I promise you that we will never, ever teach you that you are better than anyone else. We will never teach you that anyone has less right to live and to be happy than you do.

I'm so excited about the person you'll become. Now, let me be crystal clear about one thing. Your grandparents Johnson did a fantastic job of raising me. They taught me to be fair and compassionate and to treat people equally. But those were less-enlightened times. I grew up in a town where the Ku Klux Klan still marched sometimes (God, I pray that when you read this, you have to ask me who they are). I grew up thinking that if only I were rich, it would solve all my problems. I remember a time, despite your grandparents' good intentions, when I thought that being gay was "gross."

I've had to figure a lot of things out on my own. But we are going to try so hard to teach you, right off the bat, that God loves everybody the same, that you should treat everybody the same, that being different is beautiful, and that you should always stand up for people who get picked on.

I still can't wait to meet you.

Love,
Mom

15 weeks, 1 day in the oven