A couple of weeks ago I was at the gym watching one of those seen-one-seen-’em-all morning shows. They were talking about a new prime time television show that’s apparently taking off. They were interviewing its participants. I was only half paying attention because I hadn’t ever seen the show before, but as soon as they got to one of the its contestants, I stopped what I was doing; our 10-year old son was being interviewed on television.

I made a mental note of the kid’s first name. Later that evening I told Tobyjoe about it. I told him I knew what our future son was going to look like. “And he’s going to be brilliant!” I said. I found the kid’s picture online and we both cracked up.

About a week ago I received an email from my sister-in-law, Melissa. She had been consoling me on our vet visits at the time. We were writing back and forth about Schmitty. (She’s a cat lover as well, one who had to put her cat down a year ago. She was 8 months pregnant at the time.) In the middle of our rather serious correspondence, she sent me the following:

So, Rob and I were flipping around the TV tonight and caught part of ‘Are you smarter than a 5th grader?’ Have you seen this show? There is a little boy named Spencer that is what we imagine baby Boudreaux will look like when he is 10. He could be Toby’s illegitimate love child! Stop and watch if you haven’t. Here is a link to Spencer’s bio.

I wasn’t going to say anything about it to anyone because I thought I was just wearing my mommy goggles, (which are supposed to be thicker and more forgiving than beer goggles). But Spencer really does look like The Bean. Surely it’s not just me. Surely you see it, too. In fact, I’m starting to wonder if he got some hussy pregnant 10 years ago.

P.S. I want to thank each and every one of you again for all the email and comments you have sent us over the last couple of days. They have meant the world to me. I have shared your stories with Tobyjoe as well. We’re having a rough time with this, it’s true. But I feel a little better every day and I’m trying to focus on being pregnant as much as possible. This is supposed to be one of the happiest times of our lives. We know this. However, losing Schmitty has been a derailment. In all seriousness, your words have meant the world to us. And the stories about your pets are downright heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Thank you.