Breaking the Code

In my last post I told you that we had found out whether Matt and Kylee's baby was going to be a boy or a girl. Here is the text conversation between my son and me after an excruciating day of waiting.

Matt: 4475

Me: What?

(3 seconds later)
Me: SCREAMS!!!!!! Does that mean what I think it means?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Matt: Baby

Me: GIRL!!!!!! It's a GIRL?!?!?!?!

So how did I know what the numbers meant? Well, at first I didn't. I have to confess that I figured it must be a girl because there were four digits, and there are four letters in the word girl. I know there's no logic for that reasoning, but it made sense to me.

After I was through with my initial--and useless--thought process, I started kicking my brain into gear. A long long time ago, before the age of cellphones, people actually had to dial numbers in order to call someone. Depending on your age, you may remember that each number on the keypad also had 3 or 4 letters assigned to it. I called up the keypad on my cellphone and sure enough, there was the answer to the code.

4 = G

4 = I

7 = R

5 = L

By the way, the reason Matt didn't answer after my last text was because instead of waiting for an answer, I called him as soon as I sent it. He assured me that Kylee and the baby were both healthy and that he was very happy because he'd wanted a girl first.

Right after I got off the phone with Matt, my daughter called. Our conversation was punctuated with laughter and excited squeals. First we added Kylee to the family, and now a baby girl as well. Slowly but surely, we're evening the gender inequality in the Boyd family!

Having a baby around will be something new anyway because my last baby is twelve. But to have a girl is such a novelty, I don't know what we're going to do. I mean, have you met my family?

Sure they clean up nice. But there's a lot of testosterone in the group!

To their credit, the boys seem just as excited about a baby girl as the rest of us. And they're already making plans for after the baby makes her appearance.

*They've assured Kylee that they will not discriminate. They will work just as hard at teaching a girl how to burp and pass gas as they would a boy.

*All of them have made various plans on how to discourage potential suitors when that day comes. I hope the baby will be okay with being single until she's 35.

*They've agreed that at least some of the camouflage clothing they get for her will be pink camouflage.

*If we're lucky, they will not get her an airsoft gun at least until she's old enough to go to school.

In the meantime, I'm shopping for hairbows, and I already bought her a pair of sandals with plenty of bling. I think our daughter is making plans to monogram every item of clothing the baby will ever wear. I've told her I think it's a waste to monogram disposable diapers, but ...

Speaking of diapers and in other baby-related news, I'm going to a baby shower tonite. In a fit of creativity, I decided to make a diaper cake. I'm quite proud of the results.

Since I quite lack that creativity gene, my family was really shocked at how well this turned out, but really, after six children, why wouldn't I be an expert at working with diapers?

My boys were less than impressed when they realized that it was not a cake they could eat.

I'll bet my granddaughter would understand.