Here's what's going this week with Whisler Baby Boy 2009:

Baby Stats:

Size: 7 inches
Weight: 11 ounces

Baby Developments:

By now the baby looks like a mini-version of what he'll look like when he's born. All his facial features are formed and hair is growing on his head. He's even acting like a baby and will occasionally suck his thumb or yawn.  Don't believe me?  Check out the ultrasound pictures from the previous posts.

Baby's heartbeat is getting stronger and can be heard using a good old-fashioned stethoscope. That being said, please do not approach Laura and ask for a listen. By 21 weeks, fetal bone marrow starts making blood cells—previously done by the liver and spleen. This may not sound that exciting, but it's good news.

The amniotic fluid that has been cushioning our little bean now serves another purpose: the baby uses it to "practice" chowing down. Yes, it sounds gross (as many aspects of pregnancy do), but it's an important step for the baby toward being able to chow down in the real world. Baby has been swallowing amniotic fluid for a while now, but now the intestines are finally developed enough that he's absorbing small amounts of sugars from it. And let's face it, being able to effectively digest sugar is important at every stage of life.

The baby now weighs about 11 ounces and is approximately 7 inches long—the size of a delicious, cold, frothy bottle of root beer. Float anyone?  Laura will take one with a scoop of Andy's Frozen Custard, please.

What We're Doing:

This week, there are two manly rooms in the house receiving primetime attention.  For the big man, the focus is in the garage which includes lawn equipment preparation, organizing the tools with the Rubbermaid FastTrack system and mopping the epoxy finish floor.  That's right, I said mopping.  For the little man, we turn indoors where Laura is putting the final touches on the nursery room or as I like to call it, "Little Man Cave".