everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask

I was quite surprised by how many of you played, and even more surprised at how many of you did very well. Especially the readers I had never heard from. There is nothing more ego-stroking to a fervent blogger than a a bunch of people paying attention. There was a tie between my brother Brian and my friend Brian who both missed five, and I am a bit disappointed in the ladies, who are a bit more inclined to be good at this stuff. Good job Brians, your prizes will be forthcoming. I know what my brother will be getting, and I have to think about Brian G. There will be no tie breaker since it is really cruel to rule out your own brother from your very first and only baby quizzy contest thingy.

And without further ado, here are the answers.

1. Lora grew up in Dreary Erie, the mistake on the Lake and moved to West Chester in 1994.

2. And Dave is straight outta South Philly, cuz.

3. We met at West Chester University in 1994, where we were next door neighbors in the co-ed wing of Tyson Hall. Mothers and fathers of the world, do NOT allow your 18 year old children to live in the co-ed wing of any Hall.

4. Dave got his JD from Temple Law, and I got my MA (MS, maybe? Who knows. My Master's) in Criminal Justice and Urban Studies from Temple.

5. Temple Law has a semester abroad program, and we spent the summer of 2000 in Rome. We shared an apartment with five other students. It went pretty well, but we all agree that we could never be on the Real World. It was bad enough without cameras. Anway, it was way cooler than living in the dorms on the crappy side of the river like the other chumps.

6. We got married in 1999, the summer after college graduation and before grad school. It was then or never since we figured we would be over a quarter million dollars in debt when it was all said and done. We were right, sadly. The house is what put us over the top.

7. We spent a week (maybe five days, I forget. I'm the worst) in Playa del Carmen Mexico at the Iberostar. There were monkeys there. It was awesome. I almost died topless at the tentacles of the Man O'War. Travelers take heed, yelling 'help' and flailing your arms does not mean "save me" in Mexican.

8. It's Jacob Alexander, and Dave hates Jake's middle name. But I don't. I think it is beautiful. Just like Jake. And Jake's mother.

9. Jake was born at 2.49am on Friday, March 17th. Rub his head for good luck.

10. He weighed 5 pounds and 12 ounces when he was born.

11. And was 20 inches long. I was a long skinny baby too. Dave was short and skinny.

12. I gained 22 pounds when I was pregnant. But thank you to all who guessed that I only gained about 15 pounds. I don't know whether to thank you because I looked so tiny that I couldn't have possibly gained more or cry that I was a little chunky before getting pregnant and it only took about 15 pounds to look enormous. I wore a 38J at my peak, and that should count for something, right? The girls were big and bad and I loved them.

13. I loved peanut butter when I was pregnant, but I always have so it doesn't mean much. I had to stop eating it toward the end because of the heart burn.

14. I went into the hospital after work on Wednesday the 15th and didn't have the baby until first thing on Friday. I didn't even have my bags packed.

15. I'm scared of painkillers and terrified of needles in my back, so I just took a bunch of Benedryl during labor to take the edge off and let me get some sleep. It worked like a charm. I live my life fueled by allergy medicines. No matter how you feel there is a sinus tablet out there for you. Tired? Sudafed. Wide awake in the middle of the night? Benedryl. Cranky? Allegra D. Jittery from too much coffee? Try a Clarinex. If you aren't sure which one you need, just ask me. I have a working knowledge of this kind of stuff.

16. Jake was born at Pennsylvania Hospital in beautiful downtown Philadelphia.

17. Jake has a girly cousin, Michaela who is five months older than him.

18. And belongs to Jake's Aunt Theresa in Phoenix.

19. No one calls Jake Munchkin. No one.

20. Jake loves all food equally.

21. Jake would have likely been Cecilia if he was a girl. Or Sophia.

22. I totally miss the pelvic exams by the hot doctor! Shame on you who answered differently!

23. Dave is an attorney by day.

24. And I am a Program Monitor, making sure that parenting programs are using an appropriate curriculum and are running according to City funding. And responsibilities include blogging and checking you and all your little hottie friends out on MySpace on company time.