The planets

So today the daughter and I got to talking about Mars, and how there used to be water but it all evaporated out into space. We then got talking about the formation of the solar system and all the planets and how life formed on earth, and so on. It was really kind of fun.

Then we started talking about Pluto and I showed her the most recent photos of it, and how no one really knew what it looked like two months ago, but now it's all available in great detail.

So from there, we found some youtube videos explaining the size of the planets, the distance between them, how the sun works and so on. She really liked it, especially the ones where the planets sang. So I let her watch a bunch more on her own.

When I came back, she was even more excited about it all. She declared we were gas giants and she was Jupiter and I was Saturn, and her doll was the earth. And mamma was the sun, of course. She told me earth was the only planet with water since Mars didn't have any. I reminded her that Saturn's rings were mostly ice and Europa is entirely covered in frozen water. When I asked if she knew that Europa was a moon of Jupiter she just replied Of course I know that. I was actually a bit surprised that she actually took in everything.

When I put her to bed tonight, she pretended we were in outer space wearing space suits and heading to the bathroom on a space station. She pointed out all the planets on the way there. When she got to bed, I told her there was only time for a very short story. When I finished, instead of asking for another, she asked me to tell her all about the planets. So I started with the Sun (which all planets need for energy – which I'm pretty sure isn't actually true), then on to from Mercury, all the way to Pluto. Since she was still awake I went on to Eris, the Oort cloud (I'd have mentioned the Kuiper belt if I knew how to pronounce it), and comets. She still wasn't asleep, so I brought up exoplanets and that just got her more excited. After that I was grasping at straws. Haley's comet. Solar and lunar eclipses...

One of the last things she said before she dozed off was I learned a lot today.

It made my heart melt a bit.

We're going with UCH now

The paperwork from UCH (UCLH?) arrived in the post the other day. They sent us two appointments, one for the initial "let's get the ball rolling" appointment (or at least I assume that's what it's for) in a week and another on 10 Jan for the first ultrasound. It strikes me as odd that they just say "and you show up here now" rather than "call to make an appointment for when it's good for you." Not that we couldn't just phone to fix it.

The other thing that strikes me as odd was some of the terminology. The ultrasound is described using both least-common-denominator words like "tummy" as well as precise jargon like "transducer".

The paperwork comes with the appointments, a couple of pamphlets (more on that later) , plus two forms to fill in if you want to do any studies. The scientist in me is fascinated. Yes please. I want to enrich human knowledge. I've always wondered things like where they get people for tests like this, or, for that matter, newborns for TV shows and movies.

I mean, you've got a really small window for when they look like a newborn. And births don't lend themselves to planning well. I can just picture planning the shooting schedule for a season:

"Ok, we need a newborn for next October for the birth show. We're shooting on the 11^th. Can you find six women due just before then? Whoever's got the most attractive kid by the 8^th we'll hire. "

Scientific studies I suppose are harder:

"I've got a theory that we can detect Foobars Syndrome as early as 7 weeks!"

"Great. Now we just need to find someone freshly knocked-up and knows it and has a GP aware and willing to pass on your study and can get referred to us in time."

"You're right. Maybe I should ask for volunteers in the department."