Fetus food

What is so hard about visualizing half an inch, two inches, etc.? The fetal development section in nearly every "your pregnancy week by week" guide I've read describes the size of the fetus in terms of food. First a grain of rice, then two, then a raisin, a grape, a strawberry, a lemon, an orange, etc.

My father watched some hour-long TLC or Discovery documentary he called "0 to 60 in Nine Months." "Fascinating stuff," he said. I think the Opa-in-training is trying to understand what his daughter is going through. I suppose after 30 years, his recollection of my mother's pregnancy has faded. Or maybe it's because of the exponential leaps and bounds in medical technology that allows us to see so much of life's early development.

At any rate, the show's size analogies, for a change, were not food-related. For a solid two weeks, Dad asked me, "How's my mouse? Are you taking good care of my mouse?" I was picturing Ralph, the Mouse on the Motorcycle, but it was the wireless optical kind. The first is cuddlier and more endearing, I think. Apparently I'm now toting around a softball. That's what he told me this week, although he said he still wants to call it The Mouse until a better analogy comes along.