February 2009
23 posts
“Don’t trust anyone over 30”
– Happy 30 Week Birthday, Alexander the Great!
Frogfish
After his bath, snug in jammies, he nurses for a long time. His eyelids get heavy, his breathing slow. He drifts off.
I offer him seconds. He refuses, tightening his lower lip in a silent “no.” With his cheeks puffed out, his face is now a rounded triangle weighted on the bottom. Under his lids there is a glimmer of pearl white. His eyes are darting back and forth like a deep sea...
The Next Inevitable Phase
As we near the seventh-month mark there is something new every day.
His vocabulary is expanding and he very clearly is using Dada for Zac and Mama for me. When he is looking in the mirror and we tell him “kiss the baby” he leans forward all slobber mouth on his reflection. One of his favorite bedtime books is “Baby Tiger’s Jungle Adventure.” We ask him to find baby...
Tooth Fairy
Last night Crankypants Jr. had a slight fever and was restless. Dada walked with him, up and down, all around. No one got much sleep. But this morning the Tooth Fairy had delivered a tiny white nub right in the center of his bottom gums.
He slobbers and drools. His tongue gets in the way and it is hard to get a good look in there. But there is a fleck. A glimmer of teeth to come.
Hot Stuff
Last night the boy felt warmer than usual. His temperature was 98.6 which is a little high. He’s usually around 97.7 or so. Today at daycare he was up to 100.5 by the end of the day. He has never had a fever before. I called the pediatrician from the parking lot.
It was already a quarter past five and the service picked up. I gave our info and they paged a nurse.
I was on the phone with...
Bald is Beautiful
He is not entirely symmetrical and he hasn’t grown much hair yet, but this baby really is empirically good-looking. Not just because I am his Momma and everyone thinks their own baby is beautiful. He really is.
We have been taking daily photos of him ever since we brought him home from the hospital, over 200 now, and we have hit a snag. He won’t hold still. The daily photos have date...
My Funny Valentine
Best Valentine of all: my son started saying “Ma-ma” this weekend.
Of course, I encourage him non-stop.
Me: “Lexi, say Ma-ma. Momma. Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma. Momma.”
Him: “…”
Me: “You’re very advanced. I know you can say it. Momma. Ma-ma.”
Him: “…”
Me: “Ma ma ma ma ma.”
Him: “Da-da da da da...
Goodnight Sweet Prince
The sweetest thing. Zac walking the baby around trying to get him sacked out after a long late nap. They are saying goodnight to everything.
“Goodnight changing table, goodnight rocking chair, goodnight clothes, goodnight toys.”
“Goodnight Avenue, goodnight streetlight, goodnight tree.”
They walk through the nursery, the hallway the bathroom, our room, back to the...
Photographing the Baby
There’s an app for the iPhone called QuadCamera that let’s you take multiple exposures with a short delay between, like in a photo booth. It’s a nice option to help make the mediocre camera more interesting. Zac took some good ones of the bug splashing in the bath. By the time I got to play with it, Lex was asleep. Very photogenic sleepy baby, but doesn’t really tell a...
“Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday Dear Nana!
Happy...”
– Love to my Nana on her birthday, Lexi
Happiness
I’ve been thinking about happiness today. It is important to be happy. There are easy days and hard days, things to be late for, lists that don’t get done. But you carry your own happiness through it all.
Today the bug had his bath, got jammied up and went for a ride in the laundry basket. His daddy pulled him around in it like a sleigh, then turned it in a circle for a bit. Buglet...
Saint Kitty
How we ended up with such a mean old cat is a long story for another time. But it was a major worry for me, bringing a helpless baby home with this urban tiger who could maul him without a second thought.
The first few weeks she waited for him to leave. Then she sulked and avoided him. Gradually she came closer and got comfortable with him. He was just an infant and not very coordinated.
But...
Three Things
Duck Fuzz. Our baby is a baldy. He is very advanced in lots of ways, but not so much at growing hair. His grandpa says the later you get hair, the longer you keep it. Good news for cueball.
But recently his shiny dome has sprouted a soft layer of duck fuzz. It is blonde, almost invisible, and makes me want to kiss the top of his head 100 times a day.
Dirty Paws. Saturday morning we slept in a...
Baby's Breath
One of the wonderful things about having the baby fall asleep in your lap is being able to lean over and sniff his sweet sleeping breath. It is the last vestige of the new-baby smell he had as an infant. It is like sweet milk and warm bread and fresh flowers and spring rain.
Milk Notes
There are two main brands of milk storage bags, Medela and Lansinoh. Medela makes pumps and bottles; their milk bags attach to the pump mechanism with special straps and the bottom flares out so they stand up when filled. They only hold 5 ounces.
Lansinoh has other products for mothers, like lanolin for chapping and disposable shields for leakage. Their bags don’t really attach to the...
Night Owl
Our bedtime routine starts right after work. I pick up the baby at daycare, Daddy meets us at the car and brings in the boy while I carry our accoutrements. We eat dinner at the the table then watch a little Yo Gabba Gabba in the living room and nurse a bit. Then it is time for a bath, play in the tub a little with the squirty toys. Afterwards, clean diaper, lotion massage and pajamas. Play...
Groundhog Day
In the Bill Murray movie it repeats over and over. I hope that is not the case today. We had Lex’s six month checkup and he got three shots and an oral vaccine. He was brave but did not like it much. Dada was with us but it was my turn to hold him.
Afterwards I had to drop him off at daycare and leave while he was still crying. It was terrible but I had meetings. When I picked him up he...
Bum Genius (guest post)
As Chief Dealer with the Diapers, Amber’s letting me do a guest post on my area of Lex care.
When Lex came home, we had already contacted The Stork, a cloth diaper service located over in Charlottesville. They had a Richmond route and provided a compelling alternative to disposable diapers (both economically and environmentally). The Stork rents you seven wraps and some huge quantity of...
Digital Baby
Today has been pretty typical for our connected little guy. We took HD video of him crawling and posted it to YouTube. He starred in Momma’s momentile. Talked with his 80-year old JaJa in Florida on video iChat. Bought Yo Gabba Gabba on the AppleTV. Daddy got Twoosh-dialed by Rentzsch. Now time for Twitter, Tumblrette and bed.