Sunday, December 28, 2008

Quarteryear

Will is three months old today!



We don't have another checkup for a month, so I'm not sure how much he weighs or how tall he is, although I'm guessing the answers are A LOT and VERY. So instead of his vitals, I'll give you some quick bulletpoints.
  • He drools. Copiously. From ten weeks on, he has been a saliva volcano.

  • He falls asleep when I run my finger from between his eyebrows down the bridge of his nose.

  • He is sleeping through the night regularly now...and I'm not talking about six hours here. For the past two weeks, he has been down from roughly 10:30 pm to 10:30 am, sometimes with a wake-up at 6 or 7 to down an ounce. As I type this, he is still sleeping after 11.5 hours.

  • He takes naps in the late morning and throughout the afternoon, preferably on top of someone. He stays mostly awake between 5 and 10 p.m., only dozing here and there.

  • He tries to talk to us constantly. I always took the invention of camcorders for granted, but now I know that I can record his "oooh" and "maaaaaaa" noises so they won't be lost forever when he learns to speak and we forget this newborn voice.

  • He startles when you sneeze or cough near him.

  • He still loves to stand.

  • He has begun to appreciate toys!

  • He's still in size 3 diapers (thank God!).
  • His smile and his soundless laugh (sometimes he can force out a coo when he's laughing) are hysterical.

  • We all love him to pieces.

Very Merry

Three years ago, my new boyfriend Dave (if I was even calling him my boyfriend by then) showed up at my doorstep in Somerville and surprised me with a small Christmas tree. Of course, he remembered to buy me a tree stand as well, because that's what Dave does: he does the nice thing, and then he does the extra-nice thing, and next thing you know, you're married to him. (OK, I skipped a few steps, but you get the gist.) We took a picture of that little tree, as if we thought it just might be the first of many.


This year, we decided to do without a tree. We're trying to save money, and we'd be spending Christmas morning at my sister's and then driving to New Jersey for ten days. No point.

On Tuesday night, our friends Kerry and Christian showed up on our doorstep and surprised us with a small Christmas tree...plus gifts for Will and the two of us to go beneath it. "It's not right to celebrate Will's first Christmas without a tree," they argued.

Our week continued with three joyful Christmas Eve parties, a great morning with my parents, Rachel, Ben, Belle and Joseph, and the easiest ever trip down to NJ: 4 hours, 40 minutes, including two stops!

Tonight we went to Dave's cousin Pat's house (he and his lovely wife Vicki host an annual holiday party for the Noon clan) and watched as the baby was happily passed from a cousin to a sibling to an uncle to an aunt and over to a cousin's kid--we didn't know quite what to do with our free hands!--and then Uncle Bill said he had something for William.

"I know you named Will after my dad, your grandfather," he said to Dave. "So I want him to have this watch." Dave's grandfather, the William Noon after whom both Uncle Bill and our little Will are named, had received a watch for forty years of service at his job, with his name engraved on the back. When he passed away, Dave's grandmother gave the watch to Uncle Bill; now Uncle Bill wanted to give it to the newest William Noon. It was a sweet and meaningful gift and we were very moved. We were also interested to hear that the watch had stopped at 7:07...the time of death on Pop-Pop Noon's death certificate.

We went about our business at the party, but soon enough an even eerier thing happened: the watch started again, out of the blue, as Grandpop had it in his hand! Cindy said "Everybody wave...Pop-Pop's here to say hi to little William!" and we all waved to the great-grandfather who had created this huge and happy family.

And I thought, How lucky! We have each other, and friends who come bearing Christmas trees, and families to love us and to help us navigate new-parenthood, and sisters-in-law to work out and gossip and laugh with, and brothers-in-law who want to play with their baby nephew and will even let you fix their hair (more on this later), and a son who only cries when he needs another eight gazillion ounces of food down his gullet. I thought about how even though this is our first Christmas without my beloved Grandpa Joe, he was still there for nearly 28 years of my life. So lucky.

I know this is a rambling post, and I have a million more stories from this past week and pictures to accompany them (not to mention all the work I still have to put into the Noon Guide site). Until I'm finished immersing myself in family and friends, however, those posts will just have to wait. Happy holidays!

Friday, December 26, 2008

Visitors from Afar





Lisa and Kristoffer visited us from Kenya; Leah and Johnny came a shorter distance (from New York) but had just as much fun with young William. And we had a great time with everyone!
(These photos are from two weekends ago, so Will was 11 weeks old.)

Saturday, December 20, 2008

The After Effect

I did not cheat and take a picture directly after Kellyn did my hair. I waited two days, washed and blow-dried on my own, and then took a series of exceedingly goofy photos. For more ridiculous self-pictures and fun style-related conversation, visit the Noonguide site. And now, for your viewing delight:


I look surprised...about what? I am the one taking the picture, so there's really no basis for confusion. And yet.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Playing Dress Up, the Noon Way

Here's the deal. All those style-related posts were making me so giddy that I started to become a touch obsessive. As in, I would read a comment and then call the commenter and ask them about another aspect of the hair/the makeup/the lashes/the bronzer, and then I would start planning a new follow-up post, and it all got a bit out of hand.

So I decided to move most of the beauty and style and gossip stuff elsewhere...specifically, to the Noon Guide blog. That way, here I can go on and on about Will and how he's almost twelve weeks old and still sleeps with his head at a ninety-degree angle from his shoulders, and I can conduct an extensive cost-benefit analysis of buying a jogging stroller, and I can post family photos and keep a running record of Our Life At This Very Moment...and if you'd rather skip all that and just weigh in on Erin's choice of bridal makeup, you can go there instead.

(And if you're interested in my taste in both strollers and bronzers, you can read both! In fact, I hope that many of you will.)
**UPDATE: The Noon Guide blog will be up and running by January 1. A link to that site will be listed prominently on this one, so visit me in 2009!**

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Now Hair This Instead?




A little more modern than the Jessica styles, don't you think? I'll post "after" photos tomorrow.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Many Looks for Muhlhan

In anticipation of doing a bridal makeup demo with Erin in January, I started perusing some photos of Amy Adams, another beautiful ocean-eyed redhead. Here are some options I came up with, and the accompanying notes. Erin is an...opinionated person, and I'm sure she will make up her own mind (and look gorgeous in doing so), but your thoughts--though they may well go unused--are welcome.
This is tbe most natural look of the four. The hair is in an updo, but only a semi-formal one. Amy's wearing thin black eyeliner on her top and bottom lids, and her lip is nude, which puts her blue eyes and the tendrils framing her face that much more in the spotlight. It's definitely pretty, but I don't know that there's much else to say about it.


Amy's hair is half-up in this photo, which is a look I adore on Erin. She looks a bit more Hollywood here: bronzed skin, sheer pink gloss on her lips, and a more defined eye with extra liner and mascara on the outside. My favorite part of this makeup is the mascara on upper and lower lashes for a truly glamorous--without being too dramatic--set of peepers.



The first word that comes to mind: dewy. It looks as if Amy's makeup artist may have forgone the matte foundation on this particular night. On the eyes, we see a more muted liner/mascara combo--see how Amy's lashes go out rather than flip up? She's rocking the ingenue image with peachy blush and lip color and a full-on porcelain base tone. The gathered side 'do is actually one of my most adored hairstyles, but it's probably more fit for a bridesmaid than a bride.

If I had straight-up, no-bones-about-it red hair and light eyes (and this hairstyle went with my dress), I would choose this as my bridal look. There is an appropriate balance between matte and shine on the face; the cheeks and forehead are tinted barely with a peachy bronze, but the outer cheeks and jawline are accentuated with a blush that has just the right amount of orange in it to complement the hair. Her eyes scream DRAMA, but with only black liner and mascara and a brown-based shadow that work with the pink-brown mouth to tie the whole look together. Finally, her eyebrows are so well-groomed here, and nicely shaped brows are the classy icing on every va-va-voom cupcake.

So...Erin and everyone else, what do you think?

Monday, December 15, 2008

Guess Who's Wearing Size 3 Diapers?

My eleven-week-old son, that's who. I had to switch from Size 2 after there was a bit of an explosion down under this morning. We are now using chlorine-free Seventh Generation brand because we got such a good deal at Diapers.com, and because I never miss an opportunity to "do good" (for the planet and for Will, at least theoretically) without paying extra cash.

So now young William is in diapers meant for children weighing 16 to 28 pounds. This hefty range blows my mind a little bit, but I will try to ignore it and pretend I am not worried that my son will someday be the subject of a Discovery Health channel documentary on giantism. (Just kidding, I'm really not worried. Most of the time.)

I know it is ridiculous to even mention this, but I don't get anything for talking about any products or websites here. My only reasons for writing about what I like and don't like are to have a record for my own purposes, and to offer suggestions to friends and family who are interested. I would have zero problems making extra money via those reviews, but I doubt that my objectivity will ever be compromised in such a welcome way. ;-)

Sunday, December 14, 2008

The Shape of Things to Come

I made it to my first gym class in a year on Thursday night. It was an incredibly fun PowerStep class, and I'm so out of practice that I forgot a water bottle and left with a face flushed crimson (and a body filled with endorphins, which made the pain so worth it). On top of that, this gym is about .4 miles away from us on our very own street, and they have a fabulous baby-sitting program for babies as young as eight weeks, so Will already qualifies. I don't think I'll ever get back to my pre-pregnancy weight without the motivation and peer pressure that comes with group exercise classes, so all of this is extremely good news.

One of the blogs I follow has a new fitness website that I'll also be using for inspiration, called http://www.bodiesinmotivation.com/. I'd like to be back to my old weight by January 1, 2009 and in fantastic shape by the time Erin and Matt get married at the end of April. And then I'd like to maintain that shape for Amy and Dave's wedding in August. After all, both brides-to-be looked so beautiful in my wedding photos:

Friday, December 12, 2008

Massachusetts, the State of Emergency


We knew it was supposed to rain. This morning we woke up with a couple inches of water in our basement, but we found out we were lucky when we watched Governor Patrick's press conference and learned that 350,000 homes are without power--so far--across Massachusetts. Those who experienced the worst of the ice storm have lost heat and have to seek shelter, which I absolutely can't imagine, with or without a two-month-old baby.

Meanwhile, our living room cable box, which has been on the fritz, has miraculously corrected itself since the overnight storm. Hm.

Dave is working from home until the pump starts to make a dent in the basement (metaphorically speaking), and even though all Will-related things are my responsibility, it's very nice to simply have another adult around for the illusion of socialization!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Growth Spurt Much?

7 pm: Falls asleep on Dad
9:30 pm: Mom and Dad wake him up to feed him 5.5 ounces, after which he falls asleep immediately
3:45 am: Wakes up and eats 4 ounces, goes right back to sleep 15 minutes later
8 am: Cheerfully wakes up and consumes another 5
9-10 am: Takes a nice little nap before we head to our last moms' group of the newborn phase (!!)
11 am: Another nap, this time in the carseat as class begins
11:30 am: Wakes up to glug 3.5 ounces, play with his little friends, and practice standing (his favorite thing to do)
1:30 pm: Fussing for another feeding...two bottles later, he's sent another 7 ounces down the hatch

Put another way: in the last 17 hours, Will has ingested 25 ounces, more than his usual 24-hour intake. And yes, he is sleeping again.

PS: In the interest of avoiding a jinx, let me add that I hope he is growing outlandishly and not coming down with yet another cold...

Fairy Godmom

Aren't they a cute duo:
Oops! I meant to say, aren't they a cute duo:











(Will was about eight weeks old at this here photo shoot.)

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Great-Grandma, Great-Aunt, Great Visit



I'm late again in posting some pictures, but my grandmother and Aunt Peggy made it out to Boston from Ohio to visit William a few weeks ago, and I wanted to post the photos of our good time. My grandmother was kind enough to give Will the "Freeman stamp of approval"; she says that her mother-in-law (my great-grandmother) used to say she had to check out babies and make sure they were up to Freeman standards. And thankfully, Will seems to have checked off all the boxes. Phew!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Party Like It's 2007

This past weekend, we went to our first party...and left Will with my parents! The feeling of liberation lasted for about half an hour before we found ourselves sitting in a corner, just me and Dave, talking about Will's different cries. We also did some impressions of those cries...and corrected each other on the exact tone of each one...and we were not bored. Then Dave said, "I really hope no one's listening to us right now," and we got our act together and made the most of our freedom for another few hours.

We had a fabulous time at Kim and AlRo's holiday bash. That's Kim with me in the above picture. The last time we posed together with me in that dress, Kim was wearing a black cowboy hat and a faux engagement ring the size of my head. (It was at my bachelorette party.) I have no idea why we forgot to take some pics of me and AlRo, too. Maybe because I spent the whole night reminiscing with her instead? (We were laughing about our summer-of-2000 cross-country road trip, and typing that just made me realize that I have now known my college friends for over ten years! That's unbelievable.)

The next one is a shot of me and Lauren, who was very proud of me for getting all gussied up and drinking champagne, even if it meant leaving her godson behind for a bit.

And now we go back in time to Friday, when Auntie Mel came over to meet Will. After she cooed over him for a while, I believe her exact words were: "Can I not go to work and just come over every day and watch One Tree Hill with you and the baby?" (Of course, if it were up to me, uh...YES, PLEASE!)


Friday, December 5, 2008

Baby Names

My sister-in-law Jean and I recently had a long conversation about naming babies. She is due with a boy in March (boy cousins five months apart = great news for Will!) and I was grilling her a little about her naming process. While she and John are not revealing the name ahead of time, we talked about how they had decided on "Megan" for my three-year-old niece: "It wasn't my top choice, and it wasn't John's top choice...it was just the only one we could agree on."

Dave and I had chosen a boy's name prior to the Big Reveal Ultrasound, but not a girl's name. In fact, when we left that ultrasound appointment in a stupor, Dave commented that now we wouldn't have to think about names again for a couple of years.

Dave, is it? Hi, I'm Joanna. Nice to finally meet you! Baby names? Sure, I've been thinking about them since I was five years old, although at that point I was trying to name my imaginary future baby sister. What did I do when I realized I wasn't getting a sister? Thanks for asking! I actually proceeded to name the five panels of my bedroom bow window. I gave them first and middle names. And I wrote their names on the windowsills. In neon puffy paint.* What do you mean, that's crazy? Wait, where are you going? YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME NOW, WE TOOK VOWS, THINK OF THE BAAAAABY!

But I digress. Basically, Jean and I concluded that 1) naming babies is hard, and 2) naming babies whose last name is "Noon" can be especially hard. "Noon" is a noun, and therefore the following adjective/descriptive-word names are out of the running before the game's even begun: Summer, Autumn, April, May, June, Scarlett, Coral, Ruby, Dawn, Crystal, Amber, India, Chyna...not to mention anything that rhymes with "Noon" and all the tricky monosyllabic names like Brooke, which I love but Dave doesn't like when it's paired with Noon. He tells me it sounds too choppy. Even the name Taylor when paired with Noon...well, it rhymes with the name of the animated Japanese character Sailor Moon.

My last name is hilarious!

All this, and I'm not going to tell you what our favorite names are because there are still more babies to be had and therefore secrets to be kept! Suffice it to say, girls' names are tough, and boys' names are not that much easier. Still, I'm sure that we will all love the newest Noon boy's name, whatever it may be. Of course, we'll love the boy himself even more.


*This story is entirely true. Eventually I had to help my mom chisel the dried puffy paint off of the windowsills; I wish I had written down those names before they were lost forever.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Fun with Cousins

These pictures are a month old (hence the postpartum chub and grease--please ignore!) and we just got them online:



Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Our Family Photographer

Our wedding photographer, Brittany Blando, is one of my favorite people EVER. Let me tell you why:

1) When we first met, I told her I wanted Jessica Simpson's wedding day style and she told me, "But you're so much prettier than Jessica Simpson!" (I don't really need to list the next five reasons, do I?)

2) We had so much fun talking about my wedding, taking engagement photos, and getting to know each other in 2007.

3) She went out of her way to be there for much longer than scheduled on my wedding day, endeared herself to all our family and friends, and took spectacular photos.
4) She created our hilarious Us Weekly signature board and our gorgeous wedding album.

5) She was excited to come over and take pictures of me at the end of my pregnancy with Will, and we chatted for hours during the photo shoot.

6) She just sent me this picture from that shoot, and I can't stop staring at the belly and then the baby in my lap and thinking "This used to be that?" Amazing.


Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Will and the Tale of the Two-Month Checkup

Will was so excited to go to his pediatrician's office today for his two-month checkup:

This is a cell phone picture...could you tell?!

Little did he know he would be getting his vaccination shots--only two of them, though, and he cried for just a minute before calming down and napping a bit on the car ride home.

What else did we find out about our little man? Well, he is 13 lbs, 4 oz, and 23 1/4 inches long, which puts him squarely in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. My aching shoulders could have told you that without even putting him on the scale!

Will's cold has finally cleared up, his 6-hour stretch at night is apparently a common plateau for young babies, and there's absolutely no reflux to speak of. Yay!

Dave stayed home today to hold William's (or my) hand during the shots and to tackle some household chores with me, so I'm off to take advantage of having an extra set of hands around here.

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AUNT JEAN (one day late)! Will can't wait to see you and give you belated birthday kisses over Christmas. :-)

Monday, December 1, 2008

Date Nights

Back when Dave and I were only talking about having babies (for, like, 3.2 seconds before we then had one, I know--patience has never been my strong suit), we agreed that we would absolutely make sure to have a date night every week because it was important to keep our relationship strong, blah blah blah.

OK, so it is important to keep our relationship strong, but date nights require a few things that can't always be finagled, for instance:
  • a baby who is not sick and thus destined to get sicker or give someone else his cold
  • a mom who is equally not sick
  • a dad who doesn't get stuck in meetings and then holiday traffic every night of the week
  • free baby-sitting for the strapped-for-cash among us
  • the will to do something "for fun" when the baby's not with us as opposed to the urge to get our tasks on the to-do list done fast, hurry, faster, we've only got an hour left, now the timer's down to 0:59:55, will you please fix the stupid changing table already?

...and so on. But the stars have been aligned the last few nights, and we have managed a date night to see Four Christmases while my parents baby-sat, a night out with Lauren for me, a brothers-in-law date to see the new Bond movie for Dave and Ben, and tonight Dave is out with Christian to cheer on the Celts. Whew! I don't know how long we can keep it up, but it's fun to have a bit of a social life again for as long as it lasts.

Happy December, everyone.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Milestones

Dear WP,

At nine weeks old, you have made great strides! (Not literally, although you're definitely trying.) You just found out that your fingers will fit in your mouth this week, and you've been comforting yourself with them ever since. You had a bit of a fitful sleep week, but in the past few days you're back to a long stretch at night and some catnaps during the day. Hopefully you'll settle into a more consistent schedule in a few weeks.

You love: staring at lights, especially the dining room chandelier-style fixture; watching kids, especially your cousin Joe, while they talk and play; being carried around; sitting in your swing and watching the mobile with a puzzled frown on your face; playing "modified Peekaboo" and watching our faces swivel around and smile at you; eating in your sleep; being wrapped up in a SwaddleMe blanket; lying on your back and smiling at people while they bicycle your legs and tickle you; me singing Christmas carols, especially "Sleigh Ride," while I kiss your belly; hanging out with your family and conking out from all the chatter around you; loud music or static on the car radio.

You do not love but will tolerate: being placed in your bouncy seat (maybe you know your mom is trying to steal a hands-free moment); the Baby Bjorn (you probably want to face out, which you'll be big enough to do soon enough); sleeping in your crib; your pacifier; walks in strollers and rides in the car (you used to fall asleep doing these activities, but not anymore!); getting burped.

You decidedly hate: being changed, especially with that diaper rash you've had for a few days; getting your nose suctioned and saline drops in your nostrils; becoming overtired and unable to sleep; getting startled by loud noises.

Your personality is so much bigger these days, and with each day it grows exponentially. You lock eyes with us and make cooing or whimpering noises, and sometimes you try to force crocodile tears even though you can't help smiling back at our grinning faces. That's when I know we brought the right baby home from the hospital. :-)


Lots of love,
Mom & Dad

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Fat-urday


It always means trouble when you go to Judy and Marilyn's for brunch. Today, we ate (against our better judgment) homemade quiche, apple cake, brioche, coffee cake and other various treats. Needless to say, that postpartum diet is still on hiatus.



While we stuffed ourselves, our family members took care of the baby. Dave and I decided we pretty much have it made.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Two Months Young

On September 30, we brought Will home from the hospital. Mostly, he just liked to sleep on his dad.

Two months later, this kid is a real person! Well, almost:

(Dave didn't let me post the video of Will smiling and laughing because he--Dave--sounded "too goofy." When I figure out how to edit these videos, I'll post them here.)

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving Math

PLUS



PLUS



PLUS





EQUALS




In other words, the postpartum diet starts tomorrow, folks.
Happy Thanksgiving!!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Old Home Week

Of my four college roommates who have lived in New York since we graduated in 2002, one recently moved back to the Boston area, one visited yesterday, and one is joining me for dinner tonight.

We've spent Thanksgiving with Dave's family the last couple of years, but this year we decided not to travel with a two-month-old and instead to save Will's first trip to New Jersey for Christmas. The silver lining to celebrating in Boston (besides the obvious: taking one year to celebrate with my parents and eating my mother's Midwestern classic--a sweet potato casserole with a pecan crust) is seeing these native New Englanders as they return to the homeland. I'm having so much fun!

Incidentally, that fourth college roommate? She lives in New Jersey, so I'll see her over Christmas as well.

At the risk of sounding corny (Get it? Corn? Thanksgiving?), I admit I've got a lot to be thankful for.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Favorite Baby Stuff

Since Will is still asleep two hours later (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), I'm moving our list of Favorite Baby Stuff from the sidebar to a post unto itself. Here it is:
  • Pampers Swaddlers diapers: they're cozy even when pulled tight around the tummy, and they're virtually leak-proof (in our experience)
  • Baby mittens: any brand or type works to keep hands warm and prevent face-scratching if you're too skittish to clip or file your baby's nails
  • Dr. Brown's baby bottles: we tried Avent, Born Free, Medela and Evenflo, but these bottles are worth their slightly more involved assembly requirements
  • Snap 'n' Go stroller by Baby Trend: I've covered this one already in another post
  • Random humidifier bought at CVS: clears up congestion, warms up the nursery, provides some welcome white noise

I'll add to this list with future posts in the "Faves 'n' Raves" category.

The Sleep Update

I wrote most of that last post on Sunday; yesterday (Monday) was an exercise in patience and in moderating expectations when it came to Will's sleep patterns. Yikes.

Will woke up at 8:30 a.m. after two nighttime wake-ups (not normal for him), and stayed up save for four separate naps, the total of which was only two hours of sleep! All day! Yikes again.

Then he didn't fall asleep for the night until midnight, and he slept until 6, then fell asleep again from 6:30 to 9:45 this morning. Phew.

Dave and I were absolutely convinced there was something terribly wrong with him (is he dehydrated? does he have reflux? does he have diarrhea?), but I think he was just incredibly overtired and, you know, having a "regular baby" day. Will has set the bar so high for his first two months of life that we consider it a horrorshow when he has one tired-but-can't-sleep 24-hour period. And while that's important to pay attention to, we don't have to get quite as worked up about it as we did. Oh well...there's no way to learn these lessons except to live through them, I suppose.

Epilogue: William slept from 11-1:30, 2:40-3:30, and has now been asleep since 4:45; in between he ate copious amounts of milk and had a nice playdate with Auntie Molly. Lovely.

**UPDATE WITHIN AN UPDATE** I just found my favorite article on infant sleep: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070200.asp

Currently Enrolled in Sleep 101

From the pictures I'm always posting here, it may seem as if Will is constantly sleeping.




And while it's true he's been a very good sleeper--I knew I was baiting the baby gods when I bragged that he was sleeping an average of six to eight hours a night since he was two and a half weeks old--William was not always very skilled at sleeping alone...day or night.

He slept, but haltingly: Will woke up when you put him down unless he was in a VERY deep slumber; he woke himself up with a nose sniffle or an arm flail (even while swaddled tightly). In order to make a decision about whether to keep him with us in bed because he slept so much better there, we started to read the blogs and the books (OK, parts of the books), which all give differing opinions such as:
  • -co-sleeping at night is great, and optimally you should carry your baby around with you all day for the first three months (say Harvey Karp and Penelope Leach)
  • -co-sleeping is OK, but you should train your baby to sleep on his/her own starting at three months (say What to Expect and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby)

  • -co-sleeping is a slippery slope, but we'll be careful, but we love snuggling with him, but sometimes it is annoying, but he doesn't sleep half as long when he's not in our bed, but we will be ready to suffer those consequences soon... (every mommy blog out there)

And those are just thoughts about night-sleeping!

Last week, I started to put Will down in his crib during the day, and lo and behold, he slept for two to four hours at a time! I couldn't believe how great it was to have two whole hands to myself for three uninterrupted hours! Now I can make a pot of coffee, unload the dishwasher or even run a load of laundry during the day, I crowed to myself. And the best part would be that since all the experts say "sleep begets sleep," Will would continue to snooze for the usual seven hours at night, right?

Hm, not quite. At the exact moment Will learned how to be a good crib napper, his supernatural ability to sleep for a full night, whether in bed with us or not, was zapped. He is now...well, a regular baby: he wakes up once or even twice per night. My pediatrician says that the next step (since we're dealing with a 13-pound eight-week-old here) is to cajole him into eating 6 ounces before bedtime so his stomach stays satiated until morning.

Still, I can't help but think that the more I try this strategy or that one, the more William makes it apparent that I have no control over his schedule, not really. He'll eat as much as he wants and sleep for as long as he needs, and I'll try to roll cheerfully with this ever-undulating itinerary...at least for now!

Monday, November 24, 2008

What Not to Wear

Recently I've been thinking a lot about clothing and fashion and looking generally well put-together. (Could you tell from the last few posts?) The topic has been occupying my mind, I think, because I'm now moving into a new phase of style, one I described to my friend Amy as "Whatever's inexpensive, will survive spit-up stains, and takes less than a minute to throw on in the morning."

I've always been someone who thinks about what to wear, but not always with the greatest results. You can blame my affinity for neon and Spandex at the tender age of nine on the influence of the 1980s, but the rest of my outfits are not so easy to explain. Let's recap:

Here I'm in the ninth grade, sitting with Jenny and Clara and wearing my favorite jean cutoff shorts--probably for the fifth time that week.

This picture was taken at a party in twelfth grade, wearing a light pink gingham stretch dress from J. Crew that I thought was so sophisticated. I remember how much Ashley, Maria and I loved this picture of the three of us, but I can't remember why exactly.

Sophomore year of college, on spring break in the Dominican Republic
Here's where things get truly questionable. I'm wearing khaki clamdiggers with a baby pink cardigan?!? And let's not even talk about those black Steve Madden slides everyone was wearing. By the way, I cut out Molly and Amy out of this picture in order to protect our friendships, but let me assure you that they were sporting very similar outfits.

Also sophomore year of college...with Julie...don't we look like we are going to a costume party dressed as mermaids? Too bad we were going instead to a frat party, and those were not costumes.

Junior year ushered in a new era of style: all pink, all the time.

Molly and I used to sing karaoke in her room during our senior year at Michigan; I lived in this long gray sweater throughout the winter of 2001-2002, despite my roommates begging me to please wear an actual parka now that it's below freezing here in Ann Arbor.

On my twenty-fifth birthday, I cleaned up quite nicely...except that I distinctly recall taking off my banana-leaf necklace before this picture was taken because the bulbous beads kept catching in my hair. Yes, the necklace was made of BANANA LEAVES.

A few months later, I met a guy who'd have a large influence on my looks from that point onward:


Maybe a little too much influence?


Hey, at least I didn't wear a pink wedding dress.