Friday, February 27, 2009

Overgrown and Underwashed


One day before Will turns five months old, I have the following to say:

How does a person grow a few inches overnight?

Although he's been wearing one-year-old footie outfits for a couple of months now, they always dangled a bit on him. This week? Will is rocking the 12 month wardrobe. His feet, of course, fully press against the stitching of the actual "footie" fabric. No surprise there. But I can't believe his body is now long enough to fill out these one-pieces meant for someone at least four months older than he. 

I guess I keep expecting him to level off, and he does plateau for short periods of time, a couple of weeks even, but then it's back to Speedy Growth Spurt Baby. We won't have a six-month checkup until April 3, so who knows? Maybe Will is going to level off here and be at the 75th percentile still.

So I don't have a preference one way or the other. Big or small, it's just how he's supposed to develop. What I would prefer, though, is to be able to dress him in the adorable things people have given us for longer than one or two rotations. I'm now picking up 12-18 month sizes to hedge my bets, but there are some CUTE 9-month-old items that have been relegated to the "next baby" Rubbermaid container. 

Also, he may actually be getting some hair now. Either that, or the downy strands he's always had just look denser/darker/thicker because we haven't shampoo'ed his "hair" in...ages. Let's just say ages.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Out of Africa

I received a phone call at 4 a.m. this morning: "We have a baaaaaby," Lisa croaked. "And I have to go to sleep I'm so tired."

"So...boy or girl? Name?" I demanded, scurrying into the kitchen to avoid waking up Dave and Will.

"Grace Elizabeth," she told me proudly. 

"I'm so excited!" I squealed. "And I can't wait to go buy BABY GIRL CLOTHES! FINALLY!"

Welcome to the world, little Grace. I can't wait to meet you (or for now, see pictures of your cute face).

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Friends Here, Friends There


Friends here: come bearing taco dip, play with my baby.



Friends there: having a baby TONIGHT! (Well, tomorrow in Kenyan time.)

Monday, February 23, 2009

Small Things Monday

1. Hosting Kerry for American Idol.
2. Shopping at the outlets with Lauren.
3. Eating cheese puffs for dinner; quenching the resulting thirst with raspberry soda through a straw.
4. Listening to Will laugh when we startle him or growl "BUBBA!" while grabbing and tickling his feet.
5. Remembering to relax and enjoy, especially this past week. Coparenting is fun.
6. Eating chocolate chip cookies while the chocolate's still piping hot. (Husbands who bake are also fun.)
7. Making playdates with Will's best baby friend, Ryan (and his cool mom, Mo):

My mom's so desperate to hang out with your mom, it's nuts.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

My Son, The Jock


As I've mentioned before, Will has had the urge to be upright since he was born, basically. He gets frustrated, is moved to tears even, when someone ignores his grunting demand to stand. We can therefore add standing to the list of things Will has loved since birth, which also includes:

-eating
-moving
-grabbing
-gumming
-arching
-jumping (or being flung in the air as if he were jumping)

Do you see a pattern here? A pattern of action, as opposed to words? A pattern of--OK, I'll cut to the chase. What Will doesn't love, and what he hasn't loved for one second since the day he was born is...here goes nothing...is reading. READING. My child, my flesh and blood, my pudgy-cheeked monkey boy: HATES BOOKS.

There have been a few exception-al moments. He does like it when I use funny voices, but
 honestly, I've started accompanying those voices with more tangible effects. Like, um, grabbing. And jumping. What can I say? I didn't even notice I was using multisensory add-ons until today, when I began to read "Good Night, Gorilla" and Will immediately dove into a backbend on my lap. As the board book rammed into my jaw and the indignant wailing began--HOW DARE YOU READ THIS TO ME, THIS BOOK ABOUT A ZOO THAT IS MY COUSIN'S FAVORITE BOOK EVER, THIS ADORABLE STORY OF A ZOOKEEPER AND HIS WIFE AND THE ANIMALS, WHEN YOU KNOW MY FAVORITE THING IS STANDING AND/OR EATING THINGS?--I calmly said to Dave, "He doesn't really like books." 

[Dave clearly married me for my acute observations.]

"No, he really doesn't," Dave replied. "He's a doer, honey; not a reader."

So I started to cry. Oh yes, I cried.

I thought about never being able to comfort Will with a favorite book; never reading him to sleep at night in a rocking chair, holding him in my lap; never seeing him grow into chapter books, argue with me for ten more minutes before lights-out, escape into a story when his own life was less than ideal.

Four somewhat reassuring responses spring to mind immediately:

1) Just because he doesn't like books at five months old doesn't mean he won't ever like reading.
2) If he never loves reading, it will be because he seeks and finds comfort in other activities, not because he wants to love reading but can't figure out how.
3) Lots of non-bibliophiles are perfectly clever and well-adjusted. (Case in point: my husband, for goodness' sake.)

And finally: 4) This is perhaps the first of many lessons, all reinforcing a central tenet of parenthood: your child is not yourself. Deal with it.

(I suppose I won't be too bummed if we get to skip the arguing-over-lights-out thing, either.)

Mom, chicks dig the standing! Can't you see I'm too cute to read?

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Love, Love, Love

Dave and I agreed not to celebrate Valentine's Day this year. We don't have any extra cash, least of all to spend on each other, and also...every day with Will is Valentine's Day in our house. (It's so corny, I had to type it in a whisper.)

Last night the three of us were hanging out, and I said to Dave: It's not that I don't remember Life Before Will, because I do. But how is it possible that we were happy without him? Why didn't we feel like something was missing when it was only the two of us?

I don't write a lot of sentimental stuff about Will because it just seems so OBVIOUS. It wasn't a surprise to find that I loved him beyond reason, that I love him more every day, that I can't imagine another baby sharing my heart (although I know I'll manage someday). I always knew I'd be downright smitten.
 

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Toothambic Pentameter

GumBawl Machine

For quite some time you've been a sleeper fine,
With nighttime habits that were just divine.
You slept at eight or nine or even ten,
And for twelve hours never rose again.

But now your teeth are jutting through your gums,
And some would say, "Just dose him up with rum!"
And some would say, "Just let him cry it out!"
Nope...we don't like to listen to you shout.

So here we are, with monitor in hand,
Next door to your obscure crib-bound demands.
We wish for all our sakes that you'll soon be
A fully toothed five-month-old, and pain-free.

And if it just so happens that you're not:
I'll be in the guest bedroom on the cot.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Grace in Not-so-Small Things

1. Dave is on vacation. (Sort of...he is still working from home a little bit, but the way I look at it: if he can stay home with Will while I go to the grocery store on a Monday afternoon, he's ON VACATION--for my purposes, anyway.)

2. Will has four teeth (that we can feel) coming in; all four are on his UPPER gumline. No book or website will believe us, but it's true. There's not a whole lot of grace in all the drooling and whining, but I can say with all the foolishness and naivete of a first-time mama that it's kind of cool to see and feel this proof that Will is going to be a real person with real person teeth sometime soon.

3. Aforementioned almost-real-person-with-teeth is staying awake for longer stretches, and has been for almost a week now. While this means scrambling for extra wintertime activities to keep baby occupied (just waterboard me and get it over with already, 'kay?), it also means a hint of fewer naps to come, so that my day isn't broken into quite so many mini-chunks.

4. I'm already almost at my goal for the March of Dimes walk, thanks to my insanely generous family and friends, and I've taken advantage of Alro's passion for all things charitable and convinced her to walk with me on May 9. Three cheers for adult companionship!

5. Uncle John came to town for a track meet and managed a quick playdate with Will:



Gee, do you think Will had any fun at all with him?

6. I am no longer pregnant and therefore can actually take Nyquil when I get a fever & cold combo. (Although it worked the first night and then not at all thereafter. The point is, I was free to take whatever medicine I wanted. Huzzah etc.)

7. All of our wedding ceremony AND reception AND after-party AND honeymoon pictures are now available for your perusal in one giant photo album. And photos from Will's christening are in a gorgeous brag book my sister gave us. Now to finish that 2008 scrapbook. (Waterboarding? Anyone?)

Friday, February 13, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day...

...I got you all some cheeks:



Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Aunt Jen's Literacy Program

"I'll have you reading in no time, Will," said Aunt Jen. "See? Practice on this week's issue of Us Weekly. Repeat after me, Will. 'Dating? Pregnant? Engaged? Split?' Now YOU say it."

But Aunt Jen...please! I just want to play with this spinny toy!

"No nephew of mine will play with a toy when there are magazines to read! Back to work! Which celebrities are just like us, Will? What are the new Hollywood hot spots? Read, boy, read!"

"OK, Will, I guess you're right. It is more fun to play with the spinny toy."

Thanks for visiting, Aunt Jen. I love you!

Affairs of the Heart

I've mentioned Will's love for his musical seahorse before, but this is getting ridiculous:



Saturday, February 7, 2009

Another GIST List

Mondays are goooooood. We've got a lot of grace to be grateful for today:

1. A visit from Aunt Jen, complete with coffee, pizza, Doritos and magazines. But not all at the same time.


3. A four-month-old who sleeps from 8:15 at night to 7:15 in the morning. And again from 8-9 a.m. Sweet, sweet nectar of the baby gods.

4. Deciding to take Sundays (mostly) off from chores and errands. They don't call it a day of rest for nothing.

5. Dave's weeklong vacation starting in four days.

6. Hand-me-down baby books...especially ones containing the word "Oops" over and over again, causing Will to laugh uproariously with his crazed-caveman grunting giggle thing.

7. The good half of the Love Actually soundtrack. (I'll take Joni Mitchell, Wyclef, Eva Cassidy, even the Sugababes; I'll leave the random Kelly Clarkson song and definitely The Calling. Ugh. But, I know, we're focusing on the good stuff, so YAY for the album-half-full!)


Thursday, February 5, 2009

"Solid" Proof

Here's the photographic evidence that my son's been dabbling in solid foods. Although, I'm not sure why they're called "solids" exactly...

He didn't reject the spoon quite as forcefully as he did last time.

A friend in my moms' group suggested sticking a pacifier in Will's mouth directly after feeding him the cereal so that he'd instinctively swallow the cereal; it worked pretty well!

And even if he only managed to eat a little bit of food, we still had a great time.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Rock and Roll

Will rolled over today. As a developmental accomplishment, rolling means absolutely nada, but I got excited anyway.

I've been remiss in posting pictures recently because our camera batteries are both depleted, and I keep forgetting to charge them up. I'll try to get on that by next week.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Baby March

Despite our different political views and personal priorities, we can probably agree on one important issue: Babies deserve much more than a fighting chance.

I'm walking in the Boston March of Dimes event on May 9 of this year. My goal is $200...I'm hoping that everyone can give at least one dollar to this wonderful organization, and that a few might even have an extra buck to sponsor my walk.

Please visit my March of Dimes walk website to learn more or make a donation. Thank you!

Monday, February 2, 2009

GIST 4

1. Chocolate chip cookies, baked nachos, white sangria and Jordan Catalano in Lauren's basement.
2. Going under budget at the grocery store. It's like a winning scratch ticket, but you worked for it.
3. Baby smiles, baby laughter, baby chins...
4. Celebrating Valentine's Day early.
5. All-Seasons Salt.
7. Thirty-nine years of marriage. (Happy Anniversary, Grandmom & Grandpop!)