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:

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.

2. A weird Clooney movie.

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!)

"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.

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.

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!

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.

6. Complex characters, thought-provoking plotlines and mesmerizing suspense, but only for a few more weeks. [Hysterical crying ensues.]

7. Thirty-nine years of marriage. (Happy Anniversary, Grandmom & Grandpop!)