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.)

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.

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?

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.

 

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.

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?)

Happy Valentine's Day...

...I got you all some cheeks: