Now Hair This

I need your input. At my next hair appointment at the fabulous Joi Salon in Boston's North End, I'll be asking for one of these looks (yes, they are both Jessica Simpson hairstyles, and no, they are not very different from my current hair--just bear with me here):

Look #1: Longer and Layered with Sideswept Bangs

Look #2: Shorter and Razored

Please do not be distracted by the fake tan/fake lashes/fake nose...

You can vote on the sidebar to the right!!

We'll All Look Back at This and Laugh Someday

One of my favorite pastimes growing up was looking at photos of me as a baby (big shock, I know) as I was being held by various of my parents' friends. Even seven or ten years later, everything looked so dated. I used to giggle at the shaggy hair, the flared pants and the tight V-neck tee-shirts...and those were the men! They are of course forgiven as they had just emerged from one of the silliest fashion decades in centuries:

Exhibit A: Style in the 1760s

Without the wig holding him back, this guy would have a certain attraction, no?

Exhibit B: Style in the 1970s

There are no words. Especially for the poor guy on the right. The one with the pants. Or the guy next to him, who I'm pretty sure was the inspiration for the character of Fred in Scooby-Doo.

All this to say, our wonderful batch of friends (whom Will probably will refer to as "family friends" someday, which makes me feel as old as the textile mills that manufactured that first guy's outfit) has been coming by in waves over the last eight weeks to help take care of all three of us; meanwhile, we've managed to take some pictures to commemorate these special first moments with "parents' friends" so that Will can laugh at all of us someday. I can only hope we'll have the good sense to laugh along with him.

What? That was the style in 2008!

Keeping Me Sane

Here is a current list of my favorite sanity-inspiring things:

On TV or DVD:

• The Wire (DVDs)
• True Blood (HBO OnDemand, which we get for free this month)
• Ricky Gervais' Comedian stand-up show (also on HBO--I could watch Ricky Gervais scratch his ear for half an hour and still be at least somewhat amused)
• 30 Rock (I actually catch a new episode now and then!)
• One Tree Hill on SoapNet (Don't judge me, it's on from 1-3 p.m., which happens to be prime Will's Awake But Doesn't Know What to Do With Himself As He's Only 8 Weeks Old time in our house.)

For the Baby:

• The wipe warmer--most moms say it's useless, but the difference between a cold and a warm wipe in this house is the difference between angry-bordering-on-hysterical yodel-like shrieks and daffy, cooing smiles. I choose B.
• "Sleep and play" outfits--basically the onesies with long sleeves and long arms--especially the ones with a zip-up front and coverings for the hands and feet. The zipper makes things so much easier for the incessant diaper leak crises.
• The Snap 'n' Go stroller. Thanks to my sister and sisters-in-law for making me register for this and then giving it to me! Our regular stroller is great for off-roading, but it's both heavy and cumbersome; the Snap 'n' Go gets stowed in the trunk of my car and is transportation mode of choice for getting William from the car to the pediatrician's office, to the mall, to Target, and anywhere else I go to spend too much mon--I mean, maintain my child's health and well-being.
• Speaking of Target, the Mommy Hook. This is just a giant-sized carabiner that clips onto your stroller handle and allows you to let the stroller carry the weight of your purse and any shopping bags you may pick up along the way. This gadget is vital when you no longer have lip gloss and your cell phone rattling around in a cute bag and instead are carrying (one of your many gorgeous) diaper bags stuffed to the brim with god-knows-what.
• The Swaddle Me and the Miracle Blanket. Dave's brother tried to teach us how to swaddle back when I was pregnant, but I still have a hard time with it, and sometimes (read: at two in the morning) we are just too lazy to make it perfect. Plus, you ideally need a square blanket, something stretchy but not too stretchy...who has the time, honestly? Will sleeps best when swaddled, and the Swaddle Me literally takes three hand motions to get the Velcro tabs in place and William looking like a little fleece burrito. In the Miracle Blanket, which is a bit more complicated to wrap but still less so than starting from scratch with a regular blanket, the result is more of a Mummy Baby. (Preserved in organic cotton, no less.)

In the Name of Efficiency

• The Charles River walking path just outside my door
• Amy's frozen burritos for lunch...I can manage the microwave one-handed.
• 12-cup coffeemaker with the stainless carafe that keeps its contents piping hot throughout the long day, assuming you remember to twist the cap fully after pouring a cup (and assuming you don't, um, leave the carafe in the refrigerator after you pour the milk, ahem).
• Peapod grocery delivery from Stop 'n' Shop: Don't laugh, I do realize that there is a Stop 'n' Shop located a convenient half-mile from our doorstep, but Peapod pays for its delivery fee in other ways. We don't impulse-buy anymore (cough, Family Size bag of Twizzlers, cough, Dave) and I don't have to nervously wheel a newborn around a grocery store wondering when he's going to wake up hungry. Everybody wins! (Except Dave. He loves Twizzlers.)
• The drive-through McDonald's on our street, where I can get a coffee and interaction with another adult (gasp!) without ever leaving my car/moving my baby/interrupting infant REM...fabulous!
• Awesome friends who bring dinner and breakfast and Scene It and all-around good company to our home and understand when we don't want to (or really, really want to but can't) go out instead. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Lauren and Kerry and Christian and Jay and Ryan and Ashley and Scott and whoever else I'm forgetting.
• Awesome family members who either come from New Jersey bearing economy boxes of diapers and wipes or come from another pocket of Newton or Brookline bearing Starbucks and Tales from the Outside World. Thanks--you are indispensable.

Miscellaneous

• Us Weeklies, hand-delivered by Kerry, complete with mini Post-It notes describing her outrage at the many pictures of Rosario Dawson in the magazine
• Cheery red holiday cups at Starbucks
• Dave, especially when he comes home rejuvenated after a day without babies at the exact moment I am crashing from a day without non-babies

I know many of you haven't figured out how to comment here yet, but I'd love to hear about the things keeping you afloat these days!

A Baptism Day Miracle

Will was baptized on Sunday, November 9, and once again he made his parents eat their words; we were convinced that his hatred of the bathtub (OK, we only tried once, but still) would translate to the baptismal font, but we were mistaken! The boy was a superstar.

Godparents Mark and Lauren lead the procession

The baptismal rite is performed while Will sleeps

Proud (and surprised) parents

The job of the godfather



Will's big and wonderful family

Still proud...still surprised...

...still asleep!

After the ceremony, Grandmom and Grandpop Noon hosted a brunch reception nearby for family, godparents and locals, and everyone had a great time bonding with the baby and spending some time together before the out-of-towners had to say their goodbyes.

Thanks to Eric for the beautiful photos. :-)

Dave's Big 3-0

Back at the beginning of November (yikes), the Boston-based family celebrated Dave's 30th with a birthday dinner. The festivities may look tame, but trust me: after spending the weekend taking care of his mastitis-ridden wife and tending single-handedly to his five-week-old baby, Dave was thrilled to party with a couple of kids on a sugar high. Here is some photographic evidence of the good times:

We couldn't fit thirty candles on the cake, so we settled for one.

Two kids + chocolate cake = total giddiness


This is your brain...

this is your brain on cake...

any questions?

The Seven-Week Itch

Well, not so much of an "itch" as it has been a haze. At five weeks, the fog began to lift. At six weeks postpartum, I felt comfortable going for a run. And now? I feel downright energized!

The first five weeks of having an infant in the house were not what I predicted. I expected sleepless nights, but with Dave's help the first two weeks and then a six- or seven-hour stretch of William sleeping nearly every night, we didn't suffer too much in that department.

Instead, we fretted about whether he was breathing. I had a tough time nursing, or rather, Will had a tough time nursing and I felt sad about it. I missed the baby when I put him down at night and ended up cuddling him right into bed with us. (But I promise--myself, mostly--to stop that by 12 weeks, when he might start to remember it!) Dave and I got confused about who was in charge of what, household-wise, when we were both home. (That was until we realized we were both in charge of everything, all the time, by default, because there is always something to do. Not a fun revelation, but true nonetheless.)

And at this point, I find myself actually having time to think about these things. Sure, it's almost one o'clock in the morning, and Will's finally sleeping in the crook of his dad's arm after an uncharacteristically fussy day. My contacts are still in and I'm drinking my first glass of water of the day. Still, I've had time to get things done today. I went for a walk with women from my moms' group; I addressed a few Christmas cards; I edited a friend's grad school application essay; I fed and changed and played with Will, made dinner for Dave, and now I'm getting in a blog post! All in all, this feels like success. Now if only the baby would sleep for another six or seven hours...

"Sleep is for the weak."

NaNoBloPoMo

In the blogging world, November is National Blog Post Month, and those who participate agree to post an entry on their blog every day for the entire month. I'm definitely the kind of person who responds to a challenge, so I've decided to make the "month" of November 20-December 21 "National Noon Blog Post Month." That's right, I'm going to attempt a blog post per day from this Thursday through the week before Christmas (when things will probably get even more hectic and we'll be traveling).

Just to spell it out, so I have a contract to hold myself to, I'd like to figure out how to post video here so Fans of Will can see what he's been up to lately; I'll also be posting about other snippets of our life here, more so that we can remember what life is like in this moment than because you all will find it interesting, although perhaps a few of you might.

As for the William update: Right now, he's taunting me from the bouncy chair, flashing his easy smiles and almost-chuckles (his face lights up with a grin, he opens his mouth wide as if to laugh, but nothing comes out...poor baby) as if to say, "Yeah, sure, a post a day...as if you could resist my many charms long enough to write even a paragraph!" He may be right, but I'll give it a try anyway.