It's been a while. Sorry. Things have been a little nutty for all the following reasons:
1) We are living with a land shark
Leo had his last check up at 4 weeks, where he clocked in at 11 pounds 3 oz. At his lowest, at his one week appointment, he was at 7 pounds 12 oz. That's almost three and a half pounds. More than forty percent of his body weight. In 3 weeks. I don't remember how long he was, but I remember he was in 90-95th percentile in both height and weight. Or, in layman's terms: Dayyyyumn, that's a big baby!
That was about two weeks ago. With the help of his carseat carrier ( "the bucket"), a bathroom scale, and my old nemesis subtraction, we estimate his current weight at about 13 and a half pounds. Holy hell.
Needless to say, our life is just one long blur of feedings. And, when I feel like I've sucked down to sawdust, I look into his eyes and demand, "Where does it all go? Where?"
Then he fills another diaper as if to say, "Duh."
2) That land shark has attitude
Around six weeks, many babies go through a phase of fussiness. No one is entirely sure why, but I think of it as a kind of adolescence. Suddenly, they can see past the tips of their noses and realize that the world is much larger and more complex than they've been led to believe. Then they all turn into a bunch of Holden Caulfields and decide that the people who love them most are A BUNCH OF PHONIES!!! So they do the infant version of locking themselves in their rooms and writing bad poetry--they cry and fuss for no apparent reason.
When Leo gets in one of these moods, I try to take him for a walk outside. One particularly trying night, I needed to get something for dinner, so I loaded him into the stroller, and we went to Market Basket. Now, for those of you outside the Boston area, the Somerville Market Basket isn't your average grocery store. It is a microcosm of the city thrown into a blender. It is the American melting pot left on high until it boils over. It is, in every sense, overwhelming. So, as Leo continued to fuss on the walk over, I thought, "I taking an already overstimulated kid into a swirling mass of chaos. Nothing good will come of this." I fully expected him to scream the whole time. But then, once we got inside, he immediately went quiet and proceeded to stare in bug-eyed silence the entire time. And, as we left, I leaned down to whisper, "Did I just BLOW YOUR MIND?" He spent the rest of the evening in deep contemplation, trying to swallow his whole fist.
There is an upside to all of this. Leo has finally learned to smile, and a darling little smile it is. It usually starts on just one side of his face, but with some coaxing it takes over his whole face, then gets so big that he has to wrinkle his nose just to make room for it. It's elusive, so we haven't captured it on film yet. But it's pretty spectacular.
3) The Big Three-O
A few days after Leo was born, I was in the bathroom when I heard the neighbors talking out on the deck. One of them said "I mean, I'm already thirty, but when am I going to start feeling like an adult?"
Now, I was sitting there, bone tired, nursing my undercarriage back to health, and contemplating the wonders of disposable hospital underwear (hospital underwear doesn't give you that little squeeze to remind you how big you've gotten; hospital underwear accept you exactly as you are). I was newly responsible for another person's life, and feeling more adult than ever before in my life.
It was all I could do not to yell out the window "If you have to ask that idiot question, then you aren't one! And you probably never will be!"
On October 22, I turned 30. I got to celebrate with both my friends and my family, which hasn't happened for a while. It was the best birthday I've had in a while, and an excellent way to start a new decade.
4) Meet the Grandparents 2.0
My parents (a.k.a. Oma and Pa), came up for a quick visit,
but we did less adventuring around because . . .
5) We bought a house!
Damn straight we did! Pics here.
More on that as it unfolds.
6) Cuteness continues unabated
It's not really fair to make you read such a stinkin' long entry without baby pics. Enjoy!
That adorable hat was knitted by our friend, Nicole.
1) We are living with a land shark
Leo had his last check up at 4 weeks, where he clocked in at 11 pounds 3 oz. At his lowest, at his one week appointment, he was at 7 pounds 12 oz. That's almost three and a half pounds. More than forty percent of his body weight. In 3 weeks. I don't remember how long he was, but I remember he was in 90-95th percentile in both height and weight. Or, in layman's terms: Dayyyyumn, that's a big baby!
That was about two weeks ago. With the help of his carseat carrier ( "the bucket"), a bathroom scale, and my old nemesis subtraction, we estimate his current weight at about 13 and a half pounds. Holy hell.
Needless to say, our life is just one long blur of feedings. And, when I feel like I've sucked down to sawdust, I look into his eyes and demand, "Where does it all go? Where?"
Then he fills another diaper as if to say, "Duh."
2) That land shark has attitude
Around six weeks, many babies go through a phase of fussiness. No one is entirely sure why, but I think of it as a kind of adolescence. Suddenly, they can see past the tips of their noses and realize that the world is much larger and more complex than they've been led to believe. Then they all turn into a bunch of Holden Caulfields and decide that the people who love them most are A BUNCH OF PHONIES!!! So they do the infant version of locking themselves in their rooms and writing bad poetry--they cry and fuss for no apparent reason.
When Leo gets in one of these moods, I try to take him for a walk outside. One particularly trying night, I needed to get something for dinner, so I loaded him into the stroller, and we went to Market Basket. Now, for those of you outside the Boston area, the Somerville Market Basket isn't your average grocery store. It is a microcosm of the city thrown into a blender. It is the American melting pot left on high until it boils over. It is, in every sense, overwhelming. So, as Leo continued to fuss on the walk over, I thought, "I taking an already overstimulated kid into a swirling mass of chaos. Nothing good will come of this." I fully expected him to scream the whole time. But then, once we got inside, he immediately went quiet and proceeded to stare in bug-eyed silence the entire time. And, as we left, I leaned down to whisper, "Did I just BLOW YOUR MIND?" He spent the rest of the evening in deep contemplation, trying to swallow his whole fist.
There is an upside to all of this. Leo has finally learned to smile, and a darling little smile it is. It usually starts on just one side of his face, but with some coaxing it takes over his whole face, then gets so big that he has to wrinkle his nose just to make room for it. It's elusive, so we haven't captured it on film yet. But it's pretty spectacular.
3) The Big Three-O
A few days after Leo was born, I was in the bathroom when I heard the neighbors talking out on the deck. One of them said "I mean, I'm already thirty, but when am I going to start feeling like an adult?"
Now, I was sitting there, bone tired, nursing my undercarriage back to health, and contemplating the wonders of disposable hospital underwear (hospital underwear doesn't give you that little squeeze to remind you how big you've gotten; hospital underwear accept you exactly as you are). I was newly responsible for another person's life, and feeling more adult than ever before in my life.
It was all I could do not to yell out the window "If you have to ask that idiot question, then you aren't one! And you probably never will be!"
On October 22, I turned 30. I got to celebrate with both my friends and my family, which hasn't happened for a while. It was the best birthday I've had in a while, and an excellent way to start a new decade.
4) Meet the Grandparents 2.0
My parents (a.k.a. Oma and Pa), came up for a quick visit,
but we did less adventuring around because . . .
5) We bought a house!
Damn straight we did! Pics here.
More on that as it unfolds.
6) Cuteness continues unabated
It's not really fair to make you read such a stinkin' long entry without baby pics. Enjoy!
That adorable hat was knitted by our friend, Nicole.
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