Imagination

"Our son has imagination," said Nick as we watched Nat walk around the house with an empty cup in his hands.  Notably, one of the things he was doing with the cup was holding it up to his mouth and tilting his head as far as he could.  He was clearing doing what his dad does when he is finishing a cup of juice.  And then we took it to the next level.

"Why don't we give some water to Winnie the Pooh" I said and held Nat's cup up under the bear's nose.  (This particular Winnie the Pooh does not seem to have a well defined mouth.)   Nat liked this very much.  He proceeded to "give water" to his tiger, another bear and his zebra.  (Covering their protruding muzzles with the cup seemed to qualify.)  

A Long Weekend in Philadelphia

A couple of weeks ago we visited Philadelphia--our first time traveling with Nat to a place we have never been before.

Overall the trip was definitely a success:

• We visited Brooke (Even IF we did not drive her crazy by our slow pace and loud banter late into the night, we surely drove her cats crazy.)
• We saw a little bit of different parts of the city
• We ate some excellent food
• Nat did not have too much of a hard time with all the traveling, and he loved the kitties

Hopefully, this trip was our first, but not our last trip to Philadelphia.  We strolled around different neighborhoods, admiring the all the different row houses.  We walked by the Independence Hall, peeked at the Liberty Bell through the window, and stopped by the Reading Terminal Market for lunch.  Nick even had time to explore the Philadelphia Museum of Art with Brooke, while Nat and I walked along the Schuylkill River and learned a little bit about the first water works in the country.  We even said "Hello" to New Jersey from Penn's Landing area on the Delaware River.

A view of New Jersey from Penn's Landing across the Delaware River

Philadelphia definitely holds a lot more for us to explorer.  My only pet peeve was how unfriendly the city's public transit system seems to be to traveling with babies.  And I am not even talking about elevators at every subway station--that would be luxury.  When we boarded a bus, we were immediately asked to fold the stroller.  The trolley doors are so narrow, that it is hard to walk on just carrying a folded stroller.  These issues did not present a problem for us because there were three of us, and because Nat is not tiny baby anymore.  However, it seems that a parent traveling alone with a child under 6 months could not use the bus or the trolley system unless the child was in a carrier and not a stroller. 

Nat really enjoyed eating out--being held hostage by the high chair is much easier when there are all these interesting things and people to look at.  He also really liked the two kitties who are temporarily living with Brooke.  It did not take Nat long to start chasing the cats around the apartment trying to grab their tails.  We kept trying to teach him proper cat petting etiquette, but the wagging tails were just so enticing and just at the right height.  I have to say that these two cats were extremely nice--they did not retaliate against him not once. 

Martino

The trip marked the second time that Nat traveled on a train. 

He did pretty well, minus a tantrum on the way back when he woke up crying inconsolably.  On the way back Nat also met a very nice 13 month old girl, Menea.  This little girl was clearly used to spending time with other babies.  She alternated between giving Nat her toys and taking them away.  When prompted by her mom, she would also give Nat and me hugs.  Nat, who has not had a chance to meet other babies, mostly just stared.  Clearly curious, but also a little bit afraid, he just did not know what to do.

Point!

Sometime this morning, Nat took a sock out of my boot and carried it around for awhile.  In case you do not know, socks are excellent for shaking, holding above your head, covering your eyes with (especially while walking), and stuffing into your mouth...  When he was done, he put the sock back in my boot.  When I went to put on my boots this afternoon, I found 3 toys stored in my boots.

In other news, Nat started pointing today.  When I tried to rock him to sleep for his nap this afternoon, he held his head up and pointed to his crib.  He wanted me to put him in his crib, so that he could walk around on his mattress while wearing his sleeping sack... 

Time Just Flies - Recapping the Holidays

There is so much to write about and so little time to do it.  In the meantime our baby is rapidly turning into a toddler.

First of all I have been meaning to recap the holidays--they were great. All three of them!  (Hanukkah, Christmas and New Years).  We lit candles for Hanukkah every day--a first for us.  Of course Nat will not remember any of it, but it still felt nice to do.

Our Christmas might have been a little frenzied, but we hit all the "essentials": family (one of the bigger turn outs this year), rolls, Christmas jello, sugar high, interesting cocktails (ok, Nat might have skipped those last two...).  

Clearly Walla Walla deserves a lot more coverage than just one sentence.  In contrast, there is not much to say about our New Years celebration--just us at home, with a little bit of cake, strawberries and champagne.  

Of course there was also Nat's first airplane ride, and he was a trooper.  He fussed a bit, but not unreasonably.  During take off and landing, he fell asleep instead of screaming.  

Unfortunately, our car ride to and from Walla Walla, which is only marginally shorter than the plane ride, was not nearly as pleasant.  Nat hardly slept, and screamed bloody murder for over an hour each way.  The short periods of time he did not scream were all due to Aunt Brooke's creative entertainment.  (Thanks, Brooke!)

In addition to meeting a lot of family for the first time over the holidays, Nat also got to spend quality time with several dogs.  Being a very small animal himself, he was cautious at first.  While Mojo, the energetic pug, scared Nat out of his high chair for good, Roo, the super mellow Newfoundland mix was the favorite despite his enormous size.  After a couple of days in the same house, Nat chased Roo with happy squeals.  He also maintained what he must have deemed a safe distance of about a foot when the dog was facing him, and promptly "ran" away with similarly loud squeals if Roo moved towards him. 

Now over a month has passed.  While Nick and I have barely had time to recover from the holidays, Nat grew two more teeth, started walking on his own, and stopped being a vegetarian.  He is still attracted to kitchen cabinets, but has discovered how to open and close the bedroom door, and grew absolutely obsessed with lifting the flaps in his Toes, Ears and Nose! book.

Mid Year Review

Nick said that if he were to give Nat his midyear review, the term normally used in the corporate environment to refer to a checkpoint in one's performance about 6 months into the year, he would emphasize that Nat could improve his sleeping habits.  Natty has gotten better at taking naps during the day, but is now more reluctant to go to sleep at 8pm and is starting to get into the habit of calling out to us around 5am. 

Exactly 6 months

But like in any excellent review, Natty's strengths and accomplishments overshadow his areas in need of improvement.

• Natty successfully crawls backwards, which turns out to be an excellent way to escape under the sofa.  He really wants to crawl forward, but cannot quite do it yet.  Presented with an especially desirable object (e.g. a laptop) he will resort to throwing himself forward.
• Natty rotates about on his stomach very well, which allows him to cover a significant amount of floor space.
• Natty wants to stand as much as possible.  He particularly likes to stand holding on to his gym.  Turning on the silly gym music is an extra bonus.
• Natty wants to feel everything.  In the last several days he has been running his fingers (opening and closing his fist) over every surface he can get his hands on.  Any slight delay on our part to cut his nails means that this exercise produces horrible noise.  And oh how fast those little nails grow!
• Natty likes to suck on his left hand thumb, which strengthens Nick's hopes that his son is a lefty.
• When Natty gets his hands on his "weight" toy, he shakes it really hard--as hard as if he were wielding a weapon of a deadly force.  He does not do it with other toys.
• On the day he turned 6 months, Natty started forming a "фига" with his right hand.  He stares at his hand as he's working his fingers into it, and sometimes proudly shows it to us. 

The changes that Nat has been going through in the last 6 months are tremendous, and I will never be able to list them all here.  The changes that I detect in my own behavior are much more subtle. 

I wish I could say that having the baby has made me do everything faster.  No, I am still as slow as ever.  (I tell Natty that turtles and snails are slow because they carry their houses with them.  I don't have such an excellent excuse.)  Yet I am definitely much more efficient.

The short intervals of time available for my personal use now appear very differently.  A span of 15 minutes in my "pre-motherhood" life seemed too short to do anything useful.  Now it seems like an eternity--I can chop vegetables to prep for dinner, mix the dry ingredients for the next cake to bake, pre-wash soiled clothes or sort the clean laundry, pack lunch for my next work day, precut fabric for my next sewing project or put a seam in into my current one.  And the list goes on. 

I am not nearly as nervous speaking in front of large groups of people.  This phenomenon actually started back when I was still pregnant.  Perhaps it is more a function of hormonal changes as opposed to a shift in my thought process, but I hope it is more permanent.

On the negative side, I worry that every time I slip the schedule at work, people assume that with an infant at home I am not working as hard.  While I am not spending as many hours in the office, I actually feel that I am working harder than ever.  So I try to attribute these worries to my paranoia. 

Having a baby also affected the way I look at mothers with newborn babies and pregnant women.  I am sure as Nat grows older, my reactions will continue to evolve, but for now I feel the mystery and the wonder that they are about to experience.  It is hard to describe the emotion.  The only remotely comparable feeling would be seeing someone reading a book that I love for the first time. 

Vladimir Visotsky said it really well in his song "Вершина":

            Весь мир на ладони,

            Я счастлив и нем,

            И только немного завидую тем
            Другим у которых вершина еще впереди.

Growth Spurt?

From this

to this

in just 5 months!  That is some growth spurt!

Swaddle Free

Sleeping on your back has become so passé.  That is what Nat seems to think.  You might think that too if you had to sleep on your back for three months straight with no ability to turn over.

Last night, about to be woken up for his 11:30 meal

Nat was not quite three months old when we first discovered him sleeping on his stomach.  The event sent us into a panic attach because we were still fully swaddling him for the night.  (If you don't understand why we would be worried, imagine yourself lying on your stomach with your arms tied to your sides.  And if that is not uncomfortable enough, imagine you have relatively little coordination or neck and shoulder strength...) 

Fast forward a couple of weeks.  After struggling through different variations of swadding, we decided to set the kid free and let him sleep without any blankets.  So far Nat has been found sleeping on his stomach every morning and by the end of almost every nap.

Week End

Even a couple of weeks ago I would still get excited on Fridays about the prospect of the weekend.  Oh, the weekend!  It used to mean extra sleep, doodling around working on my various sewing and graphic design projects, re-watching my favorite period dramas.  Not anymore. Now I live in a kind of a "Groundhog Day" time warp--every day is exactly the same.  The only exception is Nat.  Nat's behavior changes gradually, but very noticeably, sometimes even day to day.

Nat loves his "caterpillar" outfit

As I pushed the stroller round the park a few days ago, I thought about my day-to-day activities.  Taking care of baby Nat has been tiring and satisfying--an experience that I find hard to describe.  I enjoy feeding and entertaining him during his awake hours.  At the same time I also enjoy the time I get to myself while he is asleep--a bit of baking and sewing somehow makes me feel a bit more "normal", whatever that means.

Outdoors is just SO bright

As a result I often feel in conflict with myself.  I look forward to Nat's awake times, so that I can play with him.  At the same time I look forward to his bed time, so that I can relax and do my own thing.  It is an endless debate whether or not my feelings are "normal", or whether I should be entirely devoted to my little baby, to the point of being incapable of thinking of anything else.  For my own sanity's sake, I try really hard to avoid this debate with myself.

And now I am off to work on another quilt until the next feeding. Happy Mother's Day!

A Bottle and a Museum Visit

Nat experienced several "firsts" today.  A big milestone was trying out eating from the bottle.  (Before any of you take issue with the content of the bottle, I assure you it is still breast milk!)

Nick gets to feed Nat for the first time,
and Nat test-drives a bottle.

Luckily, the bottle seemed to present no obstacles between Nat and his milk.  Later in the day he proved not to have forgotten how to access milk in a more, should we say, old fashioned way, which made us parents even happier.

In the afternoon instead of our usual stroll around the park, Nat made his first visit to the Museum of Fine Arts. (I could not resist checking out the new exhibit of Alex Katz prints.)  Unfortunately our visit to the MFA was very short--I will definitely have to go back to see more of the exhibit.  Without steady movement of the stroller, Nat woke up sooner than expected and started to vocalize his emotions, forcing me to evacuate us from the gallery.  On the positive side, I am now aware of the fact that the museum has a nursing room--how great is that!

Boston Marathon

I really wanted to take Nat to see his first Boston Marathon.  I thought it would be something fun we could do as a family, even though I realize that Nat would not remember any of it, nor can he see anything beyond what is a foot away from his nose.

16 days old

However, Nick and I decided that today's weather (sunny and high 80's F) was not only less than ideal for the runners, but also would be tough on our little baby.  So instead, Nick went out to see the lead runners, while I went out later to cheer my fellow coworkers.  And Nat spent the day at home.

Kenya's Sheron Cherop and Jemima Jelagat Sumgong

Levy Matebo and Wesley Korir just after Kenmore Square

Two Weeks Already?

Nat is two weeks old today.  I find it hard to believe that it has already been two weeks since he was born.  To me it feels like it was just yesterday.  Nick, on the other hand, feels like it has been ages.

2 weeks old

Nat definitely is more awake and alert and looks around a lot more.  He no longer gets upset during diaper changes, nor does he mind his baths.  His awake times are still mostly centered around eating.  In this aspect, Nat and I are not very different, despite our huge difference in size and age.

It turns out milk production requires a lot of energy--more than anything I have ever previously experienced, more than the pregnancy or any marathon training.  I spend most of my day sitting on the couch.  However, I have switched to 4 meals per day, I eat a ton of snacks in between, and I snack in the middle of the night.  All this madness is to avoid further weight loss.

Today we had a visit from a lactation consultant.  According to her, my kid "sucks milk in like a vacuum cleaner"...

The Same and Nat

Day of birth

To name this blog post I am "borrowing" a chapter title "Те же и Сенечка" from Alexandra Brushtein's autobiography, where she describes the birth of her younger brother.  Except that I am using the title to refer to the birth of my baby.

1 day old

Nat is only a week old now, but I am already very proud of him:

• He never showed any sign of distress during the horrendously long labor--his heart beat was monitored almost the entire time.  If his heart rate ever did anything unexpected (like drop), I would be whisked away into an operating room for a C-section in minutes, and I am very grateful that it did not happen. 
• He managed not to lose weight between being discharged from the hospital and his first pediatrician visit.
• He managed to gain over 5 ounces by his second pediatrician visit only two days later.  (Apparently what the doctors want to see is that a baby like Nat is gaining at least an ounce a day...)
• And of course Nick and I find him terribly cute.

(I could have lived without his holding his arm up to his head during birth, but of course, no one is perfect.)

1 week old

Overall, it has been a very emotional week, as we all continue to adjust our new lives as a family.  

I think Colin Meloy said it really well:

"... it was only me and you
that made this three come out of two
My darling, what wonder have we wrought here? ...
It's weird, but mostly wonderful, dear "