Minutiae

Holy shit, it's March? How did this happen, and how can we appeal? In the meantime, have some loosely connected bullet points and baby pictures!

>> There's an ice cream shop near our house advertising a "giant cupcake -- serves 12!" I'm pretty sure that's just called a cake.

one month old
>> My maternity leave is half over, a fact that I can't think about too much lest I feel like I might cry. Right now Nico's sleeping on my shoulder, and I don't have anything pressing to do or anywhere to be...and I hate to think that in a few short weeks we may not have time for these long naps anymore. Not to mention being away from him all day, gaaaaah.

>> On Saturday there was a funeral Mass I wanted / needed to attend. MB was teaching and my mom had to work, so I chanced it and took Nico with me. I bet he'll never be that good in church again. He took the two small bottles of milk I'd brought without shouting about it first, and then passed out on my shoulder and slept until it was over. I was so grateful. That evening we took Nico out with us to meet MB's work friend and his wife for dinner, and he slept through that, too. It's quite possible that I owe him a pony.

How hilarious is this getup? He looks like an
old man getting ready to mow the yard.

>>Nico is growing so fast it's ridiculous. See this cute little outfit?

(modeled by six-day-old Nico)
On Sunday I tried to dress him in that puppy onesie, and the sleeves were about two inches too short. Then that night I put him in a really cute pair of 0-3 month size footie pajamas after his bath and his legs were too long. I'm so very glad that he's thriving and growing and healthy, but it's killing me all the same.

>> Speaking of his bath, it was only his third tub bath ever because we don't want his skin to get really dried out in the winter air. We have one of those plastic baby tubs with the little hammock thing for Nico to sit in, and when I first put him in the tub with his butt down in the water, he started crying. But it was just the shock of it, because after a few seconds he stopped crying and was just totally digging it. He doesn't coo yet, but he has this painfully adorable interested expression when he's really into something. He was just totally loving the bath, and I thought about how much I love baths, and then I realized how awesome it is that he's literally learning how fantastic baths are right in front of my eyes. To him, all these things he's experiencing are completely brand new and wonderful, and it feels like an incredible gift to be able to watch him as he learns about the world.

>> And then this morning, Nico was chilling on a blanket on the floor while I pumped milk for him, and when I said, "Hey, Nico, whatcha doing?" he smiled at me. Like, totally on purpose. And holy crap, y'all, that was an insanely great moment. He didn't do it again all day, until MB got home from work, and then he smiled at MB, too. Way to play it fair, kid! Just yesterday MB said he sometimes worries he's missing out on a lot of Nico's smallhood, so I am pleased he got a smile as well.

>> The pregnancy books don't include any warnings about this, so I'm just going to come right out and tell you that baby farts are often just as loud and offensive as adult farts. The more you know.

Somebody has an opinion!
>> Now that my restrictions are lifted and I can do laundry by myself again, I'm finally going to try some Bum Genius cloth diapers on Nico. I'm slightly nervous, having seen the volume of poo this tiny kid can produce, but I'm going to give it a shot. I'll let you know how it goes (as if most of you care...ha! ;) ).

>> Since I spend a huge part of each day sitting on the couch feeding Nico, I've been using the time to finally watch Bones on DVD. My sister loaned me the first four seasons, and I pretty much ripped through them. I watched the last episode of season four yesterday, and now I'm on the lookout for another good series to watch. It has to be available on DVD, and it would be nice if there were at least 2 seasons. Ultimately the local library will also have to have a copy available since we don't have Netflix, but they have a pretty good selection. Any recommendations?

Six weeks old, napping on MB.
>> I managed to prop up a book while Nico nursed for the first time today, so I may actually be able to read again instead of being limited to watching TV or surfing the internet via my phone while he eats. I started The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which is the March book for the Book Lushes. I've never once been invited to join a book club until now, so I'm super pumped about this one. It doesn't hurt that a bunch of my very favorite blog people are doing it, too.

>> One more thing, and then I think I need to stop. Does anyone have any really good oatmeal cookie recipes? I tried making these and even though the texture was fantastic, they were really bland. Then I made the oatmeal scotchies recipe from the back of the butterscotch chips bag, and they were tasty but a bit too crispy. And so, the search continues.

Oh, Lord, where has my tiny baby gone?
January 17, two days old