Who is this Chubby Baby?

No, he's really not *that* big.  I know that.  He's about 13lbs, give or take, now.  

And yes, I do know that the age/size ranges for baby clothes aren't really accurate.  They usually were for Asa, who was and is a total peanut, but not for most kids.

Still, it's shocking when I put him in a size 3-month onesie for the first time, and have to pull it so far down in order to snap the crotch that he ends up with a low-cut neckline.

These pictures don't do it justice.  He's not even three months, and in clothes that Asa didn't wear until quite a bit later.  It's not so much a matter of comparison, as of resetting parental calibrations.  In other words: a mind trip.  (As though parenting weren't a big one already.)

Visiting with Friends, Old and New

Old friends with their new babies - a whole new chapter in a friendship!

It was a real pleasure to meet the baby, who is totally adorable and sweet... and who makes Elias look like a behemoth.

He's only three weeks old, so he had a couple for firsts during his visit, including his first tub bath... successful in that he was clean at the end, but I can't say he enjoyed it.

Not his best angle, I'm afraid.

It was also a good time for Asa to renew his total adoration... as demonstrated by a velcro-like stickiness to her side.  It didn't hurt that she let him play with her hair pretty much anytime he wanted.

After Asa's bedtime, the local knitting club took form, with both right-handed and left-handed lessons.

A nice, quiet visit, babies and all... the perfect way to catch up and hang out.  Here's to a lot more visits!

Bedtime Drama and Reality Check

The other night, I had to do some work so M. put Asa to bed.  After a little bit, I heard totally hysterical screaming from his room.  Not the best bedtime ever.  Several minutes later, screaming only slightly abated, M reappeared in the living room.

Me: My turn?
Her: You betcha.

So off I went to the screaming, crying toddler, now standing in the kitchen, and scooped him up.

Me: What's up?
Him: (puts head on my shoulder, thumb in mouth, and starts playing with my hair.
Me: Are you tired?
Him: (around thumb) Yes.
Me: Are you ready for bed?
Him: Yes.
Me: So what's with the crying?
Him: ...
Me: You know you're being a little ridiculous, don't you?
Him: Yes.
Me: So I can tuck you in now?
Him: Yes.
Me: Gonna tell me what was up with the shrieking?
Him: It not shrieking.  It screaming.
Me: Right, sorry.  (Put him down, pull up the covers, adjust the lovies.)  Are you okay now?
Him: I wanted water, Mommy gave me water.  I don't want water now.
Me: So you're ready to go to sleep?
Him: Yes.
Me: Good night, then.  I love you.
Him: Good night, Mummy.

Apart from one call for another sip of water, he's been quiet.

Is there anyone out there who can explain what just happened without recourse to demon possession or the supernatural?

Goo

Asa had been asking to make a mess, so I thought we'd try corn starch and water.  Fun for kids and adults: this mixture is both liquid and solid.

M and I had a lot of fun with it.  Asa isn't so sure about being gooey, slimy or sticky, so he didn't last as long, but seemed fascinated...



The recipe, for those who want to play: one part water to two parts corn starch.  mix well, then be amazed at the result.

And while we're at it...

Many of the faces of Asa.

and yes, he's two, with all the bossy/crabby/willful craziness that the age implies... but he still melts my heart on a regular basis.

Parade Time

Lining up all of his vehicles is one of Asa's favorite ways of playing.  The other day, he made a line so impressive that video was the only real option for capturing it.

Note: yes, Elias is crying in the background.  I'm not ignoring him; he was having his diaper changed.

The Many Faces of Elias

We got a new camera cable!

So I'll be playing catch-up over the next days and weeks, with the hundred-plus pictures I downloaded today.  Today: a study in cuteness.

It's also a study in chronology - these were taken over the course of about two or three weeks, and you can watch the developmental changes.

And we did find out how much he weighs: on January 3rd, it was 7lbs 5oz.  On February 8th, it was 11lbs.  The amazing growing baby!

Look of Love

Can you stand it?

Baking in Jammies

Sugar cookies for Valentine's Day.

A Letter for Mummy

Elias and I were away all day yesterday; when we got back, just before Asa's bedtime, I was greeted with a running hug and this drawing:

It was then explained that Mommy had suggested that Asa write me a letter: this is what he dictated:

"A letter for Mummy: I missed you!  M is for Mummy!"

"B - B is for basket.  L!  A letter L for Mummy!"

Literal fellow, isn't he?  And apparently a devoté of Sesame Street: Mummy's absence today has been brought to you by the letter L...  

Normal

So I haven't really been posting because a) Asa is still sick and who wants pictures of that?  and b) I can't find the cable that links my camera to the computer, which reduces me to using my cell phone camera, whose shutter delay makes it hard to take clear pictures even of a sick kid.  Summary: no new pictures because of puke and velocity, and no old pictures because they're, well, stuck.

Hence the need for someone else's words and pictures.  Hereafter, an entire article, from today's Washington Post.  Turns out that a lot of families look alike - who knew that straight parents brushed their kids' teeth, too?  Or read and played with them?  Astounding.

Photos by Post photographers offer a reality check on the lives of gay parents

By Janice D'Arcy

Amid the backdrop of two major national news events — the first, that a San Francisco federal appeals panel has deemed the state’s ban on gay marriage, Proposition 8, unconstitutional; the second, that Rick Santorum, a fierce opponent of gay marriage, is gaining traction in his bid for the GOP presidential nomination — two recent stories from this region are especially illuminating about gay rights.
Bob Sodervick demonstrates outside the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco. A three-judge panel of the court ruled that the voter-approved Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. (Justin Sullivan - GETTY IMAGES)

The Post’s Anita Kumar today wrote about the almost assured possibility that the Virginia legislature will this week pass a law that will restrict adoptions by gay parents.

“The General Assembly is considering a measure that would add a ‘conscience clause’’ to Virginia law that would allow state-funded, faith-based agencies to choose which parents are suitable for adoption based on the agencies’ beliefs.”

The story comes just a few days after another Post story, this one by education reporter Michael Alison Chandler, chronicled how District elementary schools are teaching their youngest students that gay families exist, and they function just like other families.

“The District, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2009, is joining San Francisco, Minneapolis and Cambridge, Mass., at the leading edge of an effort to make public schools more welcoming to gay students and families. A committee, organized in January 2011 with support from D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson, developed a plan to increase awareness of gay issues and foster a more supportive environment in school. Twenty new school-based liaisons to the gay community are helping train teachers this year, and a contingent from the school system marched in the gay pride parade in June.”

What is fascinating about both these stories is not necessarily in the text. It’s in the images.

View Photo Gallery: Virginia will probably become the second state in the nation to allow private adoption agencies to turn away parents based on sexual orientation or religious and moral beliefs.

The writers and Post photographers Nikki Kahn and Sarah Voisin made the effort to show the details of family life in a family with two fathers and another with two mothers.

View Photo Gallery: The District is joining cities such as San Francisco and Minneapolis at the leading edge of an effort to make public schools more welcoming to gay students and families.

In so doing, these pieces go beyond the cultural deadlock we’re in over gay rights, gay marriage, gay adoption and gay acceptance. Juxtaposed against the rhetoric about gay life — whether in a legislature or a courtroom or in some of the hostile comments that followed Chandler’s story — the pictures offer a reality check.

In these homes meals are shared, temperatures checked, pets washed, coats fastened, video games played. Surely, these folks were on their best behavior with a photographer hanging around. (I would straighten up and get rid of the drying laundry, too.)

But there’s only so much bravado possible when kids are on the scene. Children tend to smash through whatever facades we parents might try to falsely project.

The kids pictured in these montages sure seem relaxed. They are either fantastic actors or they are proceeding as usual in their everyday life.

I’m guessing it’s the latter. If so, whatever is so scary, so offensive, that it needs to be outlawed and school children need to be protected from learning about it? Related Content:

Study: Teens raised by gay parents as happy as other teens

Gay parenting as, well, parenting

House Construction

Asa has been sick... not that one would necessarily recognize his behavior as that of a "sick child".  Other than the vomiting, that is.  (I ask again, rhetorically: why does he only ever puke on me?  Never on M.  It's a thing he has.)

Yesterday, after a full morning of throwing up (on his part) and laundry (on our part, and including his car seat cover, of course), he was pretty content to sit and watch movies and sip pedialyte.  Not so today; he's only thrown up once, and his energy levels can no longer be contained.  

In an attempt to keep him relatively contained (bearing in mind the possibility of more vomit) and still let him burn off some energy, we got out the blocks.  And Asa totally went to town.  Literally.

He was very happy to have me photograph his work, too - he seemed really pleased with how it all came out.  This is the first time that the emphasis was more on building than destroying, which was cool to watch.

The arch piece on top is the roof that he insisted the piece needed.  Because really, all houses need roofs.

I enjoyed watching the process - the body knowledge, the consideration he gave each piece, the concentration.  Sorry about the radio in the background...

2 months!

It does go fast!

Our little boy really isn't so little anymore: we went through his wardrobe, pulling all the newborn clothes and about half of the 0-3 months, all of which are too small.  So are all his newborn-sized cloth diapers and covers.  I don't know how much he weighs, but his thighs are reminiscent of the Michelin man, and his double chins have double chins!  

Okay, so that last is hard to tell in a Peter Pan collar.  Just trust me.

He has rather astounding head control, which is good because he is a curious soul - he seems to really enjoy looking around and absorbing the world.  

Taking a break - looking up is tiring!  (Mummy's shutter speed is slow!)

He rolls over sometimes, in a way that Asa never really did - Asa had to try hard, but Elias has mass and momentum to keep him going!

He's still placid and happy, he still grunts continually.  He's letting us sleep a little more at night, which is fabulous, and keeping us entertained more during the day.  He's our little sweetheart, and he's two months old today!  Go Elias, Go!