The Object of My Affection

Hi Folks,

Its me, Micah writing. Now that I'm a whole 8 months old, I have an awful lot to say. And Mommy isn't going to like to hear this, but I have a new love in my life, and his name is Sushi. Sushi is a grey snowshoe siamese cat. I think we have another cat around this place named Miso, but honestly, he avoids me so I'm not really sure.

Daddy says that Miso and Sushi are only good as accessories for our couch, and that they don't serve any real cat-like function like sitting on human laps, but Sushi and I have a special relationship. When Mommy feeds me, he sits on the back of the armchair and purrs, or rubs up against her feet. He likes to be in the same room as me whatever I'm doing. Once, I even managed to grab ahold of his tail! I think he's trying to figure out what kind of creature I am. I'm short, like him, but I smell kinda like those big creatures that feed him (sometimes I don't smell that good, I'll admit.)

Mommy and Daddy have one ace up their sleeve in trying to get me to crawl (yeah, right): Sushi. I really, really, really want to go pet him. He'd better watch out when I can start running!

In other news, for the last few weeks I've been really into my feet. I keep telling Mommy: Feet are the new hands!

I'm squealing and laughing more than I used too, and it makes Mommy and Daddy laugh to hear me. I love to be held up like an airplane, and I let Daddy use me to build up his triceps by dipping me onto his head. It's fun when he throws me up in the air, too, but I'm not sure if he'll keep doing it after I threw up a lot of milk on him.... silly Daddy, he'll never learn not to roughhouse with me after I've eaten!

This week coming up, my cousins Logan and Natasha are coming to visit. I think it will be a lot of fun to play with them -- last time they were here, I was really sleepy most of the time.

In the last week, we had two big snowstorms here and I got to stay home from school one day. Daddy did too, so we had a fun time bugging Mommy while she was trying to work. It was too windy and wet for me to go play in the snow, the way we did last weekend when we all went snowshoeing. I slept through the entire hike, but Daddy managed to take this great family picture of us out together. Even though Mommy doesn't like snowshoeing, she's smiling here. Afterwards, we went out for Mexican food and Mommy and Daddy both got food poisoning. They should have brought their own food like I did!

Oh, well, I better go practice the 4 questions to get ready for Passover. I may be the youngest, but I have a lot to say!

Researcher looking for willing subjects

I'm posting this on behalf of a cultural anthropologist who is doing her thesis research on surrogacy in India. She's looking for current or intended parents who'd be interested in telling her about their experiences. I spoke with her last week, and enjoyed pouring out "the whole story" to her (hey, who doesn't like talking about themselves for an hour!). Info about her research and her contact info is below if you have the time and inclination to talk to her:

From Daisy Deomampo: I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Cultural Anthropology at the City University of New York in New York City and a Visiting Research Scholar at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai during 2010. I am currently in Mumbai conducting research for my dissertation on the topic of medical travel to India for assisted reproductive technologies. I would be very grateful for speak with people who are thinking about or have already traveled to India for IVF, egg donation and/or surrogacy. Please be assured that this research is not media-related and is intended for academic publication only. My project has been approved by the ethical review board at my university and is supported by grants from public and private foundations. All interviews are completely confidential, therefore no names or any identifying information will be used in any writing related to this research.If you are interested in speaking with me please contact me at daisy.deomampo (at) gmail.com.

A long night

It's a beatiful Sunday morning, but my two boys are both sleeping, so I'm inside too. Adam and I both got food poisoning yesterday from a shared plate of super-delux nachos at a divy Mexican restaurant, so it was a long night. I think we switched beds several times (me in guest room, him on couch; me in master bedroom, him on couch; both of us in master bedroom; he moving to guest room). I think we took turns hurling all night too.

Unfortunately Micah, who was sleeping really soundly from 7 pm until 6:30 am until about a month ago, has hit a streak where he now is crying every hour or so from 2 until 6. Anyone have thoughts on a solution to this? Is this just a growth spurt thing? I've been trying to let him cry it out, but eventually one of us will cave in and put the pacifier back in his mouth, which puts him back to sleep immediately. This morning I caved in and actually tried to feed him at 5, but he wasn't really hungry. I put the pacifier back in and he slept until 6:45. I know he needs to learn to fall back to sleep on his own, but it is hard to listen to the crying at 3 am when the pacifier will buy another hour or two of uninterrupted sleep.

The Golden Age of Babies

Self portrait with naked baby....

There has been cuteness every day of the last 8 months, but I have to say that at 7 to 8 months, it really ramps up into high gear. There is something especially delicious about this age. When their chubby fingers grab you, you know it is because they want to hold onto you; when they reach out for something, you can see they are trying to learn its properties. It's a moment of growth, and also the moment when you begin to notice that they're not going to be a baby forever, so you want to hold it tight and treasure it. I was in a secondhand shop yesterday looking at baby clothing, and realized sadly that all of the clothing that looked cute to me would be too small for him....he's definitely no longer an infant anymore.

New favorite toy... the ol' crocodile xylaphone!

Already an experienced hiker, Micah's now too cool to hang out with us!

But not too cool for Grandma! How they love each other!

Practicing for his upcoming centerfold shoot, Micah tries out his new bathtub. He loved having room to kick, but it made Mommy nervous.

Slow down!!!

Is it just me, or is everything moving too fast! My skills as our family's CTO, CFO, and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer are being tested against my abilty to juggle like a maniac. I'm starting to realize what getting old in a fast-paced world means.We took a step off the merry-go-round this weekend to take a little family excusion to Garden of the Gods, a park just about an hour away from us. Was sure fun to try out Micah's newest mode of transportation, his official hiking backpack.

Gorgous scenery, and it was nice to get outside and unplugged for a little while.

Expecially moving too fast for my taste is my little boy's growth. Seems like he's a different person every single day. Here's a few of my favorite shots from March. The first, Naked Tummy Time, occurred on the day that Micah got some catch-up vaccinations. Doubt you'll see a centerfold model with bandaids and socks in any other cheesecake publication....

Look who rolled himself over during his nap! He hasn't done it while we're watching, but last night, after we put him to bed, Adam and I peeked into his room and watched him spin, rotate, and generally create a little tornado in his crib. It was hysterical.... and showed us the mayham that is soon to come in our lives. Putting up the sides of his crib is high on my to-do list for the weekend.

Gratitude, part 2

It is 5:30 am and, in my dreams I begin to hear the sounds of you waking for the day, reminding me that you are an entire little human being with your own wants and needs. Through my foggy brain I try to rouse myself to get myself going for the day.

I try to remember, but it is hard: I am so grateful for this.

And later in the morning, when I walk into your daycare center, you're greeted by happy, loving caretakers. I hand you over to them so that I can continue to do the work that I'm good at and helps our family. In my morning rush, I should take the time to remember, but sometimes forget: I am so grateful for this.

And in the afternoon, after I've had a chance to exercise or run errands, I pick you up at daycare and you smile and give me a nuzzle. My mind is rushing ahead to dinner and chores that need to get done, so I don't always get a chance to say: I am so grateful for this.

Four years ago, I didn't know that I'd have a family and home. Didn't know I'd ever snuggle with my own little baby. Didn't know that I'd get to witness firsthand the beautiful unfolding of newborn to baby to little boy.

I am so grateful for this.

And after everyone is well-fed, and you've had a bath, and I'm singing you your lulliby, sometimes I'm still too frazzled from my day to think: I am so grateful for this.

But sometimes, I sneak back into your room, after you've fallen asleep, to check on you and see your sweet sleeping face and hear your peaceful breathing. And I always remember: I am so grateful for this.

Stack overload at Line 423

This is me today. Micah was up all night crying for no reason we could identify (turns out that he has some pretty bad diaper rash, which we didn't notice in the dark). As the CTO (chief technology officer) at our house, I've been dealing with new phone, internet, and satillite TV service that was installed last week. My cell phone beeps and blinks and me and I don't know how to get it to stop. I spent a good chunk of the weekend trying to de-bug my personal laptop that I use for all my scrapbooking stuff. And this morning, in my bleery sleepless state, my work computer and phone connection crashed in the middle of a deadline-driven meeting with my bos and her boss. In the midst of all this, Adam keeps quadruple-decduple checking about whether I want to go ahead with the purchase of a used car we saw last week.

I think I'd feel better if I had some time to exercise, but that seems to have gone by the wayside, along with my waistline. But that's a story for another time.

(To give credit where credit is due: image came from rachelmallino.wordpress.com/.../)

Postscript: car purchased, daddy cooked dinner, baby has replenished the calories he didn't get a daycare and is sleeping comfortably, and I'm off to bed at 9:22. Tomorrow is another day...