I’m having a lot of trouble of late with my memory. I had a bit of trouble while I was pregnant with remembering to pay bills, but in the last couple of weeks, it’s been much worse. I have forgotten my purse at a restaurant, and it took 3 hours to realize it was missing (luckily said purse was fine–still in the restaurant in the exact place where I left it). I left my sweater in the library. I forgot to put an ingredient in two different recipes. And those are just the things that I can remember. There are, I’m sure, a ton I’m forgetting that I forgot.

…finishing an essay that’s way overdue.

…celebrating said completion by buying the latest In Style magazine.

…no longer having to nurse your baby to sleep at night (hooray!).

…getting back to writing every. single. day.

What do you do when friends forget their bananas? Make banana bread!

I’m thrilled that it’s raining today. We really need the rain. I decided not to water last night, betting on it raining today and I got lucky. Like others, I love a good thunderstorm. The one we had this morning did wake the baby, but I’m hoping that the next one coming through this afternoon will lull him to sleep for his afternoon nap.

Benito has a couple of posts on the first weekend of our vacation in middle Tennessee.

I can’t believe it’s been seven months since Paul was born. Wow, it’s been such a blur. He’s become quite the little man, crawling around and trying to get at the cats. He can’t quite get his entire torso up off the ground, but he scoots around on his stomach just fine. And is he fast. I don’t even turn around for a second and he’s halfway across the floor! He can say ‘da’ and ‘ga,’ along with various yells and screeches. He loves his books and is enjoying solid foods. His favorite foods are peas and pears.

There are a lot of things I never expected about having a child–lots of things I thought I would do, but didn’t and a whole lot of things I never thought I would do and ended up doing. Here are some of my greatest expectations and the outcomes:

• I expected to nurse exclusively and we have. I didn’t expect it to be as demanding at times. On the one hand, it’s quite convenient in that there’s nothing to clean, prepare, or take along; on the other hand, I think it makes Paul much more attached to Mama and thus it can be challenging to get things done.
• I totally expected to use cloth diapers. I mean I *really* wanted to do them. I even bought some and used them on occasion, but especially in the beginning, I could barely keep up with regular laundry, much less diapers. Maybe next time.
• I never thought I would co-sleep with Paul, but we do. Not all the time, but on occasion if he’s cranky at night and often for naps. Sometimes, in the middle of the night you just have to give up the fight to get him to sleep in his own crib.
• I expected to be making all of my own baby food by now, but we’re actually buying more than I thought. I’ve made bananas, sweet potato, regular potato, and squash, but we’ve been buying the rest. Part of it is that some things are just hard to find in season (peas, for instance–and if you use frozen peas, can you refreeze the peas after pureeing them? I don’t even know). The other is that Paul doesn’t like the sound of the blender, so I have to make sure he’s out of the house in order to make anything.
• I never expected I would start going to bed before 10pm.
• I never expected to have become such a carnivore again. I can’t wait for the steaks we’ll have later in the week. Yum!
• I expected to get a lot more work done. However, it’s getting better and I’m becoming much more productive with each day.

More pictures to come as soon as I get the time to upload them.

Hey Vered–

I’m so glad you’re here! I’ve been waiting for you to arrive. You’re going to have so much fun cuddling, sleeping, eating, and keeping your mommy and daddy up these next few weeks months. Mommy is sending you one of my favorite toys–it makes lots of crinkly noises. Make sure to kick at it too. I’m looking forward to playing with you soon!

Love,
Paul

In case you haven’t heard, wear your orange and maroon tomorrow.

Virginia Tech family members across the country have united to declare this Friday, April 20th, an “Orange and Maroon Effect” day to honor those killed in the tragic events on campus Monday, and to show support for Virginia Tech students, faculty, administrators, staff, alumni, and friends. “Orange and Maroon Effect” was born several years ago as an invitation to Tech fans to wear orange and maroon to Virginia Tech athletic events. We invite everyone from all over the country to be a part of the Virginia Tech family this Friday, to wear orange and maroon to support the families of those who were lost, and to support the school and community we all love so much. 

Paul and I survived our time alone last month, but we’ve moved straight into the four month growth spurt/sleep regression. Coupled with the growth spurt is the start of teething, so the perfect little schedule we were developing is slowly eroding. Young Paul is having quite a difficult time going to sleep.

While some people swear by a car ride or the carseat on a running dryer, what helps us is the all-powerful blow dryer. Conair saves the day with the perfect pitch of white noise for young Paul. If it doesn’t put him to sleep, it certainly calms him down so he can go to sleep. I’m so glad I just bought a new blow dryer back in January. I think, though, that this new one will be worn out pretty soon since we use it a couple of times each day. But it gets the job done. Funny how such a mundane artifact can become such an essential tool for sanity.