Random thoughts from a tired brain

"Love" is a pathetically inadequate word to describe what you feel for your child.

There was a Christmas tree floating in the Hudson yesterday.

Tax Day is April 17th this year.

Babies are smart people.

I miss my brothers much more since I became a Mom.

My niece says" Cam I?" instead of "Can I?"

When I'm old and grey and full of sleep... I'll sleep!

Winter in the Northeast sucks.

Right now, it's sunny and 90º somewhere.

Cold

I read today that in their first year, babies can get up to 8-12 colds. Yikes. Rowan's on his second one and I feel so bad for him. His nose got all stuffy last night and he couldn't take the bottle. He cried so much when we used the nasal aspirator to get the goop out of his nose. Finally, I suggested we turn on the shower and let the bathroom steam up. Kedar sat in the bathroom with him and it helped instantly. While I was happy that my suggestion worked, it took me a while to remember that that's what worked for Rowan the last time he had a cold. Not thinking too clearly these days. Memory is shot to pieces. If I could only sleep an entire day, I think I'll be able to regain some of my brain function. Seriously. I have trouble remembering the smallest things. It's as if there are a bunch of tiny parts loosely rattling around in my head, and I don't have the slots to fit them in.
Anyway! Today is our Nanny's last day. She's been great. I hope Rowan adjusts well to her absence. Sometimes I think it's so hard to be a baby and do all this growing up! I wish he'd start talking soon. Then he could tell us what's bothering him and we could help him! What a novel idea. Right now, it's pure trial and error. I find myself wondering sometimes whether we're doing a horrible, terrible job taking care of him.
But hey, we have teeth! Teeth have been spotted! We can see the top of Rowan's two bottom teeth now. It's incredibly cute.
Rowan is full of surprises. It's like getting a gift that you keep opening for a long, long time.

What a ride

Jan 23
Two weeks ago, we all experienced Rowan's first big illness - stomach flu. It was sudden and extreme and by the end of the first day, he was already so weak from the constant vomittin gand diarrhea. The vomitting was really scary. That fist night, he was sipping Pedialyte and bringing it up. For almost 2 days, he just drank little bits of Pedialyte, and nothing else. Then the diarrhea started. He would just lie quietly on the changing table, too exhausted to even turn his head. And the had such high fever. It was the most painful thing to watch him get weaker and weaker. Everybody kept saying, " He'll bounce back in a couple of days, this is very common" but I didn't believe them. It's true! After almost a whole week of being sick, he started turning around that Friday. He drank a couple of ounces of milk and by the weekend, he was on the road to recovery. Now, the kid's super hungry. It's heartening to see him eat well - he's even skinnier now, if that's possible. I saw his arms yesterady and they're like sticks. But his energy is amazing. He's just ON from morning to night. And he's getting very talkative! Da daadaddadada and screaming constantly!

He also has "entree envy"! Wants to eat everything off our plates! Water melon, corn bread, grilled chicken, cheese....!

Last night, I stuck little glow-in-the-dark stars in his room. He's fascinated by that clock reflected on our ceiling. We figured the stars would be cool for him to look at.


I'm excited by my part-time schedule. It will be nice to hang out at home with Rowe. I'm tired of the commute.

First Christmas

Think outside the box

Early Christmas morning, Rowan crawls up to the lit up tree, stares intently at it for a second and goes, " Huh".
And then the fun begins.
The bright red and yellow Fisher Price Walker, shaped like a zippy little car, with fifty seven different lights and sounds to "stimulate little minds", pales in comparison to... the plain brown box it came in! Huh?
Take 2. The cute carousel with its cow and pig that start singing something fierce when you press a button.... is not as big a hit as the box it came in!

And so it went all of Christmas morning. Rowan had a fantastic time diving into gift bags, tearing the tissue paper into little bits, "unwrapping" boxes excitedly so he could examine the bright wrapping paper and ribbons. Winnie the Pooh got only a cursory glance. The Build-a Bear, ditto. But the wrapping paper they came in! Wooooooooooo!

Also, the tree decorations. Oh yeah. We liked those. The shiny red ones, especially.

We had the best time.

1/4/06

New Year's Eve 2005

It was a late Christams present from Rowan. Or an early New Year's present. I was in the kitchen making his baby food, and he was in his high chair waiting for breakfast, when he casually goes, " Ba wa wa wa wa!" I turned around, shocked! How many months had we waited for this! Rowan saw the big grin on my face and cracked up. And said very intelligently, " Ba wa wa wa wa!". Again. It was one of the sweetest sounds I've ever heard!
I was sorry Kedar missed the big moment, because I was half-convinced that Rowan would stop "talking" again, like he'd done at 5 months. Well, he's still at it! In fact, the kid is unstoppable. And he's loving the reaction he gets from us when he launches into his siloloquy.

In Rowan's vocabulary so far:
Ba wa wa!
Ba ba ba!
Aaa Tyeeah!
Ahh na! ( while crying)
Ta ta ta ta ta!

And more to come.