Three Thoughts

1. Lola's once-a-day enormous poop has become consistently explosive. Now, it doesn't matter how quickly I get her to the changing table, a nanosecond after I hear the rumbles the poop blows out the back of the diaper. Do all infants do this? It seems like I would have heard more about this phenomenon if it was a universal thing - so I have to imagine that it's not.

2. We almost went stir crazy today. Lola had a HUGE accomplishment last night - she slept through the night until 5:50 am!! The downside was that she was up for the day at 5:50 am - so even though I hadn't woken up in the middle of the night - I was still exhausted, and it made for a very long day. Ben was on call, it was POURING all morning, and most people we know were either out of town or spending the day with family. So we sat. In the house. All day long.

3. I literally have 6 loads of laundry to fold.

Fly Away: Update

For the record, we have killed FOUR more flies since I posted earlier today. That's disgusting. Fortunately, I think they are all gone now.

So fresh and so clean!

There is nothing in the world cuter than naked babies!

Fly Away

There are flies in my house. I don't know how many. I thought it was just one. But then I killed that one and there was another. And after that one bit the dust, I found another. I have killed 3 - and there is at least one more. I wish I could capture a picture of me walking around my living room, baby in one hand, fly swatter in the other. At least it has brought some excitement to our morning.

In Awe (and awwww . . . )

Way back in March (which seems like forever ago), our dear friends Matthew and Christina came to visit Baby Lola. Ben and Matthew lived together throughout medical school, with Christina and I each joining into the arrangement when we were married or engaged respectively. They are now living in Columbia, SC - where Christina is pursuing her artistic passions (you know how there is some personal passion you always wish you were doing instead of your real job? Christina actually went out and did that something. She is my hero.)

Anyhow, she a beautiful photographer and took this picture while they were up here. She was working with an older 35 mm camera (I think that's what it was . . . . CTC - correct me if I'm wrong) - remember those? Involving real film and a dark room and various chemical solutions?

Anyhow - I just loved how the picture turned out because it really captured the love and awe that Ben and I continue to have everyday for this beautiful new creature in our lives.

This is a scan of the image. To see more of Christina's beautiful art.

Product Endorcement

This could be one of the greatest things I've found in my 2 months of motherhood so far.
Ok . . . so maybe the picture doesn't do it justice (and just when did this woman have time to curl her hair and put on makeup?? I'm lucky if I have a chance to wipe myself clean with a damp paper towel . . . ) Regardless. It's a very simple foam piece that wraps around the handle of the infant carrier and velcros together, enabling one to hold the carrier in the crook of their arm without the hard carrier handle leaving a painful and somewhat permanent indentation imbedded in your skin. They also happen to come in adorable designs.

It's called a Padalily and you can buy it at Grey Goose in Greenville. Could you get the same effect with a rolled up hand towel and some duct tape? Yes. But that wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

Classic Grammy

A direct transcription of the voicemail that Grammy left for me this week:
"I must tell you I just heard a beauty secret that breast milk and olive oil, mixed together, will help a wrinkled face. So don't just pump for the baby, think of your Grammy!"

Official 2 month stats

From our 2 month pediatrician visit on Thursday:
Height: 23.5 inches (83rd percentile)
Weight: 12 lb. 4.5 oz. (79th percentile)
Head circumference: 40.5 cm (84th percentile)

Other less-valid stats:
Rolls: many
Chub: plentiful
Poulkies: kissable

Handwriting

I've always been complimented on my handwriting (sort of a strange asset to have in your corner, but since I was never good at sports or music - I suppose penmanship was the next best skill to acquire). Unfortunately, I've been writing thank you notes with one hand while juggling a squirmy-wormy babe in the other while leaning awkwardly against an orthopaedic text book that I'm using as a make-shift desk. Needless to say, the handwriting is suffering severely. (Dare I say . . . barely legible). I suppose when you are two months behind on thank-you notes you take what you get. At least they are getting written. Slowly. Very slowly.

Phenomenon

How is it possible that a 9-week-old infant can SENSE whether you are sitting or standing. As in, "I will be calm as long as you are standing and holding me, but as soon as you sit down, I'm going to scream - no matter how much you try to convince me that you haven't changed positions."

It's amazing.

Mother's Day

I had the most amazing first mother's day ever! The only down side was that Ben was on call this weekend, so we didn't get to spend the day together. Instead, Lola and I headed down to Atlanta to spend the weekend with MY mom (and entire family).

My parents are head-over-heels in love with Lola (as are we all :) We went for a walk at the river on Sunday morning and they were literally stopping people that they barely knew to show her off. My dad made no bones about it - he didn't even attempt small talk and wait for someone to comment. You'd just hear him shout out, "Jim, hey - it's Michael Habif - we met at a party in 1992 - come meet my grandbaby!"

We got to have dinner with the entire family on Sunday night at Grandma Susie's and it was a beautiful outdoor celebration. When we returned home, I got an extended Mother's Day with a beautiful card and roses from Ben (and Lola). I also got my "push present" from Ben. (A gift to celebrate Lola's birth.) It's a gorgeous ring for my right hand with Lola's birthstone (aquamarine). My own mom has a right-hand ring that my dad gave to her when I was born that she wears to this day. The best part is that the band can be stacked with others (hopefully) in the future :)

2 Months!

Lola is 2 months old today! I CANNOT believe how fast the time has flown. I know this is cliche but it feels like she was born yesterday - and now she's this little person with these big smiles. In full disclosure, we stole this idea from a good friend of my sister-in-law's who has a son 2 months older than Lola. . . but I just couldn't resist.

Thursday playdate

Today we scheduled a little play outing with my friend Christy and her son Holden.
The plan: Meet at Barnes and Noble for story time at 11:00 and then lunch.

The reality: Got to Barnes and Noble at 11:05 since I had to feed her before we left and it took longer than expected. When I picked her up from her carseat I could smell something afoul. She usually has one big poop in the morning and this was definitely it. The morning poop often results in "back-splash" (when the poop creeps up the back of the diaper and creates a tell-tale stain on the back of her clothes.) So I held her close against my chest to avoid any back leakage and headed straight for the B&N bathroom. It was there that I realized that we had avoided back-splash, but only in exchange for the much rarer front-splash. And since I was holding her against my chest - I had poop all over my shirt.

Managed to get her onto the changing table without smearing said poop all over the place. Changed her diaper. Had to figure out a way to try and remove the poop from my shirt - but I had no place to put her down since I had left the carseat in the car and was just planning on holding her during story time. While holding her in a football hold attempting to move her to the sink area without placing her against my poop-shirt, she spit up all over my pants. I laid her down on the changing mat on the counter and held her with one hand while I unsuccessfully tried to wash my own shirt with the other. The spit-up blended well into the khaki pants so that was less of a concern.

Needless to say, we missed story time. I was able to carry her out in the baby sling to avoid displaying my stained shirt. We still went to lunch with Christy and Holden . . . she sat in the car seat and I wore the sling as a decorative poop-covering sash.

All in all - very funny day. And it's only 3:00. I don't know how people without a sense of humor ever raise children!

Scared Silly

When I was a child, my mom sang me a lullaby that included the line:
"May angels up above
watch over you, my love
and send their guiding light
until the dawn breaks through."

A lovely sentiment, but I didn't know what a "dawn" was - and use to have nightmares about the dawn "breaking through" and collapsing onto the angels. Classic misinterpretation.

I am realizing now that one doesn't have to be such a catastrophic thinker as myself in order to have the daylights-scared-out-of-you by a children's rhyme.
. . . when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, and down will come baby, cradle and all.
. . . he went to bed and bumped his head and couldn't wake up in the morning.
. . . the elephant sneezed, and fell to his knees, and that was the end of the monk.
Falling babies, old men in comas, and monkeys being crushed to death - sheesh!