New Books

Last week G and I headed off to the bookstore to pick up a couple new books. You see, when Jen and I bought them before he was born, we didn't understand that babies need books that can go into their mouths. So, the delicate and sweet picture books we have in stock are entirely wrong. Anyway, he loves the new, heartier board versions.

The Holiday

We headed up to Vermont for the holiday weekend, a trip that leads me to file the following report.

Babies aren't that in to change. Sleeping in a new place has sent him into a frenzy of naplessness. Poor us! Also: it's increasingly apparent that G loves to be around men. I guess you could make an argument about how tallness, deep voices, and scratchy chins are a novelty for him (since, thank God, Jen and I have none of the above). He liked to sit on his Grandad Martin's lap and talk about power tools with him. Luckily for G, he's having a guy-filled summer- by August he will have met all 5 of his uncles. That's a lot of boy. Lastly, he's started to drool even more than usual. I mean, the kid is a fountain of drool. Could that mean a tooth is coming?

I'll try to explain how happy G is in this thing.

It's like being at the beach on the perfect day: your umbrella is tilted at the right angle, your drink is cold, your chair is comfy and sunk in the sand to just the right angle. Your grapes are still unsandy. You've just started a new book. You remembered your sunglasses. Everything is perfectly within reach.

That's how he feels about the new toy.

Note: You know, I think I was wrong. I described a perfectly controlled, perfectly peaceful situation. G loves the saucer because it is explosive and also totally frustrating. He wants to put things in his mouth, but he can't. He wants to turn the snack tray in to a chew toy: he can't. Then he channels that frustration into frantic bouncing. It's like the ultimate excitement.

Yikes.

We've let posting get away with us here. I guess little boys get a little less satisfied sitting with Mom at the computer once they hit 6 months or so.

Anyway, here's the news: we inherited an exersaucer (Aimee calls it the overstimulator) from BA and Matt, and it is my new best friend: it entertains and exhaustes. I wish we had three of them.

We had another playdate with Adele, Xavier, and Mathilde. The girls are both walking (or just about) now so it's pretty crazy to try to have a chat with the moms. Graham is old enough now, however, to love older kids, and he was happy just hanging out. Dot got her saucer out, and everyone gathered 'round, sometimes patting G on the head as if he was one of the toys. Funny stuff.

Sorry about the picture quality- you try to get four kids to look at a camera the same time!

Fast Forward

Our experience of having a baby has been a little like this: period of status quo followed by a lightening-quick series of changes (in G, in ourselves). Then we all catch up again. Last week was one of the lots-of-change periods. G rolled over from back to front, found his toes, decided that wacking things with his hands was the ultimate in fun. Then he realized that rolling could actually get him places. I've spent A LOT of time since then rescuing him from corners of crib, playpen, and blanket, because he has rolled himself into a corner. And man, the kid does not enjoy being slowed down.

Come on over to see his new tricks.

Happy Mother's Day



We had a great first Mothers' Day weekend. On Saturday we took Graham to the MFA to see the recently opened Edward Hopper Exhibition. He did great.




Sunday we went to Kerry and Justine's for brunch. It was a beautful day, so we ate outside. Graham borrowed one of Kerry's hats.

His lovely baby lumps.

Graham is now 5 months old. Can you believe it? Here' s a brief summary of his new tricks.

1. Feet! There they are. They can be grabbed, stared at, tickled.
2. Rolling over. Back to front now, people. That takes some muscle.
3. Recognizing things. Knows that bottles are where food comes from- sees a bottle (empty, rattling around the house), fixates on getting to it. I realize that I have now glimpsed the rest of my life.
4. Growing hair! Really. I know you can't see it in pictures, but the blondnesses are there. Growing.

Two things; well, maybe three

1. Objectively speaking, isn't G the cutest baby ever? I mean, really.
2. He's grown through another set of clothes. For those interested, he now wears 12 months in just about everything.
3. Dressing a boy can be a pain. I mean, EVERYTHING is covered in footballs or baseballs. And until G decides he wants those things, or monkeys, or dinosaurs, or pirates, or Elmo, or whatever, I'm just refusing to buy them. Also, everything is blue or red. So we have to work to be more interesting (Jen says, more European). But I think the pictured outfit is juuuuust right (if a bit carroty).

It's finally spring. And we went to a barbecue.

Amber and Marlon had us over for a grill night. Jen likes her burgers essentially breathing (the French way, she says), and I like mine very well cooked (American? I guess?), which gave Marlon a lot to deal with. We loved every second of it, and Graham enjoyed his first outdoor meal, although we are increasingly wary of exposing his pale, pale skin to the sun. Thanks to the Kuzmicks!

When Wilsons Collide

My youngest brother, Ryan, flew in for my birthday last week. Well, let's be clear, he flew in to meet Graham, and I was just the person whose house he stayed in. It's been great that my family has been so thrilled about the baby and I loved seeing my practice baby (Ryan, who is 13 years younger than me) meet my non-practice baby (Graham). We ate fried seafood and watched Grey's Anatomy and went to the aquarium and the zoo. Oh, and got Ryan hooked on chocolate croissants from the bakery down the street. He had one packed in his bag for the plane ride home. It's one thing I love about boys (or rather the boys in my family), they love to be fed.


Come back soon Uncle Ryan. We love you!

G heartily recommends the avocado.

The Blended Family, Or, I Can't Quite Put My Finger On it

I'm going to post a few times about last weekend, but I'll start with the real show-stopper.

Jen blended her finger while making baby food.

This episode touches on a problem we wrestled with here at the DailyGraham: Are we bad parents if we buy the canned baby food? Is meal preparation as easy as the freak who wrote Super Baby Food says it is? I guess now we know the answer to that one. No, it isn't easy to make sweet potato puree, because you might need to clean the stringy stuff out of the blade of your immersion blender and you might accidentally hit the trigger, and you might BLEED all over the place, getting blood into the grout on your new kitchen floor. Then you might dilly-dally for 20 minutes while your wife Googles word strings like "cuts" "emergency room" "necessary." Then you might need to troupe en masse (Jen, Whitney, Uncle Ryan, G) to the ER, where the attending nurse will ask incredulously, "you blended your finger?" I think Jen has heard that question and that tone dozens of times.

Anyway, yeah, Jen blended her finger. She's fine, but it looks pretty bad ass, pretty Freddy Krueger style. Oh, and please send more goofy puns to top those with which I titled this post along with get well wishes.


Jen, Graham, and the finger in question