Potatoes in the Mist

So we had dinner with friends, one of whom showed up with a black eye and a shirt that said P (it took us a while to figure this out). E behaved pretty well, though he is more of a morning baby. R (who works in publishing) gave me two books and told me that Elizabeth Berg and John Irving have new books coming out! And she's met both of them! And she says their upcoming books are good! Yay. (Don't worry, I have no more exclamation points ;) I also have some cute pics of E trying to crawl...to be posted! (Okay, that was one more.)

I took E to a Mommy & Me yoga class today. It was really fun! The mothers were warm and friendly, and the babies were adorable. The mother of another 5-month-old was impressed with E's rolling skills. He is very social, and loves to flirt with the girls. Another baby, named Sophia, kept touching his face in wonder. I am definitely going to go again.

I gave him solids a month early*. He really didn't seem satisfied after the morning nursing, fussing only an hour later. So I fixed him some rice cereal with a little thawed you-know-what. And he loved it. I'm afraid to change his next diaper, though. *There's a rift in the American Academy of Pediatrics about this - some say 4 months, some say 6. E is almost 5 months old - and wearing 9-month onesies!

I just requested a book with 795 holds on it (there are only 38 copies). The book is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. We'll see if it lives up to the hype. One book that was *not* worth the hype for me was Water for Elephants. Everyone recommended this book to me - bloggers, MIL, Pilates teacher. I took it out of the library three times and could not get interested. One book that *was* worth the hype, a few years back, was Michael Chabon's Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I'm waiting to see if The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society will be worth it. What's your experience with hyped books?

So the babysitter comes today and will get two little pumpkins filled with goodies! I saw D making these goody bags for clients and decided to make one (actually, two because they are small) for her. Am toying with the idea of someday, when I have some time, getting a graduate degree in psychology, with an eye toward becoming a therapist/counselor or child psychologist. I have my eye on a school, too. The problem is, the Master's courses look fantastic; the Ph.D. classes, not so much. And the school seems to have set them up as two different programs (Master's classes at night for working folk, Ph.D. courses during the day for full-time students). I'd rather just get the Master's, but we'll see. I emailed the program director to get the skinny.

I got a little excited today. You see, I burned all my size 6 jeans once I gained 47 lbs during pregnancy. I figured they would never fit again. (I actually gave them to Salvation Army.) But today I bought a pair of size 6 jeans because the 8s were falling off. That was a good feeling. And here are some cute pics of E with my Brooklyn friend's boy-child, also named E:

*So, yesterday I tried scrambled eggs for the first time. Actually, I probably had them as a baby or something, but I don't remember. They were good, though they sat in my stomach heavily. *We took E on the subway for the first time, after a friend reassured me that she took her baby on the subway and it was fine. The reason? We were going up to Washington Heights to see another friend's new baby, and man, that is a trek. The journey up was fine, as he slept most of the way and was good-humored for the rest. The way back, we had to hold him and he squawked a few times, but everyone admired him. We were sitting next to a boy and a girl who were reading about POE (process of elimination) in an SAT practice book by the Princeton Review. That made me feel OLD. Or maybe just very, very far away from my high school years. *A couple days ago, a friend from Brooklyn brought her baby over. I hadn't seen him since he weighed 11 pounds, and E was 8 or 9 pounds. Now my E is bigger than...

Saw this on someone's blog and had to do it... Take the Quiz here!

So D and I were finishing dinner when he announced that his PIN number from a certain bank came. This will enable him to use the ATM. Suddenly, he said, "Mmm, paper." "There was paper in your burrito?" "Nope." "You shouldn't eat paper!" I said. "That's called pica - the craving for non-food items." "Well, I definitely don't crave it," he said. "Then why did you eat it?" Then the pieces fell into place. "You ate the paper with your PIN number on it," I said. My husband is into security, but this was taking things a little too far. "I didn't want ___ to find it," he said. ____ is the building porter who does occasionally pluck Maxim* out of the recycling bin. I guess D was afraid he was interested in PIN numbers as well. *D wanted me to make it clear that: a) The Maxim in the building-wide recycling bin is not his. b) I saw him put the paper on his tongue and eat it.

You can dress a baby boy head-to-toe in blue - light blue hooded jacket, blue-and-white striped onesie, navy pants and matching socks - yet a woman will ask in the elevator, "How old is she?" It must be the eyelashes. In other news, I got the hiccups in front of E. I thought it might scare him - he can be sensitive to sounds - but he giggled.

So our friends from Florida came today. I was sorry to see them leave. I wish they lived here! Their baby is 2 months older than E but a few pounds lighter. She also has an E name. The babies showed some curiosity about each other - very cute. A and I now both have "pregnesia" and want to have another baby. Actually, I remember my labor in glowing Technicolor. If I only have to go through it one more time, I'll probably be ok. And everyone says the second time is easier. Mine was actually short, at least the 5 hours of contractions part - but the 3 hours of pushing were brutal. Moving on... R took a lot of fantastic pictures which he promised to send me as soon as they get back to Florida. He captured E in full smile. Meanwhile, I am getting into cooking again after a long, long hiatus...last night I made capellini with tomato pesto, and now I am making a bok choy-tomato-tofu stirfry to be served over rice with peanut sauce.

It's hard to get a picture of E smiling, because his expression will change before my camera takes the picture. But I think we got a few :)

So D and I watched some of the debate last night. (Correction: we started out watching it on the TV, then I got sleepy, so D watched the rest of it on his computer.) Well, as I may have mentioned, I was originally a Hillary gal. So it took me a while to get used to Obama. But the debate (the first one I've watched, due to sleep taking a front seat) made me feel more confident about my choice. I liked how he was well-spoken and calm. McCain kept flashing fake smiles at the camera. Did he remind anyone else of Mike Myers as Goldmember? Also, Obama's lips looked purple. But he was still clearly the better candidate, imo ;) A friend from college who now lives in Florida is coming to visit tomorrow, and a Brooklyn friend is bringing her baby over on Monday. So who knows, maybe you'll see some cute baby pictures.

This morning, I threw my back out getting E out of his crib. You knew it had to happen, especially as he hovers near the 20-pound mark. We really need to get a working scale, since his current car seat is only good till 22 pounds. So at D's urging, I went to see the chiropractor. He helped a LOT. He explained it was a muscle spasm, not a herniated disc or anything. He massaged the place where it hurt and said, "WOW. You got a knot." He also said it didn't look like I'd had a kid (always gratifying). Finished Philip Roth's Indignation. Well-written but depressing. And now for something completely different...Candace Bushnell's One Fifth Avenue.

So D and I were offered the chance to view an apartment in our complex. We're still waiting to get a 2-bedroom (currently, E is in the living room, which is large by New York standards, but of course he will need a room with a door as he gets older). I got all excited, but then D looked online at the layout and discovered that it is only 35 square feet bigger. He wants to hold out for a larger one. I guess I do too. It's kind of like going on a date and being disappointed. Last night we went to the White Horse Tavern (famous in a morbid way - I think it is the last place Dylan Thomas drank before he died). The atmosphere there is always cheerful, though. They have outdoor seating so we were able to bring E and hang out with our friends (A's girlfriend was celebrating getting a new job). It was odd and fun all at once to be out on a Friday night with ADULTS, and nice not to have to leave E behind. I'm reading Philip Roth's new book, Indignation - I like it, even thou...

One of our babysitters has an umlaut in her name. I told E about it and explained what it was. Then he said what sounded for all the world like "umlaut." A friend said this didn't count because E didn't know what he was saying; however, I love the idea of "umlaut" as a first word. I have this itch to travel. Usually D and I go away in March to Miami, but now I am toying with the idea of Maui. I've never been. But a 12-hour flight...probably not smart. However, I asked the pediatrician about plane travel for babies, and she said a long flight can actually be better because there are no quick changes in air pressure. That is, a lot of time would elapse between takeoff and landing (the phases when air pressure fluctuation can bother a baby). She said you want to nurse a baby at those times, if possible - "it's the baby equivalent of chewing gum." Anyway, because of the length of the flight, she said Maui might actually be better than Miami. ...

Caro sent me two bags of Trader Joe's vegan cookies and a guide to raising vegetarian children that I had been eyeing at Amazon. She fought the good fight to get the last two bags (of cookies, not children :) I suspect I am in for a rough night tonight. E decided to sleep a bunch during the day. After he had got 2 full naps in, I woke him up to feed (4 hours had elapsed since the beginning of his last feeding - I wouldn't have woken him up if it were night, of course). He fell asleep again. I put him in the stroller and we walked through the usual noise and chaos of New York City. He slept. As we approached our apartment building, two policeman set up a Caution - Do Not Cross yellow police tape. Behind the police tape, there were some large trees. City workers started to hack off the branches with buzz saws. The branches clattered onto the sidewalk. The workers yelled to each other as they brandished their buzzing saws. He slept.

Here's a picture of E and D. It's hard to tell from the picture, but Tigger is embroidered on E's onesie and pants. The set is a gift from one of D's cousins and his wife.

So I took the little man to the pediatrician today. He weighs 18 lbs, 13 oz. The vaccines went better this time...he was fine with the first two, but the third vaccine is administered in a needle that irritates them more. (Why not use the inoffensive needle for all three? I don't know, but I assume there's a reason.) Anyway, I was prepared, and quickly put some Tylenol drops in his mouth. He calmed down and went to sleep in the cab on the way home. He's still sleeping! The cabbie was enmeshed in family drama - his wife called from the hospital (she's been there for 2 weeks) and asked the cabbie to call their 2 sons and have them call her. (Why didn't she call them herself? Who knows.) So the cabbie tracked them down - both lawyers - and said, "I know you're busy, but take 2 minutes to call your mutha."

You Are a Good Girl You are 70% Good and 30% Bad Generally speaking, you're a very good girl. (But you don't have us totally fooled!) Are You a Good Girl or a Bad Girl?

E generally likes to recline on the Boppy pillow, but now he is happier when sitting up. At 4 months! (I am totally going to be one of those annoying mothers who brags about everything. I can tell.) I am trying out different types of music on him. It seems like he prefers Astrud Gilberto to Elton John. On Monday the 13th, my friend T is going to visit me with her baby E. He is older than my E, but I wonder...who will be bigger?

Me and E: Poppy and E: E was very taken with Poppy. As soon as I heard her voice on the phone, I knew he would like "talking" with her (he prefers women's voices, particularly soft ones). We took him out for dinner last night, just across the street. It's funny, whenever he fusses at this particular restaurant, I take him upstairs and we look at the framed reviews on the wall and the tops of the diners' heads. He seems to really enjoy it.

Can't sleep, but I can't blame it on E. In more cheerful news, Poppy came over today (she now lives in Queens :) We discovered we have the same camera - a Panasonic Lumix - though hers is slightly different, and even has a food setting. I'm going to try to upload some pics soon, but here is a good one she took...

So yesterday when the babysitter (who is great, like our Saturday girl; yay for women's colleges with babysitting services!) came, I went swimming. All went well until I got into the hot tub. About 10-15 minutes in, something started to feel very wrong. I stepped out and there were spots in front of my eyes. My head was wavy. I sat down until things got normal again. And then I couldn't help thinking, "I boiled my eggs. I won't be able to have another baby!" But when I got home, the babysitter assured me this was not the case. She is one of those people you feel comfortable with right away, so I let my neuroticism hang out :)

So a new babysitter came over for a couple of hours today. Before meeting her, I talked with her on the phone and checked 3 of her references. They all loved her. Then I Googled her and found out that she played field hockey in high school and...was a debutante? It was one of those pictures where you count third from the left to locate the person. She appeared to be a tiny redhead. I thought, will she be able to hold E? E is probably over 16 pounds now (I'll find out for sure at his next pediatrician's appointment). But when she came to our door, I saw that she was a brunette and not the same person. She was bubbly and friendly and we chatted for a while. Finally, I said, "I have a confession to make...I Googled you and found this debutante picture." She said, "Oh yeah, I did that in June." I said, "Really? 'Cause it looked like you had red hair!" She said, "Oh no, it's always been brown. I never dyed it." Now I'll have to fin...