Diaper Tally

The New Yorker, May 4, 2009

Teething 101

Will is putting everything in his mouth these days, especially now that he's beginning to start teething. If babies do indeed explore their world this way, then Will is a modern-day Magellan! As a result, we've been trying to find a variety of interesting things for him to chew on.

But really, who needs cool teething toys when your big toes are available?

Weeks 19-22

Will's basketball-viewing future was off to a great start the past few weeks with some solid March Madness basketball, culminating in Carolina's (mom's alma mater) win over Michigan State! We enjoyed traditional North Carolina BBQ while watching the game with Uncle Kit.

Will also had another lesson in burrito-eating courtesy of Nicholas and Jason. This time, he almost nabbed an actual bite! We'll have to start keeping a close eye on him!

We experienced our first heat wave of the year - probably one of two that we'll get all year! - and Will showed off his chub in a few shortie outfits. He also enjoyed some visitors, including Tom and Amber and Laura. Amber and Laura looove babies. Will must have sensed this: he loved them right back!

April 10th brought Aunt Linnie's birthday, and Will sent her birthday greetings in style. The outtakes that followed, however, are what got us laughing. Check 'em out in the slideshow. Cake is way overrated.



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Goodnight Will

This is one of those posts that may not be especially interesting to blog visitors, but shares some memories that we'll want to revisit in the future.

One of the biggest changes in our lives as parents has been the two-fold transition of Will sleeping with us to sleeping in his crib, and from waking up every few hours to waking up just once or twice in the night. This evening, friends asked us over dinner what we do when Will falls asleep in his car seat. We were reminded that just a few short weeks ago our answer would have been to put him - car seat and all - in our bed between us! They admitted that they are encouraging their breastfed daughter to drink from a bottle by drinking from a bottle, themselves, so that she can model after them. We felt better about bringing the car seat to bed. My, how things have changed for us!

While to say that the extra sleep is welcome is an understatement to say the least, as a parent you sort of feel like you're no longer quite so essential. We're sure that this is the first of many times that we will feel this way, and are enjoying the fact that this transition is not accompanied by a withering age-11-going-on-21 look inferring, "Whatever, Mom and Dad."

Will's current bedtime routine includes changing into cozy footie pajamas, relaxing with a bottle and having Goodnight Moon read to him in his room. He's figured out how to turn the pages (it's the board book version - he hasn't graduated to paper just yet!), but also makes a habit of nibbling on the corners of the book as we read through it.

As he's settling into sleep, he lifts his legs toward his head and thwaps them back down on the mattress several times. With his typical flair for the dramatic, when he's really ready to sleep, he does a final leg thwap, tosses his head to his left, and flings his arms out to his sides, accompanied by a big sigh. He's now figured out that if he throws his legs to the side a bit while lifting and lowering them, he can turn himself around. So, when we go into check on him, we are finding him turned all sorts of different directions these days. Watching this activity is sort of like watching a helicopter rotor move in very slow motion, and yes, I do sit and watch sometimes.

I remember seeing him on the ultrasound just before he was born. At the time, I commented on how peaceful he looked, noting that this would probably be the last time I would be saying that for a few years! A friend emailed me to reassure me that even though there would be many sleepless nights for all of us in the beginning, I would see him that peaceful sooner rather than later. She was right. I love to watch him sleep. I love his stillness and breathing. I love to wonder what he's dreaming about.

Happy Easter!

With Easter egg hunts and egg dying looming large as activities for next year, we decided to take Easter easy this year with a trip to Sonoma for a picnic and some winetasting. Cousin Casey and fiancé Will (very affectionatly deemed by the Monahan clan as "LCCW" - Less Cute and Cuddly Will) came to visit from Santa Monica and joined in the fun with Uncle Kit and Aunt Heidy. The favorite winery of the day was Unti, especially the 2007 Barbera. Will stuck to milk (5 months down, 20 1/2 years to go, kid).

A Visit from Mimi and Poppie and Aunt Karissa and Uncle Matt

Will had lots of visitors from the Misner side at the end of March! First, Mimi and Poppie arrived from Virginia. We chose Mimi and Poppie as our grandparent nicknames because we heard that Cousin Alex was doing the same, but we recently learned that Will's great-great-grandfather Ladd went by Poppie, so we're delighted to be continuing the tradition!

Poppie is Will's namesake, so we enjoyed a stroll over to Willard Street - coincidentally located in our neighborhood - so grandfather and grandson could pose for a photo op. Will also had just gotten his Skwish toy, and math teacher Poppie was quick to point out that Will is already learning geometry! Mimi, a piano teacher, sang Will all sorts of new songs, including some from her Suzuki method piano repetoire - we all found the one about Myrtle the Turtle especially funny!

Will is imitating everyone lately, and Mimi and Poppie were no exception. Poppie insisted that Will was already saying, "hi," (and we almost thought he was right!) after lots of "hi's" from everyone in the room, and Will loved showing off how he could stick out his tongue to Mimi when she did the same.

We also visited Harley Farms in Pescadero and Filoli Gardens near Woodside. Our experience with the flowers at Filoli was outmatched only by the variety of fresh goat cheese at Harley Farms, which we learned varies in flavor depending on the hormonal levels of the goat (i.e. it's more or less tangy depending on whether the mama goat has had a kid lately).

At the end of Mimi and Poppie's visit, Aunt Karissa (Jason's sister) and Uncle Matt joined us from Tulsa. We're looking forward to welcoming Will's cousin to the world at the end of May! We all went up to Point Reyes in hopes of seeing some migrating whales off the coast; unfortunately, there were no whales in sight, but we enjoyed some beautiful scenery, along with two fawns. Pediatrician Matt deemed Will, um, "nutritionally sound." :)

All this action is making us think about naps! Will's favorite napping spot is the rocker recliner in our living room. Like many things that are discovered by accident, Will discovered this spot when Mom needed somewhere to set him down for a minute where he could be propped sitting up a bit, as he was still having a little trouble breathing after being sick. So much for his freshly prepared bottle - Will was fast asleep in the recliner in about 30 seconds!

Here are some photos from the past few weeks:



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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm 4 months old today!

Weeks 15-16

Our friends Chris and Keli and their baby, Logan, came to visit us. The boys had fun meeting each other and we all enjoyed catching up over brunch. Logan is one of five (including Will) babies that will be born within a year of each other to Jason's college buddies. We can't wait for them all to meet!

Once known as "Muffin," our newly nicknamed "Small Fry" turned 4 months old on St. Patrick's Day. The poor fella was in good spirits despite having his first cold, which turned into pneumonia. Yikes! He's been a real trooper and is thankfully on the mend.

Here are some photos from the past few weeks:



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Seriously, Uncle Kit, My Cheeks are Bigger than Yours

Weeks 13-14: Breckenridge!

The big highlight the past few weeks was our trip to Breckenridge, CO to attend a wedding. We enjoyed celebrating with the bride and groom while Will held down the fort at the hotel with his babysitter.

This was Will's first plane trip and he's already gearing up to be a travel pro. He slept almost the entire way on both plane rides, waking up just in time for Mom and Dad to bask in the "Oh, what a sweet baby - we didn't even know he was on the plane!" glory. (We hear that's a one-shot deal, however.) He also survived our "aircraft downsize" on the way home, which resulted in us and 57 other passengers being bumped. After that, future trips will be relatively smooth sailing!

We enjoyed checking out Breckenridge and look forward to actually hitting the slopes next time!

Here are some photos from the past few weeks:



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