budding backseat driver 2009/08/10

driving-wise, today was not a good day.  the first USELESS “field trip” h-man and i went on was to the rmv in brockton, an hour away, only to get there and find out that 15,000 other losers had already signed up to be “heard” and there were no more slots left.  poop soup.

so, i decided not to waste the momentum of having henri in the car and in a pretty good mood and drove halfway across town, in traffic, to the library, searched for parking, found parking, etc. etc., only to get there and find out that the Library Does Not Open Until Noon on Mondays.  summer hours! who needs ‘em!!  now, i’m never paying my $9.25 fine.

let me remind you that today was not a nice, cooler-than-usual, summer day.  it was 115 degrees if i’m white.  i assume that most 20-month-olds would not stand for such a waste of a morning (i, myself, wanted to shoot someone in the knee), but henri–darling, sweet, mellow, better-than-good henri–just sat in his seat and hummed, talked to himself, read books, notified me of trucks, and–every now and then–repeated the GPS, just to make sure mom-mom was listening:

GPS: Turn right on Hilltop Street.

Mom-mom: (Goes straight) (Swears)

Henri: HILLTOP STREET!!!

1 year and counting 2008/11/24

Well, I’ve had a couple glasses of wine and I think that qualifies me to write the “what has the last year been like?” posting.  Don’t you?

Since you asked…the past year has been, well, marvelous.  I can’t think of a better word.  Henri is absolutely, without a doubt, 100% and then some, the bestest baby ever born.  Those of you with children: don’t even think about contradicting me on this.  This kid is way too cool.  And those of you thinking about having children: don’t.  Your [future] kid can’t possibly be this cool.  There’s only so much good-baby-ness that goes around every 100 years or so, and we got the majority of it.

In case you don’t believe me (CYNICS!), witness this:

• Most parenting magazines have generous and lengthy columnar advice on the hassles of feeding anyone over, say, 2 days old.  Let me tell you, we have not had a problem in this area.  Henri has yet to meet a food he doesn’t like.  Well, the first time he tried a pickle, he did look at us like WTF did you just give me, bitches? but the next time we gave it to him, he sucked it dry.  So, that totally doesn’t count. I read these articles warning and cajoling parents of picky toddlers and finicky babies and I think, God, parenting a non-Henri must be so HARD. Seriously…I can still recall the day when his doctor forewarned us that babies prefer non-green veggies.  Clearly, Henri wasn’t listening.  His first favorite vegetable was definitely peas.  And he’ll still eat the gigantic Stage 3 “Pea Soup Medley” like there’s no tomorrow.  So, yes, to recap.  H-man = liking food. (color doesn’t really matter)
• And yet, there’s no indication of this love.  Mark was just saying how whenever he mentions Henri being  a “good eater” to his dad, the remark is “But he’s active. He’s not…overweight.”  Which, of course, we laughed about, because being a “good eater” is our favorite thing about Henri.  But Grandaddy Steve makes a good point…for a baby that eats like Henri, he’s nowhere neaaaaaaaar overweight.  He’s not even in the line of sight of overweight.  He only has one chin and no cankles, so…definitely NOT overweight.  He has a big head.  That’s it.
• Henri loves nighttime.  Okay…”love” might be a strong word.  But, if you time it just right, you can actually put Henri in his crib and give him a couple “dawgs” and 1,000 (or so) blankets, twirl his mobile up tight, kiss him on the forehead and say “night, night, Henri” and he’ll WAVE AT YOU.  Now, I’ve had an experience or two with kiddos, and this is Not Normal Behavior.  Even Emma–the former most-perfect child ever–would usually complain about “night night” time.  I mean, kids don’t like to sleep, especially firstborn children.  But it’s like Henri has a sixth sense or something that tells him when he’s had enough of the day.  He’s just like me, only better.
• Which brings me to my next “great thing about Henri” point.  He really is my mini-me.  He’s onery and stubborn, but he can’t stay mad for longer than–oh, about a second.  He knows what not to do and does it anyway, but only after he’s made sure you’re watching.  He loves dangerous situations.  He drinks way too much, way too fast.  When Mark enters the room, his excitement is palpable.  He wants to do everything for himself, until he realizes he can’t…and then he asks for help.
• UNLIKE me, Henri is very verbose.  He talks more than my friend’s 18-month old.  Nevermind that every word begins with the sound of “d,” we still know what he’s saying and it’s still amazing.  And it’s not just one syllable words, either; he can say “bottle” and “again.”  And he understands even more than what he can say.  I don’t know…I just find it fascinating that he is so perceptive.  He just seems to get it.  (Like I said, this is a quality we don’t share.)

There’s plenty more I can brag about, but some other first-time-mom is probably bragging in much the same way right this very second.  I mean, parenting is a global experience.  And I know I’m not the first one who thinks their kid is a genius.  But, I do think he’s a little ahead of the curve.  I didn’t even talk until I was four, after all, and Mark didn’t know his middle name until he was something like 12-years-old (!).  And, even if he isn’t a genius, he’s still way ahead of any expectation of what I might’ve thought a kid would be like.

I can finally say I’ve found my true calling: being Henri’s m-o-m.  It didn’t take a lot of preparation or, really, even that much thought…it’s just a good fit.  Me, and mini-me.  (And McKnight, of course.)

i absolutely love these pictures 2008/06/12

to order pictures, visit my picasa album … See my Tabblo>

mental health/henri day 2008/06/05

yesterday, i took a much needed day off (read: i couldn’t get out of bed and would like to blame it on the thyroid but maybe i’m just a loser?), so i got like 8 straight hours of the h-man and was totally reminded of how lucky i am to be his mom. why? because:

• my 6 month old likes to shop. i’m serious. he LOVES it. especially when you let him sit in the big-boy seat in the cart and he can see everything.
• when shopping, my 6 month old [apparently] does not need to eat or sleep. he’s kinda like me in that way…
• he’s already displaying symptoms of only-child-ism. for instance: sitting in my hour-long therapy appt. and amusing himself by trying to pull the carpet threads up.
• he sleeps best when he’s sleeping next to me (and vice versa)
• he doesn’t whine when i listen to the same radiohead song for an entire 45 minute drive home
• he always smiles at strangers, even when they’re fugly. (this he does *not* get from me)
• he doesn’t mind goin’ out in the rain (as long as he’s got his comfy clothes on)

did i love it enough to be a SAHM? probably not. but i sure did have a relaxing day. loves.

i have a brilliantly sentimental mother’s day post in the works, but until then… 2008/05/07

…you’ll have to settle for a list. besides, this is useful to record.

Ten Things I Like about Being MomOfHenri:

• Snuggling in bed and he reaches over and grabs my face like he’s “blind” henri and then smiles so big I can smell his formula breath.
• That he’s content shrieking like a dolphin or whopping me on the head with his plastic keys while I sleep a few more minutes.
• His first temper tantrum yesterday, in which I learned my son is EXACTLY like me (in case there was any doubt) in his undying resolve to be heard and picked up and held and coddled all the time and why would you even thinking of doing something else that doesn’t involve me??? for christ’s sake.
• That anything you put anywhere near his mouth like you’re going to feed him excites him to no end. These currently include Orajel and his electric toothbrush. He actually cried when I stopped brushing his teeth today! OMG–HCIT??? (HCIT=How Cute Is That. duh.)
• His hair is A) not falling out and B) staying red. Yesssss!!!
• When Mark walks in the room, Henri’s eyes light up.
• Watching him focus on the tiniest thing for the longest time (like a dog stitched onto his blanket or my over-sized flower ring).
• My son looks good in Pink. And he is so in touch with his feminine side.
• speaking of: Little boys clothes…so adorable. Hold me back, please. Or I will buy much, much more.
• Every time we take him into another room, he wants to look at every single thing in there like he hasn’t ever been there before (Yes, I know this is because he has baby-term memory, but I also want to remember it because it won’t always be that way…)
• Reading other mom’s blogs and articles, moms who are apparently very tired and extremely disorganized and generally disgruntled, and thinking “huh, I don’t feel like that” and knowing that I –really, I do– have the *best* life.

Okay, so that bordered on sentimental. But you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

henri is so cute. he even makes me want to wake up in the morning. 2008/04/30

when henri wakes up in the morning, he is generally in a bright and cheery mood! he contentedly squawks and squeals until one of us gets up to bring him back to our bed. since he’s not usually hungry right away, we give him a furry toy to chew on while we rest our eyes a little bit more. eventually, he will get frustrated/hungry enough that he’ll grab mark’s nose and wake us [back] up. his new rolling over technique is very useful at this stage. once we’re *really* awake, somebody gets up and makes him a bottle. then, he eats breakfast in bed while we get just a little more shut-eye before the horrible, tragic, day-away-from-henri-and-all-things-lovely-and-good-and-baby-centric begins. while we’re getting ready in the mornings, henri is all too happy to sit in his bouncy seat and play, along with more squaking and squealing of course. then, we drop him off upstairs with nani and/or papi, at which time the routine starts over with “giving him the fuzzy animal to chew on.”

have i mentioned i have the perfect life? and by perfect, i mean everything i’ve always wanted.

and the award for bestest baby ever goes to… 2008/04/28

this is what henri’s weekend consisted of:

saturday: spend all day with mark’s mom and her husband (he’s only met them a couple times before this); come home and go to bed

sunday: travel back and forth between old house and new house, with crap loaded all around him most of the time, while also getting a 2nd tooth and having to take naps in either the car or a brand new location; we also managed to squeeze in a trip to target

you would think by last night around 7 pm, he would not only be completely exhausted, but would also be cranky mccranky pants. but i have to say–he really wasn’t. he is “officially” the best baby in the world, or–at least–the most well-behaved. i mean, transitioning to a new house is worth mild crankiness by itself, let alone the rest of what we put him through… the only time he really got fussy was when that 2nd tooth really started moving in. other than that, it was henri-as-usual (cries when sleepy, hungry or has to burp). i don’t want to count my chickens before the eggs hatch or anything, but we might have the first redhead on our hands who isn’t a threat to his parents’ sanity! note: i did not say that he isn’t stubborn as hell, because he is…he’s just stubborn in a sweet baby, henri kind of way.

Fatherhood (for those postponing fatherhood) 2008/04/14

I have several guy friends/a brother who are, likely (although they haven’t said so to my face), quite surprised that anyone would, more or less voluntarily, take on the job/duty/life-long-commitment of fatherhood. And I was right there with them when I was 29-years+364-days-old. That’s somewhat tongue-in-cheek – it didn’t exactly correspond, to the moment, with my thirtieth birthday – however, it was around that time that I began to think that fatherhood might be A-ok. Actually, it really hit me around the time that I became romantically involved with a woman who happened to be T-minus-two-or-so-months from motherhood.

OK, listen up, here’s the secret:

*… fatherhood isn’t really all that bad…*

Caveats:

• Henri’s cute.
• He’s really very reasonable… for an infant.*
• He stays where you put him (not for long I fear).
• He’s easily heft-able; portable (see above).
• He’s really darn cute.

Subtract a couple of those attributes and I may have a completely different opinion. (Given the self-expiring nature of attributes three and four on the above list, check back with me in a month or two, okay?)

Really, what have I given up? A solid block of 7-8 (or 9, or 10) hours of sleep? Sure, but I’ve given that up voluntarily for weeks at a time. Sleeping in on the weekends is harder but it turns out that you really do get a lot more done when you get out of bed before noon. Henri requires a lot of attention but also likes spending a lot of time on his back admiring his feet. While he’s doing this I can do “productive” things such as lie on my back and admire the insides of my eyelids… or, more likely, watch Top Chef.

And an added benefit of having a kid when you’re 30ish is they’ll be out of the house by the time you’re 50ish when you’re young enough to enjoy the fact that the kid has finally-left-the-g-d-nest!!

*I mean, sure, he’ll take a deep breath and TELL YOU when something is bothering him (i.e. it’s been 2 hours and thirty-ONE minutes since he last ate and that’s really longer than ANY REASONABLE BABY COULD BE EXPECTED TO WAIT, DAMMIT!! AAAAAA-GHE-HE-HE-HE!!!) but, once you give him what he wants, everything is copasetic.

further evidence of henri’s developmental prowess 2008/04/14

HENRI HAS HIS FIRST TOOTH! he’ll be 5 months this friday, and he’s already teething. at least, my family says this is soon. i was kind of expecting it anytime. but, then, i don’t really know anything about baby milestones except what i read in parenting magazines.  none of which i remember.

the best part is that we didn’t even really know that he was teething because he wasn’t even that cranky. he really is a laidback guy. hey–maybe he’s inherited my tolerance for pain. how fortunate!

baby boy, now i’m all grown up 2008/03/14

i’ve had nothing to do with this, but… the past 2 nights, henri has slept In His Cradle and Through the Entire Night – NO Bottle.  (he does wimper when his pacifier falls out, but no crying!)

next thing you know, he’ll be applying to ivy league schools and helping me figure out the latest technological advances… *sigh*