The main impetus for me beginning this post was an experience I just had at the house. All my life I have wondered why my Mom would think of a chore she’d need to do and go off to do that chore and then immediately find herself sidetracked doing another chore and then get sidetracked again until she had totally lost track of the chore she had originally set out to complete.  In the meantime, she would lose all track of time and often not actually finish any of the chores. Today, I grimly realized, that I was doing the same thing. Jhonen had miraculously gone down for a nap that seemed like it might actually last a while (you can sort of sense sometimes how deep a sleep he’s experiencing so you can gage your current activity abilities). I saw him settle into sleep and, wham, I was off and running. I ran down to the garage to refill his diaper supply. On the way to the garage, though, I remembered that I needed paper towels upstairs. On the way to the paper towels, I found my phone which I had misplaced several hours earlier. Finding my phone, I figured I’d check my email on it while I had the chance. Then I looked up and found that the laundry needed to be changed over. Then I couldn’t remember why I’d come downstairs so I grabbed the paper towels and went back upstairs. The minute I got upstairs I realized I had never gotten the diapers from the garage!

As a Mom, there are so many things I could do with any given two-free-handed moment, either for Jhonen of for me or for the house or for work, that it’s hard to figure out where to start or how to prioritize. Hence, the scatterbrained free-for-all chore rampage through the house that, inevitably, leaves me completely exhausted only to hear him starting to cry in his bed. I should have been napping.

I don’t know if there is much of a lesson in this story. Just maybe I realization that I should be easier on my Mom and easier on myself. I obviously can’t fix the economic crisis and get all the laundry done in one nap session, so just pick a few things to do and don’t get mad at myself if I can’t finish them….or if I occasionally rampage around the house like a crazy person. It happens.

Next….socks that are thick and slick, the ones that look like they’ll stay on little squirmy feet, don’t actually stay. It seems that the socks with any acrylic in them don’t stay on and the ones that are made of thin cotton, the ones that you’d think would come off, actually stay on. Socks that look like dress socks stay on the best.I also love the socks that look like they are shoes. Jhonen has two pairs and they are my favorites and they stay on really well, too. He has really big feet, though. Maybe it’s not as big of an issue for other babies?

There are a lot of decision to make as a Mom. And they are important ones that affect another human being’s health and all-around wellness. It’s stressful. My latest round of decisions relate to immunizations. I wish I could offer wisdom about this. All I can say is, research as much as you can and do what seems best for your family. Then hope for the best. I have trust issues when it comes to medicine and science. That doesn’t help my already poor decision making abilities.

Don’t pick out clothing for your baby based on months. Look more closely at the tags and pick out pieces based on the weight range. Jhonen is a big boy and is already wearing size 3-6 months and he’s not even two months old yet. The 3-6 month weight range, though, matches Jhonen’s weight perfectly with some room to grow.

Footy pajamas are the best. So are white Birdseye diaper cloths. Boppy pillows should be given out for free with every baby. Try out as many baby carrying devices as possible. There are so many options with Baby Bjorn-like carriers, wraps, slings, backpacks. It seems like there is a time and a place for each type.

Making multiple  short  trips seems harder than making one trip even if that one trip lasts all day. It seems I run into more trouble in the constant in-the-car, out-of-the-car transfers than in going to one place and hanging out there for a while. He has recently traveled with me to EPCOT and to Sea World and did a surprisingly great job. They were all day trips and he slept through most of them. I tried to go run short errands to the pharmacy, the grocery store, Target with a drive-through Starbucks on the way home and all hell broke loose.

I’m never lonely. The other day I took Jhonen to the grocery store for the first time by myself. I was nervous about what I would do if he got really upset or if he needed to eat while we were there with a full cart of frozen goods. I was pleasantly surprised when I put him in his wrap and he just looked out, peacefully, at the passing hot dogs, cereal boxes, and wine bottles. I found myself asking him all sorts of questions while we walked the aisles. Should I get Italian vinaigrette or honey mustard? Fat free or regular cream cheese? Would your Dad prefer kielbasa or smoked sausage? He was my little buddy! It may have been trickier (and heavier) shopping with a two month old, but it was more fun. It was an adventure.

I am writing this post with one hand while holding your pacifier in your mouth with the other, but I feel compelled to let you know what happened to this country yesterday. Jhonen, for the past eight years our country has been led by President George Bush, a man who misled this country into a war I don’t believe should have ever been waged. Thousands of people, American and Iraqi alike have died because of it. Our country is trillions of dollars in debt and faces the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. I just found out that 22,000 Americans die every year because they can’t afford or have no access to health insurance. Global warming is threatening Earth’s very existence. Our education system is not even close to the top in the world despite the power we hold and the wealth we enjoy.

Worse than that, our nation has failed to live by the ideals of liberty and possibility for all that has always defined  us and set us apart as a beacon of hope to nations across this globe.  In 2004 when President Bush was reelected, beating John Kerry, suddenly being intelligent, well-spoken, honest, or elite somehow became distasteful. Americans voted for a person who, in my mind, represented ugly things: judgement of others to the point of bigotry,  an arrogant, power-crazed view of America’s place in the world as a sort of bullying watchdog for Democracy, and the notion that our leader should be someone we’d like to go have a beer with after work. I’d rather have a leader who can inspire us as a people to better ourselves and to join together to better this nation. To know that change is possible and to dare to believe that politics can be free from corruption, greed, and self-importance. To remember that our power comes from our common  ideals and not from our guns or a stubborn refusal to admit our mistakes. To believe that our country is great but certainly not infallible and not without fault. That being a patriot is about more than flag pins and empty words like freedom, but about the diversity of ideas and the ability to express them. And that, through the free exchange of ideas and beliefs we can all individually and collectively change for the better.

In 2000 and 2004 I thought people had lost track of those things. I felt that Americans had made a choice to think narrowly and selfishly, if they were thinking at all. But then something happened. President Bush messed up big time. Again and again and again. Then, at exactly the perfect time in history, someone new came along named Barack Obama. Your Dad and I were living in Chicago when he became an Illinois Senator. I waved at him as he went by in a car at the St. Patrick’s Day parade. I, along with the rest of Chicago, fell for him. That year he gave the key note address at the Democratic Convention and, for the first time, a politician made me cry, made me think, made me hope, and made me believe in this country and in the power we have to change.

Yesterday, four years after that powerful speech, Barack Obama was elected 44th President of the United States. He gave a victory speech to hundreds of thousands of people in Grant Park in Chicago and 137 million people turned out to vote. We waited in long lines to cast our ballots and we, as a nation,  triumphed over apathy and fear.

I don’t expect or even need President Obama to work miracles. I’m not trying to worship a mere mortal. He has many challenges ahead and many of them may be insurmountable. What I celebrate about yesterday’s election, and what I hope so desperately to instill in you, is that intelligence is to be admired, not denounced. That apathy and fear can never lead to change. That to hope is not to live in a state of denial. That idealism is not fantasy. I want you to know that, 50 years ago, African Americans weren’t even allowed to vote. Now we have a black president. Two years ago Obama was flagged to be searched in the airport because of his name (too Muslim sounding…it seems we are quick to replace one form of hate and fear with another). Yet today he is our president. What I want you to see is not that an African American actually made it to the White House, but that, in the end, it didn’t matter that he was black or had a funny sounding name. We saw past the color of his skin and discovered, instead, a smart, calm, confident, idealistic, sensible, articulate, and capable man.  This country transformed and transcended yesterday and that’s a rare and special event. It meant a lot to me, and to your dad, and I just wanted to share with you what I learned from it and what I hope to teach you as a result of it. I’m inspired to do something to help make this country better because of what I witnessed yesterday. I figure, as a new Mom, I can provide you every opportunity possible and teach you the things I think will help make you into a man of integrity and service.

Keep hoping for more, Jhonen, and be the change you want to see in this world.

Love,

Mom

A few pictures have been added to the set over on flickr. Mel and Jess submerged the baby in our fall decorations, and despite my expectations, they’re gut-blisteringly cute.

Two months have nearly passed and I’m finally able to journal about what an amazing, tiring, educational, moving time it has been for me to watch you grow. I thought I’d give you some highlights from the past two months since I have a tendency to document more information than anyone would ever care to read.

1. I keep remembering you birth and what an amazing experience it was. It’s true…you do forget the pain. I didn’t forget that it hurt…I know that it hurt really badly…but the potency of the recollection of the pain has worn off almost completely now. I just remember seeing your dark head and your Dad catching you and handing you to me and all I could think was “we did it.”  The Birth Place was so special, too. I actually almost cried a few days ago when I went there for my final checkup. It made me sad to think that Robin and Becky, the women who attended your birth, wouldn’t need to be in our lives any more. I may try to visit periodically.
2. Just like during pregnancy, I’m constantly surprised at the commonality of women’s experiences and the normalcy of phenomena that seems at the time completely alien. During pregnancy I would awaken with insanely painful leg cramps. Then I’d go online and find that a million other women had these same cramps. I stopped even bringing problems up at the doctor’s office because the answer was always, “yeah, that’s normal.” I thought breast feeding would never work and I’d always hurt and be miserable. My midwife said that I should make it to the ten day mark and it would get easier. Lo and behold, ten days later, something clicked and we got it! People said, get to six weeks and he’ll start sleeping better. Six weeks hit and you are now able to sleep five hours in a row.  I heard that I would get more confident after a few weeks and I did. Now your Dad and I know how you like to sleep, what your different cries sound like, how you like you back patted, and how you like your baths. It makes me feel like you are really ours.
3. We are constantly amused at how quickly you are growing. You are only six weeks old and you’ve doubled your birth weight! They asked at the birth center if you were going to start college next week.You are in size 3-6 month clothing which is actually really fun because we got a ton of adorable clothes for you at your baby shower. I’m sorry to tell you that I’m using you as a giant dolly that I get to dress up each day. I put you in a new outfit nearly every day and am taking far too many pictures of you in each one.
4. The best moment I’ve had so far was one night when you and I were alone getting you ready for bed. We have a routine for you that seems to work nicely. Around 10:30 at night I give you a bath in your little blue bathtub. Then I get you into footy pajamas and brush your hair. Then I read you a book and feed you and hand you to your Dad who you sleep on for the first night shift. Anyway…I was getting you ready and had on one of the lullaby CDs that your Grandma Betsy bought you. I started singing one of the lullabies to you and sort of waltzed you around the room and I remembered. Two months prior your Dad and I had just bought a red CD player for your room and I was setting it up and trying out that CD in the player. I remember that I had started crying of happiness thinking about having a baby to sing to and teach fun songs. Then I realized that it had come true. There I was singing and it wasn’t to myself, but to you. Sometimes it’s easy to forget just how amazing your existence really is. Then there are moments when it hits me and all I can do is cry and marvel at you.
5. You smiled at me and I squealed gleefully. I also REALLY love it when you make fun baby sounds. You tend to make these sounds the most when you are watching your mobile in your crib. I’m not sure why.
6. You look very adorable when you have pants and a hoodie on.It has gotten a little cooler out finally. We take you on a walk every day.
7. You curl up with your Dad in the cutest positions. You look so peaceful and contented on him. It makes me so happy to see you two together. He  likes to let you squirm your way into strange positions and then, when I protest, he declares that he is letting you make your own decisions.

Just updated our flickr with photos from weeks 4-6! He’s starting to fit into his 3-month-old clothes, shedding his newborn exoskeleton like so much dead waste. The good news is we can start putting him in REALLY awesome clothes now! He’s also starting to sleep a little better and allow us to take him all kinds of places; over the last week, we went to Leu Gardens, the Lake Eola Farmers’ Market, and our local voting place! Click the picture to see the rest of the set to date.

So you’re two weeks old now, hurray! Unfortunately for your bragging rights, you are still this many [holds up zero fingers]. You are currently 8 pounds, 14 ounces (well, probably more by now), which is 1 pound 10 ounces more than your birth weight. I celebrated my birthday last night and you were super calm. Man oh man is it going to be weird having all of our family’s birthdays just three weeks apart, though. Way better than Christmas, to be sure.

By the way, this photo was taken by Melissa, Juls’ shutterbug better-half. I duplicated a few of her photos into my flickr account so the Families have an easier time seeing all this documentation that’s going on. You can always see all the photos of baby Jhojho here.

But that’s a great opportunity for me to try and get some early education in…

Been snapping lots of pictures of the baby, as expected. Doing this with a combination cellphones and an army of low-grade digital cameras so far. But hey, if you people out there have any good pictures of Jho-jho please get them to me! I want this flickr album to grow and grow and really document this time (good lord, what a sentimental parent I’m becoming!). Check out the set so far here.