As if! I don’t know how weeks go by when I can post nearly every day and then during other weeks I don’t get a single chance to post. The past few weeks have been characterized by me ticking off the to-do list slowly . . . . gradually. I finished the book “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides on audiobook a few weeks ago and was completely mesmerized by how awesome it was. Now I’m in the middle of Ken Follett’s “The Pillars of the Earth” and am loving every minute of the story. It just keeps getting more complex, more interesting. I can now understand why one of my colleagues was so disappointed when he got to the end of the book. It has such great plot, character development. What a story! Quite absorbing. That’s all I’m going to say about that.
Aside from that we’ve been enjoying time with family, being thankful for having each other, getting things done around the house. Yesterday I had some fun learning faux painting with my mother and while we didn’t come up with anything substantial, we got the downstairs bathroom primed at her house and she came up with some nice faux finish styles. I have a feeling that faux finish demands consistency, which I decidedly lack. I am on the more spontaneous side when it comes to using a paintbrush on walls. Give me a roller and I’ll get you one color but when I have a paintbrush and a rag, watch out, you don’t know what you’ll get! I only hope I have the chance to try more of it as we approach the other rooms of the house.
Little L is growing, growing growing. Some days he dadadadas and other days he decides he doesn’t want to say anything. He *most certainly* loves to be held, even more so now that he seems to be in his second cold ever. He has a cough that almost sounds wheezy, and it gives me great trepidation – could this be new onset asthma? Pertussis? Ok, ther’es no whooping sound, but this is where the doc-mom combination can take a person awry. I simply hope the little tyke improves in the coming days. His cuteness simply grows and grows and overwhelms me. Most recently he has begun to sit well by himself and he passes objects from one hand to another.
He was at Mandy Keep’s Peace Baby Photo shoot this weekend and his dad and I were mentally comparing him to the other babies. What an experience that was. 40-or-so babies all organized into a peace sign that was calmly arranged on a green backdrop in Mandy’s shaded backyard. It was so well organized and arranged. Mandy and her volunteers had traffic controllers, people escorting us, refreshments, and lots of seating for the families. It was so fun to see all the babies – each tiny, 6 months or less in age, but each so different physically and in terms of personality. We all gave stuffed animals to the volunteers to arrange in the peace sign shape. Mandy oversaw everything and when she cued us from her crane, we all got our babies into their white diapers (Lakshman had a new white Thirsties cover and his SB-ish squishy soft multi fitted) and and put them in place. It was hilarious to see babies at such different developmental stages all together. There was one particularly advanced 6-month-old boy who couldn’t stay in place for the life of him and kept getting up to crawl to the other babies. It was hilarious. I’m looking forward to seeing what Mandy and her colleague shot. The day was so beautiful (though hot) I am sure they turned out great. For his part, L wasn’t too interested in the whole affair. When I put him down he initially reached toward me (and his favorite firefly toy) longingly, then once he realized he had to stay there for a few minutes he just sort of looked up and from side to side, hanging out. He was one of the chill ones, without the impatient screeching, giggling, terrorized, wailing, wiggly squiggly movement of some of the other babies. He was perfectly content, though when I came back to pick him up both he and I were thoroughly relieved to have this “modeling” session come to an end. But I am so curious about what the photo looks like!