February-March Miscellaneous

Samantha's outgrowing lots of clothes this month. I took the pictures above the last day I could squeeze her "I [heart] my big brother" tee shirt over her head. She's smiling a ton and chuckling too, and she loves to mirror your facial expressions and smile up at you during a diaper change. She weighed 11lbs, 7oz at her two-month checkup (a week or so late), and she was apparently exactly the fiftieth percentile--which is also where she started out--for height, weight, and head circumference. The pediatrician pronounced her "the ideal baby" before hurriedly back-pedaling to say that all babies were ideal too, of course. She got her first round of vaccines, which she didn't much like at the moment but didn't react to afterward (Marcus was screaming, feverish, and fussy for a full day after his first round of shots--Sam took them in stride). Here she is, back to her own smiley self:

 

Marcus took a round of swimming lessons in February and is getting better about blowing bubbles, putting his head under water, jumping in, pushing off the side, and kicking. He's having a great time at school, too: they went on a field trip to a local coffee shop, where they ordered bagels and cream cheese, looked at the pictures of coffee plantations on the walls, and interviewed the manager. I also took the pictures below of his group's bulletin board. Robert and I get a kick out of the questions the kids wanted to ask this author, and of course the group shot (Ryan, Marcus, Natty, Ellery, Lavinia, Izzy) is priceless.

On Presidents' Day we went out to dim sum and then ice skating and had a nice time. Samantha finds dim sum and skating (watching) about equally exciting--both are nap-inducers for her.

We saw Bob a couple times this month, which is always nice, and we visit Great-Grandma Helena once a week (usually on Saturdays).

The cuddles continue! In the middle picture, below, Marcus is having a before-bed yogurt while watching a little bit of a movie. Sam (whose shirts keep riding up over her belly) is along for the ride. In the picture below at right, Marcus was gleefully saying, "She's umming [our word for putting something in your mouth but not biting it] my nose!"

One day, with Robert away on a business trip and Marcus at school, I dressed Sam up in this little bear suit we'd gotten for Marcus and took some pictures. Here, you've got Kid 2 (first row) and Kid 1 (second row), both around 2.5 months old in the same suit.

And, just for fun, here's an outtake from my recent photoshoot. Samantha is in many ways a more serious baby than Marcus was, and she gives bored, skeptical, shocked, etc. faces quite often. Here's one (along with a picture of Robert enjoying both kids, one evening just after returning home from another business trip).

Marcus and I did some fun things too, this month, especially since Robert's been on a lot of business trips. We went to the Children's Museum a few times (the construction zone area is always a hit), we made pizza together at home, and we did a few crafts together as well. I've also been on a crocheting kick, making Sam some cute hats. "Whoa!" said Marcus. "Wow, Mommy! Look at that!" I was pleased--ah, recognition of my efforts! But wait. . . "Mommy, I didn't know you had SUCH A LONG STRING! WOW!"

And, while Marcus was at school, Samantha and I enjoyed visits to my weekly Second-Time Moms' Group in JP, lunches out with Marissa and Baby Charlotte, shopping at H&M, a few committee meetings I had to go to for work, and a trip to City Hall to get her birth certificate. Of course, the wearing continues, too, in one of the mildest and nicest winters Boston has ever known.

Funny story about wearing Samantha. . .

This morning after dropping Marcus off I took the T to Copley to run a few errands. My first stop was the library to pick up some books I had on hold. I had just checked the titles and pulled my three books off the shelf in the self-serve reserve area when a security guard accosted me. I had actually heard him yelling "Ma'am! Ma'am! Stop!" down the hall, but I hadn't imagined he meant me.

He ran right in front of me, though, and stopped and said, "Ma'am, I need to ask you--what do you have there?"

I was holding the three books in my left hand, and a totebag with a pair of jeans to return to the Gap and a package to mail at the post office in my right hand. I didn't know how to answer his question. Books? Did he want to know which ones? Did I take someone else's holds by mistake? Or maybe my totebag looked suspicious--a brown paper package addressed to Canada? So I just repeated vacantly, "What do I have there?" and stared at him.

"There!" he said, pointing not very helpfully at me with his flashlight, "is that an animal in there?"

I looked down at the sleeping Samantha in a wrap under my coat. "Is that an animal in there?" I repeated again, this time incredulously.

"Or is it a baby?" he asked, stepping closer and peering while shining his flashlight on us.

"It's a baby," I said flatly. I didn't appreciate the flashlight. Sam squirmed, but my hands were full (books, remember, and my suspicious totebag).

"Oh, I just thought--some people bring animals in like that, you know, under their coat--I didn't think it could be a baby in there--and I saw the ears--"

Her hat had ears. Crocheted ears. In mauve variegated yarn. Show me "an animal" with ears that color? "It's a baby," I repeated again, and walked to the checkout desk.

"It's a baby." Or is it?

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Created: 3/8/12. Last Modified: 3/8/12.