What a Trip!
Where HAS the time gone? I stuttered a bit at my mom's office today when one of her patients asked me how old Liam was. . . . Seven weeks?!?! Again I wonder -- where HAS the time gone? And in all that time I've been much too engrossed in our little man to post, so here's a sampling of the myriad changes which have taken place in that seven week blink of an eye: 1. a three pound, 3-ounce weight gain by six weeks (my little Hoover sucks down some milk!), 2. an infant acid-reflux diagnosis, complete with Zantac prescription which, and I think Liam would agree with me on this, tastes something like gasoline, 3. two bushy eyebrows, 4. numerous smiles -- they've increased in regularity and heart-melting capability, 5. a strengthening of the neck muscles -- Liam can hold his head up and crane it around to see objects and faces of interest, 6. a bit of notoriety -- hey, making the front page of the Anderson Independent ain't nothin', and 7. an ever-expanding array of noises and sounds -- grunting and crying are so passé these days! Then there are the places he's been: the walking track and park around the Anderson Civic Center, church, and most recently my grandmother's home in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
The car ride to Bowling Green was quite an adventure. We set off from Anderson to my parents' home in Woodstock around 9:30, and about half an hour into the two and a half hour trip, Liam decided he'd had enough of the car seat. "You are My Sunshine" sung loudly seemed to be the only antidote to the top-of-the-register wailing. Two very long hours later, one nerve-wracked mom and one tear-wracked baby arrived in Woodstock wishing fervently they'd never left home (there's no place like home, there's no place like home) and that there were more than two verses to "You are My Sunshine." One quick nursing/diaper-changing break in the Grandparents' house later, and we were back on the road -- this time with Grandmother behind the wheel. Two hours later, Liam was ready for his afternoon snack. It occurred to me on this trip that there was a great benefit to having babies before the passage of car seat laws -- nursing moms could simply hold their babies and nurse while riding. Not so today. Emily Berry once told me a tale of her mother, desperate to feed her baby during a car trip, trying to maneuver herself over the baby's car seat to nurse in transit. The image the story called to mind was outrageously hilarious when I heard it, but seemed calculatingly sane while making the Bowling Green trek. Between the stops to nurse and the stops to take care of that which nursing leaves behind, what should have been a four and a half hour trip took eight hours. What a day. However, the weekend was well worth the trouble. Liam was a star, bringing relatives out of the woodwork, and my grandmother -- Liam's great-grandmother -- was overjoyed to meet and hold the latest in her lineage. He handled being passed around like a football (and consequently missing many naps) with more grace than any baby should possess, and I couldn't help but want to freeze him as he is right now. At seven weeks he is such a precious, alert, curious little being, ever-learning and ever-changing.
But then again, I can't wait to see what happens next. . . .
Pictures will follow shortly (I promise you won't have to wait another seven weeks).
The car ride to Bowling Green was quite an adventure. We set off from Anderson to my parents' home in Woodstock around 9:30, and about half an hour into the two and a half hour trip, Liam decided he'd had enough of the car seat. "You are My Sunshine" sung loudly seemed to be the only antidote to the top-of-the-register wailing. Two very long hours later, one nerve-wracked mom and one tear-wracked baby arrived in Woodstock wishing fervently they'd never left home (there's no place like home, there's no place like home) and that there were more than two verses to "You are My Sunshine." One quick nursing/diaper-changing break in the Grandparents' house later, and we were back on the road -- this time with Grandmother behind the wheel. Two hours later, Liam was ready for his afternoon snack. It occurred to me on this trip that there was a great benefit to having babies before the passage of car seat laws -- nursing moms could simply hold their babies and nurse while riding. Not so today. Emily Berry once told me a tale of her mother, desperate to feed her baby during a car trip, trying to maneuver herself over the baby's car seat to nurse in transit. The image the story called to mind was outrageously hilarious when I heard it, but seemed calculatingly sane while making the Bowling Green trek. Between the stops to nurse and the stops to take care of that which nursing leaves behind, what should have been a four and a half hour trip took eight hours. What a day. However, the weekend was well worth the trouble. Liam was a star, bringing relatives out of the woodwork, and my grandmother -- Liam's great-grandmother -- was overjoyed to meet and hold the latest in her lineage. He handled being passed around like a football (and consequently missing many naps) with more grace than any baby should possess, and I couldn't help but want to freeze him as he is right now. At seven weeks he is such a precious, alert, curious little being, ever-learning and ever-changing.
But then again, I can't wait to see what happens next. . . .
Pictures will follow shortly (I promise you won't have to wait another seven weeks).
posted by Will at 4:57 PM
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