Updates

It had been my intention to write in my blog every dayish equaling 5 days a week.  (I define the word "daily" in the same way that Jon Stewart does).  Well, clearly LO and visiting family laugh at motherly intentions.  So, without further ado, here are the updates from the past four days:

1.  The Bris.  The ceremony was lovely.  The circumcision nearly killed me.  LO seemed to sense that something unpleasant was on the way, so he made sure to hit the mohel square in the chest with a stream of baby anger once his diaper was off.  ("I may have no motor skills, but I still can express my disapproval!")  LO also lodged a complaint with the management after the circumcision.  This was not the type of service he had become accustomed to in this establishment.

I will say, seeing the little lines of pain/sadness around his eyes right after the circumcision nearly broke my heart.  Luckily, he is recovering well and is back to his bright eyed and bushy tailed (and early am fussy) self.  I told him that though he may hope for a little brother someday, he's going to have to make do with a sister, because there is no way I can go through that again.

2.  Reading.  The family story is that my parents read to me every night from the night I was born, which explains a great deal about why I am the way I am.  I had hoped to follow in their footsteps with my child, but see previous note about intentions.  LO takes after J so much already--he looks just like him, and it's only a matter of time before he's going to be taking things apart and getting himself covered in grease.  I had hoped to instill in him a little of me, too.  So, on LO's second night in the hospital, we read J's favorite childhood book to him:  The Man in the Manhole and the Fix-It Men.  LO did not appear to be suitably impressed.  Some people just have no appreciation for literature.  After that first foray into reading, we have unfortunately not buckled down to a regular regimen of literary studies.

However, at the Bris, our doula brought us a gift of a book: The Star Wars ABCs.  On Friday and Saturday, LO and I sat down and read through the book with vim and vigor.  Unfortunately, I felt the need to ruin the ending of the movies for LO.  Right there with A is for Anakin, I made the mistake of then letting him know that Anakin becomes Darth Vader.  Once the cat was out of the bag, I also told him that L is for Luke and P is for Princess Leia are twins, and that O is for Obi-Wan Kenobi dies in "A New Hope."  (I also told him that Samuel L. Jackson in J is for Jedi is one bad-ass, and that LO would always enjoy movies starring Mr. J is for Jackson).

I apologized for being a spoiler, but I figured that since "A New Hope" came out two years before I was born, it was unlikely that he would be able to watch the movies without knowing the ending.  I mean, I knew Rosebud was a sled for years before I saw "Citizen Kane."  I did promise LO that I would let him read the Harry Potter books without a word from me on how they end.  He seemed excited to know he'll have those icons to look forward to.

3.  Sleeping.  Or rather, not sleeping.  LO is a vampire.  He sleeps during the day.  He is ready to be awake at night.  If I could train the cats, this could be the perfect setup.  They, too, are nocturnal.  If only they could change diapers and feed the kid, I'd be able to get some sleep.  So far, I have not gotten to the so-tired-I-cry-over-nothing-at-all-and-then-cry-because-I'm-crying-for-no-reason-and-I-feel-like-a-big-idiot level of tired.  (True story--when I came back from France and was awake for 28 hours straight because of various plane delays and other travel hassles, I started crying when I hit BWI because I couldn't figure out which direction was the exit.  Then I started crying harder because an airline employee asked me if I was okay, and I was horribly embarrassed to be crying in public.  I'm not one who thrives on little sleep).  I've been trying to sleep with the baby, as everyone tells me.  So far, I'm only the kind of tired that a good night's sleep would take care of.  Oh, wait.