I love having a son! It seems like he grows and changes so quickly. He’s two months old and already wearing clothes marked for a six month old. He was almost ten pounds when he was born, so I feel a little cheated that he came out a toddler.
One of his most profound advancements happened when he was six weeks old. Colin was making spit bubbles, and another mother told me this was very advanced. I told my husband Andy, and he said that he hadn't known spit bubbles were a milestone. Neither did I, but then I saw a Babycenter email that systematically categorized all baby milestones in a way that cannot be contested. It said that spit bubbles are an intermediate skill for nine week old babies! And Colin started making them at six weeks! His genius astounds! I quickly photographed the momentous event and emailed the evidence to all of my relatives so that they could gaze at the perfectly spherical shape of said spit bubbles. I also attached a photo of Andy making spit bubbles, as he says Colin inherited the skill from him.
My uncle, grasping the enormity of this achievement, responded with the following:
It’s nice to see Colin’s appreciation for the sciences and humanities alike: both the aesthetic appeal of the perfect spherical shape and the mathematical purity and understanding of the tensile forces involved. The necessary computations must be complex, yet the intuitive ‘feel’ for just the right combination of air pressure and mouth shape suggests a rare combination of gifts.
It’s possible my uncle was making fun of me, but I choose to read it instead as an appreciation of Colin’s profundity and adroitness.
Around seven weeks, Colin started sleeping through the night for seven, eight, and nine hours without waking. I know this is supposed to make me happy, and I know I’m lucky, but I feel a little sad about it. The first morning it happened, Colin woke up talking about his plans to sign a lease on a condo, as he clearly no longer needed me. He subsequently opened an Ing checking account and hopped on his facebook page to do a quick status update and to tweet with some friends. I now wake up before him feeling engorged and in pain. Thus we’ve experienced a role reversal where he sleeps peacefully through the night, and I wake up unhappy.
There are (gasp) milestones that Colin hasn’t met. I read somewhere that some particularly strong babies, when lying on their stomachs, can push themselves up with their arms. This strikes me as a worthless skill, far inferior to blowing spit bubbles, which is more the type of skill one can include on a resume. Further, I question whether some of these babies are taking steroids to achieve milestones ahead of the curve.
I have reached my own milestones as well. Formerly, I was worried about staying home with Colin. I still tutor in the afternoons, but I no longer teach in the mornings, and I wasn’t sure I’d like taking care of a baby instead of teaching. It was hard in the beginning—I envied my husband when he left for work—but now I see I was wrong about that wanting to work full time thing. I love hanging out with Colin before tutoring. I thought I would feel a little lonely without the constant interaction that defines teaching, but I have found a world of moms to play with. It’s wonderful! Plus, very little is expected of me. If I do not go grocery shopping because I hung out with friends longer than expected, Andy just says, “Well, you take care of Colin, and that’s very hard.” And I say, “Oh yes, Colin just didn’t want to go to the store today.” And that’s the end of that!
It’s exciting watching Colin grow and develop. I’m especially eager for him to reach the professional tutor milestone so he can join the family business. I think that happens around week fourteen.
One of his most profound advancements happened when he was six weeks old. Colin was making spit bubbles, and another mother told me this was very advanced. I told my husband Andy, and he said that he hadn't known spit bubbles were a milestone. Neither did I, but then I saw a Babycenter email that systematically categorized all baby milestones in a way that cannot be contested. It said that spit bubbles are an intermediate skill for nine week old babies! And Colin started making them at six weeks! His genius astounds! I quickly photographed the momentous event and emailed the evidence to all of my relatives so that they could gaze at the perfectly spherical shape of said spit bubbles. I also attached a photo of Andy making spit bubbles, as he says Colin inherited the skill from him.
My uncle, grasping the enormity of this achievement, responded with the following:
It’s nice to see Colin’s appreciation for the sciences and humanities alike: both the aesthetic appeal of the perfect spherical shape and the mathematical purity and understanding of the tensile forces involved. The necessary computations must be complex, yet the intuitive ‘feel’ for just the right combination of air pressure and mouth shape suggests a rare combination of gifts.
It’s possible my uncle was making fun of me, but I choose to read it instead as an appreciation of Colin’s profundity and adroitness.
Around seven weeks, Colin started sleeping through the night for seven, eight, and nine hours without waking. I know this is supposed to make me happy, and I know I’m lucky, but I feel a little sad about it. The first morning it happened, Colin woke up talking about his plans to sign a lease on a condo, as he clearly no longer needed me. He subsequently opened an Ing checking account and hopped on his facebook page to do a quick status update and to tweet with some friends. I now wake up before him feeling engorged and in pain. Thus we’ve experienced a role reversal where he sleeps peacefully through the night, and I wake up unhappy.
There are (gasp) milestones that Colin hasn’t met. I read somewhere that some particularly strong babies, when lying on their stomachs, can push themselves up with their arms. This strikes me as a worthless skill, far inferior to blowing spit bubbles, which is more the type of skill one can include on a resume. Further, I question whether some of these babies are taking steroids to achieve milestones ahead of the curve.
I have reached my own milestones as well. Formerly, I was worried about staying home with Colin. I still tutor in the afternoons, but I no longer teach in the mornings, and I wasn’t sure I’d like taking care of a baby instead of teaching. It was hard in the beginning—I envied my husband when he left for work—but now I see I was wrong about that wanting to work full time thing. I love hanging out with Colin before tutoring. I thought I would feel a little lonely without the constant interaction that defines teaching, but I have found a world of moms to play with. It’s wonderful! Plus, very little is expected of me. If I do not go grocery shopping because I hung out with friends longer than expected, Andy just says, “Well, you take care of Colin, and that’s very hard.” And I say, “Oh yes, Colin just didn’t want to go to the store today.” And that’s the end of that!
It’s exciting watching Colin grow and develop. I’m especially eager for him to reach the professional tutor milestone so he can join the family business. I think that happens around week fourteen.
