Butterburgers

Henry's appetite is getting big. Huge.


For his first day of day care on Monday, I packed him two 4-ounce bottles of pumped breast milk, plus another "emergency" 4-oz bottle of frozen breast milk. We dropped him off at 9:20. By 1:45 both bottles were gone; when I called to check in and see how he was doing, the teacher asked me if she should go ahead and thaw the backup bottle. By 3:45 he had wolfed that down, too.

Panic! What if I can't produce enough milk to feed my baby? What if, now that he is sleeping through two to three feedings at night (from 8:30 to 3:30 or 4, and sometimes straight through to 7:30), he wants to eat more at his daytime feedings -- will I be able to pump enough to cover the three days a week he's in day care? When I picked him up at 5:20 he wasn't especially hungry, and it wasn't feeding time, but I nursed him in the parking lot out of sheer anxiety.

Tomorrow is day two. I'm sending him with 14 ounces of pumped milk, plus a frozen 4-oz backup. We'll see whether I can keep that up. I suspect he'll eat as much as he's offered and spit up whatever he doesn't need, but we'll see about that, too. Eventually we might have to supplement with a formula bottle a day: not the end of the world at all, and several of our friends do it, but scary nonetheless. So many unknowns: quantity, quality. We haven't researched any different brands or types of formula. At anxious moments (recall that I'm hormonally wired for anxiety right now) it feels like the beginning of my baby careening out of my hands and into "butterburger country."

Not to cast aspersions on Culver's burgers, which in fact are yummy. So it goes.

Flying to Wisconsin

Sadly, Henry's great-grandfather Strange died this week before Henry could meet him. Our flight to the Midwest for the funeral was Henry's first time on a plane.
While in Minnesota, he made the acquaintance of his great-aunt Jean...
...and his aunt Kate.

Carfish

In theory, Henry is way too young to be associating cause and effect. But in the car yesterday, on the way back from our visit to his day care center (he'll be there three days a week starting next week -- mixed feelings about this), I could swear he consciously and purposively started playing with his Car Fish. This is a Lamaze brand toy he got as a present from our friends Andrei, Galya, and Katya.


According to the good people at Lamaze, understanding action-reaction is the third stage of development, after developing the senses of sight and hearing and some motor coordination. It should come at almost six months. But there was little Henry, rolling his little foot along the rattle in the middle of the fish. He didn't just kick at it, which is what he usually does to things he's excited about (including me sometimes). Instead, he put his foot in the right place and moved it with a gentle rolling motion. It was funny because sometimes he'd miss the rattle and carress somewhere else on the fish by mistake.


See? Here he is. Of course as soon as we got home his adoring parents ran for the camera.


Hmm... very interesting!

 

Nonstop entertainment

Our house is now completely livable; only a few stray boxes and milk crates betray that we are still unpacking. This past weekend my parents came to visit. They watched Henry play on the "activity gym" he received as a present from my cousins -- a jungle of activities (lights, music, textures, hanging rattling animals, a mirror, etc.) for both back and tummy.


Finally he is doing the developmentally appropriate thing and reaching for the toys. The question is: will he forever associate purple elephants with tinny Mozart?



At any rate, it's impossible to get bored around here. Don't even try -- or someone might put on a Carmen Linares CD and organize a flamenco recital!

 

Speech

Henry has spoken his first three syllable...word: bu-gu-ze. Buguze may have no meaning in English or Russian, but surely it means something in some language. It is the most complex aglomeration of syllables Henry has uttered yet, surpassing his previous linguistic benchmarks, aa-gu and ghi-ye. It can only be a short time before he is stringing together syllables that are significant in English or Russian and calmly informing us of his need of a diaper change, food, or a nap instead of resorting to the blunt instrument of loud wailing.

Still more from Plainfield

Plus (when not squalling) he inspires a very good mood in everyone!

More from Mass.

At this age, Henry is mostly a pleasure to travel with.
He is alert...
...friendly toward people he hasn't met before...


...and curious about everything: sounds, light, motion, contrast, and people's voices and funny faces. (Today, back in New Haven, I noticed him really reacting to the sound of his name for the first time.)

A visit to western Mass

The fun never stops! On Tuesday and Wednesday we went to Plainfield, Mass., where our friends have bought an early nineteenth-century farmhouse. More idyllic walks and meals.

Here Henry enjoys an al fresco lunch...

...before getting dressed up to go for an afternoon hike...


...along the river to an abandoned mill.

More from Ken and Nancy's visit

This is from the last of the magical days spent hanging out in our backyard with Ken's folks, basking in the sun and admiring our landlord's tomatoes. It is so idyllic here -- hard to believe we are right off the freeway, 10 minutes' walk from my office, and 12 minutes from downtown New Haven. The fresh air is great for having serious conversations with Grandpa... and even better for napping.


 

Henry-centered Saturday afternoon

Grandpa Ken and Grandma Nancy are in town from Wisconsin. Here's the proud grandpa:


And, today, a visit from Uncle Joe and Aunt Anita. We all spent a lovely afternoon hanging out on the deck. Occasionally we'd try to persuade Henry to nap, but no dice: what's the point of sleeping with all these fun people around?

Batting average

Starting at about two months, Baby Henry is "supposed" to be batting at toys and hanging mobiles. Just a couple of days ago, he started noticing the little toys that hang in front of him on his chair; before, he had mainly tried to look past them. And this morning, at nine weeks old, he reached out and batted the pink pig toy. Parental jubilation!
Just now, as I am writing this, he apparently reached out and grabbed a figure attached to his play mat. So, more coordination and control of his hands and arms. Maybe soon he'll learn to suck his thumb. Until now, he has apparently had more interest in his legs and feet (he seems to be able to kick a target more or less on purpose) and his tongue (he can stick it out at his grandma).


Have I mentioned that his hair keeps getting lighter? He almost seems to be turning into a little redhead. 

First concert

On Saturday evening Tito Puente, Jr., opened for Dave Brubeck in a free concert on the New Haven Green. Tens of thousands of people were in attendance -- and so was little Henry. Some Russian ladies passing by were amazed: only two months old, and already going out to hear jazz!

 

At the pediatrician

Henry had his two-month appointment yesterday. He got three big immunization shots -- ouch! The nurse weighed him at 11 pounds 5 ounces and measured him at 22 3/4 inches, exactly 50th percentile for both height and weight. (So he's proportional.) His head circumference is exactly at the 50th percentile too: 40 cm. Otherwise she said he looked healthy and everything seemed fine. Next appointment is in two months.

Before the nurse did the vaccine shots, the doctor gave us a big long speech on how good and necessary vaccines are. Apparently a lot of people are opting out over the scare about autism. (Will they opt out of public school and summer camp as well?)

She also seemed impressed that Henry eats every 3 1/2 hours (we didn't tell her we've moved him back from 4 because he was getting too fussy toward the end of each cycle) and sleeps for a 4- or 5-hour chunk at the beginning of each night. She told us we didn't know how lucky we were.

Our new home

After a long day of unpacking yesterday, our house is starting to look a little like home. Ann, Ken's mom, is in town and is helping out hugely. As for Henry, I don't know if he has even noticed that we moved. Same bathtub, bassinet, and bedtime music; same parents; a nice grandma to rock him to sleep. He went to sleep easily last night, drifting off peacefully, as if nothing had changed at all. Good thing, too -- moving is bewildering enough without a disoriented kid on one's hands.

Half-life

Henry celebrated his two-month birthday by moving into the third home of his life. He grew so much during the month we were in Massachusetts. Look how his feet actually hang over the edge of the stroller!

 

Heat wave

We are in New Haven now; moved into our new place yesterday, on what must have been the hottest day of the year. Time to get nostalgic about our favorite swimming hole!

Here's one of our last trips to the lake in Andover, in the company of our friends Katya, Galya, and Andrei (that's him loading kayaks in the background). Swimming, picking blueberries... sigh.

Flying

A dirty diaper is an occasion to fly around the kitchen before undressing for a quick shower in the sink. Who needs baby wipes?