Unsolicited: Parenting Stories and Advice

I've heard rumors that there are babies who LOVE being in the car.  These babies fall asleep the minute the engine goes on and stay asleep until the car arrives at its destination (whether that's 5 minutes or 5 hours). This would work out great for me - a chance to relax, kick back my feet, think about nothing.  However, Leo is not one of these babies.  And so, managing car trips with Leo has become my Mount Everest.* First road trip home from the hospital!  90% blanket. At the beginning, road trips were pretty much no big deal.  He was asleep most of the time anyway, so as long as he was fed and dry, he was pretty much good to go.  Also, these road trips tended to be really short (30 minutes or less).  Our first trip out, we went to the bris and we occasionally traveled to the UES for some bagels and lox (Leo likes his thinly sliced by the guy at the Fairway counter). Life is better in the front seat! It wasn't apparent that there...

Mmmmm...kickboard flavored by chlorine. Ever since his second bath (the first didn't go so well), Leo has loved being in the water.  As long as it's the right temperature and he's with a conscientious adult, he totally digs splashing, kicking, and generally rabble rousing when immersed in a liquid state of matter (we haven't tried other liquids, but we assume they would also be a success). So, when a friend of ours told us that she and her son would be enrolling in the "Shrimp" class at the Y, it was a given that we would also enroll our own crustacean.  Nobody told me that I would have to wear this cap. Eric and I both went since it was Leo's first time.  I changed in the women's locker room and left the task of changing squirmy baby in dirty locker room to Eric.  When we arrived on the pool deck, there were several other dads and babies and only one other mom (I assume the others had all decided to stay home and take naps - smart move, a...

Leo's seventh month was just full of new experiences, activities, and awesomeness.  He started daycare this month, began eating solids, and is officially on all fours most of the time when he's on the floor!  Leo continues to have moments where he is very thoughtful and still and other moments where he is grabbing everything around him and others when he is moving up a storm on the floor.  It's all fantastic, but I think my favorite times are when he's in a giggly mood and anything and everything makes him laugh. We celebrated month seven in Ithaca, where we were for Rosh Hashanah! At Ithaca Falls, with Cornell socks Hair: No more bald spot in back, but about the same amount everywhere else. Eyes: Blue around the outside, brown around the iris - looking forward to seeing where they'll wind up! This swing feels familiar... Likes: GNAWING on everything, songs with hand motions, his jumperoo, having quiet time in his crib (Sometimes he just like...