3 weeks

At 9:04 this morning Peter turned 3 weeks old. On one hand it seems like it’s been more time than that, on the other I realize my grasp of the concept of time has pretty much been destroyed. Days don’t exist like they used to – the sun rises and sets as it has before, but we become detached from that having much meaning. The difference between now and then is measured in feedings and diaper changes, not hours or minutes. For that matter, an hour can now go by in what seems like only a few minutes, and a few minutes can take an hour to go by. Several times this week after getting home from work I’ve stopped to recognize that it felt like I just got home a little while ago, but, say, 4 hours have passed by. That used to be a big chunk of time, but it flew right past me.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, time is defined thusly: 1 a : the measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition exists or continues : DURATION b : a nonspatial continuum that is measured in terms of events which succeed one another from past through present to future c : LEISURE

22 days ago I would have been able to read that and say “duh”. Now, though, it doesn’t seem all that adequate. I’m sure the wise, learned people out there would tell me about relativity, but I took physics and I didn’t have much of a clue about what they were trying to tell me other than I apparently can’t visit another galaxy any time soon because of it. It’s almost like we’re living in a dream where we have to run but our legs move like they’re weighed down by sand bags, and then we have to walk slowly but we’re juiced up on caffeine and sugar.

Well, I’ll change the subject to the little guy. Yesterday he was fussy again during the day. He didn’t really rest much, and he seemed kind of gassy. For the most part when he’d act up it was pretty mild, but sometimes getting him to be comfrotable was a juggling act. One time he was nice and comfy in my arms, but I was holding him in an unconventional way that didn’t feel all that secure. But he fell asleep in that position, only to wake up a couple minutes after I layed him in his bassinette to announce he wasn’t going down that easy. Eventually he did calm down and eat, and then went to sleep for quite a while. We were going to give him a bath in the evening, but we didn’t want to wake him after the day he had. When he was awake he liked to flail his limbs about, but if we could get him wrapped up he calmed down, even if he didn’t want to be that way. Over night Peter’s Mom got him swaddled very well after a diaper change at 3:00 AM. I complimented her on the job she did and she said it made him look like a burrito. But looking back on it, I think it would have been more apt to say it made him look like a spring roll, what with his Vietnamese heritage and all.