Long weekend - long post

Last Thursday we took Peter for a test-walk in the Baby Björn. He had been somewhat fussy before the walk, and when I put him into the Björn he was still a little cranky. He’s liked being walked around the house when he gets like that, and as a test I took him to the front door to see what his reaction would be. His fussing basically went away, especially when I stepped out onto the porch. The test-walk was just around the block, and the weather was very nice. His reaction to the walk was kind of surprising to me. He had this strange mixture of relaxation and excitement. His eyes closed gently but he was not asleep, he just kind of soaked in the smells and the feel of the warm air against what little skin we had exposed. He rocked and wobbled as I walked, but he enjoyed it (supposedly it reminds him of the womb). When we got back from the walk he got a little cranky again, but the fussing was pretty much over. (Sunday afternoon we took him for another long walk, and he slept though most of it.)

Friday afternoon I got out of work early (only a half hour, but it’s better than nothing) and we took the boy to his mom’s workplace, where he got to meet many of her friends from work. He was, as usual, charming and cute, and only cried a little once even though he got passed around and held by maybe 8 different people. If it was me, I would have been crying like a… baby. Uh, but anyway, he is quite content in such situations. In fact, in conjunction with his being a different baby outside as opposed to inside, his mood seems to improve when there are more people around. That’s not to say he is terrible when it’s just him and his Mommy or Daddy, but if he’s ever going to get bent out of shape, it’ll be when he’s with just us.

The downside of this past 3 day weekend is that his normal daily rhythm (such as it is) was thrown out of whack, and he wound up sleeping a lot more during the daytime on Saturday and Monday. Saturday/Sunday night when he woke up hungry he’d feed and then be awake, and therefore looking for something to do. When his sluggish parents would be unable to provide him a suitable activity, he’d tell us of his disappointment. Not a fun night, but he could be fairly well entertained by his new hobby: being held upright, preferably on a parent’s shoulder. Yes, good old verticality. And it’s usually pretty easy for him with that strong neck he has. The activity essentially boils down to getting held upward, bobbling his head around while checking out the sights, chatting, and then finding something to put in his mouth.

Yesterday he was out and about from about 1:00 until 9:00, and he again slept most of the time. He wasn’t as bad overnight in his waking up, but getting him to sleep took a little bit of work. He was in that tired-but-doesn’t-want-to-go-down frame of mind, and I had to talk him into falling asleep. I don’t know if it’s a sign of my being a frightfully dull conversationalist or just that I’m exceptionally convincing with the newborn crowd, but I did manage to convince him that he was tired and in fact wanted to fall asleep. Maybe it's because when I try to get him to sleep I sound like Corey Flintoff on quaaludes.

We did learn something about Peter this weekend, we’ve figured out that when he makes an “O” with his mouth it means he’s gassy and he’s working on getting the gas out. When his face gets like that I find myself turning into a cheerleader for flatulence. “Good boy, good toot!” Now, one of the things they don’t tell you when you’re expecting your first child is that you will be congratulating your child for the strangest things. This is one of them. But, then fact of the matter is you’d rather your kid gets to gas out rather than holding it inside. That just makes ‘em real cranky.