Bumbo

Dear Jack,

There is a lot of unnecessary baby gear in the world. A whole lot.

Some of it is just an evil plan to guilt new parents into spending obscene amounts of money. I'll put anything with the words "organic" that isn't actually food in this category. Organic t-shirts? Really? And your other 100% cotton t-shirts are made of what?

Some of it is unnecessary based solely on the parents' style. Since you sleep in the bed with me, I consider a bassinet to be utterly useless. Except to hold your dirty clothes. But if I wanted you to sleep on your own, I guess a bassinet would be a nice thing.

Some of it is unnecessary in the sense that it is new and millions upon millions of babies have made it through to adulthood without this thing, but it does a neat thing and we new mamas think it's all the rage and simply must have it.

Introducing the Bumbo chair.

They started making these in 2007, which means your sister is even too old to have had one. I can't decide if they are going to become the newest baby must have, or turn into a weird fad of the late aughts.

Maybe they'll still be making them when your generation is having kids, or maybe they'll be something that totally dates you... "look, you had a Bumbo chair, you must have been born around '08, right?"

Either way, I thought someday it would be fun to look back at this picture.

I probably wouldn't have sprung for a Bumbo chair for you... they sell for $40 and they are only really useful for a few months (like most baby things, I guess). Happily, Mrs. Hazen let us borrow hers until Baby Hazen arrives in about six months.

How do you feel about this Bumbo chair and my own personal debate over whether or not they are a useful piece of baby equipment? Well, we put you in it for the first time yesterday, you sunk down nicely, and then gave your dad and me your very first official social smile.

So, I guess you like it. And that's all I really care about anyway.

Love,
Mom



Disclaimer: You should never, ever leave a baby unattended on an elevated surface in a Bumbo chair. I have to mention that because Mrs. Hazen let me use hers and she really wanted me to know that was on the warning label. You were attended the whole time, I promise.

Smiles

Dear Jack,

Yesterday was my birthday. I got a lot of neat presents and saw a lot of fun friends, but my very favorite birthday moment was the one in which you looked up at me and smiled.

Thanks for the birthday present!

Love,
Mom

Leveling Up

Dear Jack,

There is a genre of games called RPGs (Role Playing Games) which are characterized by having characters who "level up" over the course of the game, gaining new skills and abilities.

Babies, I think, level up. You go through these growth spurts and then you come out with new things you can do. Last growth spurt, you took "increased stomach size" which enabled you to go longer in between meals. A cool trick, I thought.

This time, you seemed to have taken "stay awake longer" which is also a useful skill. You first tried out your new ability yesterday, from about 3PM to 6PM. I knew something was up because you have never, ever stayed awake for three hours straight before. Aside from times when you were actually eating, you tended to only be awake for thirty minutes or so, and often you would wake up only long enough to eat and then you would be right back asleep. So, for you, at least, this being awake for three hours at a time is a whole new world.

Unfortunately for both of us, until you level up a few more times and take "increased gross motor skill" and "basic hand eye co-ordination" as new feats, this whole new world of wakefulness you have discovered is peppered with a great deal of boredom.


It wasn't really a problem at 3PM yesterday. You had your bright and shiny new IKEA toy to look at, and your sister was around and she's always a load of laughs, and you did nurse twice in those three hours, so that killed some time.

No, the problems started at midnight last night (this morning) when you decided to use your new skill in the middle of the night when your sister (and the IKEA toy) are fast asleep and your mom would like to be as well. I try to be an entertaining kind of mom. I do fun things, I play, I come up with activities. But I do all of these things during the day. In the middle of the night, I mostly lie in bed.

I mean, I did talk to you and nurse you several times, and I tried to sound a lot less grumpy than I felt... you are still super cute, even at one in the morning, but by 3AM, when you did finally go to sleep, I was thinking back fondly on the many, many nights we have shared together in which, aside from the couple of nursing sessions, we both slept most of the night away.

Over the next few months, I am sure that you will acquire all sorts of new abilities, and some of those abilities (like "stay awake longer") will infringe on my sleep. So, while I might look forward to the time when you take "sleep through the night" or even just "distinguishing between days and nights" as new skills, I am endeavoring to enjoy our time together no matter what.

Because, of course, the final goal of all of this leveling up you have already started on is becoming a grown-up yourself, and when that happens, I will look back and miss the time when you were a brand new baby who had just learned how to stay awake, even in the middle of the night.

Love,
Mom

Window Box

Dear Jack,

About a year ago I planted a pinwheel garden with your sister. She and I enjoy it every time we go outside. You, on the other hand, don't really notice it at all.

Probably because you don't really go in the backyard, and even when you do, you stay on the deck and honestly, I'm not sure how great your eyesight is these days anyway.

So, for you, I planted a pinwheel window box by your changing table.


I hope you like it.

Love,
Mom

Happy 4th of July

Dear Jack,

Happy 4th of July!

Love,
Mom

100 Degrees

Dear Jack,

It was 100 degrees today. It has been 100 degrees or so for the last week or two. It will probably be 100 degrees a lot this summer. After all, we live in Texas.

I normally don't like the heat all that much, but like any born and bread Texan can stand it long enough to do the things I want to be doing. Your sister and dad are pretty much the same way.

You are the weak link in our family these days. Being only six weeks old, you aren't too good at regulating your body temperature, you don't have an easy way of saying, "hey, I'm hot," and you tend to need to be held, which makes a body even hotter.

So how in the world do we get to enjoy our backyard this summer?


A mister, an umbrella, an old kiddie pool, and a blanket your Nana made (with a towel underneath it for added cushioning) seemed to do the trick... for about twenty minutes or so anyway.

Hope you enjoyed your time outside.

In between feedings, of course.

Love,
Mom

Growth Spurt

Dear Jack,

You nursed yesterday at 3:30, 4:30, 6:30, 7:30, 8:30, and 10:00 before going to bed for the night. You woke at your typical one, four, and seven, and then ate again at 9:30, 10:30, 11:30, and 12:30.

I think you may be going through a growth spurt.

Somehow I feel better about this whole process having come to that conclusion.

Happy growing!

Love,
Mom