Height: 29 inches (23rd percentile)
Weight: 23 lbs 12 oz (53rd percentile*)
Head circumference: 47.1 cm (70th percentile)

So basically I have a troll baby – short and fat with a huge head.

We saw a doctor I hadn’t seen before and while she was very nice she asked ALL the questions I had been dreading and offered a lot of advice I have no interest in following. For example, she said Baby Evan “shouldn’t” eat at night anymore. Since he’s not really eating solids yet, I don’t mind getting up with him for a few minutes once or twice a night so I asked if the no night feedings rule was for him or for me. She amended her statement to “Well, he really needs to be able to put himself to sleep.” Ok, well since we’ve got that one down, the night feedings aren’t really an issue. Thanks for the advice.

Then she wanted to know how long I planned to keep nursing and I was unable to form a complete sentence. “Uh, er, well, I was going to nurse for a year but since I can’t really stop right now, maybe 2 years? But if he starts eating maybe just a few more months? But if he’s not eating then definitely until he does unless that’s like when he’s 12 because THAT’S not going to happen I mean unless he might DIE. Because I don’t want him to starve to death. So, uh, um, probably for a while.” Luckily she didn’t seem worried about the food thing and just suggested we continue to offer him whatever we’re eating.

I asked the doctor if I should be concerned about Baby Evan’s tendency to break out in HORRIBLE RED RASHES every time he’s exposed to dirt, eggs, fruit, dogs, sunshine, fabric and a lot of other stuff. Basically, LIFE. She wasn’t worried. So no officially diagnosis of eczema or dermatitis or…horrible red rash disease. I guess I’ll be buying a lot more Aquaphor.

Baby Evan also had the last of his Pneumococcal vaccines, the Varicella (chicken pox) vaccine, an iron level check and, MOST HORRIBLE OF ALL, his lead levels checked. Since they don’t want to do an IV draw on a baby the nurse just used the finger prick from the iron test to squeeze out a baby-sized vial of blood. She was very gentle about it, even when Evan kicked her in the face. Nurses are such amazing people.

Next check-up is in 3 months. I hope by then I can report LOTS of eating and LOTS of sleeping to the doctor.

*Based on the chart my pediatrician uses. Based on the WHO growth chart for breastfed boys, he’s closer to the 65th percentile

(Sorry about the title, I think it’s hilarious. E and I have been catching up on the last zillion episodes of Weeds in the past couple weeks.)

(Also, sorry about the errors and virus warnings and stuff. My host service has double checked everything and the site is now 100% clean.)

On Saturday, we all went down to the book fair in Groton to see what we could see. It wasn’t an elementary school style bookfair with catalogs and huge piles of cheap paperbacks on rolling racks. Instead, the library had arranged for a bunch of local authors to attend and showcase their books. I don’t think my husband or son were very impressed but I sure thought it was cool!

Not impressed. Although he did like the balloon animal turtle. He liked it so much he tried to eat it and we had to take it away.

It was tempting to buy copies of every book available, especially because author signed copies are one of my absolute FAVORITE things but I decided not to go crazy. Narrowing down my choices was actually really easy after I saw this book:

Sir Ryan's Quest

Climbing in cabinets! Playing with pots! That's what little boys are made of.

It turns out the author, Jason Deeble lives right here in Norwich.  He was very nice. He even had a pot Baby Evan could borrow.

He did that to himself. He thinks things on his head is hilarious.

Jason signed the book for Baby Evan and even drew him a little picture.

I love the drawings and the “monsters” Sir Ryan encounters on his quest are adorable. In the end he comes back to his mommy and he knows he has completed his quest. It’s really cute and definitely our new favorite. You can check out Jason Deeble’s website here and even order a signed copy for your little knight. As always, this is not a paid endorsement or product placement. I’m just excited to share our newest story.

Blerg. That’s really all I have to say about Friday. For some totally unknown and mysterious reason my blog stop working at some point Thursday night. Of course, by the time I noticed I was already out of the house and although my iPhone is an amazing little piece of technology is was NOT HELPFUL in determining which of the eighty jillion lines of code held the error. By the time I got home and started working with my host service 90% of my readers had already given up on my blog so my pageviews for Friday are hovering right around 13. That is no way to become rich and famous. Sorry internets!

I think things are all straightened out now, besides the one error my Aunt Katie keeps getting which warns her about some sort of virus. Which my host service assures me is NOT THERE and even if it WAS it’s GONE NOW. Plus I always remember to cover my mouth when I cough and am totally addicted to hand sanitized so don’t worry. You won’t get it.

In actual news that someone might find interesting, Baby Evan ate three pieces of pepperoni last night. Ate. Just like he ate a pretzel on Thursday and some puffs Friday morning. Either he’s just been screwing with me all along or he’s finally learned to swallow his food, since I’m pretty sure pepperoni doesn’t just dissolve in your mouth. I don’t want to suddenly push him into three meals a day but I am going to make an effort to provide actual baby-appropriate food on a more regular basis. I’ll just steer clear of his know enemies: oatmeal, avocado and toast.

Besides a sudden improvement in his diet, Baby Evan seems to have aged several months in the few days since his birthday. As if KNOWING my baby is 1 isn’t traumatic enough, my baby isn’t even very babyish anymore. He’s started listening and following directions, which is both adorable (when he helps me put away his toys) and VERY USEFUL (when we’re in a yarn shop and he’s thinking about pulling all the yarn off the shelves). He can understand the word and the sign for “gentle” and was niiiiiiice and geeeeeentle today when he reached down and pet a 4 month old at playgroup. I suppose next we need to work on the difference between a baby and a cat.

And just for the record, 28 years ago today my teeny tiny mother gave birth to a giant baby without a single drop of pain medication. She’s an amazing mom and an overall wonderful person. Happy Birth of Your First (and clearly best) Child Day Mom!

Ten points to the first person to identify the movie quote!

We finally got the warm, sunny weather I was so tired of hearing about from my Mid-Western friends so now I’ll bore you by talking about it to. Spring in Connecticut doesn’t so much bloom as EXPLODE. One day there are a few crocuses in the garden and tiny buds on all the trees and then WHAM flowers and leaves everywhere. It’s fantastic. I have to physically restrain myself from running out to my local garden center and spending hundreds of dollars on plants and seedlings I have no idea how to grow. My thumb is best described as a light yellow – I don’t kill every plant I come in contact with but only the strong survive.

Baby Evan and I took advantage of the weather yesterday by lounging on our porch all afternoon, doing out best redneck country folk impressions. I opened up the house, blocked off the stairs and let him have the run of the place.

My mom gave him the overalls for his birthday. Let it be known she did include a shirt at the time.

But Baby Evan and I agree, shirts are for suckers.

Downward Dog

They both watched the neighborhood kids walk home from school with rapt attention. The thought that one day Brutus might be watching out the front door for Baby Evan to get home made me teary.

P.S. One of the comments I get about my blog a lot is “How do you find time to write every day!?” The answer is of course, I neglect my child. Just kidding. But I do neglect a lot of housework, laundry and pretty much all my other interests until I’ve written my post for the day. It is, however, IMENSELY helpful that Baby Evan can be fairly easily entertained, either with toys (to throw on the floor), food (to throw on the floor) or as seen below, my toes.