221. Synch

Diana and William have really gotten into synch during her midwinter recess. This morning she said, "he's tired," she snatched him up, fed him a bottle, and he's been out for a while now. He took a 2 hour nap, she napped with him for an hour.

Later we took the family shower. Diana turned the shower on, and William insisted on going into the bathroom. He loves water. Diana brings him in when I take my shower in the morning on work days. I kiss the shower door, where his face is. He puts his hand on it, and I put my hand on it. But he was banging on the door, and Diana didn't mind a family shower. She washes herself. We join. We wash William. She goes out and gets dressed, and I hold him. She takes him, and then I get to wash myself, while she slathers him in some kind of baby lotion, and dresses him as much as he will let her. He takes to flailing at a certain point, and Diana puts him in the crib to dress him. He begun to fight diapering.

Bill took some great photos at his party, and sent them to me. Virginia said they look like they were done professionally.

I went over to Diana's mother's with them. I promptly fell asleep, amongst the chatter of visitors. The Beltrans were there, then Judy and Brian came. Supposedly Harry was coming over with his 4. William is most happy around the the family, it is a blessing. For me, it meant much needed sleep. For Diana it means support, connection, laundry. For William it means getting to know his relatives, their friends, hearing Spanish spoken, seeing children closer to his age. Human contact is good, I hope he's not as introverted as me.

220. Almost Ticket

William has moved up from size 4 diaper to size 5 diaper. I took William for a walk in the afternoon. Then I gave him a bath. He fell asleep in Diana's arms, and then I held him for a while. He's gotten very attached to Diana with her week off. I drove them over to the grandparents. Emma was there, with her 8 teeth. Hah! But she does not walk. Emma was trying to grab him, and William was pushing her away. Cops came, and I almost got a ticket, but Harry said, "I'm on the job...my brother in law is retarded." That got me off.

219. Socializing

William has a new found attitude to go along with his new found abilities. He likes to play with the TV nobs, turn the TV off and on. If you take him away from it, he can kick up a fuss. He's starting to get an attitude. He was swinging at Aida on Thursday. He pitches a fit if you stop him from turning on and off the TV. We were enjoying Spiderman 2, which Paul, his godfather, lent us, Thursday night, and he kept at the TV. Friday night at Bill's he disliked it when we wouldn't let him walk into the fire place, in their beautiful house.

Friday was a social day for William. He went into Manhattan and visited Virginia's office. Everyone thought he was adorable. One guy there has William's wild hair as his desktop. At the deli downstairs, where Virginia is known, they thought William was her own. She's the proud auntie of a large brood, for Natasia and Robyn were along too. They went back to Aida's for more time with the lovely ladies.

Then in the evening we took him to Bill and Suzanne's party in Port Washington. A hip party in a posh suburb, with delicious foods, interesting graphics on the TV, which was hooked up to the computer, and delightful music. Paul, the godfather was there. Another couple with a very tiny baby was there, and Diana got to compare notes with the mother. Others of Paul's group were there, and many interesting people I did not know. William charmed all as usual. He was very interested in the cat. I got pooped, and by 10 it was time to leave. An ending to William's highly social day. He seemed to enjoy it.

218. Just one

Diana got a sonogram today. Just one baby. Doing fine.

William was very huggy this morning. I think he was tired, and he's teething. He hugged Diana, and reached out for me. I held him and hugged him, and then he reached out for Diana.

He's also a squatter. He squats down and then can come back up without trouble. Quite impressive

217. Shaking me off

William shakes me off, he wants to walk on his own. There's no great day where he just gets up and walks. He gradually walks more and more independently. He gains confidence, and gets more skill, gradually.

He hasn't slept all day because Aida and Natasia were here. He also seems to be teething. He likes to pull anything down and put it on the ground: CDs, books.

He loves Natasia. She runs and jumps on the couch and laughs. He laughs and laughs, and you can see him yearning to join her.

216. Jibberish

I left William (and Diana and Aida) at Abuela's. They were all circled around him, amazed at what he was going to do next. Went shopping at Target and Baby's 'R Us. I was in the bathroom changing William, responding to the jibberish he was giving me. A guy said, "you should talk to him in words, I know because I talk to my dog in words and he understands." I didn't respond, but his basis of expertise was his experience with his dog?! And is it an either/or thing? Can't I do both? And what makes him think he has some right to comment? I do talk quite a lot to him, but I'm also mirroring what he says, in affect, approximating what he says. I'm hoping some day he will mirror what I do, and then he's hooked. I was ranting to Aida and Diana later. The nerve.

I stayed up with William till midnight last night, my eyes were closing. He was laying around with me, but wasn't going to sleep, so I took him to bed, and he saw Diana and started wiggling on her some. I did not mean to get her up, but she did not mind, I'd let her go to sleep. She's very kind about letting me go to sleep, but since she's gotten pregnant, she's been more tired. He slept with us some, but I was surprised to find he wasn't in bed with us when I woke up, hearing his cries from the other room. I think I'm the one who puts him in bed with us out of laziness, Diana is pretty good. I got up and let Diana sleep, though almost every bone in my body says I should stay in bed. I've been saying to myself, I'm going to be so tired when the next one comes, this will be nothing.

There's a Buddhist parable I was reading in Naghabodhi's book Jai Bhim!, which is an excellent book about the Buddhist revolution in India, instigated by Ambedkar's conversion, and his attempt to convert ex-Untouchables. A family was living in a terrible hovel. Ten people, no food, they were all wearing rags. They were very poor, life was intolerable. The father went to a guru and asked for advice. He said let a goat live with you for 30 days. So he got a goat. The goat ate their small food stores, made noises so they could not sleep, made the place smell filthy and even ate up their rags they wore for clothes. The father went back to the guru. My life is miserable, what kind of advice was that? The guru said that if he now got rid of the goat, his hovel would not seem so bad after all.

We walked him to KFC so Diana could grab a bite. He likes to eat ice, I think it helps with his teeth. I like getting outside with him, get some sunshine on his face. He's going to be so freaked out when it's summer time. I can't wait for the pools. Maybe it will be warm enough in New Mexico to swim when we go over spring break at the end of April. We're going to visit Di and Wes, at their place outside of Deming New Mexico, which is in south New Mexico. I'm excited, I haven't really been to that part of the country.

215. Ava Olivia

We came to Summit NJ to see Ava Olivia's baptism. There were lots of children, William is not old enough to take advantage of them being around, but he does like it. We went to a great restaurant to celebrate, and now we're at Josephine and Michael's. William took a nap and I napped on the floor near him. He's been enjoying himself.

214. 17 Steps

Error: William's head can not be 47.5 inches from entry number 206. I've lost the slip of paper where I wrote it down, so I don't know what it really is.

William took 17 independent steps yesterday, I'm not going to count any more. He can turn a little. He's still unsteady, and does not like to walk without hands, but he's getting better and better.

Diana brought William home yesterday and they were both exhausted. William slept for over an hour, and Diana fell asleep. She slept till almost 10. William was getting tired, but her waking up and joining us, energized him. He likes it when both of us are around. I eventually laid in bed, and he kept coming in. He goes to the garbage can, he wants what I'm drinking, he manhandles my book. I turned off the light, and he came in and I said goodnight to him. We need to begin a goodnight ritual.

I swear he says "gock" a lot. I talk to him a lot, and mirror what he is saying a lot.

He likes to squeeze through narrow places. The foot stool and the couch, the CD rack and the love seat.

213. Cute as ever.

Been so busy, going to sleep when he does, and not having time in the morning. I got to work a little early, so here are some notes. William bashed his lip on Tuesday, fell over on my watch. I felt terrible, but he was OK. Abuela reports he said "agua". KayLa helped us last night, Diana had parent teacher night. She has a cold, so I'm assuming we're all going to get it now. I think I'm fighting it. William is a cute as ever.

212. Momma

Diana left William in his room, surrounded by clothes. She stepped into the other room for a second, and when she came back, he had gotten into the hall way. He was standing up and he had traversed his room, past the bathroom, and into the hall. He had opened the bathroom door, which we've taken to closing, and was thinking about going in there, when she discovered him.

When Diana went to pick up William yesterday, Diana's mother said, "who is that?" when she opened the door. He said, "Mama."

211. No!

William ate some of the meat-loaf and mashed potatoes. I finished it up and he was upset. So I let him play with the Tupperware. He spread mashed potatoes all over himself. Diana woke up and commented. I said, "I've got to learn to say no." William said, "No!" We laughed.

Then William fell and bumped his head. Yesterday Diana felt so guilty because William fell off the bed. He's pretty tough. I fear the day he cries and cries, and then I'd know he was really hurt like I was when I fractured my skull, falling from a washing machine to the cement floor.

Diana has heart burn. Said just said, "I believe before the night is through I will throw up. She threw up yesterday. Everyone thinks it's going to be a girl, because Diana feels differently than last time. She's back to moaning when she sleeps.

210. Natasia Visit

William is eating soup with rice behind me. Natasia is watching cartoons in the couch sucking on a popsicle. William has lots of energy. He likes to walk around as much as he can. He really likes Natasia.

The past two nights he has gotten up. Last night at 2:40, the night before at 3:30. The time I found him at 3:30 he was standing up in the crib. He sucks down some milk, and then goes to sleep. When I lay him down he reaches out, but falls asleep. I've been very tired in the morning.

209. Park

Odds and ends: William woke up around 1. I prefer Noggin of all the TV channels, until 6 p.m., when it goes adolescent. I like the music of Laurie Berkner, too. They don't have any commercials. When he's cranky, weepy, I think it can teething sometimes.

We took him to the park. He walked around in the snow, looking down at his feet. He did not like the swing. But he warmed up to the place, and seeing kids running around made him excited. He liked watching Diana swing. We took him food shopping and then came home. He hit the pot with a spoon for quite a while. Diana got him dressed up and took him to Alba's.

208. Diner

I woke up from my nap, and Diana went out to a movie. William was at his Abuela's, so I went over there, and brought him back. First time I used the new stroller, seems good. A little different than the last one, there's a sort of bar in front. So from 7-11, I played with William, walking him around, and watching him play, keeping him out of trouble. We haven't baby proofed the house yet, because there's always got to be someone with him right now, so one, it's hard to get it done, and two, there's always someone with him to baby proof.

Sometimes I would try to make him walk. Sometimes he would want to do it, and sometimes he would refuse by just sitting down.

I think he swallowed an ice cube, and that made him weepy for a while, and then after that he was sort of wilted, and he finally fell asleep in my arms around 11. I put him in the crib, and he woke up later around midnight, and I held him and read in bed. Diana came home from her movie and put him in bed.

He woke up around 6, and I fed him the bottle and he went back to sleep quickly. Diana let me sleep till 10, but she reports she got up with him around 8.

We took him out to a diner. He sat in the chair and ate strawberries for a little while, but quickly he wanted to walk around the place. It wasn't bad, and everyone was sweet. I think breakfast is the best meal for him, at a restaurant, unless there are more people, for a while.

Diana doesn't like "Deuce" as a fetus name. She prefers "baby".

William fell asleep in the car ride home. It's such a nice day, we wanted to take him to the park. Maybe when he wakes up.

207. 7 Steps

William took about 7 steps on his own last night. Diana deserved the rest last night, so when she laid in bed, I turned off the light, and shut the door. William walked around, pulled books off the shelves, played with this and that. He kept moving. I thought he was ready to go to sleep, and turned off the light, but he did not want to and somehow he was crying a lot. I felt like such a failure not to be able to stop his crying, and I get really tense when he cries a lot. Unfortunately Diana woke up. I got up in the morning with him, and Diana got up a couple of hours later. Diana is out now with William and her parents shopping. The plan tonight is that she's going to go out to see a chick flick.

Everyone has been so wonderful with the congratulations and joy, it's been really wonderful.

What do I do about the blog? What about Deuce? Create a second blog for Deuce? Create a new blog for both of them? Create a blog about an overwhelmed father?

206. 6 Weeks Along

Diana is pregnant. She's 6 weeks along. We're expecting at the end of September. Very exciting news.

We had William's pediatrician appointment today, after Diana's gynecological appointment. We had the other doctor in the practice, for the first time. Diana likes him better than the other one, she thought he had a better manner.

He said William should start to use a sippy cup soon. When I asked him about William not crawling, he said movement was the most important thing. William does move a lot, and in fact he took 2 independent steps, and showed off his ability to stand independently. The doctor took blood from him. He watched and did not cry for a while, but when he realized he could not squirm out of it, he began to cry. And then when it finally registered, he cried with the one shot he gave him. William will get his next visit and shots after his first birthday. His head was 47.5 inches, which is in the 90th %tile, height was 30 inches in the 90th %tile, weight was 24.5 lbs., which is 95 %tile. He's the weight of a 15 month old, and he's 9.5 months old. Doctor said about his fussiness, that he's probably teething. Doctor's favorite teething item is a frozen bagel bit.

So what do I call the new birth sack I see in the sonogram? Sparka? Diana wants to name a girl Carmen Augustina. Carmen? Somehow I feel it is a girl, but I'd be just as happy with a boy. The doctor said Diana can still breast feed William. The gynecologist said it's better to wait 2 years for a VBAC delivery, so it's probably going to be another C-Section birth. Schedule the birth day. She asked if Diana wanted her tubes tied. Diana said no. It's all very exciting. My eyes are stinging so much I'm so tired.