275. Family Art

Diana took a nap Friday night, while Paquita and Magali had William. I read. William came home after a day in the city, pretty happy. Paquita and Magali are doing to be taking care of him tomorrow afternoon too.

Diana's mother does much too. She was talking on the phone and he put his finger to his mouth and she swears he told her to be quiet.

He woke 3 times in the night again Friday, the second night in a row. Is it teething? Is it because we spoil him? Is it the right thing to do? I think it is, but it's very difficult on us. He's worth it though. Everyone says he's happy

Saturday was an excellent day because we went to a museum of Himalayan art (http://www.rmanyc.org/). They have a kids program, and while William was too young, and we were late, they allowed us to participate. We made our first family piece of art we did. I want to take Natasia and Robyn and AJ and Venus and Joseph and Brain and Nicole. And Braxton. And baby Wode, I forget Morris' baby's name.

That's our first nuclear family trip into Manhattan to a museum. We need to do that more. He walked around the museum, a lot, but I think he got something out of it. I'm not sure if I want to aspire to the Alpha Mom type parents in the article in New York Magazine I read recently, but I think we can do more activities.

William took a whopping fall in the kitchen at Gigi's. He slipped on water he spread out. What on the head, too. Then later down in the basement he went into the coffee table with his lip. A couple of howlers right close together.

William likes to hump off the stairs into Diana's arms. He woke up at 7 on Sunday, and then went back to sleep. Unfortunately I didn't.

William just bit Diana in the belly.

274. Doctor's Appointment

William cut another tooth, this time on the bottom, right. Now he has 7.

The doctor says we have to wean him off the bottle, only sippy cups, and only 3 bottles of milk a day, he needs to be eating more hard food. Too much milk and he can become anemic. William is 28 lbs. He got three shots (polio, tuberculosis and measles).

We baby sat Steven, the upstairs neighbor's kid, Aminta and Don Smith. Aminta is from El Salvador. She gave us a garbage bag of clothes (Steven is 6) and a bag of toys.

Monday William gave me the gift of crying when I left him. I like it that he's attached to me. Monday night he gave us the gift of pitching a fit. We let him play a little in the bathroom, but it was enough, and he cried and cried. He sucked down some milk, and fell asleep quickly.

I found my father's day gift in the fridge. William bought me a watch, she had lost.

273. Teeth brushing

Saturday William woke at 5. I stayed up and meditated after I gave him some milk. I think I heard Diana get up once in the night. I'm not so much into getting up in the night, I sort of want him to sort it out, but Diana likes to get up. And I want to try and make life easier for Diana.

On top of Diana's courageous effort, of course is Abuela, Virginia, Aida. They are all hard working committed women with their courageous efforts.

Saturday we went out to NJ. Diana et al went shopping, and I watched Garden State, a good movie, and took a nap. I woke up to William being put next to me, and I was instructed to hold the bottle. I got up and we watched Spanglish. William walks around and is as cute as ever. He likes to play peek-a-boo. He got a little cranky and Diana to me I could go to bed.

Sunday morning Deuce, who I've taken to calling "Manu", kicked Diana a few times to wish me a happy father's day. Raise the roof. Manu means law giver in Hindi, and second child in another language. And I like the improvisational play of Manu Ginobili. I was watching an Argentinean movie called Life According to Murial, and her brother's name is Manu. So henceforth Deuce is name Manu, for me.

Andrew Wyatt sounds too much like Andrew Wyeth, the guy who did Christina's World, the woman in the field looking up at her farm house.

I read William is the 8th most popular name in American history of male names. Andrew is #6. I'm not going to name my son #1: Jacob, though I do like it.

I woke up early, so I took care of William for a while, until everyone woke up. They took me for breakfast at the diner they took me to last year. I made them say what was good about me as a father.

I called Rich and Zane, but neither were in, but I did get my grandfather. He seemed to be doing well. He and Grandma are looking forward to see William and number two at Thanksgiving.

272. Diana's Courageous Effort

Friday night we celebrated KayLa's birthday by waiting forever (7:10-8:50) for a table at Cabana in Forest Hills. I got so tired and annoyed, I got into a bad mood, because of my expectations. William however had no expectations along these lines, and enjoyed walking around and charming the people who were sitting at tables outside. He charmed two Asian woman, some couples. Men can show their willingness to be a father on a date, by admiring William.

That half a block in Forest Hills is a little like Broadway in the Columbia area, with it's outside seating. William kept going into this children's clothing shop, that has insane prices. One hundred dollars for a little outfit, I don't think so. Even at 50% off it was too expensive. But William was drawn to it, and when I took him away and put him down, he walked straight back there.

Thanks to Aida for dinner. Thanks to KayLa for her efforts with William. I tease her a lot and can be kind of cruel to her at times, but I think she's a good teenager. I wish her well. Poor lamb has a complicated family to deal with, that doesn't really support her, outside of Aida.

So William enjoyed the meal, even though I felt stress out by his wrangling every where around the table. I struggled to change his diaper without taking his shoes and jeans off. Somehow we made it home, and I was done. That is where Diana's courageous effort kicks in. She puts in so much effort, she is always there, she has so much energy. It's really quite wonderful and amazing.

271. Growth!

I still can't believe I have William as a son. I'm still gob-smacked by it.

KayLa took care of William till 1pm today, when Diana's mother came over. KayLa slept over. Diana was hoping to get the big AC in but it didn't come off. She was going to take him to the grocery when I came home. He cried, so I played with him instead, and then he wanted to come home. He's been very clingy toward me, which is the best father's day present.

He's got a layer of fur on his body. On his back there's a center to the swirl, on his spin, a little above where his arms come out.

He's not been napping and sleeping through most the night. I thought the one night he slept 13 hours he might be going through a growth spurt. He seems so huge to me know.

Last night when Natasia left, he cried and cried. He's attached to his mother, his father, his abuela, his Gigi, but he enjoys the company of Natasia. She entertains him.

270. Wonderful World

William likes to hold something in each hand, and will doggedly hold onto them when he's picked up or when he's climbing the stairs at Virginia's house.

We took William to the pool yesterday. He was clingy, he did not like to get into the flotation device we had for him.

He's getting closer and closer to running. He walks very fast trying to catch up to Robyn and Natasia.

William ate a lot this weekend from us, he seems to be drinking less and less milk. He also has this thing for drinking out of cups and water bottles. Or rather drinking some and then putting it all down his shirt.

Another night were Virginia gave us the gift of sleep. Aida helps out a lot too. I quite enjoyed this weekend. Poor Diana began to feel under the weather towards the end of it. Poor lamb. I think it's a migraine head ache.

269. Sleep

William slept in the car on the long gridlock ride over to New Jersey yesterday evening.

He's very attached to Diana these days. I held them the other night while he wailed for her just out of reach in the shower. I could not console him.

I think it's appropriate for him to be primarily attached to her, but I am a little jealous of Diana.

Virginia had William sleep with her last night. She gave us the gift of uninterrupted sleep, and sleeping in.

Diana to William to this big thing at South Street Seaport for children. I slept for 4 hours and watched Blade Runner. A very impressionistic movie, I'm sure the book is better. Now I am lonely for William, I wish they would come home. But I am caught up on sleep, though I don't really feel that way.

268. Shea and Liberty

Monday night William slept little, he woke up clingy and stayed that way all day. He went to bed early and was asleep before I got home on Tuesday. Wednesday he went to his first game at Shea. I had a ticket to go with the adult home. Diana had a ticket to go with her work friends at IS 93. Unfortunately I was not with him, but Diana reports he had a good time.

William spent the day going to the Statue of Liberty with Diana, Abuela, Magali, Jorge, Brian and Joseph.

267. Alexandra

I took William to the park. This week there were smaller kids, only one possibly over zealous mother, not any pathologically competitive and aggressive fathers.

He pointed out of the park, so I put him in the stroller, and we walked around. A guy was washing his car and we watched. He had a 15 month old girl with long eye lashes, named Kayla.

Diana has the flu. I'm coming down with it. William is doing better. It's Alex's birthday, and since Diana and I are under the weather, Alex wanted William. She called up. She took him to a street fair. She said he was a flirt on the subway, charming everyone, including her. He was throwing himself at everyone.

She said he drank half her lemonade, ate her corn, shish kebab, ate everything.

She gave him a bath when he came home, and now he's asleep.

266. 6th Tooth

I haven't seen it, he confounds all my attempts to see or photograph his new tooth, but Diana reports he cut the top left one, after the front two. He already has the right one.

Thanks to Diego for letting William play with his cars.

Looks like we're going out for our second movie since William has been born. Hopefully Aida will come over and baby sit.

I read an intersting word: blogorrhea. Hopefully I don't have too much blogorrhea.

265. Alba's

We're at Alba's. Abuela brought William along to Veronica's graduation. Natasia is here too.

William has been throwing little tantrums. He walks towards his bedroom, fussing and wiggling his head, like it's heavy. Then when you don't chase him, and he realizes this, then sometimes he gets mad.

Abuela says his mother is there, when he's throwing a tantrum, and he looks for his mom. It's a distraction.

He's got another cold. Poor nose is running a lot. His tantrums come more frequently when he's under the weather.

Poor Diana has had some terrible pains, sciatica, she just read in the book.

264. Memorial Day

William was surrounded by family and kids. Only one was younger, and she could not walk without help: Nicole. He played with Emma, AJ, Robyn, Natasia, Joseph and Venus, but mostly he was watching. I played with them some. I took a million photos.

Robyn bumped him and his nose bled. He had the scratch from Etta the dog, the split lip from earlier. He would look like a prize fighter if he did not heal so fast. Diana feels like it's a judgment on her that he has so many little injuries, but I think it's good, he mixes it up, he's not afraid. He bounces back quickly. The doctor called him a tough guy. He's not afraid of dogs, he's wary but curious. He wants to master the situation, and I'm sure he will.

William picked up a metro card when I put on my shoes, so I took him to the grocery store to buy some milk.

Monday night William woke up 3 times, and then finally getting up at 6:30. One day off, Memorial Day, and his whole routine is shot.

He climbs on the chair we bought him, more than he sits on it. He scares us.

In the background, he's grunting away as he sucks down the milk.

263. Metro Card

Diana reports William gets a metro card, and waits by the door. He likes to go traveling. He likes to hold onto the pole on the subway. He always wants to go out.

Diana slept from 6:30pm to 5am with a few wake ups. William then slept from 7-9 she says. A hard night for her anyway. She says her back hurts, she slept on it wrong, or else the baby is getting heavier. I had William from like 7 till 10 in my arms watching Pedro pitch a really good game. He woke up at 5, talking and jabbering away. Diana got up with him.

I gave him a bath. I used the shower thing down, and he was mixed up by that. He's so cute, I just want to kiss and kiss him. I didn't think I'd have this wild affection I feel for him, it's a bit of a surprise to me. I did not know it would be so strong.

I took him to the park. I quite enjoy the park, though it is labor intensive, because he requires assistance walking around. I can talk to the others there, and today I watched some little league. The parents were really overboard on one team, and it got pretty out of hand, like they could shout their sons into beating the other team. Seemed pretty barbaric and aggressive, and wrong. I talked to one mother who had a child who was 2. She said he was not interested in potty training yet. He wore a hat and was shy about me. William walks up to people and looks at them. He was a little fresh with one little girl, touching her legs.

They're going to a special mass. I went to New Jersey to pick up my glasses and have my second eye appointment. I finally spent a $50 gift certificate at Barnes and Noble. Now I'm out here all alone till they get here, and I miss them. Diana says, "take a nap!" I guess I will. I miss Diana and William.

We thought William was teething when he had a fever the other day, but a tooth never pushed through. He's putting everything in his mouth again, and when he's fussy we say he's teething, but we're not sure.

262. Will and Bart

Will and Bart graduate from high school next month. I have my 20th high school reunion this summer. I don't think I'll go, my friends are not going, and I had friends through out the grades, not just in my class, so I don't like class reunions so much. But time flies. It was not long ago, Will and Bart were wailing babies. It was not long ago that I was living with those toddlers. It was not long ago they were playing soccer and baseball, running around like the cute little guys that they were. Their faces seem different, they're growing up. I wish them well in college. There will always be a special place in my heart for them. I tease them now, because I just like to get their attention. I remember when they wanted my attention. Now they're calling me a fat lesbian, the way I look in one of their digital camera photos.

I know in the blink of an eye my William and number 2 will be going off to college. Seems like forever, especially when I don't have any sleep. Diana gets even less sleep, I'm not sure how she does it, except every once in a while, she seems to have a bit of a melt down, where I am not in tune enough with her, which I regret, like tonight. They're both sleeping now.

William split his lip yesterday bashing into something. And then at Di's Etta jumped up on him when she came in from her walk, and scratched near his eye. Abuela said this morning that nothing like that would happen under her watch. Diana feels bad, which is silly, she's a great mother, she gives it her all.

William has 2 great aunts in town, Bacha and now Magali. He went right to Magali at the airport, she looks like Abuela.

261. Bacha

William seems to sleep later when it rains. Monday he woke at 4:30am. Tuesday he woke at 2:30am. Last night he slept through the night, but when I got up, his pajamas were off, so maybe he woke with Diana. He went to bed late.

Monday William kept bringing me books to read to him.

Abuela was sick Monday. She's OK now. Bacha is here visiting from Ecuador, and Diana reports he's gotten used to Bacha.

260. Family Dinner

William fell asleep in the mall, and slept in the car. When he got home, he was a bit groggy. He likes to go up and down stairs, but requires supervision, of course. He really likes the train his mother gave him, be schlepps that up the stairs with him too. He can go from the basement to the second floor at Gigi's with minimal assistance. He mostly wants reassurance.

We had a lovely (to me) family dinner around the table, with William in his new booster seat. Natasia and Robyn flag after a while, but it was a nice dinner I thought. There was a recent article in the Times about the importance of family meals together at one table, no TV. I like it.

I went to bed early, and William eventually came with Diana. He was not asleep, but Diana laid him down between us and he was quickly asleep. He's so excited by these girls, but he's also very tired. He soaks up as much as he can. He slept from midnight to 9, without waking up. Some good sleep for us.

Virginia is driving Aida to the Bronx and Robyn and William went along for the ride. Diana is doing laundry. I'm going to continue to read my bio of Freud and look forward to William's return.

259. Fearless

William climbed Virginia's stairs, 14 steps. He had a little side tracks where he received some support, but all his forward and upward progress was on his own.

Last night, Aida and Virginia took care of William, while we slept. Virginia and Robyn slept with him.

Thursday he was running around naked, and pooped on the floor. Diana thought it was hilarious. The way she tells it, it's funny, with her laughing as well. I somehow did not find it so funny, which is also funny to her.

Friday morning he slept till 8, which was wonderful.

He loves Natasia and Robyn. He loves running around with them.

258. Fell asleep on me

William went to bed around 9:15, and slept till 6:30 Monday morning. Diana put him on bed with me, and he proceeded to cry, until after a while after she left. The attachment torture of the departure of your primary object, played out on number two or three. I thought I was number two, but when I took him over to his Abuela's house at 11, he was not too fussed to say goodbye to me, he wanted to play with the magnets on the fridge.

Last night while Diana cooked, William was in his high chair, eating peas and carrots. He loves to play with them, and occasionally he eats some, which we encourage.

Abuela dropped William off, and he was happy to see me, not too fussed to see Abuela go. He wandered around our place, playing with toys and whatnot. I read to him some. His favorite book now is I'm So Noisy which is illustrated by Stephen Cartwright. I played classical music for a little while. I put on a video Baby Songs, which has a bunch of children doing what the songs say, around the A B C's, colors, shapes, and whatnot. I fed him some soup that Abuela brought over. He ate really well. Then I put on Baraka. He fell asleep on me.

257. Doctor visit

We couldn't give him a bath after puking because there was no hot water. But then the water came on and I gave him a bath. He had a rash on him. He fell asleep, and Diana clipped his nails.

The doctor says the rash is not serious, or contagious. Maybe benadryle will work to reduce the red blotches. Also not taking a hot soaking bath, like the one I gave him before we went. He has roseola, most likely. The waiting room was interesting, until a wailing child came in.

We went to Babies 'R Us. Boy, I should buy some stock in that parent company. We got him a little chair, some toys, some books by one of his favorite authors (Eric Carle), and of course bulk diapers and whipies.

Ever since William has been born, I have had to flush out my left ear of wax, every few months.

256. el pechera

Aida and Natasia came over Saturday night. Aida's string is off. Josephine, Diana and Virginia still have the string still on. Natasia has lip gloss on! She's only 7! Aida hasn't seen William in a month. Natasia makes him laugh. Aida got us diapers, saving me the trip for a day.

Then Steven and Aminta came over. They live above us. I saw them at the park today, I guess Aminta thought of Diana and wanted to stop by.

Aminta, who is from El Salvador, told me about el pechera. That is when the man gets the symptoms of pregnancy. I don't really get that, though I guess I felt ill from exhaustion and fear during the first pregnancy.

William finally slept through the night, but when I fed him milk in the morning, he puked it up.

255. Big Naps

William had another rough night Thursday night. We're both exhausted after this week, and Diana kept William over at her mother's and I got a 3 hour nap. I was going to get together with Paul, but sleep was available. Diana came home and passed out at 9. William was in bed by 11. But he woke at 11:30, and Diana got up too. She was with him most of the night, assisted by me when I woke up. She slept 4 hours in the afternoon to make up the time. William took a long nap, first in my arms, and then in the crib.

Bacha is here from Ecuador. AJ, Emma, Abuelo and Abuela came over with her. I took some snaps of Emma and William. AJ kept jumping into the photos.

Sixty four kinds of tired, and many things to do. Two tiles in the bathroom fell off when I took the toy off the wall. There's clothes to put away. I could go on and on.

I turn 38 on Monday. Supposedly children born to parents older than 30 do better in school.

254. Number 6?

William got very upset, crying. He wasn't hungry, his diaper was clean. He felt hot. Seems to be another tooth pushing through, his body reacting like it's a infection.

He had a rough night. He was extra clingy in the morning. Ice seems to soothe him. A little Sesame Street also helps. I can handle his crying when I know why, but it's still hard. I hate it when he is in pain.

We're leaning towards Andrew Wyatt Bell at the moment, for Deuce. It's a long way off. Diana likes Henry, but I don't. Feels too Plain Jane to me (my apologies to all the Henrys out there, I'm sure it works for you.) I like Alcabiades or Ananada or Mogallana or other Buddhist or Ancient Greek names, but she thinks they're too weird.

Yesterday on Gilmore Girls Sooky's husband Jackson was ordered to get a vasectomy after she gave birth by her. Yikes. I suppose I'll have to get one, but it's really hard to wrap the old mind around that somehow.

It's Abuela and Abuelo's birthday today! Happy birthday!

253. It's a boy!

22 messages of congratulations by e-mail. Diana decided she would find out the sex. It's going to be a boy! William is going to have a little brother.

He got a hair cut to celebrate. His hair was in his eyes. This is the shortest cut so far. His hair stands up on top. He looks a little like my mom.

William likes to look between his legs. He likes puppets more these days, he brings me Luchito to wear and play with. He laughs at peek-a-boo with the puppet. He still loves ice and cold things. He keeps leading me into the kitchen to get things. I give him a frozen bagel, which he doesn't just chew on, but also eats.

Yesterday he didn't want to put a diaper on. So I put him in the crib. I felt a little mean, like I was engaging in a power struggle with him, subduing his will, to get my way.

Last night, Diana dropped him off to go out and celebrate mother's day with Aida who didn't make it to New Jersey on Sunday. William kept bringing me into the kitchen and then asking me to lift him up. I gave him ice, I gave him a popcycle, a frozen bagel, a frozen teething ring. Finally he fell asleep around 9 and slept through the night. He got up with Diana though.

He's been crying less when we go to Abuela's. He also is giving sweet goodbyes. He's a sweety pie.

252. Mother's Day

I gave Diana a card, that in some ways began to express my appreciation for her, and a locket and necklace, so she can put pictures of William and Duece, when he or she comes along. I hope she likes it all. Zane and Bridget sent some flowers.

I called down to North Carolina to talk to my mother, but she's gone already. I'll call her in Chicago tonight.

Diana and William are sleeping. He went to bed earlier last night. Having Brian, who is excellent with William, makes him stay up later. He stayed up very late Friday night. I had a big nap yesterday. Diana prefers sleeping late, and so she went back to bed. William fell asleep a little later, and V put him in bed with her. They've been snoozing for a while.

William crawled up into the dishwasher. He pushed the tray in and closed it up. Then when it was open later, he crawled onto it. He's a very curious fellow, and as yet fearless. He walks to the stairs and either does not care, or assumes I will be behind him, which is a good assumption, because hitherto someone has been behind him.

I gave him bread with butter on it for breakfast, and he's been drinking a lot of milk. He drank so much last night, that we woke up around 3:30 and he was wet, his size 6 diapers had overflown.

Anyway, I think Diana is a wonderful mother. She is creative, energetic, committed and focused, joyful and merry, sensitive and strict, which ever is appropriate. She's the natural I thought she would be. William is lucky to be primarily attached to her.

251. String broke

Diana's sonogram and check up went well. She's beginning to feel the baby kick. She's beginning to show. She likes this part. The puking is over, and she's not so heavy.

Abuela looked after all the kids today, and William didn't nap or eat much, he was too excited. He took a long nap in the evening. And he woke up at 5:30. I took care of him after Diana got a bottle and I woke up. He went back to bed around 6:30 and slept till 8.

Vava's Jyoty string broke, from the naming ceremony. I think it's Josephine, Virginia, Aida and Diana left.

250. Routine

William slept over at his abuela's Sunday night. She's very kind to let us rest some.

William doesn't swing his harms with his walk yet. He has learned how to walk over the lip of doorways, New Mexico presented some new ones. He sets things down now, he doesn't always drop them.

William is very trusting of people. He would go up to strangers at the airport.

William was happy to see me when I came home from work. Tuesday night he was asleep. He disliked going back to the week day routine on Tuesday morning. He was more fussy. He cried when I changed the channel to a sports channel when Sesame Street was over, before the other one began. As I put him into the car, I said, "we'll always have New Mexico."

We're using sippy cups now. He drinks water. In New Mexico he ate lots of new foods for the first time, soy products.

249. More

William made a quick mess of the place, with all his toys over the place. He hit the living-room, then the numbers and letters in his room, then the kitchen, then the dining room, bringing out the punch cups.

William went swimming for the first time in a swimming pool. He held on, but he was in a regular swimming pool. He dunked himself, and didn't like it.

William and Diana went to Mexico for the first time. They serenaded him with "Cielito Lindo". I got a good picture of the mariachi men. I got a little squiffy on margueritas. We bought gifts for family.

The last night, Wes got out the telescope. He showed us Jupiter, Saturn, the Orion Nebula, some star clusters, binary stars, that were doubly binary. Quite good stuff. And that was not with his big one, in the tower he created. He's still got to load up some software for that one, and do some more work to get it ready, but he gave me the tour. The tour is quite amazing, with the solar cells, the heat transfer, the tank, all the pool stuff. Quite a technological place, and environmentally friendly.

Unfortunately William was not able to go on hikes with Di and I. We had 2 lovely hikes and saw some good stuff.

248. Home

When William got home, it was like he was trying to play with all his toys at once. We got home before 7. Saw the sunset and sunrise in New Mexico, and then we're in New York City. William fell asleep on the first flight, after a bit of a fight, while we waited for permission to take off. On the second flight, he was awake, and fought me very hard to get into the isle. I've never had to restrain him like that. Once we were more in the air, I let him walk, and Diana walked around with him. Later he had a bit of a hissy fit, and then fell asleep. He woke up when we landed, and Diana's father picked us up, and took us home. I'm just catching up at home. Virginia, bless her, came over, and cleaned up a lot! So nice to come home to a clean home. Just looked at the photos. They look great. I'm going to upload them to snapfish. E-mail me if you didn't get the invite to see them, and you want to. We're home! It was a good vacation, and good to be home.

247. City of Rocks

William fell asleep easily last night, no fight to it. But we've not been able to see the New Mexico sky at night, we fall sleep too quickly. We're still adjusting to the mountain standard time, and the altitude. William has learned about flash lights though.

I got up with William and Diana got an extra 2 hours sleep. William did a little house wrecking and I tried to contain the damage. William broke his steps record. He went up 9 steps unassisted. Then he slipped and biffed his cheek on the rail, and cried. Di took a shift with William and I got to meditate.

After some of this and that, we took William to the City of Rocks, a quaint little park that has interesting rocks. To those already on the photo mailing list, you'll probably see some photos from that. I want to keep this an all text blog. Very picturesque.

Speaking of picturesque, William's poops are a different color since he went onto bovine milk, instead of formula.

Should I call my next blog, when there are two, "overwhelmed father"?

246. Fifth Tooth!

William likes to pat you when you first pick him up. It's very cute.

He took a long nap on the afternoon. It could have been because he's cutting his tooth. Diana and Di went out shopping, and I played with him. He woke up in a good mood and played sweetly in the rocks and in the stream that is fake. He was helping us turn the soil in Di's garden. He was rolling around in the dirt.

My mother called to say goodbye, she's going to England for a vacation. Di and Wes are going out tonight, so we'll be on our own tonight. I've been feeling a little under the weather, I guess I may have over done it this morning. William can just sleep when he wants to.

245. New Mexico

William had an exciting day, and his parents were very tired. We employed the lights out, in bed, between his parents method. He eventually capitulated, with a fight. He woke up twice in the night, and then when the sun rose, he occasionally gave a wail, until I responded with my open eyed face. He wandered around the spacious grounds. I went for a run with Diana and now he's napping. Last night when I was in the pool he was afraid of me. I hope he likes to go into the pool or at least the hot tub. He likes the water fall, and the views. He's put a few rocks in his mouth. He's learning to negotiate the doorway lips that are different here. He's going to enjoy himself. He made a royal mess of dinner last night, and really refused to eat the putting instead spreading it around the table. I think he's taking a nap now. Hope to give some more exciting Jyoti updates from New Mexico.

244. Arrival

I was awoken at 2:40am on Sunday, and William woke up while they dressed him. We got to the airport by 4 and were checked in, but the security gates don't open until 5, so we hung out in a coffee shop. William was wide awake, though it was very early in the morning. We went through security and got on the plane before we saw Wes and Diana. They had timed it perfectly.

William fell asleep pretty soon into the flight. There was a 9 month old across the isle from us, who was cute. Her mother threw a blanket over her head, and she fell asleep. I watched Ocean's 12, and enjoyed it.

William awoke on landing at Houston. William and I went to Texas for the first time together. There was not enough time to grab a bite before we headed to El Paso. William went with his aunt Di in first class for the trip to El Paso, and he enjoyed the extra space. As we began our "final descent", William hollered for his mother, and we reclaimed him. He sat on my lap as we landed in El Paso. It had just rained, and there was some snafu with me not picking up the stroller in Houston, so we got a loaner.

We drove to a health food store, and then got some diapers, and then hit the road to Deming New Mexico, where we're spending the week at lovely sunshine Wells Ranch, Di and Wes' lovely setup here. It's gorgeous. We have a huge house to ourselves. I went swimming yesterday. There are lovely views of the Florida mountains. Lots of birds and south west aesthetic plants. Many things are in bloom because it's spring.

William enjoys the space, and while there are stairs and possible danger spots, he seems to be enjoying himself. We went to bed early and got up early because we're still on Eastern Standard Time, instead of Mountain Standard Time, which is 2 hours earlier. Poor William bumped his head last night on the tile floor, I felt so irrationally guilty for a while, until I talked myself out of it. He recovers faster than I do. He's enjoying himself.

243. Departure

William slept till 9, with one wake up to refuel around sunrise. I gave him a bottle, and he drank half of it, and fell back asleep. He got up and played a lot, I got his new toys out of the boxes. He fought sleep valiantly, but succumbed when Zane and I went out to get some milk, and prenatal vitamins for Diana. We came home and Diana was cutting his nails. Only when he's asleep can you cut his nails right now. She took him to bed.

He woke up but went back to sleep. I put him in Zane's arms so he could hold him his last hour. He woke up in time to come with us to the airport.

242. Party!

Saturday was the big blowout party for William. Diana and Virginia and others were going early, getting cakes, setting up chairs and whatnot. Aida was working on setting up outside, and it ended up getting so cold that everyone wanted to be inside, except the kids who were enjoying the outdoors. We ended up packing everyone into Diana's parents one bedroom coop. It was quite packed. Kids were in the hallway. They did pin the tail on the donkey, and the pinata. AJ came in saying, "I hardly got anything." He only had a little bag of candy. Inside, the atrition rate was quick. Zane left, Alex and her brood, then Josephine, Michael, Evan and Ava. Zane was there for 6 hours, but Diana's mom was surprised he was leaving before they cut the cake. When I asked Diana if I could go, she said, "Before we cut the cake?" She implied it was a innocent valueless question, but I stayed till after we sang happy birthday. I was pretty tired, and came home and crashed. They opened presents and whatnot. He got a lot of clothes and some great toys. Lots of good stuff. Quite an amazing party for my sonny boy's first birthday. Many people worked very hard to pull it off, and many people came, and I thank them all.

241. Gathering

Thursday KayLa came over. Aida and Natasia came later. Then Abuela and Paquita. Then Virginia. Then Abuelo. And we had a big party for William, who promptly fell asleep. He was surprised to see all the people. He was also flummoxed when everyone was snapping photos. He hardly wrecked the cake, but he did some. Poor Natasia wanted to have a cake fight, have it be her birthday. She had a little sibling type rivalry.

Later Paul, the Godfather, came over. We were watching videos of William when he was first born. They were bewitching to me. I can't remember William that young. He was so helpless, so fragile.

240. One

Tuesday night, Diana was smacking his mom in the face while she fed him. He's drinking grandma's special boiled milk. He's off the mixture of formula and milk mixture. He's on the milk now. Abuela boils milk, which is probably wise in Ecuador where she grew up, but seems redundant in pasteurized America. William has also moved up from size 5 diapers to size 6 diapers. As soon as the stash of 5's wears out.

William gave me a sneeze shower. It's starting to crust up today. I took Thursday off, to be with William for his birthday. I gave him some DVDs, which we watched. Then I gave him a bath. He took a nap. I slept longer, and Zane let me sleep some. So did William. My mom's fed ex package came, and this time we were here. She got him 5 great books, colorful, with the thick pages so he can turn. Then I went out and got a cake, got a hair cut. Diana got a cake too. We went to the park, and coming home from the park ran into Paquita and Abuela. They took William. Diana was upset I didn't have the baby. She yelled, "I haven't seen my baby today!"

239. Colds

After the shower, Diana dressed William for bed, and Zane assisted. It's nice to have help. It's really quite sweet all Zane wants to do is hang out with William, when there's so much to do in NYC.

There was a scare. Diana came home, to find that Zane did not have William. They went over to her mother's house, and the baby wasn't there. Diana got upset. Turns out, Abuelo was with him. He got back from his colonoscopy and took William out. We all made frantic calls and left messages on cell phones. He was OK. Zane missed out on a day, but there's plenty of time. I think they unconsciously wanted more time with William.

Today Zane had William, and I got to leave for work only responsible for myself. Zane had a nice day with William, but they both have colds now. William has been fussy.

238. Habachi

William woke up Sunday we hung out a little. Then Zane went out to smoke, and William cried. So I got him dressed, and Zane came back in. But not to waste the dressing efforts, we went to the park. Zane ran around with him, and then I did a little. I got to read. I see myself reading at the park, while the kids run around. When Deuce is larger than William is now. He watched cute little girls with matching coats on the rocking horse. A little Indian boy played with him a little. I let him go down the slide.

We came home and Virginia was there. Diana was angry at me for crossing the street without strapping William into the carriage. She whacked me.

We watched Sideways on DVD while William walked around, and eventually fell asleep. He slept through the night 11:30-7:40. That's pretty good for him.

It was a big help that Zane was here in the morning. I didn't have to take a speed shower.

We went out for Japanese food. William wasn't into being out, he was fussy. So we gobbled, and left. He did like the hibachi grill. He walked part way to the car. He got side tracked by headlights.

William was running around. He's getting more speed, he's more agile. He's banging on the bathroom door. Mom went to the bathroom. He's howling at her. We will take the family shower while Zane talks to Bridget.

237. Teething.

Aida's birthday party was nice. William made a total mess of my black rice, and he was chewing on a lot of ice. He came home and fell asleep in the car, and stayed asleep afterwards, which is pretty rare. He needed a little finessing.

He woke up at 4:30 and went back to bed at 5. He woke up before 7, and because everyone is sleeping, I took him outside. He wanted to leave his room, wouldn't take no for an answer. So I took him to the park, where the sun had nor even arisen yet. He walked around with a metro card in his hands. Then he dropped it and picked up a bum wrapper. I got rid of the fallen lollypop and prevented other things from going into his mouth.

When it passed 8, I went to the bagel store, and got a deliciously warm bagel and coffee. William disorganized a candy display. We went to another park, and he enjoyed the soft underbelly of the bagel. We walked around, but when he went for some dirty trash, I took him home. I got home after 9, and collapsed into a chair. Mercifully William drank some juice and fell asleep. I fell asleep around 9:30, and slept till 2:30. Yikes I was tired. A single martini and my work week exhaustion, etc. I did take a nap after getting up at 5 yesterday, so I can't make a total sob story.

They went out, and William cried the whole time. He's teething. The ice last night, should have been a tip off. So it's going to be a rough few weeks I think, till he cuts the tooth, or teeth. I put the teethers in the freezer, put some bagels to be frozen, and we have popsicles. He's sleeping now. Wore himself out crying.

236. Zane Arrives

William puked sick smelling milk all over me. Poor guy. But he was fine quickly, continuing to play. I had to take a shower.

Diana's mother bought slippers for her stay in the hospital.

William took a nap and recovered from the puking incident. Actually, he recovered very quickly, he was playing immediately after he was washed up.

When I lay in the room trying to read, he comes in. He wants to upset my little iPod stereo system, my pens, the watch around the lamp. So I sing him a silly song to distract him. He likes music, I didn't know I was so musical.

I've been clearing the sink of the weeks dishes. He grabbed onto my legs, pleaded with me to lift him up. He took bags out of the bag bag. He played with magnets. He disorganizes the container shelves. Diana tries to organize the house. William comes behind her and tries to enforce chaos.

Zane came in today around 6am. I missed him walking by, but he found me. William was just waking up when we came in, and got to walk around and watch some Sesame Street. We went out to brunch and William destroyed the table, tipping over 2 glasses of water, throwing his pancakes everywhere.

Then we went to Cunningham Park. It was wonderful. He's not so much into running around, but I think he will come to like it more. And he was outside with a lot of children, watching them. He played some. We went on walks. He seems very social. I think he might be an extrovert like Diana, instead of an introvert like me. With me, he walked out onto the grass and befriended an African-American woman who was reading. She was very nice. Zane was with him mostly. He's got a lot of energy for William. He seems to really adore him. Paul (The Godfather) came over to the park and hung out with us for a little while. Poor Zane is very tired now. William fell asleep in the car. Diana is taking a shower, we're going out to dinner, to celebrate Aida's birthday.

235. Tantrums

Diana wasn't feeling well, so we went to the gynecologist. I got to see Duece for the first time, wiggling around. Arms, hands, head, legs, feet. Too early to see the sex even if Diana lets me see it. Diana is OK, just stressed out.

William is well. I think he's become aware that he is cute. Abuela took him to the park yesterday and supposedly he had a ball. He also flirted with an Indian woman, whom he ended up putting his head on her lap. He pulls me into his room, and then pulls down, so that I go onto the ground, and stay a while.

When he throws a tantrum he flaps his arms, or his head gets so heavy and weary that he must lean it against something. He threw a tantrum because I took a penny away, afraid he would put it into a socket. I gave it back. The only sockets he can really get to are in his room, and I watched him so he didn't go in there with it. He threw a tantrum because I wouldn't be led into his room. But I went in. He throws a tantrum when I have a glass of something and won't let him sample. Or food.

234. Emma Day

William likes Diana and I together. He let Diana sleep for a while last night, but after a while I could not be put off from opening the door to the bedroom and let him in. Diana was in a very deep sleep, but she didn't mind being woken up. So she said. I felt guilty waking her up, but then again she took it well, and was not mad. Diana is also a little better at self abnegation and sleeplessness.

When I am in the room reading and Diana is in the living-room watching TV, he walks back and forth and tries to bring us together.

He's sitting for more reading in his room. I have been reading a lot of the books that Natasia gave to him. I also can steam roll him more, I read a lot of Madeline to him while he was playing. I read the whole book, half aloud, and half to myself, while he played. He has a few favorites, but he also likes novelty. He also picks up books and turns the pages himself sometimes.

William went to bed at midnight. He had a sizable nap from around 6-9, with wake ups. He drank a lot of milk last night, and when he woke up at 7 this morning, he bedding was all wet, he had filled his diaper to capacity and it had spilled over.

I actually finished a book yesterday. I've cut out the newspaper, I'm hardly on the computer. But I got a good book to read. I like memoirs of people who are not famous. Famous people tend to see a memoir as a chance to name drop, and forget to describe experience closely, have more justification.

They're celebrating Emma's birthday today. Diana has to work, get her classroom ready for an inspection. I'm going to my mitra meeting in Bay Ridge today. Abuela and Abuelo have offered to baby sit William till the party.

233. Beautiful Boy

Bill likes the blog, he thinks it's real professional. His child is due a month before ours. Cliff sent an e-mail asking for news, so I thought to write now.

William is doing well. He's napping right now. He's so sweet, so cute, and such a terror. He's very attached to me, which I adore, and he wails when I leave in the morning. He likes to play, and I like to make him laugh. I chase him some as a game. He pulls me into the bedroom and I read to him some. I hold him and dress him. He's wonderful. He hugs me, he can be more affectionate. He's so curious.

I already wrote about the latest Deuce news, the feet, the movement in Diana's womb. We're on the names Gwendolyn Carmen Bell for a girl, and Phineas Daniel Bell. We've got a long way to go, and revisions are likely. I like Daniel, but it might end up being the first name, and who knows.

We continue to struggle to work and take care of one baby. Sometimes I think it's so wonderful to get another one, I'm excited to see who they will be. Sometimes I panic, and wonder how will I cope with all the responsibility.

232. Thud

William took Diana's hand and led her into the bedroom. Then he grabbed both and tried to push her down, so she would stay. He's done it to me a bunch since then.

At Abuela's, he only wanted me to hold him, a first. Usually he will go to Diana, but he didn't want to. He's never done that.

Tuesday morning I was taking a shower, and I heard a thud. William was sleeping in our bed, and he fell onto the floor. My worst nightmare. He was OK, but I felt terrible.

Tuesday night we went over to see Di, Will and Bart. So lovely to see them. William put on his usual show. He's a little scared of Etta when she barks. Will and Bart are seniors in high school, and have to pick which college they are going to soon. I can't imagine Will and Duece being in that position. I guess I have to financially plan for it, though.

Diana is showing, and wearing her maternity clothes. She went to the gynecologist and got to see Duece moving his/her legs, turning over, wiggling around, and turning his back to the sonogram. The photo she got was just of the head, but it's a beautiful little head.

When William is upset, he puts his head down, like his burden is too heavy to bear.

231. Auntie Grethen

Gretchen had her annual visit to Long Island. She's a trainer for U of Maine, and she's with the baseball team. They played on Long Island, and we visited her at the famous Hojo's that a famous rape took place. Gretchen was as vivacious as usual with her funny stories. She could be a comedian if she wants to, I think. Of course after a little shyness and flirting, William took to her. We went to the Italian restaurant we always go to when she's in Mineola/Westbury. He ate saffron noodles that Gigi ordered.

Gretchen gave him a "Maine" baseball jersey. A little large, but the only size for children they had. I thought we forgot it, but she had the foresight to put it in the carriage. Nice Virginia, who slept with William and let us sleep the night before, drove out, and paid for dinner. William walked around the restaurant, charming everyone, especially the waitresses. We got some good pictures, hopefully Gigi will upload them to snapfish and we can order them, and see them. Gretchen got him laughing and laughing before she left. It was good to see her.

William went to bed at 1, and got up at 4, went back to bed, and then woke up at 8. He's got a big day ahead of him with the egg hunting and whatnot of Easter.

William is Mr. Destructo, and he's Mr. Tough Guy. He explores quite a lot. He takes clothes out of drawers, he takes Tupperware out of shelves. He falls down a lot, and this morning he did a good face plant. Cried a few sobs, and then was OK.

Diana bought more maternity clothes, Duece is beginning to show. Suzanne is pregnant, she's due October 24th.

230. Four Steps

William just went up 4 steps, unassisted, though closely supervised. He uses his knees, and then gets there and stands up and repeats. He went four steps, and then grabbed onto the railing, and went down two. Then he got a little wobbly, and I picked him up.

Thank you to Zane and Bridget for their Easter present, some clothes and a teddy bear that we didn't discover until Diana explored the box later.

William slept from 1 to 7 last night, but he took lots of naps today. I worked, but Diana and Virginia had good Friday off. Diana went maternity clothing shopping. She's starting to show.

William got here, and rearranged Virginia's CDs. He likes to help out with laundry, and picks up dirty clothing and puts it in his mouth. Diana took the clothes away the other day and he threw himself on the floor and had a little tantrum. My patients tell me Ares is supposed to be strong willed. And I'm the bull who runs into the red cape, even though there's a knife behind it with my argumentative and provocative ways.

He was just chasing me. We were both on our knees, but he realized he was too slow, so he got up and walked. He likes to chase and be chased. He tries to turn everything into a jungle gym. He also turns everything into a toy. He likes to point these days and walks around with one finger in his mouth sometimes.

229. Diaper fight

William smiled at me when he came back from a visit to Alba's, with Abuela and Abuelo. I was so glad to see him. He was a bit wild, running about. It seems he's grown up in the two and a half days I was away from him with work and the retreat. He resists getting a new diaper, which makes it very difficult. Diana reported on a few new things he does. He covers his ears and talks sometimes. He likes to throw himself at Diana. Last night was difficult, because I was trying to put him to bed without interrupting Diana, who is under the weather and on antibiotics, and he kept obviously crying for her. Finally I gave in. I didn't want to be too difficult and frustrating to him on my first night back.

228. Early to bed

Diana went to bed to nap before 6:30, on the bed.. I fell asleep around 7:30 on the couch. Diana came out around 12:30, and told me to go to bed. She fed William a bottle, and changed his diaper, and he went back to bed.

I'm going away for the weekend, so I wish I would have had more time with William. I'll see him Sunday night next. It hurts very much when I first start driving away. This will be my second weekend retreat since William has been born.

227. Mama

William was laying in bed, thoughtful. I said, "what you thinking about?" He said, "mama".

Last night he got up pretty soon after going down, and Diana was so tired, she just brought him into bed with us.

The night before, he woke up at 10:30, which I got, and 2, which she got. I think he skipped his nap to be with his mother, and then he fell asleep early. Does he change his sleeping patterns to be with his mother?

He's found the crayons. He likes to put them in his mouth. He's not yet adept at coloring, though I try to show him.

He's been crawling more in the tradition crawl, instead of his funny leg up style. I think it's faster, he's used to walking so he likes to move fast.

Last night he bashed his face again. I hate it when he's wailing, in pain. He calmed down quickly, and there were not visible marks.

226. Ides of March

William is now a size 24 months, he's grown out of 18 month clothes.

Last night, after finally persuading Diana to go to bed. I got to stay up late with him and put him to bed. And he didn't pitch a fit to wake Diana up. Diana reports she woke up and though, "I've slept a long time," and she's only slept like an hour.

William likes to get into small places, test the limits of his motion. He was climbing around underneath his high chair last night, it reminded me of when I was a kid and loved climbing everywhere. I eventually graduated to trees, but I fear there are not that many trees around here for him to climb, like there were where I lived in Madison Wisconsin, in Eagle Heights and University Housing.

Of course I felt rather ill the next day without the sleep. William woke up particularly early too, perhaps to spend some time with his mother. He had an especially tear filled morning, because he wanted her, but she had to get dressed and go to work. I think she felt guilty for going to bed, and having to go to work. I think William is entering an even more intense attachment phase, which is healthy, good, normal.

Zane will be visiting for 8 days, to be here for his birthday, we're looking forward to his visit.

225. Eleven months tomorrow!

William used to cry for 3 reasons. Hunger, tiredness and discomfort (dirty diaper). He has added 2 more reasons. One is if he is trying to get one of us closer, attachment needs. The other is things just are not going his way. He was holding 2 pictures of Morris' daughter, and he dropped one. Diana picked it up and put it beyond his reach. He got upset at that. So a sort of lack of control or things not going his way can make him cry now. Sometimes he refuses to be picked up because he knows it's not always true that he will get to go where he wants to.

William spent the day with Abuela, Abuelo and Virginia. I would have gotten mad at Diana for keeping him away from me, but I was pretty under the weather, so I look forward to today for being with him. I tried to rest up and watched some bad movies (Miracle, Eurotrip). We all have a cold, and it's pretty annoying. William wants to be held more, and we both have less energy to give. It's been a hard week.

Diana has gone out to a movie. I hope she has fun. She slept late, to 10, this morning. I made her breakfast yesterday morning. Today I took a bath with William while she ate her breakfast unimpeded. She's stopped puking, but I'm not sure if she's not puking because that time is over, or she's just avoided all the foods that make her puke.

225. 4th Tooth

William still had a fever 102, so we took him to the doctor. He had not been eating much and was lethargic. He perked up when he first saw me, which is really sweet. When he smiles at me, I'm his slave. We took him to the doctor, and the doctor noticed that he'd just cut a new tooth. The gum flap was there, but I couldn't see the tooth yet. He probably cut it around 3:30 a.m. when I woke up and fed him the bottle. He was about to go back to sleep, but then he just started wailing. The doctor says cutting teeth can cause a fever, which I did not know. He also has a cold, but his ears and lungs are clean. So the doctor was not worried, there was nothing to do. The doctor said to come back if he still had a fever by Friday or Sunday. They don't have office hours Saturday. Also he said a fever of 104 is the scary number, 102 is OK.

224. On The Mend

He's getting better, but he's not 100% yet. We debated whether to take him to the doctor tonight, but I think since he's getting better, he's going to be OK.

I think I smell different now that William is born.

Last night Natasia was at Abuela's, and she played with William. I think she has a sibling type rivalry towards him, she has some scary aggression towards him at times.

Zane says he's coming to NYC for William's first birthday. Very exciting. Abuela is going to throw a party for him the weekend after his birthday.

I asked at work. No paternity leave. I could take unpaid leave, but not paid leave. But I do have vacation time I will take off in September to be with Deuce. Diana is pondering not going back to work, but I think it will be too expensive to have her not work.

223. Virus

William has a virus. He had cold like symptoms Sunday but they were not so bad. He had a horrible night trying to sleep. Diana was with him, but I took a turn at 3:30, when he woke up, and wanted to play. We walked around for a while, and finally he fell asleep with me on the couch.

Diana took the day off, and took William to the doctor. He said it's viral, that only to bring him back if he has the fever still on Wednesday, or stops eating and going to the bathroom.

Many people said they liked William's new hair cut, they say he looks so old.

222. Second Hair Cut

I've just sent off my snapfish album to some family, if you didn't get it and want to get it, let me know. I've also taken a movie file, that apparently is best seen on a Mac, but maybe you want it, if you have downloaded the patch or what ever they call it that allows you to watch it.

We took him to the place here, so we could get the certificate that he got from his first hair cut. Diana was disappointed because it did not have a lock of hair. Of course we've got a million locks of hair. He sat at the same little seat. He was more aware, and tried to turn his head around to see what was going on. But he did a good job. He looks so different.

Diana didn't cry at all. Her eyes watered up, but she did not cry.

Last night William did not go to bed until midnight. Virginia was at a concert, and she was locked outside for 45 minutes before we finally woke up with all her phone calls, door bell ringing and rocks against the windows. He woke me up, when he woke up, when he noticed Diana was out of the bed. Diana fell asleep with her sister, I woke up alone in the morning.

The night before he went to bed at 8, but got up later, and then at 4, when I got up with him. Constantly tired. Just wait till September.

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.

205. Three Steps

William took 3 unaided steps. He was excited to walk towards my waving hand, and he took 3 unaided steps. Without shoes, in his pj's. Diana had a look of "I don't want to scream and scare him, but I'm amazed!" and, "Did you see it, did you see it!" I just saw him move toward me, I did not know it was on his own power unassisted.

William went to bed around 11 and woke up at 4. He drank 2 oz of milk and slept, but awoke when I put him in the crib. I went to bed with him, and returned him to the crib around 5

William likes to kick. He likes to walk with assistance, and kick something. A ball, a car, anything that will roll.

William put his hands in the snow today. He was walking outside, and he gingerly touched the snow. I made 3 little snow balls for him, but then he was distracted and we walked away.

William likes the movie Muppets Take Manhattan.

I came home Monday night and William was a little weepy, clingy. His face looks older, somehow.

204. First word controversy

Diana's mom, Abuela to William, thinks his first word was "teta", meaning he wanted the bottle.

Diana believes William has wailed for his "mama", and has said "hi" to her.

I believe the first word was "no", as stated in a previous entry on this blog.

Is there anyone else?

203. Forward motion.

Diana let me go to bed early, and Virginia slept with William, so I got a lovely night of sleep. I've forgotten that usually it's not the wonderful thing I imagine it to be, I have all kinds of nightmares and wake up rather confused.

William is his usually lovely self. Virginia had to move her photo screen into her study because William threatens to knock it over, break it. He took one photo out today, so it was moved. The further baby proofing of Virginia's house. Virginia is sweet, she has a nice place, which she had consulted an interior decorator, but she is very sweet and understanding about children. All it takes is a look in the drawers of the kids room, and you see all kinds of sizes of clothing, boys and girls.

William likes to take the long walks he can here. He's got a memory of it too, he keeps walking to the basement door and expects to go downstairs. He rushes to the fridge when it's open, he wants to examine the contents. Diana looks at the circulars and he wants to rip and wave them about. Virginia fixed us eggs for breakfast, and he wants to eat along, but we give him baby yogurt.

Virginia reports he woke up at 4, and she put the saline solution around his nose to unclear his nose, and then again at 7. Otherwise he slept through the night. Diana and I woke up and were down stairs when he came down around 8.

When we arrived last night, I came in. Virginia said, "where's my baby!" I like to see her excitement. Everyone gets tired of walking him, it hurts my back, but I do it a lot because he's so insistent. He turns towards you and put out his hand. It's so unbelievably cute, I can not resist most of the time.

When we leave him on the ground, he crawled some today. He puts one leg up like he's going to walk and uses that for leverage, so it's not the strict crawling with knees and alternating arms yet. But he can get forward motion, which he's lacked before. Before he would just roll and had side to side movement. He rolls over, and sits up. But sitting he is stuck, and calls for a pickup.

Last night he was eating the rice from the dinner Diana's mom cooked, that Virginia and I shared. He ate some cucumber that was in the salad Diana and I ate.

202. Third Tooth!

William is cutting his 3rd tooth, an upper one. Thursday morning Diana went to get William and he was already standing in his crib, that's the first time for that. Last night, William just wanted to walk around and around. He goes into his room and pulls all the books and makes a big mess. He ripped a page, and I brought him out and gave him a plane piece of paper to rip. Later I gave him one of the books that are not new nice ones, a weird one we somehow have, so he could rip that one, and he did not rip it. He goes to the bedroom and plays with the knobs on the drawers. He goes into the kitchen and grabs a magnet off the fridge, puts it in his mouth. I've got to wash some, they've almost all fallen on the floor and then we put them in a bowl to be washed. Diana got a balloon and he plays with that. He falls down sometimes, gives three sobs and then he's wiggling to get down. He can walk around in the living room. He get to the end, where there are no hand holds, and he turns to me, and holds his hand up, "come on daddy."

201. No!

William was fussy, to I offered him the bottle. He took a sip, and then when I tried to put it in again, he pushed it out with his tongue. I shook my head and said, "no?" He shook his head and said, "no." I think he really communicated with me. He's fussy because he's tired, not because he's hungry or needs a diaper change. William is 9 months and 13 days.

200. Hummus

Diana is trying to dress William while he is asleep. Time to take him over to Abuela's. Last night he ate hummus with me. I gave him some, and then he kept trying to get my bite, so I kept giving him some. Then he commandeered a bit of pita and sucked on that.

He can clap his hands, and he knows that is good, he looks for approval, recognition. He also knows about the buttons on the TV. He took some steps last night, Diana saw it.

199. Eye Sting

A weekend with Diana and William without anyone else. A little boy can wipe out two adults. We all took a long nap, which was blissful. Snowed in, we began to resort to phone calls as a way of getting out. Unfortunately he was difficult to get to bed. He took a nap, but woke up. Diana said she wanted to go to bed, so I said go. But of course William fell down and cried and cried until his mother woke up and came out. We put him in bed with us, and turned off the light, but that did not work. Diana ended up staying up late with him. I slept through his 4am awakening too.

William came home from his Abuela and Abuelo's juiced up, he was chattering away, and insistent in his explorations. He enjoys kicking things, I think he's going to be a soccer player.

I've got that eye stinging feeling, from fatigue. He's a sweet one. He fell down and cried, and Diana fed him and put him to sleep.

198. Blizzard

We are housebound with all the snow outside. Diana, William and I. William has all the energy in the world. Diana and I are two fading adults who have less energy, even though we take care of him in relays. He walks around, using things to hold him up, including his parents. He likes to go to the fridge and get a magnet and put it in his mouth. He likes to go to his walker, which he does not get in, but uses to help him walk. He plays a little with the things on it. Spins the mirrors, crinkles the crinkle thing. He walks to the TV. I turn it off when he's there. I'm not sure if it's really bad for you or not, but I get nervous. I turn it off. Diana gets him, and moves him away. Anything you try to get him away from, that increases his interest in it. In the bathroom he plays with his bath toys and drops them into the tub, where I can get them for him when he cries. He tries to open up the cabinet under the sink, and I think, “got to child proof this place.” He goes into his room, and I put him in the crib some, where he can easily hold himself up, but he is not stimulated enough for his desires. I hold him at the window and encourage him to look out. Sometimes I read books, we enjoy Todd Parr. Sometimes we read the small books, the touch and feel book, some of the books he got as presents. The Circus McGurkus from his Grandparents in California. A book about a spider who spins a web, that his Grandparents in Chicago sent him. He has some patience for reading, but he ultimately wants to manipulate things, move his hands, be in control.

He wakes up and his diaper is always full. He cries when the diaper is changed. He sips some formula. He likes the way Diana feeds him, he eats less for me. She also can use her breasts. I try hard, and can be very tender, sweet with him. This morning we gave him some of the bread Diana was eating and some of the oatmeal I was eating. He wants what we have. He had to try my green tea. I don't give him much, because I am unsure if it is bad for him or not. In his persistence I find it hard to refuse, but I know there will come times when I do refuse. Take a stand. This does not fell important in of itself. He was cold this morning, so I put some sweats and a fleece. When Diana woke up, she took the pajamas off. She rescued him, I was about to take him outside. I was trying to find some shoes to cover his feet.

197. Sweet Cheeks

Odds and ends: William took his first step at 9 months and 3 days. William was dancing to the rhythem of the printer Tuesday morning. Wednesday morning I ran over the stroller (no he wasn't in it) and destroyed it. I missed William Wednesday night because I went into the city. I look forward to seeing him tonight. Diana reports that William plays peek-a-boo now.

Friday night Diana came home and took a nap. I watched William until she woke up, and then I went to sleep. I woke up early with him, and watched him till she woke up, and then I went to my mitra meeting. Then when I got home, I watched him for a while, and then finally we began to share, as we both watched him. I took a bath with him. Sweet boy. Abuela came over and brought some diapers and formula, and played with William a little.

196. A Step!

William was free standing. He wanted to get to something. He reached, leaned forward, regained his balance. He did it a few times. Then he finally just took a step and reached what he was reaching for.

Diana cried, called Virginia, then her mom.

He was wearing his PJ's that Zane and Bridget got him, with a cute little bear and some Hebrew writing on a dreidle. Zane was slightly mortified to give religious PJ's. I don't care. Judaism is a fine ethnic religion.

I got out the camcorder. I taped him some walking, but the feat was not easily repeated.

195. Free Standing

William can stand, unaided. He took one adjustment step, but I don't think you could say he took his first step, it was more an act of desperation to stay afloat. Diana spent the whole day with William. She said it was good, but she is tired.

When I got home from work, I thought he was so cute. What is cuteness? I'm not sure. It seems to be a mixture of innocence and rapid growth. I think also there something about him being my son. Cuteness is in one sense just positive parental feelings.

I got a new mouse to replace the one he may have ruined by slobbering all over. Diana's cell phone also broke, probably from him slobbering all over it. He's been pulling out CD cases, and generally rearranging the house.

Diana had MLK Day off. The good part for me, was that I got up later, meditated, and left without the struggle of getting everything into the car. I'm also feeling better, I think the vestiges of my flu are gone, I'm only left with a cold which seems rather minor. I guess I can be easily overwhelmed, but that sounds like a judgment. What's the right amount one is able to shoulder? The more the better, of course, but who's to say what the exact amount one is supposed to shoulder. Some people cope pretty well. As a therapist to the stars, I teach Hollywood moguls how to cope. Just kidding. Better stop writing, William came into the living room.

194. Exuberance

William walked all around, got into everything, Saturday. He's only slowed by hunger and fatigue. He may bump his head or fall, and give a few sobs, but he's always more interested in restarting again, than wallowing. He likes to manipulate everything, food, boxes, newspapers, photos, containers, towels, anything. He's vocalizing more, but has yet to be more specific than an emotion. Usually the emotion is exuberance, so far as I can tell. We took a long nap together, and then went to bed around 8. He woke up around 1 and I fed him some milk because Diana said, "he's had both of my breasts," meaning he tapped her dry. But he drank and when we came to bed, he was pulling Diana's hair, while she slept. I thought he wanted just some comfort from her, but she went down and I found the bottle empty this morning, so he wanted to drink some more. I got up around 7 with him, and played with him until Virginia came down around 9. Then Robyn came down and Natasia. He loves those two and really wants to play with them. Natasia is really good at making him laugh. Robyn tries to compete with Natasia who has the age and experience with William advantage. Around 10 Diana woke up, and we had just began feeding him some yogurt. Looks like another exciting day.

193. One handed walker

William is a one handed walker now.

We picked up Aida and Robyn and drove to NJ. We ate at a diner, and came to Virginia's. Virginia came home later, because she had a work party. I went to bed. Virginia came into the room with William at some point, not sure when, but she could not rouse Diana, who was so exhausted. Soon, later, William's crying woke her up, and she got him, and he slept with us. I got up at 6:30.

William walked around, and felt the air coming out of the heating vent. He likes his little puppets. He could walk and explore all day, but I try to get him content sitting exploring his toys. We watched a little of a samurai movie and he fell asleep, just as everyone was waking up and coming downstairs.

192. Sicker

Virginia gave us a John Lennon CD with Beautiful Boy on it. The Celine Dion version was faithful. I liked the Lennon version, but I couldn't get off iTunes, so I listened to the Celine Dion version. Virginia also gave us the Celine Dion CD, full of children's songs.

It's happened. We're all sick. I'm coming off it. William is somewhere in the middle because he's got medication and will be getting better. Diana seems to have hit her sickeness full force, she feels cold.

It's been nice following him around. He walks straight to the outlet in his room. Yikes. He wants to get into everything. He would rip down the phone chord if I would let him. He's a handful.

191. Sick

William came home a little frantic Sunday night. He's a little over stimulated by these parties. They were calling him John Denver because of his hair cut. He liked playing with Emma's toys.

William spent Monday with Di Bell, his great aunt. He did not take a nap for her even though he's got a cold. I've taken a day off because I feel so sick. I shouldn't be writing but I actually have the time.

He continues to walk around a lot. He's enjoying playing with food. Abuela came and took William because I was feeling sick, bless her.

He's been sick too. He had 2 huge crying jags, and she was concerned about him. He's been a little more clingy, but he seems OK. KayLa came over to help out Diana. Diana found some high blood pressure cold medicine.

190. Breastmilk

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/magazine/09TOXIC.html has an interesting article on breast milk, and breast-feeding. I thought of one of my paranoid acquaintances.

Since I'm pasting in web links, the following is an interesting one on a replacement word for "jihad" because that word means spiritual journey, which is not what terrorists do: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4273847

I burned his little mouth. He gobbled up his breakfast, and I heated up some food, but it was hot, and I hurt him. Thank goodness he would eat some bananas from me later. Quickly trust was restored.

We put down the squares of numbers that Diana wanted, in William's room. I took some cool pictures of it.

William bumps his head, cries about 3-4 sobs and then is already wiggling to get down and get going again.

Diana said, now that he's standing we should start to measure his height. He will be 9 months soon.

189. Backpack

And Alex gave William a wonderful coat. He has 3 now. One that is a snow suit and fits, and 2 larger ones for the future. So generous.

Saw some pictures of Morris' precious one on Snapfish. What a cuttie! I put one in a frame for display. I need to upload some photos and order some (and send some to people).

I finally got a hair cut last night, my hair was the longest it's been in a while. I just cut my nails. Personal hygiene has never been my strong suit, but it's getting more and more challenging.

Can't believe how much William has been sleeping. I wonder if the combination of no naps and more hearty food has him sleeping longer. Maybe it is the white noise of the cold humidifier.

William went to Chucky Cheese for Robyn's birthday party. I took advantage of the situation to have some private time. They they went out to dinner late. I had a lot of time, but I got into a foul mood with negative thoughts about work.

William slept through the night again. He woke at 7, and I fed him, and then woke up at 9. I put him in the backpack and he's been on my back while I do dishes and write now.

188. Second Tooth

I got my first actual message from my blog, thank you Zane. I was anxious, I was just trying to own it.

William was a little weepy after Zane and Bridget left, he gets attached after 5+ days. Us too.

He's got another tooth coming in on the bottom. He is eating more things: orange juice, rice and beans. Diana's mother reports he is eating very well. He ate some rice I gave him last night.

He can stand for about 30 seconds on his own, when he is wearing his shoes. He's so curious and interested in everything.

He's slept through the night the past 2 nights. Friday morning he woke up at 5:30, which was difficult because when ever I wake up that early, I hope to get in a meditation. He slept from 7-8, and woke up sweetly, not fighting to get into his coat, or complaining. He goes to bed around 9-10, but it's a light sleep, and if you put him in the crib, he wakes up. He had a cold on Wednesday, but it's gone, now Diana and I have the cold, and we're kind of wiped out by it.

The same old paradox of personal writing. Not enough time to write, lots to write about.

Alex gave William a nice little bear that says over 200 different things. It's like the one Bob Grabowsky lent me for my office at my internship at Addabbo. Thanks again Alex.

187. Personnel change

William went from 10 days with his mother, 5+ days with his California grandparents, a weekend with me, to a day with Abuela and Abuelo, Diana being scant because of work, and seeing KayLa and Virginia. I picked Virginia up at the airport and she visited for a little while, before she went back home. She took KayLa home, which was much appreciated. I read in bed, and Diana played with William and watched TV. Except William kept walking in to see me, and I'd pick him up and play with him, until he cried for her, and then she'd come back, and repeat the process.

I can't be on the computer when he's around, or he wants to wail on the keyboard, or cries because he can not. Abuela said he was good during the day yesterday. Diana said he chowed down a lot when I went to get Virginia. He ate a bottle of food, and a bottle of fruit. I've never seen that. I think he's going through a growth spurt. He woke up for Diana, and I got up at 4:30 and fed him. Five o'clock is my opportunity to blog, I'm not sure I'm that committed to the blog.

William was chewing on my pizza crust. I thought it was harmless, it was pretty tough, and big. But he got a big piece off, and was choking on it. Opse. I brought home salads from Wendy's, after picking up Virginia. And he insisted on food. I gave him a slice of cucumber, which he chewed on for quite a while.

186. Happy New Year!

Just dropped Zane and Bridget off at the airport, with William sleeping in the car. And then I took William to his Abuela, who he's not seen much this last week. Zane and Bridget came in Wednesday night, and I think between Wednesday and Monday morning here, Zane walked William so much, fingers for support, bent over, he might have back troubles. I hope he does not.

We stayed at Virginia's in North Haledon New Jersey until Saturday night. Virginia is kind to share her housing with us. I hope she had a really good time in the Dominican Republic, we missed her.

Thursday they hung around the house, and we went out to eat at a good restaurant near Virginia's. William got some good experiences eating out while Zane and Bridget were here, including Tavern on the Green on Sunday. I got so tired, we canceled the reservation at Mesa Grill for Sunday evening. I was very tired, and I think I'm OK for work this Monday morning. But the dining was very good with Zane and Bridget here, and their generosity. William seemed pretty good with it all.

Friday I drove to work and Bridget took the car from there. They took Diana shopping and bought William a bunch of good stuff, on top of all their wonderful holiday presents. They got him shoes, which breaks my heart, he's looking really grown up walking around in shoes.

New Years Eve, William fell asleep before midnight. I was pretty tired and went to bed soon there after too. Bridget made the enchiladas, we had some fine wine, watched an Elvis concert and played Screen It, or something like that, a trivia game with a DVD, and then champaign when it was new years.

New Years Day we watched some Bowl games. Gretchen's Georgia beat my alma mater Wisconsin. Gretchen called to rub it in, and we also talked to Megan. Iowa had an amazing comeback to win, on the last play of the game. Michael, Josephine, Evan and Ava came over and Michael's Michigan lost to Texas. I got to hold Ava for a while and feed her. Evan liked playing with Virginia's train set. Virginia has some good toys for children.

Saturday night we came to our place in Flushing, and packed us all in. Zane and Bridget did not complain about the cramped quarters, they didn't complain about anything. I was very anxious at times, about them being comfortable and having a good time. I think I hindered it by worrying so much. They seemed to have a good time, and I hope they get back to California OK today, get some relaxation, and are able to work tomorrow. Virginia comes back today.

Saturday we rushed out for a brunch at Tavern on the Green. Wonderful place. Then we went downtown and rode the Staten Island Ferry. William's first boat ride. I was starting to flag, and everyone agreed to come home. We watched the Jets lose, and I took a nap. Zane squeezed in his last time with Sparky. It made me so happy to see Zane enjoying Sparky and caring so much about him. And Bridget too. She was reaching for them both by the time they left. Sparky got very accustomed to them, enjoyed their company.