Why?

A conversation with my three-year-old neighbor, D:

Me: D, the baby is moving. Do you want to feel?

D (with a cursory hand swipe at my stomach): Why is the baby in there?

Me: Because she's still cooking. And when she's ready she'll come out.

D: What is she cooking?

Me: Oh, hmmm...maybe cooking was not the right word...

D: Why is she cooking?

Me: Well, I mean, she's still growing. She has to get bigger before she comes out.

Silence.

D: Why is she cooking?

Me: Because she's hungry. She's making a snack.

Getting Closer

We bought a crib! This means the baby doesn't have to sleep in a drawer or in the bathtub. And it means that I've already ruined the punchline to this whole story. This is how you can tell I studied Journalism in college. I just can't bury the lead.

It was a momentous occasion...after several trips to actual furniture stores which housed actually new cribs, we decided to take a spin on Craigslist and see what we could find. At first I was overwhelmed--did I really want to take time out of my napping and Ben&Jerry's-eating schedule to go to people's homes and touch their used furniture? Though the answer was no, I forced myself to make one appointment in Alameda, which is across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco. Rob and I went there on Monday night and were met at the door by an adorable woman named Sue who started to hug me before realizing it would be a little weird. We shook hands.

The crib was in five pieces on the floor, and the house was very clean and nicely decorated, which mattered to me since we were potentially leaving with a mattress. In New York City, this would never happen: rampant bed bugs. The crib had previously been the property of a three-year-old who was only referred to as Naked Man. Naked Man made one appearance at the top of the stairs while we were examining the crib, and he really did live up to his nickname. But it was more comforting than if they'd referred to him as Bed Bug Man.

We made a quick and easy decision to take the crib, and talked with Naked Man's parents for a little bit longer. When we left, the woman did hug me.

Here are some photos of the crib, which Rob put together that evening, along with a photo of our glider, which I put together that evening, because I will not be outdone.

General Gaiety

George and Donna came down from Boston this weekend with their two girls, Lael and Avery. I always feel like a very important person when Lael and Avery are around because they like to sit as close to me as possible--which sometimes means directly on me, they want to hold my hand everywhere we go, and they want to change their clothes based on what I'm wearing. Which backfired for me slightly when George told Lael that she couldn't wear flip flops on Saturday afternoon because we were doing a lot of walking and it would be bad for her feet. As an aside, when I was little, I don't remember anyone worrying about my arches. If I had wanted to walk to school in my Bert and Ernie slippers, I probably would have been allowed, as long as I didn't punch anyone at the breakfast table.

So she wanted to wear flip flops because I was wearing them. After George's decree, Rob gave me a very meaningful look, glanced at my flip flops, and I grudgingly changed into flats.

We spent the weekend walking around Chelsea, which included a trip to the new High Line park, on the elevated train tracks overlooking the west side of Chelsea, the Meatpacking District, and the Hudson River. It is a beautiful and very cool new addition to the neighborhood, and is also apparently a new tourist haunt, because we had to wait in line and get our hands stamped just to get into the park. Luckily, this seems to only be an issue on Saturdays.

Sunday was the Gay Pride parade and we took the girls to 8th Avenue--the heart of Chelsea--for lunch. Their eyes were wide as they observed all the action, rainbows, and creative store fronts. "Would any boy really want to wear pink underwear?" they wondered.

They asked several questions about what everyone was doing, and Donna explained to them that people were celebrating because they were proud of who they were. The girls nodded. We walked past a group of guys in teeny tiny shorts standing on their balcony, toasting the street and dancing around in boas.

"Happy Pride!" one shouted, raising his glass to us.

We raised our water bottles to salute him.

"Those guys are weird," Lael said, looking back at them curiously. I thought about what to say to her and "sometimes weird just means drunk" didn't seem appropriate.

"I think they're just happy," I said instead.

Then we got frozen yogurt.

Deepish Thursday

Time for a little Deepish Spring Cleaning, so here are some things that may or may not be worth mentioning. But it’s my blog, so I will bore you if I want to:

Rob and I obsessively watched the first season of Damages over the course of 4 evenings. It is downright pathetic that when the final disc arrived from Netflix yesterday, I became giddy with anticipation and decided it was going to be a great night. Because of 2 hours and 14 minutes of television.

I found 2 paintings under our bed and brought them into work to hang on the wall. I have gotten many, many compliments on these and when I reported this to Rob, he said I had to bring them home because they are his. And they belong under the bed. Seriously.

In my Utah dispatches, I forgot to mention that anytime Rob was around the kids without me, Nick would say things like “Um….can you please go get your girlfriend?” Yes, that’s right. I was in demand, but also demoted.

Krista’s baby shower was on Saturday in New Jersey. I carpooled with some friends to meet at Becca’s house. Becca’s 2-year-old son was so upset that he didn’t get to come with us that he pressed himself up against the glass door and wailed as we got in the car. The thing is, he wasn’t wearing any pants, so when one of the girls pointed out that his little pee-pee was also pressed against the door, we all cracked up. There we were, 5 grown women, laughing and pointing at a disconsolate 2-year-old. I feel proud.

2008: The year of the baby

Here is a list of the babies we welcomed into our lives in 2008. Congratulations to all of our wonderful friends on the making of these cuties!

Grace


Tommy


Timmy


Roan


Chloe


Naya (twin Ketan not pictured, but very cute! These two were born on Dec 30.)


Gabrielle


Lily



Not pictured:
Nicholas
Zorion
Liana
John
Allie

I asked Rob which was his favorite baby (parents of these babies, I was just kidding when I asked this. No one has a favorite baby. Except all of you.)

He responded, "I'm not into favorites. I'm more of a merit-based person. I want to see what they've all done in a year."