Six Weeks Old

I have done a lot for Zoe in terms of posterity. There are the wildly successful Life with Zoe books, volumes one and two. Together they have sold upwards of half a dozen copies. There is the popular weekly blog, Lifewithzoe.com that has a dozen readers around the globe. Every year there is a Zoe calendar sent out to the grandparents. And of course there are the two thousand four hundred (and counting) photos of Zoe. It’s a little early to know if Calder will get the same treatment—I’m already behind on the photos and the blog—but I really want to defy all those second children out there (Alison and myself included) who complain that there are hundreds of photos of their siblings, the first born) and a only a couple dozen of them. As I said, I am already behind on this blog, but to be fair I did not post my first Zoe blog until five and a half weeks in. And I really did forget how difficult these first weeks could be. Not only am I sleep deprived, but now I am balancing the needs of two children, neither of whom approve of me sitting quietly in a corner working on a blog, even if it is all about them. Also, for at least the first few weeks there is really little to write about. All he does is eat, sleep, vomit and poop (all in equal distribution, except the sleeping). I guess I could write about the symphony of noises that come from him. He seems to squeak, gurgle, burp, groan, cry, moan grunt, fart, gasp, sob, wail, whimper, murmur, burble, peep, squeal, tweet, rasp and groan as much as he wiggles, squirms, twists, flops, arches and twists. Or I could write about the unnatural quantity of poop he produces (but I’d rather not even think about that, never mind write about it). And I don’t suppose anybody wants to hear me whine about how little sleep we are getting (we’re not getting much) or the fact that he inevitably throws up just to the left of the burp cloth. So unless he starts speaking at three months, or learns to juggle before he is walking, I guess I will simply have to fill these pages with witty asides (a.k.a. useless clutter) and steal content from the early days of lifewithzoe.com.

Today Calder turns six weeks, and he is not yet talking or walking (or even crawling). But his head is beginning to get some control, so he is no longer as floppy as Zoe’s Minnie Mouse stuffed toy. And he is plumping up like a turkey in September. Special skills, you ask? Well, on one occasion I was trying to make him smile by making funny faces at him while he was lying on his back, and he managed to throw up up into my face. He is also skilled at denuding my chest of hairs by pulling them out by the fistful. But skills aside, the biggest event in our house has been the arrival of the vibrating, musical bouncy chair. It seems to be the only thing that calms Calder (other than us holding him, which gets tiresome after a few hours). Honestly, if I could fit into the chair I’m sure I would also find it relaxing. Or I would just follow Calder’s example and throw up.

Check out the few photos of Calder I have taken at picasaweb.google.com/dbglass/Calder1stMonth