The Brothers Jala

I think the introductions went well. Roc viewed the little bundle with more curiosity than anything at first. We started having issues when Maceo was feeding and Roc wanted some attention from J2. I tried to keep him busy, but it didn't always work. It'll take some time, but I think we'll settle down into a nice little groove, it's only been a day.

I know they'll be best friends.

"Is my kid a dick, or is he just 2?"

What sometimes gets lost in the whole hubbub of getting ready to welcome HuggyBear into our world is that Roc is growing and changing into quite the little boy. Our baby is gone, and while I sometimes miss those (much quieter) days, he has become a bubbly, vibrant, inquisitive little man. Introduce him to something new, and now you can almost hear those neurons click into place like so many Legos as he processes this new and wonderful information. It's rather fascinating to witness.

Where there is yin, of course there must be yang. We're definitely on the cusp of the Terrible Twos; his favorite word, next to "more," is probably "no." No vegetables, no clean diaper, no daddy. Granted, he learned it from us, but now that he's started to assert some free will we're sort of free-wheeling as we ping-pong off each other to determine what Roc really wants. "No veggies? How about bananas?" "No diaper? Tough." "No daddy? Go to mama then."

We haven't (yet) had any poo-flinging tantrums or grocery store meltdowns, but it's coming fo' sho', and I'm not even sure how I'll handle it. I hope any dickiness is temporary, though in this culture it'll probably be considered a strength.

Week 38-let's get this show on the road already! Jala2 said it's ok for me to liveblog Huggy's birth, so I'll give it a shot.

Before I forget...

Roc's first word: "Bubble." If you picked that in the pool, congrats, you win a afternoon babysitting.

Brains!

With his hands held up like that, Roc looks like a zombie, or maybe a Young Frankenstein Welcome to toddlerhood, my man. His confidence is growing quickly; he has pretty much abandoned crawling as a means of transportation. To celebrate his learning how to walk, we bought him some new shoes today at the U. Village sidewalk sale.



Up next: the Electric Slide.

The eye in the sky, looking at you

Happy Mother's Day! Roc and I gave jala2 a Flip Video camera this year. Initial review: great for what it does, which is basically to shoot youtube/web videos for sharing with friends and fam. The UI is simple, just a couple buttons, and fairly easy to operate right out of the box. Downloading is a snap, just "flip" out the attached USB dongle and plug into your computer. Works on both Winblows and Mac and even can download straight to your fave video sharing site (well, not all of them). Thumbs down on the non-removable memory (up to 1hr of video) and no optical zoom, but that's kinda nitpicky.

Jala2's posted a couple clips of us goofin' around.

What are We Doing Wrong?

Our wits are being tested again--Saturday, Roc woke up, had a bottle and joined Jala2 and me in bed, all happy happy. Next thing we know, milk's shooting out of his mouth and all over us (well, mostly mom). Then about half an hour later, Roc let loose a stream of liquid poo that no earthly diaper could contain. Wash, rinse and repeat about every two hours for the rest of the weekend. Haven't we been through this before not too long ago?

Could be another fun week. Hey Freddy's, better stock up on that Pedialyte.

Happy Birthday Taco!

Thanks to Aunt Nic and Uncle J for the new shirt, which has Yoda and the caption "Size Matters Not," in case you can't tell.

We gave him a haircut last night and man, does he look old or what? We tried to maintain the shaggy Noel Gallagher rockstar look but couldn’t quite pull it off. Now it’s more Noel Coward. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a British dandy…

So, Roc, how does it feel to be 1? Seems like you’re handling it fine. Me, it brings out my sentimental side, which you probably don’t care to see. Well, screw you, this is my blog, so here’s the highlights of the last 366:

You came into this world 2 weeks early, announcing your intentions by breaking mom’s water in the middle of a doctor’s exam, right there on the table. It was on a Monday. Don’t worry, they said, first babies never come on time…pfft. 15 hours later you arrived with a wide-eyed, curious expression that seemed to say “What the hell is going on here?” You still do that, and I hope you never outgrow it.

From day one you were an easygoing kid. On your baptism day/your mom and my wedding day you got passed around all afternoon and barely heard a peep from you. I had get on the PA to ask where you were.

You laughed for real for the first time on Father’s Day. Best. Present. Ever.

We took you on your first plane ride for Nic and JayBay's wedding. Not that you’d remember, since you slept the whole time. Coughbenadrylcough.

We took you for your second plane ride to Florida to visit your Lolo and Lola B. The little girl behind us was excited to go to Disney World until we actually took off. She didn’t like the noises and shaking, getting more and more upset until, finally, she screamed “I DON’T WANNA GO TO DISNEY WORLD ANYMOOOORE!” That made the whole plane laugh.

Your mom once asked me what is the one thing I’m looking forward to the most, and my answer was “To play catch with my son.” I know, it’s right out of Field of Dreams, but I always really enjoyed doing the same with my dad.

Goo makes you laugh, for some reason. She doesn’t like you very much, however.

Every day there seems to be something new going on. You’re standing up by yourself pretty good now, and will probably be walking very soon. What then? How soon before you realize that there’s a big world out there, bigger than just me and your mom? I want you to find out what it's all about, yet I don't at the same time. That means you're growing up, and I'm not quite ready for that to happen yet.

We love you, little man.

Mom and Dad

More LOLRocco

I'm probably behind on this but I see that fd's flickr toys has a LOL(blank) generator. Better than my quick photoshop jobby down below.



Ok, it's not that funny...

Some things ARE cheaper at Whole Foods...

...like pregnancy tests. You eliminate the fancy packaging and complicated digital readings, you can get 3 tests for like 5 bucks, according to Jalanquera.



(note the brilliant use of Comic Sans)

Roc's gonna be a big brother. Yay! Our plan was that we would start working on kidB when he turns 1 (which is only a couple weeks away), but we just accelerated that timeline by around 3 months or so. What can I say? We're fortunate to be so fertile, I guess. You know how it is, you stop breastfeeding, go on vacation, yadda yadda yadda, we're pregnant.

The Shmoo is doing fine, rolling along now at 12 weeks. His/her parents are a little stressed out, though. Happy, excited, but a little anxious. Can we afford another mouth to feed? Can you raise 2 kids in 800 square feet? (Yes, you can, no matter what the McMansion crowd tells you) Can we afford another kid? How is Rocco gonna handle all this? Can we afford another kid in childcare?

We think we're going to have this baby at home, with a midwife and/or a doula. It's not for sure, but we're real close to making that plunge. Not that the hospital was a terrible experience, but we were just 2 nuts in a giant baby machine, and we want to take back some of the control we surrendered (willingly, at the time) to the myriad doctors, nurses, machines that beep insistently, paperwork, hospital food (which actually wasn't that bad) and cramped rooms, all of which took away from what should and can be a quiet, private, family event. Think about it, hospitals are set up to treat everything as a procedure, one that can be predicted and controlled. And it's profitable for the hospital. It's no coincidence that caesarean rates are almost 1 in 3. That's messed up, y'all.

We drank the punch, but we've not gone totally hippie mental. But....it's much cheaper than hospitals or doctors, by maybe 2/3, we're following all the normal prenatal care and tests, we're more than willing to call it off and head to the hospital at the first sign of trouble, and we have a hot tub at home. Bonus! Conventional wisdom says labor for the 2nd child is much easier and faster than the first. Rocco came without much trouble, so we're thinking that this is the way we should go.

There are a few hurdles before we commit fully to it, so stay tuned.

It ain't always dimples and chicken...

To add some yang to the yin around here, here's some unflattering photos of Rocco:







I kid because I love.

Where We've Been Lately

Taco has had the runs since last Tuesday, so we've been at Threat Level Mustard Yellow for the last 5 days. Doc says keep him hydrated and it'll all be over in 7-10 days. WTF?! He seems to be handling it ok, though he's not his usual cheery self, especially when the tummy cramps kick in. So, Roc's in size 6 diapers for the time being.

Couple weeks ago, Taco and I grabbed a Chipotle burrito and went to the Democratic caucus. I signed in as an Obama supporter, though I'd be satisfied if either he or Hillary were to win the nomination. My precinct elected 2 delegates each for Hillary and Barack, while 1 went to Uncommitted. I don't think any other candidate has ever stirred me into action like Obama has (I even tried to get into the big rally at the Key), and judging by the big showing by my fellow GenX'ers, I wasn't alone. Look out, Boomers.

We had "Retztagg" over for dinner on Wednesday. Made Mussels in Puttanesca sauce over linguine. Mmm. Happy 1st anniversary.

As Jala2 says, some things are cheaper at Whole Foods. More on that later.

MSFT, keep your grubby hands off Flickr!

Or Roc will slobber all over you.

6 Months, Bishes!

After 6 months of parenthood, you would think by now I've got the hang of this thing. I suppose I do, if alternating between crushing fear and goofy bliss is normal. Here's a list of random thoughts:

• Crushing fears: basically every news story about sick kids, lead paint, superbugs, etc.
  
• Goofy bliss: sometimes I sneak into his room to watch him sleep. Sometimes he wakes up, looks around, sees me, and breaks into the widest, happiest smile ever. Gets me every time.
  
• I adore my wife. Jala3 is lucky to have her as a mom.
  
• I can be up to my elbows in Rocco-poop and still sing nursery rhymes, but if the dog so much as farts I'm having conniptions about it.
• Having a child is like having an instant best friend.
• We're already talking about the future Jala4. We're not getting any younger.
  
• Whoa. (see above).
  
• My one resolution this year was to try to see the world as Roc would, where everything is new and awesome, to explore along with him.
  
• Huggies>Pampers.
• Seems like everyone around us is procreating, or is it that we're just hanging around more prospective parents nowadays?
• Despite the crushing fears, I think that we're the most laid-back parents you'll ever meet. I just want my kid(s) to be normal. In an excellent way.
• I apologize for still not getting our 777 thank-yous out yet.
• Having 2 kids is still beyond my comprehension, like it was when we were still contemplating the 1.

What, you want profound?

Day Cares

Today is Roquito's first day at daycare. I had gotten used to leaving him in the morning to go to work, but seeing him lying there in an unfamiliar room kinda got to me. I think it's knowing mom isn't there either. Maybe it's the $1300 check we wrote soon afterwards.

He looked happy though, and I'm sure he'll be well cared for.

Rocco Tacco

Here’s another pic

So it’s been a little more than a week now, hard to believe that only a few days have passed since Roc was born. I think we’ve made the adjustment to our new reality well, though going back to work yesterday was a struggle for me, in terms of lack of sleep and also the fear that I may miss something important in Roc’s development. Fortunately, all he does right now is sleep and eat, and by the time I get home, he hits his stride and wakes up for me. Ame’s taken some time off to come out from NYC to help us out for a couple of weeks, at least they won’t be alone all day.

We’re of the mindset that baby adjusts to our lifestyle, not the other way around, so he’s already been out for sushi, shopping, groceries, Flower World, BiZi Bee, Babies R Us, the park, the neighborhood, the backyard…we have to do some accommodating also; everything takes a little bit longer to do, we have to stop once in awhile to feed and change, etc. Jala3 takes everything in stride and seems to enjoy being out (when he’s awake anyway).

What’s he like? Still hard to tell, but the one adjective that keeps coming up is “mellow.” Seems to like music, especially when we sing to him (prefers ‘70’s pop and soul), is most content when he’s being held, doesn’t matter by whom, and loves his pop (mom too)…

One downside to giving birth: 6 weeks in the desert.