My Favorite

I used to think it was hard to choose a FAVORITE photo of one's child.  Especially when you take hundreds and hundreds of pictures that are cute for so many different reasons.

But while I was away at Harvard last weekend, Auntie I took what is absolutely my FAVORITE picture of X. 

It captures his fun, sweet personality.  It showcases him in a moment of pure joy.  It reminds me how amazing Dad is for taking such good care of him when I'm not there and for making sure he's having so much fun.  It's the kind of picture that makes me break into a broad grin anytime I so much as *think* about it. 

Maybe someday there will be another picture vying for the "favorite" spot, but this one has set the bar pretty darn high.

Texas Ranger

As in, Walker.

(WARNING: This post contains sound effects, which may or may not disturb nearby co-workers or violate copyright laws.  One might expect more from a two-lawyer household.  Sorry, Beach Boys.) 



Screen Time

"The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that kids under 2 years old not watch any TV."

I would like to thank the Academy for its opinion, but my child likes "Elmo's Song."

Sorry.

The Busy Week

How is it only Tuesday, and yet I'm experiencing Friday-like levels of exhaustion?  This week is abbreviated and packed.  There's a lot going on, and I leave on the earliest flight to Boston Friday morning for a two-day conference at Harvard.  Yay on some levels, and boo on others.  Losing a full work day and losing a full weekend day with X = tough.  But there are merits to attending, and I'm taking the first flight back to DC on Sunday.

Much of the ado at work relates to food work, which is excellent.  One of our food clients came to the office today to meet two of us in person, and she was reminiscing about the early days of her career.  She began musing on when I was going to make partner (ha), which segued into a discussion about how in the "old days," you basically did good work, stayed, and made partner.  That was just how the model worked.  If they liked you, they made room.  Can you imagine?  I cannot.  Then again, in the "old days," they also Shepardized by hand and had no Google.  So maybe today's world still trumps.

Anyhow, my "brief" interlude to upload X pics is expiring.  I must away to my caffeine and my C.F.R....

(Oh wait, did I blog about the fact that X is walking?  He's "walking"!  I put it in quotes because he can only do it when he's not thinking about it.  He's like one of those cartoon characters that run off the cliff edge, but only fall when they look down.  So basically, he takes several independent steps, and if he reaches his destination, yay.  But if he takes a couple steps and looks down before he arrives, PLOP.  Game over.  It's kind of hilarious.)

Ten Months

It's been a work-emergency-filled Saturday* here at Headquarters, but so it goes sometimes.

Let's distract ourselves from the tough road ahead with some Growth Chikin time.

Pensive with Chikin

Let the attack begin!

I squish you like so!

I get distracted like so!

I'm smiling like so!  (What was I doing before again?)

I don't remember.  I love you now, Chikin.

* Is it bad that I didn't realize it was Sunday already?  Whoops.

Baggage Handler

It's baggage handling, with a dash of "Risky Business" thrown in.

Country Roads

I had never been to West Virginia before.  Not sure Harpers Ferry really counts, seeing as how it's basically in Virginia.  And Maryland.  Either way, I am counting it on my very short checklist of states I've now visited.* 

The fam had a terrific time. 

I love Cracker Barrel.

Particularly the kids' menu.

And the crayons.  Those were very tasty.

Where's the grub?

Dad and me heading towards the Shenandoah.

I love Dad.

Ahhh, it's good to be a baby.

* For the curious, it's CA, FL, IL, KY, MA, MO (airport only), NH, NC, VT, WI, GA, IN, LA, MI, NJ, PA, TN, VA, CT, MN, RI, TX, DE, MD, NY, SC, and WV.  Okay, not as short as I'd thought, actually.  I've hit more than half.  I'm missing Hawaii, Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, the Big Square Ones, the Southwest, a bunch along the Mississippi.  And Maine.  Random.

On Being Hated

You know what [one of] the [numerous] problem[s] with being "famous" is?  It's being HATED.  Even if most people love you, the fact is that once you become a public figure, or even just well-known for something, you're bound to invite controversy.  Celebrities and politicians?  Game over.  But it's not really them that I'm thinking about.  I'm thinking about mommy bloggers. 

I got into mommy blogs several years ago.  I started reading one friend's.  Then another's.  And they would link to blogs they liked.  And I would read those.  And then I actually got snooty about it and would read blog award articles to check out new blogs.  But for the past year or so, I have been a stable follower of six blogs.  Two are commercial bloggers, i.e., they write books, make money from their websites, and have serious media power.  Four are non-commercial, but I think at least one of them has a pretty big readership.  I don't have data to prove this, but based on my general observations, I think that the larger one's audience gets, the more nasty and hateful comments will follow.

In the past couple of months, I added a seventh blog to my life.  And dear God, it's kind like the book from my last post.  I really do think I read it to see how angry it can make me.  I don't know this mommy blogger.  I've never met her.  I [hopefully] never will.  But she represents pretty much everything about lawyering, motherhood, and the intersection of those two life choices that I DESPISE. 

This evening, as I sit here with my skin crawling from reading the latest post, it's just making me think about publicity and the things we decide to put out there about ourselves.  And it makes me vaguely wonder whether it's worth living one's life in the shadows just to stave off hatred.  Is it better to go public with strongly held, but controversial, beliefs?  Or is it better to keep these things private, especially when you know the controversy they would invite?  Food for thought.

Anyhow, I'm fully aware that NONE OF YOU is really coming here to read this sort of nonsense.  You want cute stories about X and baby pictures.  So without further ado, allow me to report the wonderful news that X is officially cured of his fear of the shower head!  Completely ignoring all the textbook advice, I decided that I would cure him of his fear the way that I was cured of my insect phobia.  With very gradual, deliberate desensitization.  So we first played around with the shower head while he was not even in the bath.  He watched me hose down his bath toys.  The next day, I gave him a bath while he sat on one end of the tub, and the shower head spouted water gently at the other end, not even facing him.  The next day, he sat in the tub and I casually sprayed the shower head next to him, but no spray actually hit him.  And then the following day, he was ready to make contact!  Since then, it's been smooth sailing.  I now get to hose him down at the end of each bath, which was always the goal!  Hooray for psychology!

And now the pictures, which are unrelated to the story above.

Tall baby

Sleepy baby