4 months

Yesterday I was driving south on the 405 in the carpool lane, just before the Getty center, and realized the last time i had driven there I was in labor and driving to UCLA from Olive View hospital for Damon to be born. Seems like so long ago… I remember being so nervous and so excited, and couldn’t wait to meet my new baby boy. Well Damon has been as lovely and wonderful as I imagined he would be while pregnant. First came his smile, and now his personality is starting to develop too. He’s becoming playful and everyday he’s talking more and making new and different cooing noises. He discovered his feet and loves to grab on to them. When he smiles it’s the most heart warming sight. He has certainly has his melt-down moments, but overall still has a really nice disposition.

What else can I say about my little boy… well to start, he’s not so little. We went in for his 4 month check-up recently and he’s 18lbs 2 oz (97%) and 25 inches (75%), which is bigger then Riley was when she was 9 months old! I think I’ve carried him in the Bjorn for the last time… he’s so heavy it hurts my back. We’ll have to switch to the ergo carrier I think.

[We moved him to the crib a few weeks ago because he’s too big for the bassinet!]

Last week I had an RWJ conference in San Diego from Mon-Fri. Seemed too long to leave Damon at home (that’s a lot of milk!) so my mom flew out to take care of him for the week. Riley stayed home with Sage, and actually seemed to really enjoy having one parent all to herself. I was worried my mother would be bored, but she said she had a lovely week going on long walks to the beach with Damon.

About a month ago I went to a conference in Chicago. I left late on Saturday, came back early on Tuesday morning, and left behind 25 bottles of frozen milk and 5 in the refrigerator (went overboard a little, Damon needs about 8 per day, but didn’t want to run out!). I read a commentary in a magazine in the waiting room at my Ob’s office a while ago about a woman who pumped obsessively for each of her kids to be sure they had breast milk for the whole first year… In trying to figure out why, she decided that though she loved her work, pumping milk helped with the inevitable guilt moms feels about leaving baby home with a caregiver. That really resonated with me. I love my kids and I love my work, and I hate hate hate pumping. But knowing that Damon has had only my milk somehow makes me feel ok about choosing to go back to work. Not that formula would hurt him at all, it’s more a symbolic thing.

Anyway. That’s the Damon update. Or as Riley likes to call him Damonator. Or Damino (almost like domino). Or sometimes we call him Bubbaloo (Bubba, or bub, for short). There are a lot more cute pics and videos out there, but they are on my iPhone, and it’s such a pain to upload them… someday!