cautionary tale

If baby has outgrown his diapers, don't try to "finish off" the last two or three.

Unless, of course, you like smelling like baby poo.

the beginnings

lest we forget how hard we had to work to get here:

Road Trip: Half Moon Bay

Today, Peter and his grandmother had their first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean.

Kevin and my mother test out the waters.

Yes, we took the stroller on the beach.

Amy, Kevin, and stroller-bound Peter at the beach.

Checking to see if Baby Peter's still inside.

Peter also enjoyed his first dining-out experience.

On the menu: some fish, and a cute baby boy.

Seaside dining for one.

And, we learned an important lesson: never let the baby sit on a pacifier, because he will not like it.

detente

So, it turns out our Old Dude and Girlfriend fears are for naught, as they very generously gave Baby Peter this Peter Rabbit dish set:


Nary a negative word again will cross my lips about our neighbors.

a rough looking baby

Our baby:He's looking a little rough. We'd just pulled into Books, Inc. to take a look around; we'd been walking up and down Castro Street at the downtown Mountain View festival.

My favorite part is how calm he is. Kevin remarked, "this can't last for long. And it can't end well, either."

I also really like how you can see the red indentation from his pacifier. I hope this gives a sense of how furiously he sucks on it.

deep, deep shame

blissed out baby boy

Our lactation consultant has really turned me into a neurotic mess when it comes to being a mother. But, it's become increasingly clear that Peter would like to use ME as a pacifier, and that's really not good for either of us. (Especially when it results in eruptions of overfed baby spit-up, like this morning, in which the entire family needs a change of clothes.)

So, after a disastrous walk to the post office, I came home and put this in his mouth. He took to it immediately, and within seconds had the zoned-out look of an opium addict. My mother asked how badly I felt, and all I could say was that it made me want to cry.

Luckily, Kevin came home a few minutes later to reassure me that I was not ruining the baby. I'm still not convinced, but I can't help but enjoy the 20 minutes of sleeping baby, delinquent thank-you-note writing, and reading that we've all been able to accomplish.

It was part of our bounty from Team Wilkens, and might have been a stroke of good luck from an otherwise crazy visit.