Play Pal

Desmond and Leah P. had fun playing together this week. Usually they just play side-by-side instead of with each other, but yesterday they seemed to make the other smile a lot.

A fun new friend!

Apparently Desmond likes to lounge on his friends.

Don't you just want to kiss her sweet little cheeks!

Botanic Gardens

Last week Jennette B. and I dodged the thunderstorms and found a nice morning to visit the US Botanic Gardens with Desmond and Kelsey. Kelsey was born two days before Desmond, so they are natural buddies. After touring the gardens we had a picnic. The kids were real troopers as their moms enjoyed hanging out together!

My favorite part of the gardens was seeing plants that grow things we eat, like vanilla (it reminded me of Madagascar!), allspice, cocoa and peppercorn.

Desmond's favorite part was definitely the fountain in the Kid's Garden.

Now that Desmond stays happy and awake for longer periods of time, I want to go into DC more. It's ridiculously wonderful how many fun free things there are to do in our nation's capital.

Eight Months Already!

Sometimes I can't believe my colicky baby has become such a charming kid! After five months of unhappiness, Desmond is working hard to make up for lost time. These days he will smile at almost anything that moves. It makes trips out in public quite fun.

Last week was a busy one for Desmond. He's finally started sitting on his own. I think it took seeing David B. (his elder by three months) unsteadily tottering around for Des to want to be upright.

His favorite kitchen toys are these measuring spoons, a regular serving spoon, and the whisk.

He's also demonstrating a high tolerance for fear and pain. It's rare that anything will scare Desmond enough to make him cry. Peter is grateful for this, since their favorite game is having Peter startle Desmond in all kinds of ways. I hope he isn't too stubborn when he gets older. A stubborn, fearless little boy sounds like quite a handful!

One of Desmond's funnier moves is trying to eat with his hands. He doesn't have it quite down yet, but he will grasp at pieces of toast and try to shove it in his mouth. The funniest is when he gets the bread, but doesn't release it into his mouth. That doesn't keep him from convincingly chewing as if he were actually eating. It's quite amusing.

He's also started babbling "mama" in a word-ish kind of way. I don't think he exclusively associates it with me yet. He seems to know that I'll react if he says it though. "Mama" might mean food, help me, I'm unhappy, or "hey you". I have to confess that it still makes my heart jump when he says it to me. :-)

Frisbee season is now over. Only the tournament weekend remains. Overall, Desmond did really well. As he got older (two months is a long time for this little guy!), I can see how he did better and better at the games. I'm sooo grateful to my teammates who helped watch him while both Peter and I would play a point, like Sarah, Lyndsie, Elizabeth, Tara and others! I still have a long way to go in getting back to my old Ultimate-self, but I made respectable progress this season. I'm looking forward to the fall season already!

Road Trip

A couple of weeks ago we drove down to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to see my sister defend her Masters' thesis. It was our first road trip with Desmond. It was also a smashing success. Desmond was reasonable in the car, slept well away from home, and liberally doled out his most endearing smiles. We enjoyed great time with family and meeting some of Megan's good friends. I couldn't have hoped for a better trip!

Megan did a great job in presenting her thesis. She was a perfect blend of professional and charming. It's amazing to see how much she has learned in the past few years. Her professors think so too - she passed!

We didn't take many photos on the trip. Managing all the baby stuff and baby was enough for us. Here are some of the few shots we got.

Hamming it up with Grandma

Don't even try; I win all staring contests.

Megan at graduation the following weekend.

Six Years Ago

Today as I watched the pollen fall like rain, it reminded me that my first spring in DC I almost died. My life was spared and, in a way, Desmond's was as well.

One morning in the spring of 2003 I woke up feeling terrible. Since I couldn't pinpoint the source of the lousy feeling, I chalked it up to silliness and went to work. Halfway through the day I couldn't walk 10 yards without gasping for breath. "Shortness of breath" as a symptom of illness always puzzled me until I experienced it. I coughed up a bit of blood. I felt weak. Yet because none of my symptoms fit any illness known to me, I ignored it.

I spent the weekend taking it easy. As I laid on the couch, I would notice my heart beating erratically. Yet I ignored it.

Three days later, I went to the doctor who said I probably had exercise induced asthma. To be on the safe side, he referred me to a pulmonary specialist. Perturbed that I might have asthma, I waited three weeks to see the specialist. The only reason I finally went is because every time I tried to run, I would wildly gasp for breath.

I distinctly remember trying to jog along the George Washington Parkway one day after work. Trees and flowers were blooming in full force, like they have been this week. Pollen hung thickly in the air; everywhere you went there was a sticky sweet smell. As I tried to jog along the river, I gasped for breath. A man older than dirt passed me....he was walking. I berated myself for "being out of shape." I thought, "Come on - you're a Knight; you're tough." (It took a year or so of being married before I stopped using my maiden name when internally chastising myself.)

When I eventually saw the specialist, he was concerned about the abrupt onset of shortness of breath and sent me over to the hospital for further tests. I assumed he was over reacting. After all, my symptoms had mostly subsided. I was young. Nothing could be so serious that I would need to visit a hospital. All I could think about was that I needed to get back to work.

Dutifully, I went to the hospital. After an array of tests, the doctor told me they were admitting me immediately. I had multiple pulmonary embolisms, meaning several blood clots that had moved from my legs into my lungs. Serious stuff.

As the nurses and doctors heard my story, they were amazed at my stupidity for waiting three weeks to be seen by a doctor. Of course they were more diplomatic, but that was the general gist of things.

As it turns out, I have a genetic mutation that makes me prone to blood clots under certain conditions - particularly when taking birth control pills or being pregnant. Women with this condition who become pregnant often have repeat miscarriages before the problem is diagnosed. Because I knew to get tested, I avoided that painful path.

Trials are a (inevitable?) part of life, but it's easy to resent them. Sometimes those trials bring joys we never would have foreseen. Because of my sickness six years ago, I didn't have to run the risk of loosing Desmond.

So now when the height of spring hits DC, I remember stubbornly jogging when my life was in danger. I praise God I was spared and rejoice in the wonderful blessings that resulted from that trial.

Fish and Chips

I'm making baby food for Desmond. I've really enjoyed steaming and puréeing different foods. Food is so colorful and fresh when you make it yourself.

See the bright colors of the peas and carrots.

Desmond has been very flexible in trying different foods. The more "exotic" flavors include tomato/basil/onion, tofu, lentils/celery/garlic, and spinach/sweet potato. For those of you who recall that I don't particularly like cheese, you'll be glad to hear I even made him cauliflower with cheese. We haven't tried meat yet, but it's not far off.

The boy has quite an appetite! And even though every toy goes right into his mouth, Desmond hasn't figured out that the cubes of tofu or soft fruit are supposed to be eaten. All in good time.

Des loves his mushy peas. All he needs is some fish n' chips to go with them!

Got Some Toes

Desmond has five teeth now (and another on the way) – three on top and two on the bottom. Anything is a candidate for going in his mouth. Anything.

Playing the blanket game with Dad on the floor.

Des knows what he wants. Will Dad let him have it?

Ooooh yeah.

Hopefully I can get a shot of Desmond's own feet in his mouth. Much cleaner.

Seven Months

Desmond turned seven months today. He has come so far in seven months. Lately he rolls from his back to his tummy all the time. He hasn't figured out the reverse, so I frequently have to rescue him from his tummy.

He also gives us a steady stream of babbling. You can feel he's just dying to communicate more with us.


March was full of family visits. Almost all of the grandparents were able to stay with us. It was so much fun for all of us to spend time together.

Our two blue eyed guys hang out together.

Babci and Vovo squeeze out a few more minutes with Des before heading to the airport.

Gleeful smiles with Grandma Judy!

Aunt Megan came to love on Desmond after her toxicology conference.

We're Back

January was a long month here. It's almost the end of February and I just now feel like I've recovered from January.

Here are the highlights of life from my silence.

- Desmond is teething. Two little teeth are poking through. Very cute...and sharp! He's also become a good natured baby. He smiles and laughs and giggles and gurgles. He sounds like a little songbird now that he's learned how to mix screaming with trilling. Again, very cute. He loves to play with his dad by hiding under a blanket. He's learning how to eat solid foods. He's sleeping...well, better than before.

- Peter and I have started a new Small Group with Katie and Eric F. So far it's been really fun to start getting to know some new people. I love meeting new people and seeing how God has made so many different kinds of folks on this Earth.

- We're going to have lots of family in town for March. I'm really looking forward to it.

- Ultimate Frisbee season is starting in less than a month!!! I'm so excited I could jump out of my skin. Peter and I are hoping that we can both play and somehow bring Desmond with us to the games. I'm not sure how we'll do it, but I'm determined to be flexible and adventuresome in trying to make it work. If we don't try, we will never know if it's possible. Now I'm just working on getting in shape again. Yikes!

Hopefully I'll get back in the saddle and write more in the coming weeks. Now that I'm getting a little more sleep it's easier to think about something other than how to make it through the present day.

I must say that parenting is getting more fun by the week.

Show me the sweet potatoes!

This was the closest we got to the Inauguration, but we enjoyed watching it nonetheless.

A bath photo he won't hate us for someday.

Even when sad he's pretty cute.

Working on those fine motor skills.

Happy New Year

"You can never step into the same river twice."
-- Heraclitus

Let's all embrace the richness of life as we reflect on 2008 and look forward to 2009. Happy New Year everyone!

Dear Old Duke

So far, we don't have much Duke paraphernalia for Desmond - only a Duke mobile and a Duke bib. However, I think his blood must already run true blue.

It's been a rough two weeks with his napping schedule. I don't know if he's teething, going through a growth spurt or what, but all of a sudden it's very difficult to get him to nap for a respectable length of time.

One of the few tricks I've discovered that helps him to sleep is humming the Duke fight song (the same tune that his mobile plays). He will calm down and coo along with me as I hum. He doesn't do this for any other song.

We're pretty proud to have given birth to a Dukie. :-)

Cloth Diapers

Some people think of me as a "tree hugger" or "granola-ish." To me it's a compliment, even though I don't think I'm nearly hard-core or cool enough to live up to either title. This has come up recently because Desmond's cute little bum is covered with cloth diapers.

I'd like to say that we decided to try cloth primarily because it's "eco-friendly." The truth is my biggest reason for using cloth diapers is to save money. Also, we want to fight a "single serving" mentality.

I'm carrying dozens of freshly washed diapers to Desmond's room.

Please don't misunderstand me. I don't think disposable diapers are evil or that using them makes anyone better or worse for it. We occasionally use disposables. Doing cloth as our primary diaper just seemed right for us.

If you're thinking about going the cloth route, there are a ton of options. A lot of sites go into helpful detail (like here or here or here); I won't rehash what others have already said. Here are a few of my scattered thoughts about diapers thus far:

• Don't believe cloth-evangelists who say cloth is not more work than disposables. It is. However, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I do a few more loads of laundry each week and it does take a little longer to put the diaper on. But folding diaper laundry is actually kind of fun. It reminds me that my little boy is growing. Plus, it gives you an excuse to watch TV guilt-free while you fold. :-)

• We're using a combination of pre-folds and pocket diapers. I've been surprised that pre-folds aren't as difficult as I expected. The creation of Snappis, which replace diaper pins, makes pre-folds very do-able.
  
  
• I love using pocket diapers in the middle of the night. They are quicker to put on, which is nice when it's especially cold at night.
  
  
• I'm not totally sold on the idea that cloth diapers are unequivocally and significantly more eco-friendly than disposable diapers. I've read articles which make the case that all the water used to wash the diapers negates the re-usable factor of cloth diapers. I'm not sure what I believe, but it's enough for me to realize that eco-friendliness is not sufficient by itself to be a motivator for me to use cloth diapers.
  

Grandma to the Rescue

I'm not sure if Grandma (my mom) was rescuing me or Desmond this week.

Recently I decided Desmond needed a snowsuit. Since I'm loathe to pay full price for baby clothes, I went to my favorite local thrift shop to look for one. Indeed, I found a perfectly respectable snowsuit for $10. With a 25% off sale that day, it was all the better for buying.

Unfortunately, it was pink. Desmond doesn't care, so I don't care. However, my mom sprang into action and found a nice, manly snowsuit on Black Friday and mailed it immediately.

Peter still gives his mom grief for dressing him in pink sweatpants once as a kid. Perhaps my mom was rescuing me from future grief instead of Desmond. Thanks Mom!

Bits of This and That

The past weeks have been full. Full of family, eating, growing, working.

- Peter's parents returned to England. We were so grateful to have them in the States for a few months at the start of Desmond's life. Their furlough was planned before we were pregnant. Somehow that divine coordination made their presence here all the sweeter.

- Watching Katie K. joyfully love Desmond without abandon has been a highlight of my week. Desmond is lucky to have such lively, intelligent, spunky aunts who are so full of life and love.


- Somehow Peter has found time to make small steps of progress on the basement. I'm amazed at how he's balancing so many demands in his life right now.

- I decided that I won't be returning to my job in January. It was simultaneously extremely difficult and extremely easy. I'll write more on this later.

- Desmond is smiling now! His smiles melt my heart in ways i never imagined. He even smiles in his sleep.

This is for Pete P. He loves it when I dress Desmond up as anything other than a little boy. ;-)

Life is good.

Long and Lean

You can't tell from this photo, but Des is a happy, "long and lean" little guy.

Desmond had a two month check-up last week. He weighed 10 lbs. 5 oz. and was 24 inches long. The doctor pronounced him "long and lean."

I thought seeing him receive the two-month vaccinations wouldn't bother me since he had an IV in the hospital. Wrong! Even though he only cried for 20 seconds, I still found my eyes wet with tears. I guess I'm a softy. I'm OK with that. :-)

Another milestone is that Desmond also rolled over last week! I can see now whey parents get so excited about these small milestones. When a baby can't do anything for himself, it's exciting to watch him slowly gain independence.

Life's a Dance

I live with lots of contradictions in my life. Don't we all? One of these contradictions is that I'm addicted to change, yet as soon as I'm hit with a change I work like crazy to create stability out of it. Despite the fact that I'm always battling to create routine out of change, if my life consisted only of routine tasks I would go crazy!!

For instance, when I started working at TNC I was like a kid in a candy shop. I loved the change in jobs and all the new things I had to learn (there was a lot) in order to function at a basic level. Yet assimilating new information and skills was a means to an end - to make certain problems routine. Making those tasks routine would free me (in theory :-) ) to tackle the new challenges.

This addiction to change will be helpful as a mom. Kids are constantly changing and require you to adapt quickly to their new needs. (As adults we're constantly in flux as well, we just hide it/ignore it better. But that post will have to wait for another day.) Peter and I aren't kidding when we say Desmond changes every few days.

Diapers? We have to fold them a different way now than a week ago. Sleeping? We have to figure out why he now wakes up after three hours at night when before he waited four hours. Crying? Why does he cry inconsolably in the afternoons AND evenings, when in the past it was just the evenings. The list goes on...

What can be frustrating is this new type of problem solving is more of an art form than a science. Since I'm dealing with a little person, there usually isn't a "right" answer. Desmond can't tell me if I'm right or wrong. "Right" answers are especially elusive at 2am. :-) For now I'll take solace in the country song's lyrics,

"Life's a dance you learn as you go.
Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow.
Don't worry about what you don't know.
Life's a dance, you learn as you go."

North and South

We've been enjoying lots of time with family this week. Some of Peter's family from Long Island came south to stay in Baltimore for a weekend visit. Also, my dad traveled north for a week-long visit. Desmond is one loved little guy. Here's the family love fest in photos.

Gangster Des

Are you talkin' to me?

"I'll beat you both together. I'll beat you both apart!"

That's right...I didn't think you wanted a piece of this.

Food Makes Family

Something special happens when people share food. Eating together, cooking together or giving food to someone creates a special moment. This is why I love cooking for people. My cooking isn't flashy or fancy, but it is a way to share sustenance with people - both through food and through conversation.

That's why it's been particularly touching to me to have people bring us meals when we were in the hospital and after Desmond came home. A special kind of warmth radiated from the meals. The gift of food speaks volumes to the country-girl in me.

On a more practical note, I've also learned a lot of new approaches to portable meals - enchiladas, chili, ham and feta pasta, tamale pie, sloppy joes, wild rice chicken casserole, pork stew, etc. I even tasted cookies from a purple ribbon winner in a 4-H competition! (For those of you who don't know, as I didn't, a purple ribbon is even better than a blue ribbon. It's like saying "this is absolutely the best", not just "this is the best out of this competition".) I've really beefed up (no pun intended) my list of potential meals to take to folks.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us so far, whether through food or other means! And to our DC friends - you need to start having more babies so I can bring you some food!!

Feeding Fun

We had an exciting weekend. My mom, Judy, visited for the weekend. We cooked a ton of meals to freeze. She also let Peter and I go out while she watched Des for a few hours. Even though I missed the little guy by the end of the evening, it was great to have an adult-only outing to celebrate Sonia J's birthday!. Historically Peter and I don't do "dates" very well. People insist that we need to make sure to have adult-time now that we have a kid. We're trying to figure out what that looks like for us. This was a good start.

Des also took his a bottle from Peter. I thought he might balk since he hasn't had a bottle since the hospital, but he was very compliant. Peter enjoyed getting to participate in the feeding fun.


On top of all that excitement I also went jogging for the first time in several months. Jogging is probably a generous term...it was more like a slow lope. Still, it provided enough endorphins to be in a goofy-happy haze for several hours!

Snap, Crackle, Pop

Anyone who has worked with me, lived with me or spent any significant time around me knows that practically every joint in my body pops. Somehow even my nose can pop. Yeah, it's weird.

We've heard a faint pop a couple of times when picking up Desmond. I don't know if this is normal for babies or not. Considering his mom can sound like a bowl of Rice Krispies, I wouldn't be surprised if it was indeed a joint popping. Hopefully someday he will have patient friends like his mom who will put up with all of his popping.

Desmond likes pushing himself around on the play mat in the mornings.

Babies and hats...too cute!!

Brave Dads

Desmond is now 9 pounds! Good growth from his birth weight of 7 lbs. 11 oz.

I'm discovering there are a lot of great things about the way that husbands take care of babies. Peter is willing to do a test run at all the things that scare me. He was the first to cut Desmond's fingernails, to give him a bath, to burp him vigorously, swaddle him tightly etc. Basically, if there's a task that intimidates me, Peter steps up to the plate and tries it first. I'm so grateful I don't have to do this parenting thing alone!