Ben doesn’t reach for things yet, but I discovered the other day that if you put something (say, a highlighter) in his hand, he can hold onto it for a moment. The highlighter was pretty hilarious, cause he accidentally brought it to the side of his face and it made him look deep in thought, all pen-to-head like that.
So I went on a rattle hunt yesterday. A simple rattle was impossible to find. The closest I could get was a “phone” rattle with stripes and polka dots. It’s okay, though, cause I think he likes it. I had the most fun just holding it up in front of him.
Now, to those of you who haven’t had an infant, you’re probably like “why is that fun?” Well, because for two months, he’s just been a lump. That he can now not only look at something, but actually see it is, like, amazing.
He had way more fun looking at it than holding it, but he did seem pleased that it made noise.
The funny thing is, the rattle is supposed to mimic a phone receiver. But the first phones Ben will see are cell phones. Patti’s daughter (whom I refer to as E-town) is just over a year old, but you can give her a cell phone she’s never seen and she still understands that it’s something to talk and listen to.
Yesterday, Terica and I were talking web design and she asked what I use. GoLive? Dreamweaver?
“HTML,” I replied. She looked at me like I had two heads.
Cindy called today to ask who hosts lauracatoe.com, and I told her Yahoo. But why? The same reason I use HTML instead of a program. It’s what I know.
When I first began a web site, it was with GeoCities (later bought up by Yahoo) and I did everything with HTML cause I was learning it. I did use FrontPage Express for awhile, along with an FTP program.
I can write a basic HTML page, with tables, without having to consult a manual. I can do light Javascript and CSS if I have a tutorial to refer to. I don’t know Flash, but hopefully by the end of the year I will. (It’s a work goal; I’ll be doing an online course.)
I’m just not very tech-y. Geeky, yes. Tech-y, no.
I did manage to get the blog header fixed, except for a pesky pixel or two.
Well, Blogger wised up and added a feature to use a picture instead of a text header, but the way I had customized my old template actually knocked out the header section and the new Blogger widgetry wants to place the picture inside the header. I guess it’s just gonna have to be broken until I have time to figure out a workaround.
Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes
This is something I picked up at the Book Corner to take to the beach. The aqua cover sang “beach read” to me. I read 11 pages poolside before I had to carry Ben back up to the room to feed him. C’est la vie.
So I finished it this week while he was napping. Motherhood=over a month to finish a “beach read.”
There’s a bit of a twist at the end that I really should have seen coming. As it is, I was only paragraphs ahead before I wondered “Oh, hey, is he…” Yeah, slow on the uptake these days. And I never noticed until I Googled the book for this post that the “blissfully self-interested” main character is never given a name.
From the Amazon review: “This is a savvy and viciously funny trip into a glittery, glitzy world we sure wouldn’t want to live in-but by which we’re more than happy to be vicariously consumed for the length of a book.”
True.
So, if the little man ate around 11pm and was in bed and asleep by midnight… if he slept until 4:52am… does that constitute sleeping through the night?
I got a chance to work up some photos today. Besides a couple of cat pics and Ben pics, I posted my favorite shots from the pregnancy portrait session with Zach & Kristie. They haven’t seen all the pics yet, and I’ll be interested to see which ones they like best.
Photography doesn’t work the same as graphic design. If I take some photos and present my favorites, often the subject will agree on some. If I present my favorite designs, a client always gravitates toward the one(s) I don’t like.
When I am at people’s houses, I enjoy it when I see a photo I took out on display. It’s like being a little part of their family story.
And I like seeing logos I’ve made out and about. I also like it when someone comments favorably on a design choice I’ve made. Liz could write a love poem to the font in the Finlayson Landscape & Design logo. And I dig that.
Thanks to one of my geeky gurus, I’m blogging wirelessly from our kitchen. I’m glad I know people who know things about routers and such, cause while I know how to use computers and the internet, I confess that to me the how behind them is still magic.
Similarly, I know what internet cookies do even if I don’t know how they do it. I know cookies are to blame for Old Navy thinking I gave birth to a girl. I bought most of my maternity clothes from the Old Navy website and I wondered if the e-mails I get from them would always think I was still pregnant. Nope, about a month after Ben was born, they started sending me e-mails mentioning the sales of baby girl clothes. Silly Old Navy, those bunny booties were for my niece Bonnie not my son Bentley.
Internet magic isn’t foolproof.
Ben has been working his mojo on the ladies. Jaimie asked if she can come see him tomorrow. Liz threw her hat in the ring for babysitting. Terica offered to hold him while I ate last night. GJ called today and practically wailed “I miss that baby!” Shortly after, Patti called to say she was in the ‘hood and wanted to stop by and see the little fella.
Such a ladies man. I bet he’s gonna be a total flirt when he masters hand-eye coordination.
For the past two doctor’s visits, they have sent home a little slip of paper with some instructions. Last month, it said things like “Mylicon 3x times a day for ‘gas’” and “No oils or lotion to the head or face.” It made me wonder why “gas” was in quotations and why of all the things to advise new parents against did lotion to the head rate inclusion.
This month, the paper warns us not leave him unattended on a bed or changing table cause he’ll start to roll over soon. It also says to always use car restraints - rear-facing and in the backseat. You mean these last 8 weeks, I shouldn’t have had him in my lap while I drove? (Just kidding, DHR.)
The paper said we can give him 2 oz. of apple juice a day now. That should be fun.
Well, I am officially no longer on maternity leave. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be working from home until the first week of July when Ben starts daycare. Today I was in the office, getting programs installed and burning fonts and templates to a cd for the Mactop.
I missed Ben’s 2-month doctor’s appointment. That’s okay with me, because he had vaccination shots and I’m glad I missed them. I know they are for the greater good; doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have hated watching him get stuck.
He’s up to 11 pounds and 7 ounces and is now 23.75 inches long. He now weighs more than Satine. As Jaimie said, he’s Big McHugeLarge now.
Veronica Mars has been cancelled. I wish it hadn’t been, but I am not devastated. I reserve the right to be upset if tomorrow’s finale ends on a cliffhanger, though. I just ask that when networks decide to cancel a show, they do so enough in advance so the final episode can be written as such. Say, f’rinstance, let’s not leave our title character in mortal peril, ‘kay? Even if he seems excited about slaying a dragon.
Ben is now eight weeks old. Everybody who saw him this week commented on how big he’s getting. He was passed around a lot yesterday. Terica, GJ, Jaimie, Liz, Cookie… lots of love did the boy receive.
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Ugly Betty finale, that was a cruel way to end the season. It made me not want to watch the CSI finale I recorded. I do all my CSI watching on the Spike network in syndication, but I saw a promo for the finale and managed to set the DVR. So if you saw it and you see me out and about, don’t tell me what happens. (Also don’t tell me anything about the last six or so episodes of Medium.)
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Dad spent several hours on Wednesday trying to get my laptop hooked up wirelessly. Nathan tried yesterday and says he has something else up his sleeve. Internet, why you gotta be like that?
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I’ll be at work on Monday, getting all my ducks in a row for working from home. Maybe I’ll get to make a map while I am there. I miss map-making!
