Gallistel.net

I’ve uploaded a bunch more photos to Paige’s first album on Phanfare.

In keeping with her incredibly easy delivery, Paige has been an incredibly easy baby so far. I thought I was so lucky with Lane, that he was such an easy baby, and figured I was due for a tough one after that. Turns out Lane wasn’t so easy! Our pediatrician calls this the honeymoon phase, when she really just sleeps all the time. I shouldn’t get my hopes up that she’s “easy” until she’s about two weeks old when she starts to wake up a bit. This may be true, but I’ll tell ya what: there was no honeymoon phase with Lane!

We got home from the hospital on Sunday. I was ready to go home this time; I felt pretty good except for my tear (which still hurts like a bitch—no bike rides anytime soon), but they gave me good drugs for that. My mom had stopped by UTC to get something pink & frilly for her to go home in, and we spent the afternoon lounging. Since then we’ve spent our days mostly relaxing, with some small outing each day. Tuesday we had our pediatrician appointment – Paige was already back up to 7lbs 3oz, and was declared perfect. Wednesday we went to CostCo, which was a madhouse despite being a weekday morning due to the upcoming holiday. I got a lot of double-takes and got stopped a few times by folks who noticed the teeny baby hiding in my sling. Today we went to Hillcrest to visit Milkmaid at Home , a lactation specialist store, because I needed a few supplies and wanted someone to take a look at our breastfeeding “technique.”

Speaking of which, breastfeeding is going well – obviously, since she is gaining weight. My milk came in within a day of birth. Paige is learning quickly (suckling is an instinct; knowing how to latch properly is learned) but not without some challenges and a little blood here and there (thank god kids are born toothless). The lactation expert at Milkmaid diagnosed Paige as being very mildly tongue tied, so hopefully the pediatrician can fix that at our next appointment.

Despite Paige’s daytime narcolepsy, she does have night and day swapped, and getting some shut-eye at night is definitely a challenge. Every night so far has been different. Last night she slept ok, just not in her bassinet. I tried everything I could think of. She has no problem with her bassinet during the day, but last night, even when she was fast asleep on my lap, she would wake up almost immediately after being transferred. We’ll keep working on it; however, I am able to get enough sleep, because I can catch up during the day during her marathon napping sessions.

When Lane was born, I’d considered keeping my laptop with me and updating this blog during labor. That didn’t happen for a bunch of reasons, several of which are obvious, but also because it would have been just darn inconvenient to try to work a laptop from a hospital bed. This time around there was a much more convenient way to keep folks posted – updating my Twitter account from my cellphone. I’ve had a Twitter account for awhile, and some of my friends suggested it – I’d probably be the first person to Twitter giving birth! Twitter is a “micro-blog” site. It lets you post very brief messages—from the web or from your cellphone—about what you’re doing at any given moment. Other friends who have Twitter accounts can follow you (i.e., see what you post), and you can follow them.

I ended up having the perfect labor to Twitter. I managed to provide updates pretty regularly until the epidural got put in. At that point I became too drugged to do much other than lie there. I gathered the energy to do one last Tweet (an individual Twitter posting) to explain my silence (1:58pm), and didn’t Tweet again until the baby had been born. After she came I had the energy to Twitter the news almost immediately (3:47pm) but felt weird letting my Twitter followers know Paige’s name before even her grandparents knew it, so I got around to announcing that later. Note that Twitter.com is not incredibly reliable and appears to have been down at that point, because the Twitter log says I made that post at 1:38am the next day when I’m sure I did it closer to 6pm the day of her birth. Of course.

What follows is the full archive of my Tweets during labor, along with responses from my friends. The first part of each Tweet (in bold) indicates the name of the Twitter poster, and the time/date of each Tweet is indicated at the end of the posting. When you see “@name”, it’s a publicly-visible message to that user.

elawson Still not in labor, but contractions have started. Today is my due date! 10:59 AM June 26, 2008 from web

declan @elawson good luck!! 12:44 PM June 26, 2008 from web in reply to elawson

CatherineLarsen I’m hoping that my friend Erika goes into labor today since it is her due date. 01:26 PM June 26, 2008 from web

ecrsail @elawson: Good luck Erika! 03:26 PM June 26, 2008 from txt in reply to elawson

elawson Is it ok to tweet at 4am? Contractions have been 5min apart for 3 hrs. Going to hosp to check things out. Will keep ya posted. 04:09 AM June 27, 2008 from web

ecrsail @elawson: It’s certainly ok for me! Good luck!! 04:26 AM June 27, 2008 from txt in reply to elawson

elawson Only 4cm. but thats enuf to check me in 04:54 AM June 27, 2008 from txt

elawson Napped for awhile, now up and walking the halls to try to get things going 06:46 AM June 27, 2008 from txt

elawson Can almost, but not quite, see qcom bldg aa from hallway window 06:58 AM June 27, 2008 from txt

ecrsail @elawson: Keep working at it! 10:27 AM June 27, 2008 from txt in reply to elawson

elawson Things have slowed so we’re gonna get things going. bring on the western med. soon they will break water, pitocin, epidural. 11:30 AM June 27, 2008 from txt

elawson Epidural is in. legs are tingly! another hr before water gets broken due to doc’s schedule. we are watching Knocked Up. 12:29 PM June 27, 2008 from txt

jwelle Ironic, huh? 03:30 PM June 27, 2008 from txt

ecrsail @elawson: Sometimes management has to provide a little extra motivation! 12:35 PM June 27, 2008 from txt in reply to elawson

CatherineLarsen is happy that Erika is in labor and is keeping us informed. I wish you the best Erika!! 12:52 PM June 27, 2008 from web

keithbooe @elawson Impressive you’re still updating in your condition… now that’s just twitterific! Good luck!! 01:44 PM June 27, 2008 from web in reply to elawson

elawson Feeling very drugged. all is well. going to take a twitter break. 01:58 PM June 27, 2008 from txt

declan @elawson Go Erika! Go baby! 02:06 PM June 27, 2008 from web in reply to elawson

elawson All done! only pushed twice. will say more once grandparents have been informed 03:47 PM June 27, 2008 from txt

sdtj Congrats @elawson on baby girl… Will have a drink for you!! 03:48 PM June 27, 2008 from txt

danlarsen @elawson Congrats! First person I know to twitter a child being born. Does she have an @name yet? 03:50 PM June 27, 2008 from web in reply to elawson

ecrsail @elawson: Yippee!! Congratulations!! I am all a twitter for you!! 04:17 PM June 27, 2008 from txt in reply to elawson

declan @elawson Sweet! Declan can also be a girl’s name, btw. 04:54 PM June 27, 2008 from web in reply to elawson

elawson Paige Elisabeth Gallistel, 7lb 9oz, 19.5in, 3:38pm 01:38 AM June 28, 2008 from txt

elawson Baby is fine but spent much of nite in nursery bc of swallowed fluid from short delivery. so we got a full nite sleep, nice! 09:07 AM June 28, 2008 from txt

declan @elawson Congrats! 09:18 AM June 28, 2008 from web in reply to elawson

elawson Heading home with Paige! 10:58 AM June 29, 2008 from txt

This blog posting is the story of Paige Elisabeth Gallistel’s entrance into the world (7lbs, 9oz; 19.5”; born 6/27/08 at 3:38pm). Paige’s birth was much quieter, easier, and faster than her big brother’s— typical for 2nd babies. All week last week I was very gradually getting stronger and more frequent contractions, but it was definitely happening more slowly than all the books said was “average.” Initially I only felt them in the evenings. Then they started continuing through the night. Finally, by Thursday, they started happening during the day. By the late afternoon they were strong enough that I couldn’t drive, but could walk around the mall without grimacing in pain.

Within a few hours of going to bed that night, the contractions woke me up. I started timing them at 1am and gave up sleeping by 2am. Mom joined me in the kitchen to agonize over whether or not it was too soon to call the doctor. By 3am the contractions were coming 5-9 min apart but were only lasting 30-40 seconds. Also, they hurt, but not as bad as I’d expected – keeping in mind that my first labor required lots of induction drugs, so perhaps my pain scale was skewed. At 3am I called the on-call doctor. He wasn’t sure either. This appears not to be an exact science! He said to time them for another hour and if they’re consistently about 5min apart then I should come in.

At around 5am, Mom & I headed for the hospital, leaving Lane & Tad to sleep. Turned out I had only dilated a disappointing 4cm. I thought that meant they’d send us home, but the nurse said that counted as labor and she wanted to check me in. Everyone thought it was going to go very fast since it was my second child.

Mom headed home to wait for Mackie to arrive to watch Lane. I checked into a lovely, spacious delivery room to get a round of antibiotics and 20 minutes of fetal monitoring. I was starting to confirm my suspicions as to why Lane’s birth had been so challenging pre-epidural. Lane was having heart decelerations, which required constant monitoring, forcing me to stay in bed. Well, turns out that with my “naturally occurring” contractions, sitting in bed was far and away the most painful position possible. I came to love the big arm chair in my delivery room: when I felt a contraction coming, I’d walk around to the back of it and rest my forearms on it, leaning forward, breathing through the contraction. Pretty much the exact opposite of the reclined sitting position I’d been in for Lane’s contractions!

Mom & Tad arrived shortly, and we passed the time walking the halls of the 2nd floor of Scripps Memorial. Every hour I got hooked up to the fetal monitors for 20 minutes, which was hard, but manageable. Baby was doing beautifully, but the contractions were still not as frequent as they needed to get. Ironically, my own doctor was on call. Of course he wanted me to get this show on the road. Basically my options came down to having my water broken with a Pitocin chaser, or going home to continue my slow pace of natural labor.

I considered. I felt I had learned a lot. I now knew what natural contractions felt like and they were nothing like what I had with Lane; they were actually manageable. Don’t get me wrong, they hurt like hell, but by breathing through them and finding a comfortable position, they didn’t make me want to kill myself. The most amazing thing – that I didn’t expect – was that in between contractions, I felt 100% like myself! I could continue a conversation where I’d left off; I was hungry; I could move freely or rest. In fact we were passing the time watching Knocked Up!

However, my labor was taking a freaking long time, and manageable or not, the contractions still hurt. After lots of agonizing over the decision, I decided to get the party going. With all due respect for women who have labored without pain meds—I am very aware that come 8-10cm dilation the pain intensifies beyond imagining— I felt like I’d gotten far enough along that I knew, had the circumstances been different, that I could do it if I’d chosen that kind of birth. The reality was that I’d made that decision 9 months ago when I decided to stay with my current OB, and deliver at Scripps Memorial, rather than seek out a midwife and deliver down in Hillcrest. Going au naturelle with my present doc and this hospital would have been a battle, some aspects of which were lost at the outset – such as the birthing position, which I had no choice over (on yer back, feet up, episiotomy or tear almost guaranteed).

So, within minutes I had an epidural. With Lane, the epidural was blessed relief. This time, it was extremely uncomfortable. Sure, it eliminated the pain of the contractions, but it also eliminated the wonderful feeling of normalcy between the contractions. Instead, I felt drugged – which, of course, I was. Next, in comes my OB (never forget that OBs are surgeons! Yay, get to use a cutting implement now!) who broke my water and announced that I was only 5cm dilated. 5cm! That’s as far as I got on my own. This was about noon time. Yep, going home would have been the thing to do if I was going to “go it alone,” and it would have taken awhile.

A few hours of psychedelic dream-filled sleep later, they came to check on me, and I was already at 10cm, ready to go. They retrieved the doctor, who watched as I gave it a first half-push – and the baby nearly crowned. So … moving along, they quickly got all the paraphernalia needed to get the kid delivered. At the next contraction I got two good pushes in; the contraction after that I gave it one more push, and out came Paige. That was easy.

After we got Paige cleaned up and checked out, we headed to the recovery room. By evening, I was able to walk to the bathroom with help, so the epidural was wearing off nicely. Although I did not have an episiotomy, apparently I tore just as much as if I’d had one – the downside of the epidural wearing off.

Because Paige’s delivery had been so fast, there was very little squeezing to get her out, which meant that she ingested a lot of goop. So, she was aspirating a lot of goop, and it was causing her to choke. She once even turned a bit purple while struggling to get air – scary! The upside of this was that they decided to take her to the nursery for the night, and bring her to me for feedings. Ah, sweet sweet sleep! By about a day and a half after delivery her choking spells were thankfully past … but our well-rested night was so blissful we asked if they could take her to the nursery again the second night (just in case!), and they obliged.

We checked out just before lunchtime on day two and headed home. Paige has pretty much been asleep since – but I’ll save that for a separate post.

So after an early morning for Erika, labor moved along (what felt pretty slowly) through the morning and early afternoon. Around 3:00 the nurse (Jamie) came in and announced the baby was ready and it was time to push. The doctor arrived and there was a flurry of activity, Erika pushed for what seemed like 10 minutes, and out popped Paige Elisabeth Gallistel at 3:38 pm, weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces. I’m sure Erika will publish a more detailed post soon.

Anyway here is a photo (click for a few more):

Well, 2am, anyway. I’m wide awake. Contractions are coming about every 5 minutes now, but for some reason don’t hurt as badly as earlier in the evening. I’m supposed to call the doctor when the contractions come 3-7 minutes, and have been doing so for 45-60 minutes. I’m pretty much coming up on an hour of this, so will probably call the doc soon.

As a follow-up to my previous blog entry, I spoke to my doctor’s nurse earlier today to get some clarification on the whole induction thing. The chat helped, and in the end I decided to stick with the plan of waiting it out, since I seemed so far along. The nurse called me back later to tell me it was a moot point – the doctor was booked up for scheduled inductions! Of course if I went into labor on my own – as I seem to be doing – they’d make room for me.

Today I guess I was “nesting” – was trying to keep busy, and also trying not to sit around too much since that seemed to slow down the contractions. So, I went to the mall to look for some summertime PJs for Lane, and then later Mom, Lane & I went to the Container Store to buy some more organizing things for the new baby’s room. I love the Container Store!

Today is my due date, and my maternity leave has started. I started having what I would consider “real” (but still mild) contractions Monday night, but they weren’t regular, and they went away when I laid down. Tuesday night they became more regular, more intense, and radiated into my back and legs – but again, went away when I laid down (and didn’t reappear in the morning). Last night, starting with when I got home from work and took a walk, they became very regular and yet more intense. They occurred about every 10-20 minutes for about 30 seconds – classic “latent phase” (early labor) contractions. This time they even kept up during the night, waking me up a few times. But, by morning, they had stopped. They’ve started again – so that’s progress, since this is the first time I’ve had them in the morning – but they’re not regular at the moment and they’re less intense.

So I don’t know what the heck this all means. This isn’t how the books say it’s supposed to happen.

After my doctor’s appointment on Tuesday I’m really motivated to get this show on the road. The normal protocol at this hospital is apparently not to let mothers over 35 years of age go past due. My doc can only schedule inductions when he is on call, and he’s on call on Fridays. So, he wants to induce me tomorrow. I said no – I really don’t want to be induced this time. It wasn’t a very productive conversation, to be honest, and now that I’ve had time to think about it I have a lot of questions. I plan to call the doctor’s office in a bit, once I’ve timed a few more contractions. In any case, if only I could go into labor before tomorrow it would be a moot point!

By the way, once this thing really does get started, I hope to Twitter the experience. No promises – I might just turn the phone off as soon as I get to the hospital…

There are four days left until my due date of June 26. Still pregnant. I’m having tons of Braxton Hicks (pre-labor) contractions, especially when I walk. On Thursday night I starting having a mild but continuous contraction at around 3 or 4pm, and thought that it was the beginning. It didn’t hurt but was uncomfortable and non-stop. Then, when I got into bed for the night, it went away, and that was that. I’ve had to remind people that although this is my second kid, I didn’t actually go into labor the first time – I was induced. So, I really don’t know first-hand what to expect. This kid is much more active than Lane was, and I’ve already had far more of these practice contractions than I ever had with him.

So, life goes on. Mom got here last Tuesday and has been having a blast playing with Lane. Of course, as seems to be our routine, we’re having a heat wave. We pretty much only have heat waves when my parents are in town. It was in the mid-90s here today. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this hot; I’m pretty sure it was a record high for the immediate area. We managed to have fun with it: pulled out the kiddie pool, dug up some more shade umbrellas, and jumped in the big pool whenever we needed to. For lunch we went to the (air conditioned) food court at the mall and watched the zamboni groom the ice skating rink. We indulged in fruit pops in the afternoon and Lane’s first ever ice cream cone after dinner.

Erika at week 35

Tad and I are making changes to the way we post photos (I’ll spare you the details), and between that and, well, life, I realize I haven’t uploaded ANY photos to Phanfare for all of 2008. I just posted two albums —one from Easter, and one with various pics from this Spring (which is technically not over, so I suppose I could be adding pics to this album).

At Elisabeth’s request/suggestion, I also have posted a shot of me pregnant, above, at 35 weeks on May 25. We’ve been trying to take some pics of me pregnant and so far I like this one best, but it’s not great. This dress is pretty but it’s too short and, being a dress, doesn’t really show off the belly very well. Of course I hate all my clothes. I have a favorite top but I’m wearing it in one of the better pictures of me when I was pregnant with Lane, so I’d rather wear something different for kid #2. We’ll keep trying.

Right now I’m within 2 weeks of my due date of June 26. I’ve been telling everyone that I’m holding out for my mom to get here on the 17th. Now I have another reason to hope the birth is later rather than sooner—I have a terrible cold! Ugh, it would be so awful to go into labor while sniffling and sneezing. So, I’m trying to be very still, not walking around a lot, and taking it easy, until both my mom gets here and this cold abates. I blame this on Lane; he was sick last week and is (of course) therefore getting over an ear infection.

36-week ultrasound above, in profile. Here’s another face forward.

After 17 weeks of 20% uncertainty, the gender of Thing #2 has been confirmed to be GIRL. As you may recall, at the 19-week ultrasound, they were 80% sure that it was a girl, but no more ultrasounds were planned to confirm it until week 36. This time, the u/s technician had barely touched my belly with the wand, the image on the screen still fuzzy and gray to my eyes, and she said, “Yup, it’s a girl.” She zeroed in on the parts in question and showed me what she was looking at. I’ll have to take her word for it.

This kid moves around a LOT. I mentioned this to the u/s technician and she agreed—once or twice pleading with the kid to sit still long enough to get some measurement she needed. With four weeks to go, she estimated the weight to be about 5 or 6 lbs, which makes sense. Of course this is the same u/s technician who estimated Lane’s weight a few days before his birth as 8 or 9 lbs, with an error of +/- 1lb—and he was born 7lb 6oz, so who knows.

The irony is that after waiting forever for an u/s to confirm the gender, next week I’ll start twice weekly ultrasounds (to keep an eye on the amnio fluid level), along with a non-stress test (to make sure the kid’s not stressed). Apparently this is because I’m over 35. I was 35 when Lane was born so I’m a little puzzled, since I didn’t have to do this as often with Lane, but maybe it’s being OVER 35 that matters. The non-stress test is a bit time consuming—I sit with a fetal monitor on to measure the kid’s heartrate and my contractions for 20 minutes or so. Think if I were to bring my laptop it might become a stress test instead of a non-stress test … ?

Lane has a new favorite book, Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go. It’s your typical Richard Scarry book – 40 or so busy pages, thin on plot but lots of pictures of cars, trucks, buses, trains, bicycles, and all sorts of creative variations. Lane loves it, being the car/truck/bus fanatic that he is.

As with all Scarry books, every page has a “hidden” creature. In this book it’s a little yellow bug called Goldbug. Lane is very good at spotting him, sometimes even finding him faster than I was able to. When he sees him, Lane yells out, “Gold buuuuuuuuuuggggg!!”

When he’s done examining a particular page, he often will say “bye bye” to the various cars & trucks on the current page. I guess it’s his way of telling Mommy to turn the page.

His favorite things to point out are, of course, the buses and bicycles (which include motorcycles, scooters, and unicycles; and yes, he says “bicycles,” not “bikes”). But he also likes to point out the likes of vehicles such as a cheese truck, an alligator car, a shoe car, and a baby buggy. My particular favorites are the many car carriers, which Lane calls, “Ca-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya.”

I know I haven’t blogged much about this pregnancy. It’s a lot like the first one, and a lot less interesting than Lane’s daily exploits; somehow it is so much less blog-worthy than the first time around. That said, here’s how it’s going.

I’m at 34 weeks right now (due date June 26). I hate being pregnant as much as I did the first time, if not more, since although the pregnancies are similar there are differences, and none of them are really for the better. The biggest difference is that I’m carrying really low. Sometimes I swear I can feel her move in my thighs. (Note: “her” is no more certain than before – 80% – but sounds better than “it”.) This has resulted in a lot more shifting and pressure, and it actually hurts to stand or walk. Not badly, but constantly – it feels almost bruised.

I really can’t complain, though, because like last time my pregnancy is uneventful and without complication. My doctor’s appointments – now every other week, instead of once a month – are just as boring as ever. In fact I even stopped gaining weight a couple of months ago, probably because the heartburn is also worse this time around, which definitely discourages eating. My next appointment will include my first ultrasound since the 20-week anatomy scan, so hopefully we’ll get another look at the boy/girl question.

As for childbirth preparation, I’ve done almost nothing. I still maintain hopes for a “natural” birth but my expectations this time are much lower, for three reasons. One, I’m going to the same mainstream doctor & hospital that Lane was born in, and I’ve heard that they have a 95% epidural rate. If I were serious about this, I’d be going to a midwife & birthing center in Hillcrest, but you just can’t beat the convenience of a hospital that I can see from my building at work, 5-10 minutes away from my house! The second reason is that, if you’ll recall, I threw my back out just before I got pregnant, and again shortly after. I’m keeping the problem in control with weekly yoga, but it’s still sore, and whether or not I slipped a disk is not clear (MRIs are contra-indicated for preggos). So I’ll be starting this whole thing higher on the pain scale to begin with. Finally, I’m quite honestly a little less gung-ho about it. Lane turned out just fine. Sure, I’d like a faster recovery, but I’m much more interested in avoiding the pitocin/induction which I don’t think helped my recovery either (and more significantly, increases the chance of a C-section). I have a co-worker with 3 kids, one of whom was induced, and she said the pitocin made her feel like crap. She had an epidural for all 3 kids.

So, are we ready? In some ways we’re tons more ready than we were for Lane, and in some ways we are less ready. Last time my mom was here she unpacked and put away all the infant clothes, so we’re good there. But we still haven’t picked a name. I only just borrowed a bassinet from a friend yesterday (Lane’s still using the crib), and our new double stroller just arrived, still in its box. Half of our infant gear is still boxed in the garage. I still have to buy teeny diapers and new breast pump hoses, and a few other things. I’m debating buying new bottles without the toxin of the year (bisphenol-b or whatever it’s called). I have not packed for the hospital. However, unlike other members of my household, I have a constant, kicking reminder of what’s coming. I think Tad is still wrapping his arms around “only six weeks to go,” and Lane … well, Lane’s not going to know what hit him!

Some of Lane’s recent accomplishments and antics…

The other day when I picked Lane up at daycare they told me he had spent much of his time outside near the fence bordering the parking lot, saying “hi” to all the cars coming and going.

We have been teaching Lane his “pleases” and “thank-yous” lately, and he’s pretty much got it down by now. On Friday night, planning to visit the zoo with his grandparents over the weekend, I said, “Do you want to see Mackie and Grandpa?” Lane nodded and said, “Yes, please.”

Last weekend was really hot, so we broke out the kiddie pool, inflated it, filled it up, and watched as Lane first hesitantly tested the water, and then within 15 minutes or so was splashing around like … well, like a kid in a kiddie pool. That night, for whatever reason, Lane had a hard time falling asleep, and was really crying. As I walked in to deal with it, he immediately stopped crying, stood up in his crib, and said, “kit-tie-poo.”

Vocabulary is expanding by leaps and bounds. I call him noun boy, he so loves to identify things. However, he now refers to the master bathroom as “mommy pee,” and my phone as “call daddy.” Despite his expanding ability to communicate, when he really wants something, he just grabs your hand and drags you to it – to the garage for a trike ride, to the kitchen for a “sack” (snack) or “ca-ca” (cracker), etc.

Two-word phrases (“mommy car,” “more waffle,” or today’s new one, “move, grandpa”) have been mastered. The colors blue, pink, and sometimes yellow can be identified with reasonable accuracy. Poopy, and sometimes wet, diapers are occasionally reported (once or twice by the hand-grab method to drag a parent to the changing table).

After waking in the middle of the night the other day, I thought we had a communication breakthrough. Lane explained his night waking by exclaiming, “Hot!” But then a let down when he next said, “Cole! cole!” Oh well. But as I changed a very wet diaper, he then said, “wet da-pa!” Well, I could figure that out for myself, but it’s a step in the right direction.

I haven’t posted in a long time, I know, and I have tons of things I could post about, but in the interest of time I think I’ll dive in with announcing a baby naming contest! Sort of. Tad & I already have some ideas, including a couple that we really like, but we haven’t settled on anything yet, so I thought it would be fun to get some suggestions from friends & family, see what ideas you have. I’m not sure it’s technically a contest, because we may pick one of the suggested names, we may not; and I haven’t thought of what the “prize” might be (you get to babysit? ).

Send your ideas to me via email (erika at gallistel.net). The deadline is sometime before the baby is born (due June 26). We’re still no more sure of the baby’s gender (80% girl), so both boy & girl names are welcome.

Here are some of our thoughts on baby naming in general:

I’ve stopped updating Lane’s dictionary because I just can’t keep up with his one-word vocabulary, it’s growing so rapidly. A couple of weeks ago I was thinking that although he says a lot of words (and understands tons more), he isn’t really using them to communicate – if he wants something, he still whines for it instead of saying its name. Well, this is rapidly changing. In fact, he has now learned to say the word “yes” (actually “yah”), and uses it – along with “no” – appropriately, so you can actually ask him yes/no questions and get fairly reliable answers.

Just this morning, Lane & I had a great “conversation.” I got him out of the crib and changed his diaper, then put him on the floor. As I was cleaning up I asked him if he was ready for breakfast. Instead, he ran over to the couch where there was a stack of books and started to “read” one. I sat next to him on the floor while he paged through and pointed out the “moo” (moon) and the “girah” (giraffe) in the story.

“Do you want to wear your slippers?” I said.

“Yah, pers,” Lane said. (Yesterday he didn’t want to wear them, instead he insisted on two different shoes, one on each foot.) So I put his slippers on.

“Do you want to sit here?” I asked, patting my lap.

“Yah,” Lane said, and climbed up. “Dah?” he asked, and I handed him his floppy dog that he sleeps with (he’s not much on using the last consonant in his words.) I read another book to him. “Twash,” he said, pointing out the trash cans pictured with the garbage truck in the book (of course it was a book about trucks).

As we finished the book, I told him we were having banana French toast for breakfast. “Anana!” he said.

“Are you ready for breakfast now?” I asked.

“Yah!” he said as he got up. Just before rushing down the hall, he turned to the books now back on the couch, waved, and said, “Bye bye.”

I’m sitting here having breakfast with Lane. He’s pretty much done, but didn’t eat much of his fruit. So, to encourage him, I stuck his little fork into a piece. He picked up the fork and sort of held it out. I said, “Do you want to feed Mommy?” He smiled up at me and immediately offered the piece of cantaloupe to me. I took a bite. “Mmm.” Lane carefully speared another piece with the fork, yelled “More!” and held it up for me again, and again, and again. Sometimes the tables get turned… (Then Lane took one more bite, and with that, I think we’re done.)