Yes, my life is now a complete cliche.  I got married, had a baby, and now have a hard time keeping in touch with the outside world.  As much as I'm not a GW fan, this was the first year I missed the State of the Union since elementary school.  Now I'm certain many people would say big deal, but it clicked with me.  Maybe this explains how so many people vote in the red states.  You just lose track of major events and have to vote for the person with the prettiest signs or how your preacher tells you.

 

Anyway, the Coopster is now a 3 month old and we're bonding.  For those of you who read this and are male or childless (or both), the first two months pretty much suck.  Now, it's actually kind of cute and we have a bit of a schedule going on for now - he smiles, laughs, coos, and of course, is already out performing in many ways.  He can hold his head up for long periods of time (very advanced), can sit up for a minute or two without help, and is at 90% of the growth chart for weight (this is a big deal).  He's now referred to fondly as "the Tank" - he goes from Yoda to Jabba the Hut (and this is an awesome thing in baby land) in 3 months.

 

I've managed to keep up with most of my email while out on maternity leave.  I didn't think I would be able to stay away but I really miss working.  I kind of feel a little guilty about missing work (I mean, shouldn't I just be dying to spend all day at home with my baby) but I think some of it has to do with the "expert issue" - meaning, up until the last few weeks, everything I did with the baby has been like working as a support engineer - you're just doing trial and error troubleshooting whenever he's crying - and despite all of the books/websites/experts - he's a one of a kind and you have to figure it out.  At work, I know what I'm doing (well most of the time) and feel confident in my decision-making and actions.  I am so much more respectful of stay at home moms & professional child care workers. 

 

Funny how you learn how family friendly (or not) certain places are - for instance, my current most unfamily friendly company is American Airlines - an airline that has bathrooms with no changing tables installed on the plane.  Now, I don't ask that every airline bathroom be equipped with the simple fold down table but I think one on each plane would be something simple to install.  I mean, hello ... so the choices are, babies lingering on 4 hour flights with stinky diapers filling the air with their odors; changing the baby in the middle of the aisle; or trying to figure out a way to change the baby on the bathroom floor (DISGUSTING) or with the toilet seat down while you're trying to keep the baby from rolling off.  Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, only somewhat baby friendly - they bring you a portable crib for your room, but then you can't really do much with the baby while there until they're out of diapers.  Super family friendly?  Westin Hotels, Red Robin restaurants, and BJs Warehouse Club that has parking spaces for parents with small children (I could never understand why some grocery stores have parking spots for pregnant women - as if walking your cart from the grocery store is that tough). 

 

We spent the holidays in Florida at our condo in Cocoa Beach and I love having a place at the beach.  We're in a great location but the best part is that we're by far the youngest residents in the building - meaning that we have built in security while we're gone :-).  These folks want to know everything and everybody.  The one big shock of the trip was how much real estate goes for in Orlando these days.  It's Orlando people.  We have thoughts of possibly moving there for the low cost of living, but come on ... some of those real estate prices are getting tinges of California.

 

Anyway, to continue my cliche life... I will attach some baby photos.  Yes, he's the Gerber baby.  Perfect and adorable.  He should be in commercials.  :-)