Big night out

I'm crushing your head

bath-time snacking

Calder has been pulling his equipment off and out pretty much since he was capable of bringing his hand to his face. Nowadays the act of removing his equipment not only frees him but amuses him and thus, pulling out his cannula appears to be Calder’s new favorite game. I’d be lying if I said it doesn't amuse Kraemer and I, too, but we've realized that if we do not want this to become habit, we better stop laughing when he does it. I cannot believe I’m already telling this child, “No!”

In other news, I ventured out socially for the first time without Kraemer in what must have been months. My friend Heather was very gracious and came to me, which cut down on transit time so that I could spend longer out. It was SO refreshing to have some girl time. Heather has a darling one-year-old girl, so she could empathize with my pretty typical “mom problems.” I commented about halfway through our outing that I was aware I was talking her ear off; I’m normally a talker, I know that, but I think having been starved of in-person conversation with girlfriends for so long I was barely taking a breath between sentences. Next week I’m scheduled to go out one more time, this time with other moms who were in the NICU this past summer. Amazingly, in a group of a 15 or so on our listserv, I’d only met two of them. A number of these moms though left before or shortly after our arrival, not to mention that there are four separate rooms in the NICU, and perhaps as many as 100 babies, so I suppose it isn't really that surprising. At any rate, I’m looking forward to some heartwarming discussions.