3 months=big changes

All snuggled up in our tent in Quincy, Ca.  It was COLD!

People ask me if having a baby is everything I expected it would be. Well, no. Of course not. But I have what I now realize, is an unusual amount of experience with babies, so most of it is what I expected. The most surprising part of being a mom for me is the attachment. I mean, I knew I would have a new priority, but I literally can't get away. Ever. Or at least not for more than an hour or two and even that takes a lot of forethought and planning. You may think it seems obvious, but the extent of his attachment to me is quite shocking. And I have my mom and dad helping every day!

His favorite position, The Hover Chair, where he can see all the action.

Lance is a very social baby. Thank god because he lives with a huge extended family in a transient house. He doesn't mind just hanging out with everyone. He sits contentedly, as long as he is facing the action, and sometimes even chimes in on the conversation. Everyone tells us that he is exceptionally good looking and well behaved to which I say he better be because it took six days to convince him to break his parasitic bond, the least he can do is be exceptional now that he is here. And I will be that mom who reminds him of his slow birth when he is a surly teenager giving me a hard time about doing his chores. I'll say things like, “Taking the garbage out is not as bad as pushing your big ass head out for 2 and a half hours!”

Great Grand-Aunt Betty gets to love Lance.

We've decided that Lance is a camper. We've already camped twice with him and he has been perfectly happy and entertained both times. While in Quincy with Aunt Betty's family, Lance slept 4 and 5 hour stretches in the 40 degree nights. He liked the fresh mountain air. Unfortunately, he came back from that trip with his first runny nose. Clearly he has an excellent immune system because Grandpa Lance and Aunt Yuki came back with much worse then just a runny nose. But a runny nose is enough to disturb his sleep. He's back to 2 hour stretches and we can hear him choking on his own snot. I torture him with the blue bulb that sucks snot out of his nose. The problem is that when I start sucking it out he sucks it right back in. I have to try and catch the big boogers as they fly out of his nose before he inhales again. Sometimes he screams at me, not a crying scream, but a 'that is enough, woman' type squeal.

The whole family crowd in Quincy, CA.

Little Betty with Quentin, Emma with Lance, Karen with Mason.
The moms are 2nd cousins, the babies are 3rd cousins.

Lance reading.

Enjoying the hammock and his hands.

We don't bathe Lance every day. I've noticed that most parents these days have a daily bath ritual, but that just feels excessive to me. He doesn't sweat, he doesn't eat real food, he gets his bottom essentially sponge bathed many times a day, why wash all the time? I usually bathe him in the tub with me. I like that he can float and kick and splash which he just can't do in the little blue baby tub we have for him. I use that tub when he has a particularly explosive blow out. The kind where his turmeric colored poo is so wet that it leaks through all crevices and exceeds the absorbency capacity at the source so it has to flow up and out of the diaper all the way to his shoulder blades. That is when his baby wipe sponge bath feels downright insufficient.

Bath time at The Alden in St. Pete, FL

Lance enjoyed his first plane trip. We went off to Florida to hang with my college roommate Aimee, her wife, Bridget, and their twins, Canon and Pheonix. We also met up with the WAIFWYP crew (Why am I friends with you people?) and some other college buddies, Amanda and Heather and their kids. Since we were in Florida, Leighton's brother, Junior, drove the 4 hours to the opposite coast so that he could see us and meet Lance.  It was a fabulous vacation and fun to see all the babies of different ages. Lance didn't mind the plane at all. The flight attendants and passengers all fell in love with Lance and noted what a good baby he is. We love to hear it!   

Lance bonding with Bridget

Uncle Junior finally meets Lance

Leighton scares us all by throwing Canon.

The twins!  Canon generously passes down all of his old clothes to Lance.

Amanda, Heather, Aimee all played volleyball at Georgia Tech, Me and Bridget are the tag alongs!

Aimee, Bridget and I with the next generation

Me and Aimee schooled the boys in a beach volleyball match

Laura with Canon, Aimee with Pheonix, Emma with Lance.  Babies, beer and beach.

Our Mexican baby.

The family on the beach