Shannon Phillips

Robin likes playing with the telephone because the buttons beep when he mashes them.

His tooth is halfway in now, but the really big news is that he’s figured out a form of locomotion. He doesn’t crawl yet, but by a combination of scootching along on his back and rolling from side to side, he can get pretty much anywhere he wants to go. Sadly, mostly where he wants to go is near electrical wires, so he can chew on them. Obviously this means we can’t take our eyes off him for a second.

He also really loves to play with plastic bags, because they make that great sound when you crumple and shake them. When one of our friends was taking medicine he threw his rattle to the ground and reached for the pill bottle instead. I think his ideal toy would be an electrified plastic bag full of glass shards and poison.

If you look close you can see the very tip of Robin’s first tooth breaking through his lower gum!

Other things we learned at the doc today: Robin is 27 inches long, and he weighs 16 pounds and 11 ounces. We love Robin’s doctor because he is always quick to praise our baby and compare him favorably to all the other babies. Today he opened with “Well! That’s definitely the brightest baby I’ve seen all day.” Later he commented that he had never seen a more lively child of Robin’s age. He also said, judging from the baby’s vigorous kicks, that he expects Robin will be early to crawl.

After being flattered by the pediatrician, we all went to the park and had a nice Valentine’s Day picnic.

Happy Valentine’s day, everybody! And special congratulations to Robin’s Pappy and Nonna, who are celebrating their 32nd anniversary. Inspiring!

The other day I was sitting on the couch with Robin in one arm and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk in the other. Robin was showing some interest in the spoon as it passed by his face, so I scooped up the teensiest little bit of ice cream—a sliver about the size of a fingernail clipping—and dabbed it in his mouth. He got really serious as he processed the new sensation, the sweetness, the cold. I got myself another spoonful while I watched him. As I did so Robin grabbed at the spoon with both hands and jammed it decisively into his mouth! Hilarity. The baby books say the first solid food should be rice cereal, but we’ll always be able to tell the story about Robin’s first food being ice cream.

This is how the Phillips family feels about ice cream:

Robin really likes bathtime these days. He especially loves kicking the water so it splashes everywhere. I had a picture of him grinning like a loon, but it was blurry, so you get this one instead.

I actually dithered about posting this snapshot, since I do intent to instruct my children that posting pictures of their genitals to the Internet is in general a bad idea. But the actual pee-pee visibility is minimal here—and the solemn, wet little baby face so very cute—so in the end I decided to share.

The question of whether to post images of one’s children on the Internet is one to which conscientious parents arrive at different answers. The bogeyman scenario, I guess, is that some crazed psycho would happen upon these pictures and decide to kidnap our son. I know enough about how our fears are disconnected from true risk—and specifically about how our fears are disconnected from the true risk of child abuse—to realize that this scenario is so unlikely as to bear no consideration.

What I do think is worth considering is my son’s right to privacy, to control his own image. The Internet is forever, and anybody can look at these images. They might even be used in ways we never intended. I respect parents who choose to limit the dissemination of their children’s images, but I’ve decided that the convenience of easily sharing them with our whole scattered network of family and friends, and the joy they bring thereby, is worth the trade-off.

So as you can see, we broke down and bought a stroller. Robin’s big enough now that carrying him in the sling is starting to hurt my back. Our first trip to the grocery store wasn’t without its own difficulties, though: it’s hard to carry a handbasket and push a stroller at the same time. A backpack like the Baby Bjorn might be a better answer…

On the way home we stopped to vote:

Well, Robin didn’t vote, he’s too young! Wait’ll you pay taxes, little buddy.

While we were there a mother with her little girl stopped to admire him, but when they got close he burst out crying. He’s never done that before! I guess we’re getting into the stranger-anxiety phase the baby books tell me to expect.

In mental health news, last week we spent a lovely vacation in Las Vegas with Nina and Elizabeth, and it’s done wonders for my happiness quotient. Flying with the baby wasn’t as bad as I’d feared: we got cheap upgrades to first class both arriving and departing, and after a little initial fussiness both times, Robin fell asleep for the majority of the flight. Nina had scored a very nice suite, and we all had a great time going around to the buffets and gawking at the outrageous decor of the Strip. Just having extra players in the endless game of Bounce the Fussy Baby makes such a difference to my stress levels.

I’ve realized that we need to live much closer to family or close friends—going it alone is far from ideal for any of us. The sad thing is that our families are scattered all over the map, so it’s hard to pick a place to settle. The deciding factor will have to be Sam’s job prospects. Probably in a few months we’re going to start taking a serious look at relocating.

We were getting ready to go out for breakfast this morning when we realized Robin had kicked off his shoes! I thought he looked adorable with just his head and his little toes peeking out from Sam’s jacket.

My mom took this picture at Thanksgiving.  You can tell from Robin’s expression that he loves his Nanita!

Robin took in quite a haul this year in awesome baby gifts! This festive and cozy outfit was a gift from his Pops and Mo. I think I’ll make prints of this picture and send them out with the thank-you notes…

Sam is actually working today; we had our big meal and gift-opening day last Friday, on the Solstice. I made ribs, black-eyed-peas with kale, fried okra, and cornbread, and we gnawed down on fruitcake for dessert. It was a really nice day. The baby’s too young to know what’s going on, of course: for him all the excitement was just another entry to file under “Why do all these strange things keep happening to me?”

He’s getting really big. I mean, still small by grown-person standards, of course, but so much bigger than the tiny little thing he was when he first came home. I had my first flash the other day of the ongoing process of loss that is part of parenthood. Naturally you’re always looking forward to watching them grow, to meeting them anew as their personality emerges and evolves, but at the same time, as they change, you have to say goodbye to the little critter that they used to be, and that you have loved so much. I look at him and I think, “He will never be this small again.” And that will be true again tomorrow, and the next day, and every day that follows.

He’s much more mobile now; when I set him down on his play-mat he can flip easily from back to front (although he hasn’t figured out how to do the reverse) and he can wiggle himself quite some distance, even though he isn’t properly crawling yet. He grabs things quite confidently now, and generally proceeds to put them in his mouth. He laughs easily and often, and makes friends wherever he goes. He’s brought us an enormous amount of happiness, and we are so thankful for the support of our friends and family over these past months. I hope your holidays and your New Year are filled with prosperity and joy.

“Mommy, who is this weird old guy?”