Newsbits

Last weekend was Orrin’s birth class reunion. We never graduated from this birth class, because Orrin came early. We like to say that we’re birth class dropouts. Anyway, it was neat to finally meet all of those babies who were in bellies last time we saw them! We ate brunch, took pictures of all of the babies together, heard everyone’s birth stories and shared our own. It was a lot of fun.

In other news…
…Orrin has reached 15 pounds! I’m quite proud, since I had something to do with that. Go breastmilk!

…We’ve started doing “Tummy Time” with Orrin every day. (For those not in the know, Tummy Time is important exercise for babies, as it helps them develop the muscles they need to use for rolling over, crawling, and walking.) Orrin is now able to prop himself up on his elbows and scan his head around. I think he looks rather surprised and pleased with himself whenever he finds himself on his tummy and able to survey the room, rather than stuck with his face planted on one side or the other, which was so recently the case.

…I am sewing curtains for the upstairs bedrooms. We really need them now that the clock has changed and the sun is staying up later in the evening! To Orrin, bedtime means darkness, and he hasn’t been buying it now that it’s light at his bedtime. I’m hoping that the curtains and some practice solve that, since I’ve gotten rather attached to having a couple hours to myself after he goes to bed at night!

…I’m already getting wistful because Solon and I just finished watching season four of The Wire (an HBO drama about the city of Baltimore, from the drug dealers on up to the politicians in city hall). Season five, which just ended on HBO, is the last one! I don’t think I’ll ever find another show as smart, complex, and realistic as The Wire. I highly recommend it!

…The longest-lived inhabitant of Solon’s saltwater fish tank, the blue damselfish, mysteriously disappeared a couple of weeks ago. As Solon says, he/she “went the way of the tank.” That left us with only one fish -- the clownfish who lives in the anenome. So, last week, Solon went and found Old Clown a friend -- New Clown. Apparently, clownfish either pair up or fight to the death, so we’re waiting to see what happens. After some initial scrapping, the two seem to have reached an accord, although thus far they are not sharing the anenome as Solon had hoped.