Tickling Wes

Julia loves to kiss Wes and make him laugh. She'll copy gimmicks that others use if they make Wes happy. The chin-tickle shown above was borrowed from Aunt Valky.

Happy

The best way to share what Wes is like now is to share these videos. He loves it when you talk to him and as you can see, is ticklish.

I have been a lot more productive this maternity leave than when I was at home with Julia. I would like to think that it is because I have learned a thing or two about being a mom these last few years, but the reality is that Wes is an easier baby than Julia was in about every way. He only takes 10 to 15 minutes to eat whereas Julia would feed for 30 to 40 minutes. At night, he falls asleep right after eating whereas Julia would require rocking. And most importantly, he isn't colicky. I'm still amazed that he doesn't require hours of carrying him while doing deep-knee lunges to be content. If not for Julia, I might have taken this all for granted. Thank you Julia :) Julia - the baby - was easier in one respect. She rarely ever spit up. Wes spits up voluminously several times a day. His spit up has graced the floors of MoMA and ABC Home and Carpet, among other places. Yes, it is gross (we did wipe up), but . . . I guess there is no but. Only I will confess that while I know it is objectively gross, I don't feel that way. I just wear my hair in a ponytail as much as possible and give him Zantac three times a day.

The Prince

We play a lot of pretend. Julia is always saying, "You be ___ and I'll be ___." If one of the characters is male, she always assigns me that role. If I protest, she tells me that it's just pretend. If I protest further, she explains that I have to be the boy because I'm bigger. In this video, Julia, enamored with her new ballet dress, makes the rare decision to play the prince.

Big Numbers

Wes at his 2 month visit:

15 lbs. 11 oz. (a gain of 6 lbs and 12 oz. since birth!)

25 3/4 in. (a gain of 3 3/4 in. since birth!)

I love chubby babies as much as the next person, but seeing as how it's unlikely we're going to have a baby #3, I wish he'd slow down a little so I could savor that newborn stage of tiny clothes, delicate baby. I imagine Wes in a parody of an Anne Geddess photo shoot - the kind where they lay a baby across an adult's forearm in some cute (or creepy - it's in the eye of the beholder) pose. Only Wes wouldn't be lying horizontally - the arm would be sagging with the weight of a giant baby. Hmm, perhaps I'm not describing it appropriately, but I think such a parody calender might sell well.

A few days after his one month birthday, I took this picture with his gold jewelry. I don't know anything about this Chinese tradition, I just know you are supposed to put gold jewelry on a one-month old and take pictures of him naked. Unless that's just a family tradition. In any case, I preferred Wes keeping his diapers on. (And normally, I wouldn't beam so openly, but that tummy is quite something, wouldn't you say?)

Sleeping . . . or Not

Oh, so much to catch up on. Wes is already 6 weeks old! There's a lot I would like to share, but I'll just start with something random as I am still adjusting to this new life and the crazy amount of laundry I now do - there's Wes' clothes which pile up quickly (spit-up and poop accidents), cloth diapers (going pretty well so far) and more of my own clothes (spit-up and breastmilk accidents). Anyway, Wes is still sleeping in a cradle in our room, although to be honest, half of the night is spent in our bed. This was Wes his first night home.



When I went to put Wes down for a nap today, this is what I found.

I guess Julia keeps busy with "Baby Julia" when I'm busy with Baby Wes.

For most of last night, this cradle was empty. Instead, for the second time since Wes was born, our queen-sized bed hosted Wayne, Julia, Wes, me and Ralphie. Julia never expressed interest in sleeping with us until Wes. In the first few days after Wes came home, Julia would tell me that Wes ought to sleep in his own room. I found her transparency touching, but the resulting behavior has not been so pleasant. She has frequently woken up in the middle of the night and made a fuss (once a thirty-minute tantrum) to have me sleep with her in her room. For now, I think the 5-in-a-bed is a better option when Julia is insistent. As uncomfortable as it is to sleep all together, it is cozy. And once Wes starts sleeping in his own room - probably in another 2 weeks - I think Julia will go back to being the good sleeper that she used to be.

Wes Ai-Yu Narucki

As many of you know, we have been considering 3 names for the baby boy for a long time. Clyde, Wes or Ellis. We solicited opinions throughout the pregnancy and while there was no clear front runner, "Clyde" received the most intense negative reactions. Julia refused input on our three selections, except to say that Ellis was a girl's name (Alice and Ella). Her choices were Baby Jesus (a favorite of hers after learning the nativity story this year) and Picture Picture Mama Mama (I have no idea). We thought she'd forget about the name Baby Jesus by February, but she consistently kept it as a contender. In fact, when cousins Lorenzo and Joaquin came to visit and called the baby Mitchin (as they have for the past 6 months), Julia argued, "But his name is Baby Jesus."

As with the naming of Julia, we waited until the last possible minute to make a decision -when having to fill out the paperwork to leave the hospital. In our despair, we did consider "Jesus Mitchin Narucki." Julia finally decided to weigh in on the real choices and selected Wes. So there's the story. (We'll ignore the part where we made her indecisive (call him Clyde, we just want to hear you say Baby Clyde . . .) and she told us that the baby actually wanted to be named Ellis and then that she thought Clyde was a good name).

A New Addition - No, not the "Cool It Now" kind

After a 12-hour induction, most of which was spent watching March Madness and 2 movies, Carol triumphantly pushed out our newest addition at 11:01PM . Measuring in at 8lbs. 15oz. and 22 inches, it's no wonder he took so long to come out. Anyhow, here are some pics.