what obama means to me.

Sitting tonight and watching Obama accept the democratic party's nomination for president was quite emotional for me. It wasn't just the speech or the setting or any of that, but it was the fact that I was watching it with G. You see, many of you may not know this, but Barack Obama is directly responsible for G.

Yep, that's right.

You see, when Amos and I got married it was June of 2001 and dubya was already in office, then 9/11, then the war, etc. By the time we'd have wanted to have a kid my outlook for the future of this country and the larger world was dim. Why would I want to subject a kid to a world like we've had the past eight years, is what I thought.

My parents were always amazingly generous to me. Not just with stuff, but with time and love. I've often asked how I would ever repay them for all of the good they've done for me, their reply was always, "just do the same for your child." You have no idea what a huge burden that is for me...I mean they've been such good parents and given me such a great life, and I wondered how I could ever do the same in this world as it is.

That's where Barack comes in. You see, I had no HOPE for this country's future. People ridicule Obama for using that word so much, but they are foolish. Hope is a powerful thing. Barack restored my hope. He restored it and paved the way for me to see the possibility of a world in which I'd want a child to grow up. MIchelle Obama spoke of how she had heard Barack talk about "the world as his should be" and striving for it. It's not that I think that Barack himself will make the world as it should be, but that he has given me the hope that we, TOGETHER, want to remake the world as it should be--the hope that we CAN and the BELIEF that we will.

So, without Obama, there might not be a G. And without G there wouldn't be the urgency I feel. Tonight we inched one step closer to the world as it should be. We are the ones we've been waiting for!

Si se puede. (if you liked what I wrote, go donate a few bucks to the campaign. I just did--again. Oh, and that's Sheppard Fairey's Hope poster.)

I wear my sunglasses...in my car seat.

here's the little dude in his sunglasses. we bought them before he was born, but his head is just now big enough for them. He didn't seem to mind them too much. sunglasses and footie pjs, what a combo.

in the car seat comparison

As I mentioned in another post, you can really see how much G's grown when you see him in his car seat (gives a nice sense of scale). So I thought I'd post some pictures to illustrate his growth.

Here's G when he went home from the hospital. (we had to use t-shirts along the sides of his legs to fill up the seat.)


Here's G today in his car seat with the same outfit (it's getting too small!)

2 months doctor appointment--growing boy

Yesterday afternoon we took G to the doctor for his 2 month appointment. He got some shots and we were very excited about seeing how much he'd grown. Amos and I put a little wager on his weight, A said 10 lbs 3 oz and I said 10 lbs 8 oz. He weighed 10 lbs 5 oz (darn it, if only I'd gotten 1 more ounce down him yesterday I'd have won!); his length was 23 inches (2 more than when he was born); his head circumference was 15.75 inches (2.25 more than when he was born). I notice the difference in his size most of all when I look at him in his car seat. There is a thing that surrounds his head in the seat and when we brought him home from the hospital there were a couple of inches on either side of his head when he was in the seat, now his head looks like it almost "fits." And I think we're getting to the point where we're going to have to adjust the straps on the car seat and move them up.

The doctor also checked his lung and heart sounds and gave him a clean bill of health and told us he looked just great, which is the best news. She laughed about the funny noises he makes, and we told her it freaked us out at first, as we thought it was some sort of respiratory problem. Now we all just agree that he's just vocalizing, and I think I'd freak out if he stopped doing it.

8 weeks

G was 8 weeks last night. He just seems to be getting so much bigger lately. He holds his head up really well and for long periods of time. His head is 2 inches bigger than it was when he was born. His thighs seem a little more filled out, his tummy is wider than it was. I wish I knew how much he weighed, he is obviously heavier. He seems longer too (we've already had to set a few outfits aside because he's outgrown them--in the length).

Like I said when I posted video #2 he's way more interested in the world around him, especially Amos and me. He responds to us and seems like he's got lots to say. He still makes the squeaky noises that he has made since he was born too. Oh, and his baby hair is falling out. He's got baby pattern baldness--he kind of looks like Rob Corddry. (FYI, Rob's playing Ari Fleischer in Oliver Stone's W--I had NO idea!) It does seem that there is a fuzzy, soft hair coming in already on the top, so maybe he won't be bald for long.

G still loves the swing, and has graduated from the pack n play to a portable crib next to our bed (his gigantic head was making a dent in the pack n play, so we upgraded). Instead of barely eating an ounce at a time, he'll eat almost 6 ounces in one feeding. He still loves to fall asleep while being cuddled (rocking to sleep is his favorite), and he's still very easy to read (cries when (a) wet/poopy (b) hungry OR (c) gassy). And most of all, his cheeks are still eminently kissable.

Here are two pictures, the first when G was about a week old, and the second from today.

heather = S-M-R-T

Today I went to watch my friend, Heather, defend her dissertation. While she did a great job, as I knew she would, that is not what this post is really about. Watching her defend and talking with her delightful husband, Brandon, took me down memory lane a bit. You see, when Amos and I moved out here we only knew one couple, Julie and Keith (Julie is Jenn's best friend.) Anyway, we were lucky to meet several people through my grad program. Heather was the other girl in the cog studies (now learning science) phd program with me, and we really bonded in one of our first quarter classes (over disappointing paper comments on our first phd program papers--we were both demoralized). For the past many years she has been a confidant, commiserated with me on several occasions, read hundreds of pages of my writing, shared baskets of fries with me, talked to me about motherhood, gossiped with me about unimportant things, drooled over a new set of markers, given me good advice and provided me with motivation to keep going when I would get discouraged with research or writing or other grad school stuff. So, today marks a real turning point in her life. She and her husband and adorable boy, Matty, leave tomorrow for PSU, where she will be a professor. Her students have no idea how lucky they will be to have her. She is smart, thoughtful, compassionate, and interesting...and best of all--FUN! I'll miss having her in the same city with me. I know Heather, Brandon and Matty will have a great time in Pennsylvania, and I can't wait to hear all about their adventures. Watch out Nittany Lions, there's a new sheriff in town, and she's S-M-R-T!

happy b-day mads!

yo, maddie, happy birthday!

video #2

G is making lots of noise these days (aside from his crazy squeak). He's now very coo-ey, and his favorite place to converse with us is when he's on his changing table (if you catch him in a non-hungry mood). Apparently I subconsciously am trying to make "alright!" G's first word (I say it to him over and over--weird). Anyway, it's pretty darn cute to me, but it is 2 minutes of a baby doing baby stuff, so click away only if you're sure you've got the time.

hurrah for rali & adonis

Congrats to Rali for becoming a U.S. citizen today! (Please note, the only question she missed on her citizenship exam was "who wrote the Star Spangled Banner?"--like most natural-born citizens know that!)


And happy birthday to Adonis who is still young enough to eat a whole cake by himself and not worry about the consequences.