No pictures today, just three random things that amuse me, each for entirely different reasons.

1. I was at Ross yesterday when I saw what may well be the weirdest CD ever. The title? "Gregorian Chants." That's not the weird part, though, it's the subtitle, which was "inspired by the Music of Celine Dion." You really want to listen to a chant version of "My Heart Will Go On?" I can't imagine why it was priced at $2.99.

2. There's a new commercial on for Aquafresh toothpaste. Except the tube doesn't say toothpaste. It says "Whitening Mint Experience." Experience? IT'S TOOTHPASTE!

3. It is about 10:00 in the morning and I consider the day a success already because I have had a shower and actually eaten breakfast, and Noah is chilled out. Ah, how our definitions change after the entrance into motherhood.

So, yes. Two things that make me laugh, albeit while rolling my eyes, and one changed perspective. What's amusing you today?

I love this picture of the boys. Kyle's not quite as good as I am at blowing zerbets, but he's learning...and Noah seems to have quite a lot of fun with it. Noah's obviously born to play the role of adorable first born son, and Kyle's settling into being Daddy so well that it seems that he was born to play THAT particular role.

Crazy as it seems, Noah is a month old today. It's one of those spans of time where it somehow manages to seem like forever and no time at all simultaneously. He's seen two bunches of grandparents this weekend, Grandma and Grandpa and Granny and Pappy (technically, they're great-grandparents, but go with it), and both of them were amazed at how much he's changed. I know that he's heavier- about 11.5 pounds now, up from a birthweight of 8 pounds 10 ounces- and I assume longer, since he doesn't fit on my chest quite the same way. It's harder to see the changes when you're with them every day. I've only got two more weeks before I have to go back to work (sidenote to feminists in the United States: this is what campaigning to be treated exactly like men gets you. Do you know how long maternity leave is in Europe?!), but we are very excited about the fact that it looks like my company is going to let me office from home two days a week. I was definitely doing a happy dance after that meeting was over. Being able to do that accomplishes several things: we can keep health insurance AND buy food AND not have to put Noah in daycare. Daddy has one day off during the week, and Noah will get quality grandparent time the other two days, since Burton and Annette have volunteered and are quite conveniently located. Added bonus: this particular mommy won't have to go nuts for those particular reasons. It's super and amazing and unusual that my company is so flexible, but it's something that I am infinitely grateful for. I'm not sure what we would have been doing otherwise, but now we don't have to worry about it. This is one time when technology makes me a very happy girl.

In other news, we mourned a precious soul today. Willie (of Monroe and Willie) passed away. He was a sweet old man with a sweet spirit and an onery streak that we got to hear about from family. My favorite memory of Willie was him showing up at church after we got to do Christmas for them, in one of his new shirts. He sat in a comfy chair in the foyer and held court while Monroe snagged every person that walked through the door and told them "That's my brother, Willie!" and Willie tried to steal away a few of Monroe's girls. He had a great smile. Requisat in pace.

Noah is wearing his white t-shirt and overalls tomorrow in support of Monroe. We'll have to get a picture of that one.

This smile is brought to you by Sixth Meal, that afternoon delight between Fifths and Sevensies. Sharing this picture is pretty much the only reason for an update today. Time does such strange things when you're a new parent. Any time I'm asleep for more than 15 minutes, I wonder if it's AM or PM when I wake up. One day Kyle asked how our day went, and I explained it this way: "Honey, life with a newborn is kinda lather, rinse, repeat." And it is. And the day goes by incredibly slowly and incredibly quickly all at once because I'm trying to hold on to all of these precious moments that we get to be together...hope they don't slip through my fingers. But at any rate, here's one of those precious moments for you to enjoy.

So, since I have a digital camera and am ecstatic at the wonder of my son...here's lots of pictures (especially for you, Tara!).

Exhibit A: Noah at three weeks, wondering what the heck Mommy is doing with her other hand while holding him up and trying to convince him to smile, even if it is "just gas." (And even if it is, he does have a beautiful smile.)

Sorry in advance for all the white space. I am not technologically proficient and am trying to do this while Noah is having 7th meal.

And here are the proud grandparents! On the left are Burton and Annette- Kyle's parents, getting their second meeting with the little man on the first day of his existance. Burton definitely got over his initial unwillingness to hold Noah- one of the many joys of antibacterial soap. Annette came and stayed with us after Mom went home, which is how she got an initial advantage over Grandpa in cuddle time. Burton's catching up, though.

On the right is my Mom- she came and stayed with us for the first few days and was a huge help. She gave Noah his first bath at home, which he wasn't really a fan of. It's hard to tell, but that towel is a hippo.

Then there are a few pictures of my favorite boys getting some quality bonding time that first week: Noah was jaundiced when he came home, and more jaundiced when he went back for his checkup three days after he was discharged. After I finished freaking out (his bilirubin levels were comparable to the ones that Dad had right before he crashed) and getting reassurance that, despite what the lactation lady said, I wasn't starving my child and exacerbating the problem (turns out that 11 feedings of more than 30 minutes each are plenty)- we went home and started phototherapy courtesy of a home unit. It took a few days, but he is much better now. It no longer makes me twitch when Kyle calls him "Pumpkin."

I just love this picture of the boys. This was the day after Noah was born, and I think the look and Kyle's face pretty much says it all.

They're so little! He certainly didn't FEEL little, and if you look at him, he looks pretty substantial for a newborn, but still...tiny.

This last picture is just so my husband won't give me a bad time about not putting any pictures with me in them up. See? I really have been here, I promise.

Hooray! I've learned how to put in pictures! (Oddly enough, you hit the little button that looks like a picture. Huh.)

At any rate, meet Noah, everyone! It's taken me longer than anticipated to get these up, but here you go. This picture is from his birthday. He arrived December 28th just after 4:00 in the afternoon, after about an hour and fifteen minutes of pushing. He would have made it BEFORE the Aggies started playing if I hadn't had to wait for 15 minutes for the doctor to get there to catch. All things considered, labor and delivery went really well. The nurses were super, and the whole thing went just the way we wanted. It was an induction, so there was plenty of time to hang out with the different family members before things got too serious (Grandpa was adamant about not coming in the room since he had a bit of a cold...that changed shortly after Noah made his appearance- the kid is just irrestistible), and then we asked everyone for our space and Mom and Kyle helped me while I pushed. A lot. All 8 lbs. 10 oz. and 21 1/2 inches of him was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

His Daddy is very smitten, I am very smitten, and I don't think I have ever seen Kyle's parents so happy. Burton in particular is enamored with the little guy- Kyle and I went out two weeks after Noah got here and they volunteered to babysit for us. Burton took him out of the carseat when we dropped Noah off, and I don't think he put him down until we came back to pick him up four hours later. Mom is similarly in love- she got two new munchkins within six weeks of each other, so she is in Grandma heaven. We were very lucky to have a lot of family come by the hospital to meet the newest Parker- I think he'd met most of his aunts, uncles, and cousins by the time he was just a few hours old. There were also a bunch of folks from his church family that came by, so he got to meet them too.

We're learning and loving every minute of it (well, ALMOST every minute. The crying for hours in the wee small hours of the morning isn't my favorite part of new mommy-dom)- and there seem to be a lot of things that we can learn from this little guy.

You look into a baby's eyes and it's so easy to get lost in them. They've never seen anything bad, they just know that they're happy when they're warm and fed and taken care of. They do everything with their whole body- Noah stretches with his whole body, yawns with his whole body, sneezes with his whole body. And they love to be loved. Noah's happy with anyone who snuggles him, really. That's not to say he doesn't like his bouncer time, but still.

At any rate, I know this was rambly (and I'm about to do another post of pretty much just pictures, so whoo hoo), but I wanted to at least get it out there. I'll try to keep updating on a fairly regular basis, if just for those who are out of town and don't get to be around as much as we would like them to be.