Month: June 2008

Yesterday we flew to Los Angeles so that Jean could present a poster at the American Library Association annual meeting. “I’m not really sure what it means to “present a poster.” Do you just point at it and go, “Ta da!”? I suppose I could ask her but Conrad is nursing and I’ve been shushed.”

As many of you know, or if you didn’t already and know me, could have guessed, I was more than a little apprehensive about this trip. I’m far too concerned about disturbing other people and I imagined all kinds of uncomfortable scenarios. I realize in retrospect they all boiled down to, “What if he cries?”

Well he did cry, maybe two or three times in the combined five or so hours we were on planes: once or twice because he was hungry and once because he was tired. And it wasn’t a big deal. Nobody gave us the stinkeye. Nobody rolled his eyes. Mostly people smiled and waved at Conrad. On the first leg to Chicago we were in the bulkhead row immediately behind first class, and one slick-looking businessman passed us a blanket unbidden, just because he knew we could use it.

One colleague recommended a strategy which may well have paid off. “Just keep standing up and letting everybody see how cute he is.”

All in all a much more positive experience than I predicted, with the added benefit that our trip at the end of July – just to Chicago and no further – should feel like a short hop.

One complaint, however. I’ve been flying for 37 years. The year I have a baby is the year that American Airlines stops allowing pre-boarding for parents traveling with young children?

Like every new parent in America we have a copy of the book “What to Expect the First Year,” a.k.a. “Rate Your Baby.” It lists milestones that babies may or may not reach at different stages of development. Conrad has usually been ahead of the curve on most of them “in case you missed that subtle subtext in previous posts” but has been lagging behind in his ability to make “wet razzing noises.” And we all know what a valuable skill that is. Today he made up for it in spades.

WARNING: This video contains scenes of drool that non-grandparents may find disturbing.

But on a completely different level.

When we asked Conrad’s doctor when we should start introducing solid foods, she said he would be ready when he not only showed interest in the food we were eating, but seemed to get frustrated or even angry when we didn’t give him some. I assume that doesn’t apply to beer. Nothing sends the wrong message about your parenting skills like having a shirtless infant staggering around demanding booze.

More thoughts on the sleeping-through-the-night question: Over the past four months, I’ve had people tell me, “Oh, when he gets to ten pounds, then he’ll start sleeping through the night.” Ten pounds came and went. Someone else told me 11. Then yet someone else said 12. A fourth person told me 13. Well, for Conrad the magic number appears to be 16 pounds. He slept through the night again last night, from 7:30 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.

So, if you’re a parent of a new baby wondering when he or she will start sleeping through the night:

I have no idea. Good luck!

We just got back from Conrad’s four month checkup. After watching him stand, jump up and down and yank on her stethoscope, his doctor allowed that he might be “a bit advanced in motor development.”

Check.

We also learned he’s in the 50th percentile for head size, 50 to 75th for weight and 75th to 90th for height. So, he’s going to be tall and skinny with a little bitty head. Awesome! He can work the carnival circuit!

And we learned he’s 16 pounds 4 ounces. They measured him too, but for some reason those numbers never stick in my head. Twenty six inches maybe?

I told the nurse I was 70 inches and she told me I was a big boy now.