Robert and Christina Have a Baby: Announcing Marcus Omer
Week Six Update | Birth Certificate Fun | Linguistic Ruminations | Quotable Quotes
Week Six Update
At six weeks old and over ten pounds, Marcus has been growing and changing quite a bit: he gives many more social smiles, he makes fewer strange groaning noises in his sleep, he controls his head and neck much better, and he looks right at things rather than past them more frequently. He even smells different than when he was just a week or so old—back then (way back then, it feels like), both Robert and I thought he smelled just like Rice Krispies after you pour milk on them, but now he has a more grown-up baby aroma that I can’t quite describe. If he moves onto a different kind of cereal smell, I’ll be sure to let you know.
At right you see Marcus in his stroller, complete with pink-trimmed Snuzzler (soft cushion/support insert) and blue blanket. (I like to mess with people's expectations on the whole pink = girl, blue = boy thing.) Robert and I think he has a very serious, adult expression on his face here. My mother still thinks he looks like my cousin Thomas.
This week was our first full week alone together, Marcus and me, without Robert home at all or my parents visiting. Marcus and I went all over together, sometimes with the stroller, but more often with the Moby wrap, and occasionally in the rain: we went to the Copley library and Isis Maternity free lunch and focus group on Monday; the JP New Moms’ Group, lunch out, and CSA pick-up on Tuesday; Gourmet Dumpling House and random city errands (CVS, etc.) on Wednesday; the City Hall Department of Births, Deaths, and Marriages to get his birth certificate and Faneuil Hall lunch on Thursday; Sarah’s library for take-out sushi lunch with Sarah and Meg on Friday; and Washington Street in the South End for a stroll and stops at Flour and Aroa (sandwiches and chocolates) on Saturday. At left you see a map of Boston with the red pin at our house and the blue dotted lines marking our trail around the city, by foot and by subway, this week.
When I walk around downtown with him in the Moby wrap, everyone stares at Marcus and many people comment (on Friday I had an entire group of senior citizen tourists gawking at him as I tried to cross State Street). In general, I only take the stroller out when I have heavy things to lug home (a dozen hard-covered library books, or lots of squash, potatoes, corn, and other vegetables, say); the wrap is far easier to get in and out of the apartment, to maneuver around the city, to keep dry when it’s raining (one umbrella serves us both), and it just makes me feel happy and safe and close to Marcus. Most people say some variation of, “Oh, what a cute baby!” or even, “Oh my, there’s a little baby in there!” as they notice the wrap, but I did have 
two people, this week, who insisted that it wasn’t good for him to be in there and that he must be uncomfortable, since he’s so curled up inside the wrap. Uh, no—in my six weeks of experience, I am far from an expert on babies, but I do know that this baby, at least, makes perfectly clear when he’s unhappy/uncomfortable, and when he’s either sleeping peacefully or else awake but quiet, alert, and concentrating on the world outside, I don’t think he’s uncomfortable in the wrap at all. It’s very nice to have my hands free, too, even if it is mildly difficult eating a burrito on a bench at Faneuil Hall over his little head. At right you see me doing just that (and rolling my eyes at Robert, who's perpetually taking Marcus-in-the-wrap pictures).
At left and below are a few more pictures from this week: Grandma Helena holding a sleeping Marcus at her house on Saturday; me with Marcus just after we came home from church today, him still in a soft and cozy hat and sweater; Robert with Marcus in the Fellowship Hall just before our Sunday School class--Marcus is apparently not sure whether he should be happy or sad here; and Shy Baby, hiding behind (or is it eating?) a blanket.
Finally, we've got one more little video this week--it's Marcus getting put into (and then taken out of) his swaddled "sleep sack" one night and the following morning. It contains some of our favorite players--namely Happy Baby, Bright-Eyed Baby, and Stretchy Baby--but also features appearances from Cranky Baby and Spitty Baby.