These are the days

Yesterday was Thanksgiving.

It was a low-key, intimate family gathering.

I had much to be thankful for.

The plentiful and tasty food was only a small part of it.

Snapshots: Four months and counting

In less than one week, Evie will be five months old. I've finally figured out how this happened. It's based on the principles of Parent Time:

The Primary Principle of Parent Time
During the first three months of your child's life, time will slow to a near-standstill, forcing you to wonder, in a sleep-deprived haze, how a baby can remain two months old for an entire summer.

The Secondary Principle of Parent Time
After the first three months, your child will grow up with such alarming speed that the passage of time will accelerate until you are attending said child's high school graduation and simultaneously daydreaming about having a free weekend to put together the baby book.

Would you read this book?

Premise: A book about caring for and nurturing your marriage (or long-term romantic relationship) in the first year of your child's life.

Tone: Informative and witty.

The authors: Me and Sam, in alternating chapters.

Working title: "There's no I in 'It's Your Turn for the 3 a.m. Feeding': The Teamwork Approach to New Parenthood"

She's drooling at a four-month level!

As a new parent, it's easy to become obsessed with milestones.

I often pull out my copy of "What to Expect in the First Year" to see how Evie measures up against the monthly checklists.

In most areas, Evie is a superstar.

She is 3 1/2 months old, and she's already met some of the 5-month milestones: rolling over (effectively ending "tummy time" as we know it), bearing weight on her legs, and holding her head up like a pro.

I know it's normal for babies to reach some milestones early and others late, but there was one in particular that I was dying to see:

Snapshots

Today is Evie's last day of that seldom-discussed age between 12 weeks and 3 months.

As children grow, the units for measuring their ages grow longer. People speak of 2-day-olds, 6-week-olds, 8-month-olds, and 4-year-olds.

People warn me to be careful, that children grow up too fast. Even though The World Before Evie feels like an old movie that was once recounted to me by a stranger, I'm starting to know what they mean.

And so I take snapshots, reminders that she will never be exactly the same again.

I loved...

When I was a child, I loved my animals.

Baby dolls were boring. Cabbage Patch Kids freaked me out. I only played Barbies under extreme duress from my friends.

I shared my bedroom with approximately two dozen stuffed animals. If I try hard, I can form hazy pictures of a few of them. A droopy-faced puppy with exaggerated sad eyes. A pink, heart-adorned bear who was a Valentine's Day gift. A lime-scented parrot from the Strawberry Shortcake collection. A panda of sorts.

There were all the others, and then there was Russ.

T.G.I.F.M.L.A.

This is the last day of my maternity leave. It's been twelve weeks since my doctor advised a very pregnant me to stop working.

It is hard not to feel a twinge of disappointment in myself.

I didn't do a scrapbooking project. I didn't write every day. I didn't get in shape or read a great novel or test new cake recipes. I didn't figure out the secrets of training employees to be better critical thinkers and problem solvers.

On the other hand, I did a lot in twelve weeks.