What makes Owen Owen?

Since he's our first baby, and we don't have a lot of experience with babies, we don't always know how to answer questions about Owen's personality. He seems to be a good sleeper (a trait that is easily quantifiable, and therefore simpler to calibrate), but beyond that we couldn't really say. Is he unusually alert, or fussy, or happy? He's just Owen. But over the past few days we spent a lot of time with our friends Robin and Alan and their beautiful daughter Meredith, who was born exactly one week after Owen. It was fun to see them side by side and notice the similarities and differences between them. I learned a lot about what makes Owen Owen. He is tall and floppy. And, depending on how you look at it, he is either "very vocal" or "loud as hell". He gives us a running commentary on his state of mind, usually by making the sound "eh" in various tones, but also by cooing and carrying on conversations with us when he's happy, grunting when he's frustrated, and screaming when he needs attention.

But enough about him, let's talk about me.

When people ask me how I'm doing, I usually respond that I love motherhood, but I haven't been a big fan of maternity leave. Imagine spending all of your time alone but having no time to yourself. Then add a lot of poop and vomit and all sorts of strange encounters with bodily functions. It can get ugly! But of course, it's not all bad. What I have responded to most positively about this whole experience is the challenge. Even a simple trip to the post office is an adventure. Coordinating something as complex as preparing to move out of our apartment so it can be de-leaded suddenly feels like a major achievement. Tomorrow the three of us are off to San Francisco, for a wedding, a trip down memory lane, and a mini-vacation to mark the end of my maternity leave. Then I head back to the lab to begin the biggest adventure of all, being a working mom. Last summer, when I told my boss I was pregnant, he said "Well, you'll have to be superwoman, but there's no reason you can't do that." In terms of motivation, it was the best thing anyone could have said to me. Let's hope he was right.

What a week.

A lot has happened in Owen's life this week. We went on his first road trip, with Nana, to Pennsylvania for Easter. He was an angel for the long car ride there and back, and loved meeting his cousins the Dwyers. When we came back, he started sleeping alone in his room in his "big-boy crib." Apparently it's us that have been keeping him awake at night, and not the other way around, because twice this week he slept for longer than he ever had before - 7 and 8 hrs at a time. Thursday night was the first time I've had 8 hrs of uninterrupted sleep in 10 months. But that's not all! He also had his first day in daycare yesterday. We got a spot that started April 1st, and so we're taking the transition slowly, starting with just a day or two a week. Owen did really well... and I did OK, too.

He's really starting to notice the things around him. He looks at toys and seems to actually be engaged by them. He spent most of Thursday afternoon sitting in his bouncy chair, watching the lights and listening to the music that went off whenever he hit the animals. After staring at a newborn baby for two months, it was incredible to watch. He has been practicing smiling for the past couple weeks but I've never seen him smile like he did for those rainforest animals!

Did I mention that he likes to read?

Who's your daddy?

I hear that some dads have a hard time bonding with their newborn babies. I think if you were to ask Owen about that, he'd be very surprised to hear it! Daddy and Owen got to spend a lot of quality time together during those first two weeks when Mike was on paternity leave (and I was pretty much down for the count). Now they have a special relationship that I love to watch - and photograph.

The cute, the also cute, and the ugly (but still cute)