Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Four Months = Four Sticks

Yesterday we took our son in for his four-month check up. First, the stats:

weight -- 16 lbs 12 oz
height -- 2 ft 2 in

Technically, the doctors call it length and declared him to be 26 inches long. However, Baby G prefers to stand, as evidenced below, so I translated it into height, which we don't usually measure in straight inches, hence the 2' 2".


I was a little disappointed that the doctor did not ooh and aah about him being the most beautiful baby alive, but my husband pointed out that he sees hundreds of babies. That seems reasonable, but still ... my baby has to be the most beautiful baby he's seen even if he's the busiest doctor in the area! The old lady nurse did say he was very cute several times, which helped.

But then she stuck him with four shots, which pretty much wiped away any good mojo she'd created during the visit. To top it off, she had me hold his arms down while she stuck him. My baby boy screamed and screamed. He was upset all day. Thank goodness Daddy could stay home with him while I went to work. We're very lucky that Daddy can juggle working at home and an active baby.

Baby G. ended up having a fever overnight and off and on throughout the day today. Typical, but still heart-wrenching to watch the little guy whimper in his sleep. I couldn't help but wonder if he was having nightmares about the lady sticking him while Mommy held him down instead of protecting him.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Just Start Writing

I'm a procrastinator. I admit it. I have been my entire life. In fact, procrastinator was my first big word. "Heather is a procrastinator" was a common comment on my report cards in elementary school. It wasn't that I didn't get good grades, or that I didn't want to do the work, I just didn't want to do it YET. I could never seem to get started.

Years later I learned that some people define procrastination as a sign that the person wants things to be perfect, and, to avoid it not being perfect (it never really is anyway, is it?) he or she never starts. That was really a revelation to me. It helped me to realize that it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to get done. At the very least, it has to get started.

That philosophy helped me a lot when I was a reporter. I would tell myself "Just start writing" rather than sitting at the computer thinking about what I might write. Having to meet deadlines everyday helped me tremendously, but I'm still a procrastinator at heart. And, being out of the news business for a couple of years has allowed the waiting to creep back in.

These issues resurfaced when I decided to start a blog. I've been reading a friend's blog and been really inspired, but, that same inspiration and admiration for her blog put me off of starting my own. What would I title it? What would it be about? I found myself fretting endlessly about the title. I thought it should be something witty or profound or, at the very least, defining. I had posts composed in my head, but nowhere to post them because I didn't have a fun title or a definition of who I was and what I was writing about. Then I realized, that is what it's about. I'm not defined, not really. I have a wide variety of interests, none of which likely will dominate this space. I know who I am, but I don't know how to tell anyone else. At least, not in the amount of time most people spend reading something on the Internet.

So, I'm going to Just Start Writing. I don't have a cool graphic to display or a specific profile picture to post, or even a description of myself in the profile, but I'm writing. I'll fill in the other things later. Or, maybe I won't. But I won't waste another minute waiting for perfection before getting started.

Maybe I thought of a cool title after all.

Then again, I can always change it later.