NewPlew

Six months. Thalia will be six months old next week. Where does the time go? Oh right:

• diaper changes
• feedings
• formula hunting
• doctor visits
• more feedings

Somewhere in there, we get time to just sit back and watch her grow (which she has done a lot of lately, 20 pounds!). I’m so happy to have her in my life.

Consider this my comeback post, folks. I’m going to spend some time filling you all in with a series of year-in-review posts to bring on the holidays and the new year.

Man, I can’t believe how fast time flies. Thalia is approaching a month old!

These last two weeks have been mostly about routine - feedings every 3 hours, followed by colic. We’ve tried out a few different things: new burping techniques, sleep “wedges” to aid digestion, special bottles designed to reduce gas - somewhere along the line, I think we found something that’s helping. The past few days have been easier than last weekend for sure.

I went out without Thalia and Joanna for the first time last night - went to see Transformers: the Movie. While I had a good time, I couldn’t stop thinking about my baby and wife sitting at home without me. It really is true - there’s no place like home.

As I was heading back from the film, an old Bob Dylan song came on the radio. I was struck by it’s lyrics:

And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured
I’ll always do my best for her, on that I give my word
In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm.
“Come in,” she said,
“I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”

It may not have been Dylan’s intention to elicit a feeling of calm in a new father’s heart with his prose, but that’s what it did for me. My daughter is shelter from the storm outside - all the stresses of modern life lifted from my shoulders with one coo, one smile, one fluttering of eyes.

What a way to live, fatherhood.

Thalia’s oldest cousin Devon and her youngest cousin Dallas tried their hardest wake Thalia up. Alas, all they did was tick her off!