On clicking, avoidance and bacon

Two new things in the Noah file. One adorable and the other not so adorable. Last week Noah began clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth and its earth shatteringly cute. He loves the sound it makes so when he does it he breaks into a huge smile. On the less adorable front – yesterday Mark tried to give him a bottle of formula and he wouldn’t take it. This wouldn’t be too surprising since he’s never had a bottle of formula – except that Noah didn’t even taste the formula. It was the bottle he didn’t want. It’s been about a month since the last time he had a bottle of breast milk. I don’t use them because I hate pumping and since I’m always with Noah there is no reason to give him a bottle. Since his birth Noah has had bottles fairly infrequently and never had any problems taking them when offered – or taking anything offered to him for that matter. So yesterday when he kept scrunching up his face, whining and moving his head back and forth to avoid the bottle it was a bit of a shock. Mark thought maybe he could smell the formula and didn’t want it – but that doesn’t quite make sense because he eats formula every day in his cereal. So I tried to give him a little bit of water in a bottle. Same avoidance. I tried to give him a sippy cup with a little bit of water. Same avoidance. I tried to give him back his pacifier. Same avoidance. It was like he said “Screw you guys, I’m not letting anything in here.” Except of course when I tried to breastfeed him. I guess I’ll have to just keep trying to give him a bottle until he takes it. I don’t know what made him decide to get so finicky all of the sudden.

It was a nice weekend. Friday after we put Noah to bed Mark and I watched The Woodsman. I didn't think it was as good or as shocking as I had heard, but it wasn’t bad. The taboo could have been a bit more taboo - they were a bit too safe to have real resonance in my opinion. To make it more enjoyable Mark kept saying “It’s BACON!” like that dog in the Begging Strips commercial. Oh how we laughed.

Saturday morning we loaded the whole clan into the Saturn wagon and headed to Lansdale to pick up my ten year old sister Jessica. Before we left her house we met her new cousin baby Dante who at 3 and a half months already weighs 18 pounds. At six and a half months Noah weighs less than 16 – so you can tell that Dante is amazingly enormous. They should sign him up for football in the fall. Then we took Jessica shopping with birthday money from the family. We hit Old Navy, Sam Goody, Borders and a few shoe stores – with a break at the TGIFridays in the mall. It was exhausting for a few reasons. First and foremost is that at only ten years old Jessica already has a bit of a weight issue coupled with the fact that she is also a bit short for her age. So finding clothes that fit is a problem. I think this made us both feel a bit sad – probably me more than her since she doesn’t seem to have much of a physical self image yet. I just felt horrible for her but tried to stay positive. I just said “This is what shopping is about – taking a million things into the dressing room and maybe only a handful turn out right.” Of course shopping is like that for thirty year old mothers with giant pendulous breasts but it should not be like that at ten. Even shoe shopping was aggravating since Jess and I clearly had different ideas about what shoes she should get. I wanted her to get a cute pair of fashionable sandals that would go well with some of her new outfits and she wanted sneaker-like slip-ons. I was ready to yield in the end but they didn’t have the shoes she wanted in her size. So she decided she would rather have nothing. I wanted to say “I’m trying to spend money on you – why are you making it so difficult.” Is ten considered pre-teen? It sure felt like it should be. After the Ciara CD and some Nancy Drew mysteries we were all beat and went home. I made tacos for dinner and after Noah went to bed we watched Fat Albert. It wasn’t as horrible as I had expected – but it is painfully obvious that plot in a kids movie is an afterthought – or no-thought as it were.

Sunday Mark manned Noah while Jessica and I enjoyed breakfast at Silk City Diner. For some odd reason I was starving for bacon. In the afternoon we all took a “fancy soda romp” (sparkling pomegranate for me) and then walked to Penn Treaty Park to look at the river. Noah got tons of attention from his Aunt Jessica – and then it was time to take her home. She really seems to enjoy playing with Noah – but I know it’s a far cry from how much attention she got from us before Noah was born. Pre-Noah we would play a lot of games, watch TV and have unlimited money for recreational activities. But I think Jess had fun anyway. She’ll probably stay with us again during some weekdays this summer after school lets out.

After the weekend I’m beat. And the house seems even more of a sty than before. I better go do some laundry at least. I’m out of clean washcloths.