Reunited and it feels so good

Just got back from having lunch with Susan and Francesca in Liberty Lands Park. It is a sticky mess outside. Francesca crawled for the first time this weekend so she’s very eager to show off her new skill by crawling all over Noah. Aside from having to be told to be gentle with each other about a million times, Noah and Francesca seemed to enjoy each others company.

Mark’s best friend Ed came to the house on Saturday to help Mark wipe the hard drive of our old computer and start to retool it so that Mark can use it to do some recording. He hasn’t used his basement music studio much in the last couple of years and hopefully the new setup will renew his interest – though I’ll certainly miss him when he disappears into his lair. Noah and I got out of their hair and went to the Milliceccobachs in Ldale to visit with our high school friend Beth and the youngest of her brood of three, 20 month old Joseph. Patrice, Brett, Beth and I probably haven’t all spent time really hanging out together since high school and this time we were swimming in adorable offspring. It was a really fun and comfortable afternoon. All the way home I was thinking about how great that no matter how things have changed in the intervening years that we were in essence still the same people and that there was still a strong camaraderie between us. After Brett & Trent and Beth & Joseph left and Sean came home, we put Noah and Bella in the baby pool and ate yummy white pizza. I don’t think Bella alarmed Noah once all afternoon and they were both having a ball in the pool – it was insanely adorable.

When I got home with a sleeping baby at 9 pm I would have anticipated that Mark and Ed would have been long gone, out to dinner and drinks. But the poor guys were just receiving hoagies from Rustica and returning to the mother boards. They finally got out to Johnny Brenda’s when I was getting ready to go to bed. The amazingly spectacular Ed worked a full-time work day at our house on Saturday, and if I wasn’t really attached to Noah I might feel compelled to give him our first born.

Sunday my mom came in the afternoon and helmed Master Noah while Mark, Ed and I went to the Standard Tap for Brunch. And exquisitely yummy Bloody Marys. I wish I had one in my hand right now. My wild mushroom and feta omelette was excellent as well though I kept thinking how horrified Jen O would be about the sheer number of onions on my potatoes. When we got home Mom was having so much fun with Noah I was afraid she wasn’t going to leave without him.

Noah is rarely very far from my arms. I can count the number of times I’ve left him while he was awake on both hands. In fact we haven't ever been apart for more than three hours. This may be a bit stifling to some and I'm sure others might consider me too clingy – but it works for me. I say me because I'm pretty sure that Noah would be fine if I had to leave him for longer. He might get a bit edgy, but he's pretty good natured and flexible and would get over it. But when I’m apart from Noah I wonder what he's doing. It's not so much worrying as it is feeling like I might be missing out on something. That little else is as important as being with him. My mom has been the only babysitter Noah has known and I’m very happy to say that he really enjoys being with her. One of my mom’s coworkers said his family has a saying about babies being able to “smell blood,” meaning they can sense their kin. I’m not so sure about that but I do think that since I look a bit like my mom and we have similar laughs and voices that she has a distinct advantage over any other babysitter we could employ. And who knows – maybe scent does play a role in it too. I’m certain however that her enthusiasm to spend time with him and her obvious adoration of him definitely play a part. That boy could ask his Grandma to get him the moon and she’d try to figure out how to make it happen. Even if Mark and I have told him “No moon. No how.”