Lizard Baby

How did I not know that babies molt? I've been assured by one and all that this usually happens, but seriously, he's peeling like a lizard. In fact, I'm not completely sure that he's not part lizard (or perhaps a relic of one of the Visitors...I'll have to see if he starts showing an unnatural taste for rats.)

Other than the skin shedding, he is the perfect baby. He only really cries when there's an issue - and it's generally pretty easy to figure out what that issue is, because his natural rhythm seems to have dropped us into a fairly predictable schedule with about a 3 hour cycle. (I'd love for it to get longer, but he is still ramping up on the eating and while he's almost consistently at 2.5 oz each bottle, there are still some regressions to the 1.5 or 1...but then, for being a week old he's really doing great, so I know the time frame will increase as we go.)

We've had one fountain baptism (that I blame solely on Tim - though I will acknowledge he was trying to be helpful). During diaper changes, I leave the old diaper on loosely, covering him up to avoid the sprinkles. When Tim helps (which is often) he usually busses away the old diaper when I'm finished - but this time he grabbed it too early, sending out showers. Fortunately, it only got on the changing pad, the baby, and his outfit. It missed mom and dad - though I'm sure that's to come at some point.

Other than that, it's been kind of a whirlwind of relatives from anywhere that's remotely near swinging by to see the baby. I appreciate them coming - I really do. And we've gotten some great photos. But (and here is where I feel incredibly selfish), I'm so tired of sharing my son. I want to spend all my time snuggled up on the couch just holding him and counting his little contented breaths and looking into his gorgeous brown eyes (when they're open) and kissing his beautiful head. At the same time, since people are driving a couple hours to come by, I feel like I have to let them hold him and then he gets passed to someone else and around the room and my fingers start twitching and I feel like a big ol' meanie, but I go and snatch him back when it's been too long and I need a snuggle...though it's still been too long as far as I'm concerned.

I just want to go home.

No word on our paperwork yet, but we're hoping maybe Monday. I think I remember reading that Virginia has (by law) five days to turn around our stuff. They got it (as far as we know) on Thursday, so while Monday is what we hope for, I think technically it might not get back to Florida until Wednesday. And I don't know what Florida has to do with it after that point.

Have I mentioned I want to go home?

Beyond that I'm struggling (and I'm sure it's because I'm tired and I'm not at home and so on and so forth) with some of the well meaning things that people are saying. For example, yesterday, Tim's cousin (who just finished weaning her daughter) was holding the baby and he was in his little look around and explore phase and just looking about and playing with his fingers and tongue as he does and Tim's grandmother said how he could smell the breast milk and was trying to feed. Well, no. I don't think that's the case. If he's awake, he's playing with his tongue and making smacking noises - it's just part of his adorable personality. Plus he'd just eaten. But the way she said it made me feel like such an incredibly bad person because I couldn't have biological children and am not breastfeeding the one we adopted. And I know she has no idea how bad that made me feel but I wanted to snatch away the baby and go into my room and shut the door and just never come out again. Then there's my father-in-law who keeps going on about how he's never seen me look this happy or this beautiful or radiant. And again, I know he means well and probably thinks he's saying something incredibly kind - but seriously...it's like asking someone if they've lost weight. I wasn't beautiful on my wedding day? I wasn't radiant then? In the thirteen years that he's known me I've never looked happy?

I know it's because I'm tired. I do. But sometimes I wish I could take one of his passies and pop it into people's mouths and just say, "Suck on this for a moment while you consider, truly consider, what you're about to say."

Regardless, I'll take it and more if it's what's required to have my son.