Fun with Colic

I still don't know if I can officially call this colic, but when your baby cries for at least half of his waking hours (minus while he eats), that's a lot of frickin' crying. And if colic is even worse, I commend all parents of colicky babies who have survived without sending their babies to infant boarding school.

Ryan and I finally finished watching 'The Happiest Baby on the Block'. We'd already learned the 5 S's, but it was nice to get a refresher course. We've found that one of the only ways to soothe our son is to swaddle him as tightly as we can (although our little Houdini can eventually get out of anything...), slip a bink in his mouth, and put him in his swing. Right now, he's staring at me wide-eyed, but he is not wailing. That, my friends, is a miracle these days. A few minutes ago, you would have thought he was being water-boarded. "Fess up, Wyatt. Where did you hide your other sock, and who are you working with to vaporize all the pacifiers?" Fun, fun!

I was planning to take a walk today, but I can't find a happy medium between the straight-jacket in the swing and the screeching howls of my tortured son elsewhere. And so, I'm taking a written walk down Blogger Lane instead. It's just as refreshing, but doesn't do as much for dropping the baby weight...

In another topic entirely, I have to bring up politics. It's only fitting, because I pretty much watch the news 24/7 these days to keep my brain from turning to mush. As usual, I won't be endorsing anyone. But I do find one thing funny about campaigns in general. Themes. Right now, the focus is on the democrats, of course. Clinton vs. Obama. (I'm sure this is news to all of you.) The two themes are "Change" and "Experience". I've been entertained by how passionate the voters interviewed are about these slogans. You'd think it was the first time any candidate had based a campaign on experience or change... And yet, as far as I can remember, those have been the rally cries in just about every election in history. I'm assuming McCain will take up where Clinton leaves off with the "experience" theme. (I'm convinced Obama will be the democratic nominee... but if Hillary pulls off the super delegate coup, I guess McCain will find a way to adopt a theme of "change" instead.) The truth is: they're really just buzz words. Experience can only get a politician so far, and they're only capable of so much change. In the end, no matter who wins, he/she will be considerably more impotent than they let on. But for now, enjoy the cries of "experience" and "change". You won't hear these themes again for a long time (or at least until the next election).

I guess I'm as fussy about the semantics of politics as my son is about life as a 5 week old. :)

The Basics. (Because it's that cut and dry.)

Tonight, Ryan and I are going to take a Basic Baby Care class with some friends of ours. It's a three hour class, and I'm curious to know what they're going to cover. I imagine the "basics" will include glamorous topics like diaper changing, umbilical cord stump care, and in our case, circumcision care. (I know this has turned into a more debated topic than it used to be, but for us, there was never really a question.) How to bathe your baby... How to burp your baby... etc.

It's funny. You can take classes to learn the mechanics of caring for a new baby, but that's not the same thing as learning how to be a parent. That's the more ambiguous part. I used to laugh when people would say, "Babies need to come with an instruction manual." After all, aren't these classes and all those books like What to Expect the First Year exactly that? Oh, but as the idea of a baby coming into our home gets closer and closer to reality, I'm gaining a little more perspective on what that means. The classes and books can't teach you responsibility, or how to love no matter what. Childcare? Absolutely. Parenthood? No.

And now for a complete 180. Politics. Being pretty moderate and about as close as you can get to an Independent without giving up the right to vote in a California primary, I rarely broach the topic. Even today, I'm not going to endorse anyone or take on any major issues. But I do have a small gripe with the Democratic party that I'd like to address. Super delegates. What's the point? Who came up with this brilliant set up? I think the idea of super delegates (especially having over 700 of them) is ridiculous. It has nothing to do with my specific political views, per se, but it does say something about the flaws in our systems... Yeah, anyway, just thinking...

Today I'm 33 1/2 weeks pregnant (or 34 weeks based the last two ultrasounds). 6 - 6 1/2 weeks until our due date. Tick, tick, tick.