BA's Corner: Happy Helper

While AA was studying for exams, I tried to get Leah out of the house as much as possible so AA could focus. Leah is pretty great at running errands with me. She's so good-natured about everything. Typically she sleeps a lot. But when she's awake, she just sits back and takes it all in - the sounds, the sights, the people, etc. It's great.

I took Leah to the grocery store with me, and she proved to be an excellent helper. She didn't throw her toy on the floor, and she made excellent conversation (with anyone who passed by). But mostly she was in charge of the grocery list. (Yes, I have no shame...I will stop and take pictures of my daughter in the grocery store if she's doing something funny).

 Leah: Ooooh...shopping. This is going to be fun! I'll hold the list for you, Dad.



Leah: You didn't forget the milk, did you Dad?



Things were rolling along fine, until my helper decided to eat the grocery list.




 I've always heard that you're not supposed to go to the grocery store hungry....

BA's Corner: Hold my Hand, Part 2

As AA finishes up her last few finals of the semester, here's the continuation of "Hold my Hand."

On Leah's first day of daycare, AA couldn't handle it. She cried too much and I had to take Leah that morning. Leah seemed okay, but she also seemed like she knew something was different. After all, she'd been at home pretty much the whole time since she'd been born, except for some doctor visits. So she knew when we were getting out of her "routine." I walked her out, loaded her in the car, and headed off. She was pretty quiet, and I couldn't see her. So I reached my hand back into her car seat to see if I could feel her moving around or something. She immediately grabbed my finger. I smiled.

There are other times too....strapping Leah into the Express and heading out for a walk, middle of the night feedings, etc. And the first night we officially put Leah in her crib for the night, I had to keep running in to soothe her. She held onto my thumb until she was finally snoring away.

Secretly, when I'm soothing her back to sleep in the middle of the night, I like to hold her hand. I think it makes a difference. I know she won't want to do this forever, and I just love how small and soft they are. Plus, one of the first things I discovered about her (and that I still love) is that she has AA's hands. When I picked her up from daycare that first week and all the babies looked somewhat the same to me, I could be sure I had my Leah by looking at her hands.

5 Months

Leah turned 5 months old on Sunday! We didn't go to the doctor this month so we don't know her "stats" but we do know that she is healthy and growing, and super super happy.

Our sweet 5 month old baby. When did she get to be so big!

The sneaky smile of a rascal in the making.

"Oh great, another birthday cake that I can't eat. Ho hum. This sucks."

"Happy 5 months to me!"

BA's Corner: Hold My Hand, Part 1

Since AA is feverishly studying for exams, I figured I needed to step up to the plate with a new post for the weekend.

Moms have a connection...it's just built in. It's part of the reward they get (if not the only unique reward) for all the suffering they go through to bear a child.

So it's nice for dads to have something too. The night Leah was born, I was so thrilled when Leah finally came out, because I knew that AA's pain was almost over. And I wanted AA to hold her first. She'd been the one to shoulder most of the load, and certainly she'd been the one "taking" Leah to the doctor multiples times a week. She'd been the one doubled over the toilet in the middle of the night, not me. And when it was my turn to hold Leah, I mostly focused on not screwing up...not dropping her, not letting her head fall, not waking her up, and not making her cry.

But when we moved to the recovery room and the nurses came to take Leah for her first bath, I jumped at the chance to tag along, while AA stayed in the recovery room. This was one of my first tasks as a Dad without AA there. Granted, all I had to do was watch the nurses and pay attention.

The nurse finished bathing Leah, and she finished crying (for the time being). The nurse walked away for a few minutes, and there were a couple of other babies in the room getting cleaned up. There was one in particular, about 5-6 feet away from us, who was really crying. His dad was standing there with his arms crossed, just watching him. Must have been a second child! I was a deer in headlights staring at Leah, with a trigger finger on the camera. And I was slightly afraid to touch her for fear that I would do something wrong!

I imagine what Leah must have been going through during those first few hours of life. How strange it must have been for her, and how scared and confused she probably was. And while I was excited, I was also pretty terrified. It was probably 2 a.m. after a long, life-altering day. We were in a strange place, and, to some extent, we were strangers to each other.

I knew she was scared. As I had imagined for months, I reached out my hand and she grabbed onto my finger as tightly as she could. I like to think it was the first time she realized that the voice she had been hearing all these months was her Daddy, and that no matter how strange, confusing, and scary this new world was, she knew she was going to be okay because Daddy was right beside her.

And I like to think that, in that same moment, Leah was thinking the same thing about me...that I must be scared at the unfamiliar burden ahead of me, but that she was right there with me, hanging on. And together, we'd be okay.

And that's why this is one of my favorite pictures. It was our first moment together, alone.

July 12, 2011 taken at approximately 2:00 a.m.

Passed!

I got my MPRE results back yesterday.  And I passed!  I needed a 75 to pass in Georgia, and I got a 122!  Yippie.  I can cross that off my list forever.  One more step in the direction of the Bar exam.  Now if I can manage to pass 3 exams this semester, 2 next semester, and then that "little" test (haha) in July, I'll be golden.  But for now I'll just enjoy the minor victory of passing the MPRE. 

Leah and BA were super excited for me.  And just because I love this picture so gosh darn much, here it is again!

My new favorite picture of the Peanut. She really is this happy most of the time.

Peanut's Post: My Great Aunt Joanne

Peanut here.  I have a great aunt, named Aunt Joanne.  I say she's great for 2 reasons. #1: she's actually my mommy's aunt, and #2: she really is great!  My Aunt Joanne came to visit me last weekend and I just had to share some pictures. 

I was so excited when Aunt Joanne arrived

We did all sorts of fun activities.  We read books ...

We picked out a Christmas tree ...

I selected the tree - isn't it GREAT!

This was the moment when I expressed my dismay that such a
beautiful tree had to ride home atop a car with only 3 hubcaps.

We opened presents ...

This was an ornament from my Granny D. that Aunt Joanne brought with her.

Oh and one last exciting thing happened during Aunt Joanne's visit ... this is REALLY cool, so listen up.  I discovered my TOES!

Thanks for the visit Aunt Joanne!



Love, Peanut.

Today I Called the Jail

I just did something so exciting that I've never done before and I just had to tell you about it.  I called the Jail.  Granted it is the jail for Malibu/Agoura Hills (ritzy areas) but still, it's the Jail!  In my boring little world, this is hot stuff folks.

Why did I call the Jail?   I am currently trying to complete my Certification of Fitness to Practice Law Application for the Georgia Bar.  Most people think about becoming a lawyer and they think, "I'll just go to law school, take some big test at the end, and, viola, I'll be a lawyer."  Wrong.  There are so many hoops to jump through just to get to the Bar Exam.  The Cert. of Fit. goes into that category of "things that consume a ridculous amount of time and energy that no one ever told you about becoming a lawyer."  This thing is a beast. It asks for 10 years of employment history, 5 years of residential history, a complete record of all student loans, lines of credit, all driving violations, among other obscure things.  And since the State of Georgia seems determined to make sure I fail my exams this semester, they've made the due date for this enormous document next week, right in the middle of finals.  I've actually finished filling out the forms, but I still have to get fingerprinted on special fingerprint cards that only the State Bar of Georgia can send you.  But where do I get fingerprinted?

The Jail, of course!  Actually, I called the Sheriff's Office first and asked about fingerprinting.  The lady on the line quickly said, "I'll transfer you to the Jailer."  I wanted to scream, "Wait - the Jailer???  What have I done?!?!"  But instead I stumbled out a shaky "oh-oh-okay."  And then a voice on the other line picked up the transfer and simply said, "Jail."  Ahhhhhh. 

Turns out I have to make an appointment with the Jailer first.  So it appears I will be going to the Jail to get fingerprinted some time in the next 2 weeks once my special little cards come in the mail.  Crazy.  In one month I will have talked to my very first Jailer and visited my very first (and hopefully last) Jail.  Ah, Law School; what new and joyous experiences you've brought me.