Diaper Bandit

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We took Elsie to the Zoo the other day and it was very fun to watch her watch the animals move about.  Here she is watching some fish.  It seems to me that this is why we enjoy being parents, because we get to take pleasure in the silly things, like fish swimming by. 

All of us here at Diaper Bandit would like to apologize for the long lapse in entries to this blog.  See, I was away for a month and have been pretty busy so the blog sort of fell by the wayside.    Elsie is doing very well though, for anyone interested.  She’s walking about like a little trooper and sleeps through most nights, if by “most” you mean “more than half”.  Here’s a picture of Elsie seeing me at the airport after my absence.  She’s trying to figure out just who this guy holding her is:

The big news here at The Diaper Bandit is that Maggie’s pregnant with number two!  Yes, we could hardly believe it ourselves, after all that trouble getting pregnant the first time, number two just slipped right in there.  We didn’t even know until the first trimester was nearly over.  Maggie’s starting to show now and she just pulled out her old maternity jeans so I suppose it’s time to make room for Elsie’s little sister.  Yes, it’s a girl, due in July.  Oh boy.  Even Elsie has begun to give us a hand with the preparations.  Here she is sweeping the floor:

That’s the good news, but the bad news (or maybe it’s good too, depending on how you look at it) is that Diaper Bandit won’t be appearing here anymore after this month.  I’m just not able to keep up with the regular posting and you Babble readers deserve better!  It’s been a lot of fun, and I’ll post a few more updates this month, but then it’s over, really!  At least until number two comes along…

I’ve been away, so it wasn’t until I saw this picture that I realized we might need to take action.  Or maybe we’re nearing the tipping point, when Elsie’s bangs have grown long enough to be put back into some kind of ponytail.  Right now we usually put it into a little topknot, which is pretty cute, but it often comes out and leaves her looking like this.  

Elsie loves this tunnel.  She and her cousin like to get in there and pull at eachother’s hair. 

Though we’d noticed most babies Elsie’s age were now holding their own bottles, Elsie had been very content to let us do it for her.  It was fairly enjoyable for us to do this so we didn’t mind.  We also figured that since we’d chosen to use glass bottles it might be just as well if she didn’t toss them on the ground.  But now finally she’s taken to holding her own.  And we are happy about that too.  Maggie figured this out when she fell alseep holding a bottle for Elsie and Elsie grabbed it herself and started drinking.  The little trickster!

Every morning Elsie goes through the drawers as Maggie gets ready for work.  Neverending fun! 

 I’ve learned a few things about sleep since becoming a father, and I knew quite a bit about it before.  I’ve learned how to watch for those heavy eyelids and the joy that comes with seeing them finally shut peacefully.  Because then I can sleep as well.  But sometimes it’s just nice to hold a sleeping baby. This picture, one of our favorites, was taken by my mom’s partner Jane O’Wyatt at xmas dinner.

I’ve been away from Elsie and Maggie for a week now and we’ve got two more to go.  I think I might get choked up when I finally do see little Elsie.  She’ll probably look a little different and wonder who I am.  Oh hopefully she’ll smile and remember me. 

 Anyway, I’m at a loss for words in for this babble blog right now since all I can really say is I miss my daughter.  But I suppose I don’t miss her so much between the hours of six and eight am, when I can still catch a little uninterupted sleep.

Well, just as I was preparing to leave for my trip, Elsie began to take her first unassisted steps.  She’s been doing it all week, a step here and a step there.  A friend noted that she only walks until she realizes that what she’s doing, at which point she gets down and crawls.  Right before I left for my red-eye flight east I decided to grab to camera and try to document this stage.  And Elsie obliged with a brief saunter across the floor.  So here you go, a few shakey first steps:

Sources tell us that since Elsie is a year old she can now drink regular cow’s milk.  Does this mean The Great Formula Debate is over?  Maybe so, though it was fun while it lasted.  I ran into a woman at a party this evening who told me she actually reads “Diaper Bandit” and she was worried that after the heated debate over our formula use that I’d been scared away from posting anything at all.  Not so!  Diaper Bandit is not afraid!  We were just not near any good internet access over the holidays, that’s all.   We didn’t even have cars where we went, just horses and sleighs.

While we were off in those hinterlands, we decided to take Elsie over to a friend’s farm so she could meet the makers of her future milk. 

She enjoyed the animals very much, including this giant pig whom she might someday eat as well.  I’m a pretty big fan of bacon, but I have to admit it’s hard to picture killing a nice old pig.  They really do seem like they have complex emotions even though they sleep in mud.  Charlotte’s Web!

Elsie has begun to take her first tentative steps now, which is exciting.  But I’m about to be gone for a month long work trip so I’ll be pretty sad to miss out on the all latest developments.  I imagine when I return she’ll be running around like Carl Lewis.  I don’t know how soldiers who go off on a tour for a year or more do it.  I wouldn’t want to miss more than a month, and even that seems long.  Back when I was in jail I couldn’t stand being away for even 48 hours.  Imagine if you were in prison for 10 years!  The depression those guys feel must be crushing.  But then I guess they should have thought of that before jacking that car from the old lady.  

Well, that’s the news from Portland, Oregon, where it’s very rainy, but also very nice, and all the milk is local and organic, even if it doesn’t come from a woman’s breast.