So who is this Henry, anyway?

Henry — or Hensie, or H, or H-Dog as he’s come to be called — is three months old today. So far, he has been born, and gone on a lot of trips. When he was five days old, he rode in the worst weather conditions this part of our state has ever seen all the way to Salem (an hour’s drive) to be with Nona and Papa (my parents) for Christmas. When he was almost two months old, he flew with me to Clarkston, Washington to meet his Great Grandma Mac for the first and last time. In the past two weeks, creeping up on three months old, he has been to Eugene and back twice — once with all of us and once just with me — to see Nona in the hospital after her three concurrent back surgeries. That’s a lot of miles for a baby. And it could have been a big stress for me and everyone else if he were a crier. Or even a complainer. But he’s neither. Sure, he cries when he’s hungry, or when he has gas. But the rest of the time, this dude is either asleep or awake and pretty freakin’ happy — laughing, smiling, or just hanging out. What a huge blessing that has been during this really pretty difficult stretch of life.

I keep telling people the same thing I told them when Sophie (who had a similar temperament) was a baby: They say you get the baby you can handle. Well, turns out I can’t handle much.

Thanks, H. Love you, boy.

We Moved. I'm Pregnant. We Got Cable.

Which of these is more momentous? Well, okay, the middle one. But the others feel pretty big too.

The Move: We moved out of our little 875 square foot apartment and into a rental house that has 1100 square feet and a full basement. You'd think we'd be swimming in space, but really it's incredible how much stuff we fit into our apartment.

Some things I will miss about our little orange home:
* Always knowing exactly where Sophie was
* Our ingenious storage and small-space-living innovations
* Our huge front window
* Living close to neighbors we liked and feeling like part of a community
* Makai the border collie
* The wide, beautiful front door
* The glowing light reflecting off the orange exterior
* The view of our neighbor's backyard plant collection
* The funky industrial/residential neighborhood

Things I like so far about our new house:
* Walking distance to approximately 37 cafes
* Walking distance to a Powell's books (on Hawthorne)
* A fenced backyard (But no grass to mow - all deck and tile! Yes!)
* My basement workspace/jewelry-making studio
* The light in the sunroom
* At least 20 different kinds of trees visible from the deck
* The fact that Sophie loves it

The New Baby: Due in December, three days after Sophie's birthday.

The Cable: I've never had cable in my adult life. Did you know that just about any time of day, twenty-four hours a day, you can catch an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos on one channel or other? Crazy! Tune in anytime and you're sure to see a) A cat falling off of something; b) A guy taking a hit to the groin; or c) Trampoline-related hijinks/injuries. Such a comfort to know a belly laugh is at my fingertips any time of the day or night.

Anyway, that's what going on around here. Trying to settle in, maintain a civil attitude while dealing with perma-nausea, and avoid gorging on BBC America. Work in progress.

Book List For Baby Expecters, Recent Baby-Havers and Baby Shower Gift Buyers

For a while I've e-mailed around a list of books I found to be particularly helpful during the time just before, and for the year after I had a baby. And for a long while I've thought hey, wouldn't it be convenient if I could just send people to a link on Amazon wherein each of these books could be looked at easily? So here it is: Taking Care of You and Your Baby: Humor, Spirit and Good Information. (The Listmania! creation interface on Amazon has been greatly improved since the last time I tried to do this. So there's nothing stopping you from doing your own, you know.) Turns out I have great taste: each of the books on the list received at least four stars from reviewers. So you don't have to just take my word that it's good stuff.

So anyone expecting a baby, or just having just had a baby, or anyone having to think of something good to buy someone expecting a baby or having just had a baby is invited to go take a look.

That's a lot of times to type baby.