Four Weeks
June 29, 2011
WHAT?!
I demand a recount. Not cool, relentless forward march of time. Not cool.
***
Dear Baby Ike,
You had your first real bath last night.
Your belly button took its sweet old time healing up, no thanks to an assist from Noah, who accidentally knocked the umbilical stump off while trying to hug you, five-year-old cage-fighter style. (Your daddy then put the stump on the kitchen counter. I made him throw it out. I may lean toward the obsessive when it comes to documenting ya'll's childhoods, but sweet merciful crap, I am not scrapbooking anybody's freaking umbilical stump.)
Noah was thoroughly horrified, since we'd put the fear of God into him and Ezra about the stump, and the not touching of the stump, and for days afterward would tearfully ask me if he'd ruined your belly button. I think I have finally assured him that your belly button is just fine, but if you are ever looking for good prank-related ammunition to use against your big brothers, I would totally try like, smearing your belly button with Nickelodeon slime and being all, OMG NOAH WHAT HAVE YOU DONNNNE?
Just a suggestion. I was the youngest of seven, you know.
Anyway, you loved your bath, shockingly enough. I've never had a baby who loved baths right from the start. I think it was due to the fancy European-style tub, which curls you up all cozy and womb-like, even though I realized afterwards that I was technically bathing you all wrong because I hadn't inserted the inner seat right because the fancy European-style tub only came with fancy European-style instructions that I could not read and I didn't really understand the pictures.
Whatever. You didn't drown or anything.
Stop looking at me like that.
Same goes for you, Mr. Judgy Owl Pillow.
Stump drama aside, your brothers sure do love you, Baby Ike.
Though Ezra might love your bouncy seat just a bit more. He likes to lounge out there, whenever you're not using it. Or sometimes when you are. "I CUDDLE WIT BABY IKE!" he says, all innocent and shocked that I would suspect his motives for laying on top of you were anything other than pure brotherly affection.
Same with all those kisses he gives you, every chance he gets, all over your face. That are immediately followed by a gigantic, tremendous sneeze.
To Noah, however, there's no such debate. He thinks you are the greatest thing in the history of the world. Our world. And Harry Potter's world. And the Star Wars universe. And also Middle Earth and Jamaica and wherever Cars 2 happened.
And of course, he's absolutely 100% right.
Love,
Milks Lady
P.S. No, I'm not sure when your brothers will EVER stop calling you "Baby Ike." I promise we'll try to work on it before kindergarten, though.
P.P.S. I call you Nugget. I make no such promises about that one.
Aw, so sweet. I can't believe that it's been 4 weeks already. And I had no idea that it was a fancy European tub...I thought it was a mop bucket. Geez, only 2 years go by and I'm totally out of touch with baby gear.
Your boys are adorable and I love the nickname 'Nugget'!
Wow, time sure does fly. He is just gorgeous though and I love the way each brother loves him! Happy 4 weeks, Ike!
Yep, the interwebs will continue to call him "Baby Ike"--probably until college.
Holy crap, I cannot believe he is 4 weeks old. I remember the day he was born. I was out of town (actually in DC) and finally signed up to follow you on Twitter that day because I didn't want to miss the birth announcement. Not sure why following the birth of a new baby whose whole family I adore even though I know them only from the internet made me feel so stalker-ish.
Just remembered that our youngest was "Baby Sean" for at least a year. I kinda miss that. Oh, BTW, he's almost 15 now.
What a little cutie! Four weeks old already!
J. absolutely loved his brand-new cousin's buzzy chair, to the point that he sat on the baby once during the visit (and tried other times, but was intercepted). I believe that his opinion of the baby was along the lines of, "She doesn't do much and she's not really using the chair as thoroughly as I would."
Oh man. He is uppercase Adorable. We called our first son Mr. Baby for months. He just seemed too BABY for his strong name, Mason. Gradually he became Mason the Baby, aka MtheB.
I call both my boys little nuggets now, though not usually under affectionate circumstances! :D
Not possible our Baby Ike is four weeks old already! Purty soon, kid's getting his drivers permit..no, wait, that's my baby boy, sorry.
And don't worry...our whole family called my guy Baby Zach for about the first three years. Then he just became Zach or Zachary Scissors...long story.
When I saw the title of this post my 1st thought was "No freaking way that baby is 4 weeks old!" But, time does march on. My son, Matthew was called Babehew by the other kids in the family for a couple of years. But now that he's 20 & 6'2" my baby is gone.
I just have to say this in Spanish...QUE LINDO BEBE!!!
Sigh. This post just about KILLED this pre-menopausal reader. Your boys are incredible. And I really need to you send the Nugget baby to me now.
I'm not kidding.
I love all three of your boys!! I hope everyone is still coping well (or as well as can be expected).
As far as nicknames...I'm sure he'll live if he's still called Baby Ike for a few more years. I still call my son Kissyface occasionally, and he's exactly one year older than Ike.
Um? I'm totally going to need the low-down on that tub, please. The picture just looks like a bucket.
Did you bathe him in a bucket?
;)
How the HELL can it be four weeks. DUDE you only had him last week. FOR SURE.
Oh swoon. Love this.
My 3 and a half year old still calls his sister Baby Eloise, and she is 8.5 months old. I suspect that will be her name until the end of time, or until we have another baby, so probably more like the end of time.
He is oh so lovely. Just divine.
I have my 3yo's stump in a zip-lock bag in a drawer. I even think it's wrong but I can't bring myself to throw it out now. I didn't keep the other 3 kids stumps so I have no idea why I have kept this one. I think you made a good choice to throw it away before it became that thing you'd kept so long that you couldn't.
Oh my gosh, the kiss! Your boys are so sweet. I still have my umbilical stump complete with clip, very useful when stumped for show and tell at school...
Our neighbor recently informed her son (age 6) that it was high time they stopped calling my kid (age 4) "Baby B," since she has not been a baby for a very long time. He looked at her, shocked. "But that's her NAME." He thought "Baby" was part of her legal moniker. (And still calls her "Baby B.")
Noted: I should tethe big sister not to touch the baby's umbilical stump. Often.
heh...I also thought your 'fancy European bathtub' was a garbage can/mop bucket. That fancy-shmancy bathtub probably cost some big bucks and we are all thinking it is an $8 Target mop bucket...
Love!
Hello,
I've been reading your blog for a while (and enjoying it greatly), but don't think I ever commented :)
I live in Europe and speak several European languages (French, German, Dutch, 'UK' English) and was wondering if you want/need/would like translation help with your baby tub :) If you do, just e-mail me!
When I was little I remember peeling my sleeping little sister's eyelid back while she napped, just out of curiosity. The resulting white, iris-less part of eyeball that I saw had me convinced that I had blinded her. Like, permanently. I waited in terror for my mother to find out what I had done, but as it turns out, nothing ever came of it. Apparently fear of permanently disfiguring a sibling is more common than I thought!
Nugget? As in booger nugget?
Yes, I am delurking to make that comment. :)
Congrats, though! He's cutey, booger or not.
Nugget? As in booger nugget?
Yes, I am delurking to make that comment. :)
Congrats, though! He's cutey, booger or not.
there is a family of three boys in ... my family (figuring how to word this and it sounds strange in any version but i'll keep going) and the youngest is *still* called baby. not even 'baby david' as i assume it probably started. nope, just baby. he's 23. (he's also like 6'2" which makes it even funnier.)
Gorgeous - absolutely a gorgeous baby nugget.
All the boys are adorable. Love that Ezra and Noah are so enamored of Baby Ike. My toddler calls his baby brother Baby Sam and daycare has started too. I think it will stick. Oh and we gave the same bouncy seat and my toddler (just a few months younger than Ezra) is obsessed with it. He ran the batteries out in under two months from keeping it on and it leans very far back now from thirty pounds of toddler lounging in it.
The Bucket Tub is called the WashPOD? I think? I got it on Amazon. It is indeed basically a bucket. But it's like...an *ergonomically* designed bucket with grippy handles and a foam seat on the inside. I dunno. Bullshit. I just wanted something I could use outside of the actual bathtub (where I am already bathing two other whole children) that wouldn't involve several gallons of spilled water all over the floor.
It really isn't that complicated -- I'm just an idiot who didn't understand the illustrations and missed the fact that the inner seat had a suction cup. WINNING AT EVERYTHING!!
Ike definitely seemed very calm and happy in it -- way more than Noah and Ezra ever were in their bath seats (the lying down/slightly elevated style). Yay for $25 mop buckets!
Judgy Owl Pillow is right. Man look at those eyes. "Always, watching, judging. Look at the baby. Look at the baby."
Your boys are presh. My Shug is 7 months on 7/11. Her big brother calls her "baby sister" and probably will forever. I enjoy it. She doesn't mind either.
Oh my goodness, you have made such adorable boys! I love your "voice".
You are one lucky lady, Amy.
Happy Monthday Baby Ike! Relentless march of time indeed.
My oldest is Baby Evan (since his father is also Evan) and despite trying to change it to the slightly-less-embarrassing LITTLE Evan a year ago after his first birthday he is still Baby Evan to nearly everyone.
Am dying of envy.
I still have 20 weeks of misery left in this pregnancy, although now I know I'm having a second little girl.
I'm especially watching for Ezra/Ike interactions because Elanor is only a few weeks younger than Ez and I'm the only of 1 children...and have no fucking clue what I'm doing having a second.
I enjoy referring to myself as milk lady as well.
I have heard a story of someone who saved the cord finding it had been eaten by ants and this just sounds even more disgusting than keeping the cord at all, so I think it is a good decision to toss it.
With our younger son, I believe I startled a nurse in the NICU that I didn't want to keep his cord. We compromised by my taking a picture of it.
My youngest is 11 months old and we still call her Baby Abbie. He is just too precious for words!
Just remember: "nobody puts Baby in the corner!" (Sorry, couldn't resist).
You two make good babies :)
We called our youngest Baby for a year and a half. It all came to and end one day when I was sitting with him looking at a picture and he was able to call everybody in the picture by name. When I pointed to him and asked "who's that" he said "Baby". Sigh. He thought his name was Baby! So we've spent the last six months drilling him on his name. Now he will tell you his name is Weeum (William), so no permanent damage done!
I am so envious. Currently 40 weeks, 4 days with my fourth boy. I think you need this onesie, which I desperately wnat to get for my nugget:
http://www.amazon.com/Nugget-Battlestar-Galactica-Infant-Snapsuit/dp/B003CAPW2G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1309373705&sr=8-2
Must chew on the baby. NOMNOMNOM.
Have to de-lurk for this one, I'm 28, and my younger brother is 26 and a foot taller than me, but hee's still my "baby broder" or "toad" and I'm the only one who can call him those.
Seriously.. ENOUGH with the cute little baby in the tub photos..and the older brothers smothering him in love...
My uterus is KILLING me with the taunting and whispers of.. "go aheaaaadddddddd.... what's another baaabbbeeeee... you knnnoowww you wwwaaannnnttt annnnotthhherrrr!!!!"
Oh, Ike's head looks so completely snuffable, I can't stand it. My youngest is now 2 1/2 and while I know we are done, pictures of sweet, snuffly heads about do me in. Such sweetness from all of your boys.
I had a lady tell me one time how she kept all her kids umbilical cords in a jar on her mantel...her kids were like 30 something when she told me this story. Baby Ike is so adorable.
Beautiful and alert! If you thought Ezra learned quickly, this guy has 2 teachers! What a beautiful family.
I want to hold the nugget. That's all.
Heart heart heart the WashPOD. It keeps the baby all warm in the water. Mine would push off with her feet and bob around a bit. She loved her baths, unlike her sister who hated lying on that cold wet slingey thing. It's my new go-to shower present, and I love to see the baby-head-with-adult-arms pictures. Even better when it's hairy daddy arms ;-)
ah! i call my daughter Nugget. Or Nug rather. Because all those syllables get to be too much sometimes. ;)
HAHAhaha, NERD ALERT: somebody watches Battlestar Galactica. But no matter, because Nugget is probably the best baby nickname EVER.
Although, props to whoever said 'booger nugget' up there, lol.
my husband jasen will have you to that for the baby making trying we will be doing. You have now pushed my schedule up to DEATHCON 0 with the cuteness of Nugget and the gang!
Can you maybe work on making him not quite so freaking adorable? Because owe my uterus hurts.
We have a friend, "Baby Owen", who is starting preschool this year. Good luck losing that title, Ike!
4 weeks = no freaking way!
baby Ike looks so smart!
My husband and I don't have kids by choice. But I have to say you and Jason make really cute kids. God love you. 3 boys. Oy vey!
Kinda looks like he's bathing in a 5 gallon bucket. j/s. :)
Cute post!
Oh my, he is BEYOND precious!
Hey, a while back you had a pic of your hand on your pregnant belly, and you had a mother's ring. Can you tell me where you go that? I'd love to get one for myself -- *ahem* I mean, for my mom or sister or something far less selfish.
P.S. My daughter, at 20 months old, still goes by "Baby Ellie" with all of our nieces, nephews, and friends' kids, since she's the youngest. Trying to explain to them that she's no longer a baby gets you exhasperated looks from the 5-and-under population that make you feel like a total moron.
We have a nug/nugget too! He is 15 months now, and there's no end to the nickname in sight. He may still be "The Nugget" when he goes to college!
Sitting here with Baby Jamie right now. Although that title is reserved for special occasions now. Like when he walks in the door from college. Thanks for the heads up on the baby bucket. I'll be the cool old mom at the next baby shower.
Baby is looking very beautiful and Innocent. I just love this Baby. Your Baby is now turned in fourth week, that's great.
Love Nugget! My Baby #3 is Nugget, too. Nuggy...The Nugginator...Nuggy Nugglestein... Poor thing has so many nicknames :)
LOL - the kids next door call my daughter "Baby Claire" all the time; I'm wondering how long that will last :)
I call my two nephews "the babies." "I wanna see the babies. I miss the babies." They are 7 and 4. Pretty sure I won't be the favorite aunt for long. ;)
Love your boys. They are so sweet!!
It's possible he will be called Baby Ike forever. My son is almost 1 (WTF?!), and his daddy & older brother still call him Baby Brother. Never his actual name.
It's possible he will be called Baby Ike forever. My son is almost 1 (WTF?!), and his daddy & older brother still call him Baby Brother. Never his actual name.
Ah, this post makes me happy. What a lovely family!
So sweet!
Also, we've been calling our son "Nugget" since before he was born. He is now 2 1/2. We have no plans to stop.
Baby Jack is now 9 months old and I see no sign of dropping the Baby part. Perhaps at his wedding he will just say "I, Jack, take you...", or maybe not.
Love the judgey owl. Can't believe the judgers didn't jump all over you for the PILLOW and the BUMPERS and the DANGERS OF IT ALL.
My mom taped our umbilical cords in our baby books. Yep, I am 35 years old with a stump still around.
Is that the lolrus's bukkit?
Those pictures just scream LOVE. Adore.
Also, if your interested, we had some cord stump drama over at our house as well when the older sister put younger brothers cord stump in her mouth one day. Just ew. http://aisforbeautiful.blogspot.com/2009/11/quick-update.html
Awww! I made my sister promise to try to get her kids to keep calling my son "Baby Jack" because it is awesome.
omg amy... that picture of noah and baby ike darn near did me in. absolutely precious... :)