The amazing disappearing month...

Almost June! I can't believe it. May has vaporized, vanished in the haze that is the first, timeless month in a baby's life. I know we have been out and about, we have done projects around the house and been festive and summery already. We've even, honestly, gotten a fair amount of sleep, all children being considered. Yet the days have still managed to blend together and leave for memories only the vague impression of diapers, dishes, and the weight of a baby on my chest...

Looking at Ivy, sleeping in her carrier next to me-- how she has changed! Our lives may be filled with stasis but she is changing at a rate that will never happen for her again.... Her newborn chicken legs are filling out, little rolls showing up in perfect-pink skin. She is, unfortunately, developing a case of baby acne (she has asked that photos not be published until she gets over this particular spate of pimples on her right cheek...) but her face is becoming more formed each day. She has some pretty impressive head control when we hold her on our chest or put her on her tummy. We attribute this to the fact that her head is so teeny and thus easy to lift. She is a strong little monkey and very active when she is awake, arms and legs kicking. She will "stand" on my lap and push off against my legs when she's a bit on the frustrated side. My favorite thing is the way she'll grab onto my hand, with her arms AND her little feet and legs, when she's on her back. Really, a little monkey! One of her favorite times of day is diaper time-- she is fussy about a wet or messy diaper and loves to be changed and cleaned up. She'll visibly relax when the dry diaper goes on and the moments after being changed are some of the nicest bits of quiet alert time we get with her. She lays there with a look of wonderment on her face, little mouth in an "O". She loves leg and foot massages and simply melts into them...

Today's big project has been finishing the deck and gazebo project and hosting a little Memorial Day get-together. Nat has simply been a dynamo in getting this done. Mom, Becca, Kevin, Melinda, Will and the girls came over for a lunchtime cookout. Of course, in the way that weather seems to have, it rained right at lunch time so we did not get to use the newly completed deck. But, the weather cleared in the afternoon and Melinda and Will, who stayed to hang out, helped us finish everything up. We now have a 12x12 deck with a 10x10 gazebo on it, complete with lights and lanterns. Now all we need is for patio furniture to go on sale-- new outdoor dining set, here we come! We've spent a lovely day sitting around enjoying the fruits of Nat's labor, and did manage to eat dinner on the deck before it rained again. It's a baby-riffic gathering we have, with 3 carriers full of babies in the room right now! I think Jack has been a bit overwhelmed by the amassed infants around all day. He's been a little ball of chaos this afternoon, wandering around getting into things he knows full-well he's not supposed to get into just to get our attention. I love him, I love him so much. But oh, there were some moments today that I really wished someone would take our boy on vacation. Just for a little while...