Four Weeks!

She's growing up too quickly.

Sarah and I were talking about Lucy the other day (which is not unusual), and Sarah mentioned that she'd like it if Lucy remained at age One Day forever. That would be okay with me, but I'm excited about all of the Firsts that are coming our way: First steps, first word (I'm hoping for either "Mom" or "Batman"), first hug....

This week we learned THE FIVE S's, a calming technique that seems to work with Lucy. Kind of unbelievable, but she settles down within a minute and then just stares at me with a "What's the haps, Old Man?" look on her face. Pretty great.

Over the last couple of weeks, Sarah's been meeting with some friends who've also had babies within the last year. They'll take a class together or meet for coffee or hunt the most dangerous prey in the world (Man) for a few hours and it has been sooooo great. Sarah gets a break from the apartment, she sees smiling faces other than mine (not that I'm a drag, but come on -- I love chocolate cake but I don't want to eat it all day, every day), but most importantly, we're figuring out what the new Normal is for us. That's one of the surprises we've had; you don't go back to "the way things were" once the kid's home and everything starts to settle. You learn a new routine, a new way to live your day-to-day life. It's nice. I'm so grateful for this month at home. It's given us the chance to snuggle, make mistakes, and be a family of three for the first time.

And that's so much better than Batman or chocolate cake.