The Bjorn Ultimatum

My wife always makes me laugh-- usually with her spontaneous comments, but once in a while with a premeditated joke.

Earlier this week, as we were readying Jack for sleep, he was having a fussy cluster feed. If you never heard of cluster feeding, that's because it is the dark side of infanthood. Everyone warns you about your newly acquired sleeping habits, but no one tells you, "Oh, the kid will want to eat for 3 hours straight every night before going to bed, and he'll be a pain in the arse about it." Cluster feeding is tough on mom, and dad has to be at the ready to whisk the boy away for a quick walk outside to relieve some of his restlessness.

So Jack was having this fussy cluster feed and Jen says, "Okay, boy, either you settle in for some more food or else dad will have to give you the Bjorn Ultimatum," (referring to the Baby Bjorn carrier that I strap Jack into for longer walks and Matt Damon's new movie.) I laughed out loud and Jen, quite pleased with herself, admitted that she thought of it earlier in the day and was waiting for an opportunity to say it.

Good times this week. Jack hit us with his first non-sleep smile. It really blew us away, and he practiced it some more on Saturday when we took him to his first social engagement-- Mae's birthday party (pictured above). Jack got passed around and was a very good sport about it. He made his parents look a lot better at their jobs then they really are at this point.

The ride home was a little dicey because it was right in the middle of-- you guessed it-- his evening cluster feed. Poor kid screamed bloody murder until mom found a way to sooth him and get him to sleep for the remainder of the trip. Jen was sitting in the back seat and was able to put her hands on both sides of his head. Perhaps this is a Reiki technique to calm babies.

Click on the album below for a fresh batch of pictures:

Early August