The Reading Journal of RMS

Yesterday, Sam turned three months old! He celebrated by having an ear infection, poor guy!

Even with an ear infection, he is the happiest little guy out there. He loves to kick kick kick, and a couple weeks ago he started interacting with toys! I think he's also deliberately reaching for the toys on the playmat, but I'm not sure. Music seems to make him really happy, but honestly, he's just a happy guy.

Breastfeeding is going well -- he's gained two pounds in the last month -- and I'm working on improving my pump output. We're having a bit of trouble getting him to take breastmilk from a bottle, but I think it's because he's sick.

Sleeping is also good -- he will actually fall asleep on his own if he's swaddled! And sleepy, of course. It doesn't work if he's playful. We had a good nap schedule for a while, but again, that has sort of fallen apart with him being sick.

And now for the milestones -- again from What to Expect the First Year, because I'm tired and don't want to look them up in the AAP guide to the first year:
( Milestones )

( How I'm doing. )

And of course, the gratuitous adorable picture of Sam!

We had an excellent, excellent day today! Somehow, we'd never been to the L.A. County Museum of Art (or, NAMBLA LACMA). We got there ten minutes before it opened, and so wandered over to see one of the La Brea Tar Pits tar pits! It was all bubbly and everything! The eight-year-old inside me was very excited about that.

Our main intention at the museum was the contemporary wing, but it turns out there was also an exhibit of portraits from Vanity Fair. That was an incredible collection -- my two favorites were of Greta Garbo, by Edward Steichen, and of Adele and Fred Astaire, by James Abbe. I'm really just fascinated by what's happening in that latter one.

Outside of the photography, I really loved Getty Tomb, by Frank Stella. And wandering through Richard Serra installations always makes me happy. (The eeee! was more excited about the Jeff Koons stuff, which I enjoyed more than I thought I would.)

We also saw Slumdog Millionaire, which was very good, but more violent and depressing than I expected. Then we finished it off with dinner with the eeee!'s parents and sister. Hooray for a lovely Thanksgiving weekend!

Things are quiet but good here, I suppose.

1. I'm not thinking about how much work I have to do. Aieeee!
   
   
2. Current lecturers at UCSB have been very helpful and friendly in getting me set up for teaching in '08. That is such a huge relief.
   
   
3. The eeee! and I are very worried about facing primary season without The Daily Show, in the case of a writers' strike.
   
   
4. On a related note, we've both been watching way more TV in the time we've been living apart. Only two more months, though! And he'll be here in a week and a half for a bit. But I wonder about the re-adjustment we'll have when we're living together again full time, instead of a long weekend here and there.
   
   
5. I read somewhere that the first 10,000 pictures you take suck, and only after that do see a really big improvement (in other words: practice practice practice practice practice!). I've taken about 6,500 pictures in my life, I think, so I have a ways to go. But that 10K number sounds about right.
   
   
6. The Steelers are actually on TV tonight! Yay!
   
   
7. The weather here is lovely, and the trees are all so beautiful -- I won't miss winter in Santa Barbara, but I sure as hell will miss the month of October.
   
   
8. Edited to note: There is no mention on the Steelers website of the mascot, "Steely McBeam". I hope this means someone informed that front office that they had chosen a joke name for the mascot, and that the mascot will die a quiet death.
   

Have a wonderful week!