Family: Miscellaneous (with photos)

The presses are back up and running at Gesh's Globe, now that the pace of things has slowed down slightly here in the vast Jim Thorpe offices. The Blogger is still, would you believe it, toiling away at another phase of that project that looked to be done last week. But I assure you that very soon The Globe will regain its near-daily status, and the content will be more scintillating than ever.

Many topics to catch up on:

I. An impromptu family visit. Young Stillman got to make the acquaintance of a few more relatives when they suddenly descended upon the house earlier in the week. Grandma Burnett and Great Uncle Al came down from the north; Aunt Lue and Cousin Lauren came from the south; and then, the very same day, they were gone. Stillman seemed to like them.

Aunt Lue was only here for a couple of hours, so she wasted no time in hypnotizing the Boy and muttering phrases like "favorite aunt" and "never mind those others," and so on. I just thought it would be fair to disclose that, in case any other aunts are serious enough about this to make a trek down here and do what they can toward winning him over.

Lauren is the first cousin he had the honor of meeting. They seemed to hit it off quite well. She, of course, has a way with children and will no doubt be a big part of his life.

The Boy was happy to see his Grandma Burnett again, and proved it by peeing on her while she was changing him. Kind of for old times' sake.
There was a quiet understanding between Stillman and his Great Uncle Al. Neither said much, just enjoyed a companionable silence, apparently quite comfortable in each other's company. I hope the Boy gets to spend as much time with his uncle as I did. He can learn a lot from a man like that.

II. Follow-ups to a couple of posts.

My post regarding the perfect pop song prompted a lot of discussion, and lots of song nominations. I'm eager to track them all down and sample them. And I'd love to hear from more of you. As I mentioned in the Comments section, I think it would be great to compile the best of the best into one playlist which we could use to rule the world. Molly, I'm glad "Fati Mata" is growing on you. After your first post, I was going to suggest you turn it up. Maybe that's what you did. Tierney, I knew you'd have nominees, and you didn't disappoint. And Gilly's Son. For all of you who might have missed it, please, please go to Gilly's Son's comment and follow the link. It will make you a better person.

Prepare yourselves in the coming days for stunning follow-ups to "Great Depression: The Sequel" and, yes, "Economy: An Epidemic of Entitlement."

And, sadly, there is still much to write on Burma, and now China.

III. Bears. This is what my garbage looked like this morning:

Neighbor lady says she saw the bear come down and do it last night, and that this particular Slewfoot is enormous. She says 500 pounds. Her five-year-old grandson estimates it at four pounds; I'm guessing it's somewhere between the two. Not sure how I missed it last night, but I'm sorely disappointed. Tonight is trash night, when the bears usually come down to nose around, so I'll keep an ear out. I hope one of these days to have a nice picture of the animal and not just the animal's good works.

IV. Baby!

Our boy. We are in bliss. Pure bliss. We both feel like we're in a dream. He's becoming a little person. He's got likes and dislikes. Habits. To wit,

He LOATHES being restricted. He put up with swaddling for a few post-partum days, and then that was it. This evening we were heading for a stroll, so we put him into a harness so I could carry him on my chest. No, sir. He howled and screamed like we were murdering him. This preference for freedom of movement goes a long way toward explaining the extravagances he performed while still in the womb.

He burps like a man. Or like a trucker, as TLS puts it. I'm serious. A few of you have heard this over the phone and can vouch for it. 

Today, he peed in his own ear while I was changing him. He didn't seem to mind much. He does this sort of thing with some frequency.

He and I have developed a routine of dancing together after supper, and he quite enjoys it. Even if he's fussy, if I turn on some music and start dancing with him, he goes calm and limp and just lies back and savors it. I can't think of anything I've ever enjoyed more than bopping around the living room while my son stares up at me with those big soft eyes of his.

And, best of all, he's smiling! Not gas smiles. Actual, like, "Hi, Mom!" kind of smiles. We weren't sure at first, but we studied it throughout the day and determined that that's what's going on.

I have photographic evidence . . . . .