i've been sitting here in front of the computer, gazing, reflecting, re-hashing the past few days events and what i should purge from my crowded mental cavity, only to keep rounding a personal dilemma: post-natal baby hair regrowth retardation.

i don't remember if i ever blogged about my hair loss after conrad was born or not...but, yes, i did. i lost it in clumps and handfuls, down the drain, and all up in my hair brushes business. i joked around with jon that i would soon look like gollam and thank god i never did though i did come close and even started mumbling diatribes about "my precious" and catching fish with my hands.

not too long ago, oh let's say, a month ago i started noticing little cute baby hairs popping up all along the edge of my hair line and on top of my head; and sure, it was exciting and encouraging at first, dare i say, dainty. but then they started to grow, and grow curly, sticking out from underneath my straight hair like a bad wig.

i thought that my hair dresser might be able to give me a hair cut to hide them but then he cut my hair and i came to the conclusion he pretty much sucks and i probably need to find a new hair dresser, regardless.

my sister has one of those uber fancy straighting irons that, when she was here, i used and was able to get some control, but now that she's gone and i'm left with my $20.00 Revlon Straightner, and cursing at my hair.

the downside of upside and the upside of downside



conrad's first art project. he calls it,
"ketchup and mustard reflections"

i've blogged before about the trials and tribulations in changing conrad's diaper, cross comparing to him to a twirling, spinning river otter. that was about a month and a half ago: a month and half ago before he was actually crawling and pulling himself up to standing positions. if before he was a river otter he is now a flapping and jumping and impossible to get your hands around, determined to pull his diaper off before you have it fastened on, attempting to jump off the side of the changing table, crawl away bare butt(ed) 22lb fish. it makes me miss the days of getting a urine shot in the eyeball and epic assplosions, and that's saying alot. really, i don't think jon or myself knew just how good we had it.

lately it seems everything is becoming a little more complicated, just not the diaper changes. our typical 2-4 night wakings have turned into 4-6; and i would desperately like to let him "cry it out" but the problem is no longer the issue of him feeling abdonned or not but of him standing in his crib unable to figure out how to sit or lay back down from that position. even getting him down for naps and bedtime has become a full on ordeal due to his infatution with not laying down and pulling his diapers out of the dragon-diaper-holder-thing we have on the wall next to his crib. sometimes i'll go in there after thinking i have him down for a nap and find him chest deep in diapers with a huge tired grin on his face.

of course, along with all these new challenges has come the joy in watching him discover his ability in pulling all the tupperware out of the drawer or the look of accomplishment he gets when he, incessantly, pulls the drain out in the tub when i'm trying to bath him in water is left, or the way he defeatidly hums along as i sing him to sleep; and so, so much more.

none the less, i wish they made infant sedatives for doing diaper changes. :)

re:conrad's first time in a pool

i'm almost positive if i were to strap conrad to the back of a rocket and blast him off into space and then him land on the moon and meet a few aliens and have indian food with them, then come back earth to me, he would be clapping and smiling for more; there just isn't much you can throw at that kid that he doesn't Love and Love whole heartidly.

earlier today conrad and i went over to shahala and zion's house for our first play date. zion was sleeping so i took the oppurtunity to feed conrad a jar of food and then he enthusiastically explored the new house while shahala and i chatted and had a cup of tea. shahala was planning on taking zion to the pool afterwards and so our play date turned into a pool date. we ran home and threw some towels and swim trunks in a plastic bag and made our way to the YMCA.

the first few minutes in the water conrad seemed more interested in watching zion, then, like magic, the awesomeness of this giant mass of water that he was in and i was in and his new friends were in, dawned on him and he began to kick and splash and laugh like nothing in his life had ever been so wonderful, not even lou dog licking his face or daddy tossing him vigorously through the air.

within thirty minutes conrad was attempting to blow bubbles and wanting me to superman him across the surface of the water, and though his bathtime gave me every inclination he would be a water baby, i wasn't quite expecting him to figure out the doggy paddle so quickly.

we rinsed off at the showers, and conrad squealed and grasped at the water falling; we dried off, and conrad gibbered away to zion; we went out for thai food and conrad banged on the table; we came home and he nursed and fell asleep. if only everyone was as happy and easy going as conrad.

pictures from michelle's fantastic-but-never-quite-long-enough visit:

i have enough of this set of pictures to keep me laughing
for years to come.

i honestly can not descibe the "protective big sister" feeling

that came over me when taking this picture; she is seriuosly

a foot away from death by violently crushing water.

easter morning service on a blanket in the park, brilliant!

under the shade of tree at a park in jacksonville.

the saga of sickness continues here in the eggert-world. i would only bore you if i were to list the symptoms and conditions and medications we've experienced and taken. currently, it's that same cold bug i blogged about a month ago: she's back. the on again, off again of good health has left things undone and unkept around here-to the point where i really don't know where to start to catch us back up. bills have been paid late and we're all out of clean towels, again. conrad is hauling ass now, crawling around like he's been doing it for years, taught classes on it, wrote a "how to" book or two on the subject. it's pretty damn exciting to watch him boogie from room to room but all that To Do of baby proofing is timely imperative now; because our house was built before infant life expectancy, actually baby proofing it has proved to be more than a chore, a magic trick. since all the flooring is either tile, old vinyl, or slickity slick hardwood, anything that is not super sturdy and heavy poses as a falling hazard. already he is pulling himself up on furniture, attempting at standing (which i imagine leads to attempting to climb). we've already had to move the coffee station into the pantry and move that shelve of pantry into one of those plastic drawer things that had kept all our glass recyclables, to which i tossed out. but then this morning jon informed me that, that isn't quite working out for him-he finds too much difficulty having to pull the coffee maker a few inches out to put the water in it. we also have to replace all our trash bins with trash bins that have lids, as conrad has demonstrated his will to discover what mommy's dirty kleenex's taste like after a few days of getting all crusty. and then there is the need for two more baby gates and a office chair that doesn't have wheels and some sort of contraption to keep conrad out of the kitchen cabinets (nothing from Target has worked yet) and something or another to hide the cords going from the middle of the wall over to the computer; it seriously is a baby proofing nightmare. and i really should be taking this time he naps to get some of this done.