Blowin' It, Again, This Time Christmas-Post-Wise

Things here at the Hale-Becker household have been a little jangly, baby-wise, no sleeping-wise, and holding each other and crying-wise, so I am pretty much not doing much posting these days, right? But the baby is still cute--check out his X-Mas gear, from relatives in Maine: Osh, Kosh, B'Jolly! (Additional "B'Jolly" coverage on The Trife, post name, XMAS: HOMENUTWISE...) And in terms of my Christmas activities, I waited for my brother to post on his blog, and so now you can go there if you are so inclined. Lazy. That's what I am.

Family Fun Time Addendum: Nina and Arnie

So, Arnie sent me some more pictures that included all the folks who were at FFT. Most importantly, Nina and Arnie were here, and they were my personal slaves for the week. Well, mostly Arnie, and actually he was happy to paint the bedroom, so I guess he was more of an indentured servant. He is the baby whisperer, but EC was in such a foul temper that week that even Arnie could not tame him.














One thing about FFT: Let's just say that it started with me getting a hand massage from Evan and ended up with Julia naked. (I'm not posting that photo due to potential internet pervs!) It was a nice day.

Parenting-wise, I'm Blowin' It

Today marks what I am sure will be the first in a long line of harsh acts against my son. Up until this point I felt like I was doing OK, he had nothing to hold against me (yet). But today I drew blood--literally. I was trying to cut his fingernails with this really tech set of nail clippers, complete with magnifying glass. People have told me just to bite them, but I tried it and I couldn't make it work. And he has been scratching my boob when he's nursing, and he left marks! So I really needed to cut them! And then it happened--I cut his skin. And, oh, how he howled! I was totally mortified, and then I was all, "Better record this for the blog!"







So you can see him recovering here. First he's just overwhelmed, and freaked out, later he's chilling with the pacifier. Oh man, I am so sorry Little Buddy! We better start a therapy account for little EC, so when he's old enough he can tell a stranger how hard his mom was blowin' it, starting at seven weeks.

Family Fun Time

We're always trying to get in some quality "Family Fun Time" up in this piece. When my sister, Nina, and her man-friend, Arnie, came to see the baby, we all got together at Chrissie Field (check out the scenic shot of my bro with the GGB!) for some FFT: Nina, Arnie, Me, EC, Evan, Brother Tom, his wife Karen, his diabolical daughter, Julia, and their twin six-month-old daughters, Ivy and Anna. It was a production getting there for approximately one hour of FFT. And wouldn't you know it, I didn't take any photos of most of the people there, on account of my brother took my memory card, and also no batteries. I don't think Nina will not take kindly to that, as she is an avid reader of the blog, and might be miffed if she wasn't represented. So hopefully I'll get some more photos from those that did record, and I'll make an addendum.

Sister Visit Number Two!

So as many of you know, I have a lot of sisters (four) and so they like to come visit and see the baby, you know. This is my little sister, Julia, and I think she's just about the cutest thing ever. I call her a "teen," even though she's twenty-two, and a college graduate, to boot, but it sounds cuter to say "what's going on with the teens?" Julia made it very clear every time I took her picture that she would like me to take a "better picture than the last time" she was on the blog--I think that's what she's saying in the first picture. She's so darn cute, I don't think it's possible to snap a bad pix, but still, I'm quaking in my slippers that she might get mad.

It Runs in the Family

So, my little brother Willy was not all that psyched about his toys, either.

First Smile

...no big deal.

(Smile can also be viewed on the Trife. Thanks to Schmitty for technical assistance)

Toys

So, lately I've been trying to get him interested in toys. You can see how well that is going. He's super interested.

Separated at Birth II

Well, both my mother and my pal, Dan, think he looks like Winston Churchill. Again, I submit the evidence to you.

Separated at Birth?

So, now I think that all white, chubby, bald men resemble my son. That episode of House (see previous post: "New Blogger") really clicked something in for me. (The enormous guy was played by that dude from 90's feelings flick, "Heavy" --which, by the by, I recommend as a good, solid, Sunday-night rental--and from Deadwood, Pruitt Taylor Vince.) And then I noticed that also Kyle Gass (KG) from Tenacious D. reminds me of Everett. You be the judge.

New Blogger!

So Kali started a blog, Brooklyn Baby, and I wanted to give her some props, it's about her baby, so if you think babies are not that exciting, you might skip it. This is her baby, Mahalia, dressed as a peanut, and her cat, who is named Peanut. She sometimes calls her baby "Fatty," and I think I am maybe copying her when I refer to Everett as "Little Fat Man," but he is getting so chubby! Did I tell you we went to the doctor and he gained a pound and a half?! Chubster. I was watching the TV program about the crochety, pill-popping, yet brilliant, diagnostician/doctor, House M.D., and there was this enormously fat character, and he looked just like my baby, I swear!

Anyway, I want all my pals to have blogs, so start one, or if you already have one, email me the link and I'll link you up here, yo!

Papoose-wise

So, Evan has started to integrate Little Homey into his artwork, check out the papoose on the Camp Champ, and then Evan's pal photoshopped up this excellent photo--super-duper.

First of the Sister Visits-Elly

Elly was the first of my four sisters to come from afar to view and help out with the baby. (Actually, she was here for a college reunion, which happened to coincide with Everett's birth.) Elly is especially good in the "helping out" department, as she is physically unable to "take it easy," "lounge," "loaf," or anything that other people (lazy people, like myself) find relaxing. Instead, she likes to make her world a better place, hence her long-time employment at the EPA. Our brother, Tom, characterized her as "an environmental shark"--she must be in constant motion (preferably a cleaning motion) to survive. When our family goes to the beach to lie around in the sun and eat snacks, Elly enjoys picking up bags of garbage and making friendly conversation with foreign visitors. At my home, she swept every surface in the place with a tiny dust broom, including the carpet. It was heaven. Other sisters: the bar has been set!

718, Yo!

Don't mess with The Homeknutt. He's a serious dude. He's all paying homage to his Brooklyn Roots, he's throwin' the "East Coast" sign, and then he's all ragin'. Natch.

Me and Mommy Check out the Nabe

We went on a shopping walk, and took in the murals up in this piece.

More About our Walk...

I picked up some placenta shampoo, since we already made soup out of my own placenta, no big deal. Check out the birthing goddess--yikes! Did you know that "Mr. Burbujas" is how you say "Mr. Bubbles" in Spanish? Watch out, Mom, Mr. Burbujas is about to kick you in the head!

A Visit From His Mother's Mother

So our first visit was from my mom, who does NOT perfer the term "granny." She instead wants to be called "Ahnay-Ahnay," which is Turkish for "Mother's Mother." She cooked all my favorite things.

Even His Extremities are Cute!

I am obsessed with his hands and feet. Dig his "serious" face.

Daddy Time

I mean...how cute is this?