By the way, I added some new links to the site. Most of these are friends of mine (with the exception of Google News). Go to their sites and buy stuff. They’re good people.

Mike worked like a maniac today in the yard while Lily recovered from waking up during the night. Mike and I had some bizarre “sleeptalking” episode last night - he was talking in his sleep and I was answering him in my sleep, and woke half way through it and said, “WHAT? What are you talking about?” He just grunted and went back to sleep. I wish I could remember what he said, but I can’t. Who knows what I said back to him, either.

I went through all of Lily’s clothes today, reminiscing about where that spit-up stain came from, and remembering the time I gave her prunes instead of plums (geez, they both started with “p” - who would know) and she blew out a diaper and an entire outfit, and her Uncle Jay’s shirt. He just stood outside on the deck yelling “HELP!” in the most pitiful voice. Those shorts were retired today with just the faintest hint of the Great Prune Explosion of 2003. (Note to breastfeeding mothers: NEVER give your child prunes. THEY DO NOT NEED ANY HELP WHATSOEVER WITH REGULARITY!!!) Those damn prunes should have come with a warning label. Oh well. Live and learn.

It was kind of sad to retire her swing, and see a gigantic garbage bag full of enough outgrown clothes to outfit an entire third world nation. Made me feel guilty and lucky all at the same time. Note to all my girlfriends out here: Hurry up and reproduce so I can see Lily’s cute clothes on someone else. Oh yeah, and don’t have a boy, either, cuz I can’t help you with clothes for that one. Along with the bag full of clothes, I retired the boppy pillow, her lamaze mat, and a faux Kate Spade diaper bag that is missing the faux Kate Spade tag - which basically means it’s just a big, black bag with some newborn diapers still in it. Mike’s got to crawl into the attic at some point this week so we can walk through the hallway.

We saw American Wedding last night - we were supposed to go to Seabiscuit but we cut it too close and of course it was sold out. I laughed just because Mike was laughing, and to hear him guffaw in a movie theatre is something that must be experienced to be understood. He took me to a movie early on in our relationship and since I continued to date him after hearing him bust a gut laughing, he figured he’d marry me. He’s the guy you don’t want in back of you at a funny movie, but I love it and it makes me giggle.

Ahhhh, Saturday. We were up a lot last night because of strong thunderstorms, but Ms. Lily slept right through it, and didn’t make any noise until we went in to her room at 7.45 AM!!! Amazing. I actually feel sort of rested. It’s an unusual sensation lately. We took Lily out for breakfast this morning and headed out to Babies R Us - what a racket that store is, but they have so much cool stuff. I ended up with mostly useful things and one devil-horns headband with red fluffy feathers. It will be cute at Halloween, but appropriate all year round. I also caved to social pressure and bought her a pair of purple corduroy “Keds” - hello, she doesn’t walk! But they do look exceptionally fashionable on her. Even Mike couldn’t resist. After morning nap we headed to Lowe’s and $100 later we were out of there, sweating and loaded ornamental grasses, 4 boxwoods, 2 butterfly bushes, two toilet seats, one outdoor light and 2 indoor lights. We went there for a halogen bulb. Notice that was not listed. Typical Lowe’s trip.

Lily can now ride in the cart and entertains herself by playing with her toes and playing peek-a-boo with various strangers and sometimes her parents. Doesn’t bother me - as long as she’s happy and smiling. We got her home, fed her, and she is sleeping now. Mom and I drooled over furniture we can’t buy at American Signature and returned to find both of our husbands sweating and toiling in the backyard, planting all the crap we bought at Lowe’s.

Tonight is date-night - we’re going to Seabiscuit. A night movie! Amazing. I’m not sure either of us will be able to stay up until 10, but we’ll give it our best shot.

Two nights ago, Mike and I entertained ourselves by laughing at each other - which isn’t unusual. Neither of us could sleep - I drank too much tea, and who knows what was keeping him up. We started imitating Lily’s noises - my personal favorite right now is when she starts to hiss like a snake. It sounds exactly like “Piithhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” (or like the beginning of “Pyth-agorean Theory). Mike’s favorite is her growling noise, usually attempted in the car from the car seat, where she growls as long as possible, breathes heavily for a few seconds, then continues growling - like a long “ARRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHH”. We were laughing so hard I thought we were going to wake her up. I guess it doesn’t take much to amuse us.

Matt has recovered from his yellowjacket incident, but remains wary of the swingset in our backyard and told his mother “I’m not going to slide anymore over there”. Poor guy.

So this weekend we’re doing basic childproofing. There are two schools of thought on this - one that tells us we should just teach her not to touch dangerous things, and another that is the exact opposite that hires child safety specialists to come into their house, crawl around on all fours, and remove everything within a 40 mile radius that could possibly bite, sting, electrocute, or drown the child. We’re somewhere in the middle. I’m not sure how you teach an 8 month old to not stick her finger in an electrical outlet, so if any if you have suggestions on that one, e-mail me. She is also incredibly fast, like most kids who have learned to crawl. Our idea of childproofing is blocking the electrical outlets and putting a lock on the cabinets that have cleaning and harmful stuff in them, and eventually we’ll get a gate for the top of the stairs. Anyway, if you have any particular opinions on this issue, let me know. I do find it interesting that as soon as you have a baby, every person, including the person next to you in the grocery line, feels they have the right to tell you how to raise your child. It’s kind of humorous.

Today, Aunt Julie came to visit. I had to change the stinkiest diaper to date during our morning chat. I have discovered the best cure for diaper pollution: Oust. The stuff RULES. Lily crawled around a lot and I got caught up on the Life O’ Julie. Julie is moving right around the corner from us in a couple of months.

We also went to lunch at Panera with Rebecca (she was in my Bradley class and another one of those crazy natural childbirth people like me) and her son, Ty. Ty was born about 3 weeks after Lily. They had a blast - Lily is a huge flirt and Ty kept grabbing at her and trying to rip her pacifier out of her mouth. It was hilarious. He chowed on cheerios and made goo-goo eyes at Lily. I guess I need to get her out among other children her own age more often - she really had fun.

This afternoon I dropped mi madre off at the extended stay place they’re in and Lily came with me. She was completely fascinated by the big mirror in their room (no, not on the ceiling, you perverts). She kept thinking there was some other child in there and was “kissing” (Lily’s version of kissing is a combo licking and sucking on whatever surface she comes into contact with). It was hilarious. The maid will hate us, however - when we left, there were huge paw streaks and lick marks covering the entire surface. Thankfully they only went up about 12” from the bottom of the mirror. Oh well. Whatever entertains the child.

I heard from an old friend of mine today - the only person I’m still in contact with from my college days. And out of all my friends, he and I always had the most volatile relationship, so it’s funny that we still talk to each other. He and his new wife are having some troubles and it made me very sad. It just reminded me again how important communicating with your significant other is - and when you have a wild monkey (I mean child), it becomes even harder to carve that time out of your day. I’ve always heard that the first year of marriage is the hardest, but for Mike and I, it was pretty much a solid honeymoon for Year 1. We just played, worked on the house, ate out all the time, and worked. It was easy.

Well, I’m off to “reach for my higher power”. This is the depths of desperation - Mike, myself, and our burgeoning waistbands are hitting the old Billy Blanks Tae Bo tapes I worked out obsessively to when I was getting ready to be married.

Today we had quite an exciting afternoon. I am such a wonderful host. In the span of two hours, Hayden managed to crash headfirst into the corner of our very inappropriate (for kids) glass table while practicing his new walking skills, Matt and my father were attacked by yellowjackets as Matt helped him rake leaves, and Lily fell head-first off my lap. I managed to catch her by the diaper before she smashed into the carpet, narrowly avoiding what could have been a permanent spinal injury. Fabulous!

Poor Matt - he got stung 5 or 6 times by the little . . . um. . . jerks. Dad only got one on his hand. Some of them had crawled into Matt’s shirt and pants and then got into the house, so I was freaking out, running around with bug spray in one hand, a broom in the other, meanwhile screaming maniacally at my mother, “GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! GET OUT NOW!” (My mother, for those of who don’t know this, is deathly allergic to bee stings and recently lived through 13 yellowjacket stings right before they moved out of South Carolina). I learned a good tip from Christine: baking soda and water makes a paste that eases the pain of the sting and can draw some of the poison out. We covered poor naked Matt with the stuff and held an ice pack to the bigger stings. That little boy cried less than I would have if I’d been stung like that.

It’s back to work tomorrow. Lily is spending her last days with Pauline - after Friday, she switches to my mother’s care which will be better for all of us. Pauline has done a wonderful job, but no one cares for your child like a family member, especially a grandma. And the commute, at least for the next couple of months, is much better. I hate driving back to our old neighborhood - it gives me a queasy combination of nostalgia for the unruliness of the area and relief that we no longer live there.