It’s been a week. I can’t believe it. It’s been a week since my mother-in-law and grandmother came to town and that coincided with Walker joining the family. I feel like we have a little house guest who needs some special attention. It’s hard to believe he’s going to stay when everyone else goes back home. It’s also hard to get used to calling him “my son.” I had the same strange feeling when I got married and Larry became “my husband.” It will be like a favorite sweater — you like what it looks like and you wear it a lot and then can’t part with it.

Walker has been so good, I can’t believe it. He really doesn’t fuss much and we’re getting on a bit of a schedule. I do have to wake him up every three hours to feed and it takes about 45 minutes to feed and change him so I’m getting sleep in 2 hour chunks. I could use some more sleep but I’ve been feeling pretty good in general. Lack of sleep is impacting my sense of humor. I found it absolutely hysterical that I changed Walker after an enormous pee and then I hear a very loud and wet-sounding fart. Yes, that’s what I find funny these days.

“Where’s the baby?” That’s been a bit of a mantra over the last two days. Larry awoke from a nap on the couch and that was the first thing out of his mouth. I had Walker before the nap and after. Last night Larry and I were sleeping and Larry woke up around 2am with a panicked cry, “Where’s the baby?” Walker was fast asleep in the bassinet and had been there for hours. However, in my semi-conscious state, I started thinking that he was in the bed with us. I had to turn on the light and stare at him for a few seconds to overcome the power of suggestion. I expect we’ll be thinking “Where’s the baby” for a few more nights to come.

Walker has had a few major milestones. He’s found his thumb and his two middle fingers. I’m excited he can suck on those a bit so I can have a break. He’s also relieved himself outside of his diaper. I’ve heard all the warnings with the changing of the diapers for boys but I haven’t really gotten the hang of it. We paid the price. Oh well. Another load of laundry isn’t going to kill us. And, he’s a little Houdini. He’s shockingly good at getting out of his swaddle. This makes it easy for him to find his fingers in the middle of the night.

Wilson (16lb cat) has taken to Walker. We call him the Sentry. He sits on the bed and watches over the bassinet. When we get up in the middle of the night, he follows us down the hall and into Walker’s room to supervise the diaper changing.

Moxie is not so enamored with the new family addition. She’s still spending significant time far away from us. She likes the rocking chair in Walker’s room — until he comes in for a change. She has also taken to Shirley. Last night she graced Shirley by spending some time up on her bed. Both of them were very pleased with the situation.

Walker has also had a few outings. Larry and I took him down the street and introduced him to the owners of the corner and liquor stores. We also took a walk around Stowe Lake in Golden Gate park with Grandma Shirley and Gigi and today he went to the airport, Target, and Babies R Us. So, we’re establishing his commerce, travel, and exercise routines early.

I’ve been thinking — how do you deal with names? I’ve called my grandmother “Mommo” for my whole life. My mother always referred to her as Mommo as well. Now Mommo has requested to be called “GiGi” (a la Great Grandma). She’s wanted to be a GiGi for quite a long time. Now, is she Irene to her friends, Mommo to me, and GiGi to Walker? Or, do I have to discard “Mommo”? I will still call my father Daddy despite the fact that he’s going to be some form “Grandpa” to Walker. Hmmm. I ponder this deeply and find it perplexing. Perhaps it’s so riveting given the sleep deprivation.

One more thing…

My cousing Jory is 19 and has spent the last few weeks doing a street performance act on Venice Beach. He’s a talented magician. His last week in Venice, a random producer who is working on a pilot of some sort of talk show for MTV saw him perform and asked him to come audition as a host for the show on Monday. Good luck to Jory!