I asked a few people how I should celebrate Lydia’s upcoming birthday. My old buddy Pat from Kansas (the state, not the group) suggested that I do some timeline pictures. Good idea. These photos are all from 2004.
Someone else suggested I describe each of her years. Well, we have one of those books where we record everything: her first tooth,, her first step. But I’ll be darned if I could actually FIND it. Much of Lydia’s second and third years are recorded in this blog. But year one? It’s already of a bit of a blur. Except for a few things.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being totally unprepared, and 10 being totally prepared, in terms of childbirth, we were about a 9, thanks to our Bradley course.
On the same scale, in terms of child raising, we were about a minus 13. On day four, all she did was eat, sleep and scream. Our doula was helping with breasst feeding instructions, because the child was not latching on. Day 4 was the WORST. We were exhausted, frustrated, and seemingly totally incompetent at this parenting thing. We realize that we were being punished for every inappropriate thought, word, or deed that we had ever done. Payback was brutal.
Then, on day 5, she didn’t cry quite so much. Day 6 was worse than day 5, but nowhere as bad as day 4. Day 7 was a relative picnic. As we figured her out, we became more confident. Maybe she did, too.
Of course, it was not all easy. sleeping at night could be tricky for her, and therefore for us. I remember having a vacuum cleaner on just outside her room a couple nights. (Sidebar: I just read about someone who put out an album of appliance noises, including dishwashers, washers and dryers.)
Several people had told us that the car would be our salvation since she’d fall asleep in it. Well, yes and no. We’d get in the car, she’d cry for five minutes, sleep for one hour – and no more – then wail the rest of the way. This made trips to the grandparents in Oneonta (1 hour, 20 minutes) torturous for the last 15 minutes. Finally, and accidentally, we discovered that if I sang to her, and I mean pretty much constantly (Old McDonald with more animals than a zoo), she’d be placated until we got home.
She was crawling “early” by the book, so we thought maybe she’d walk early as well, but she was disinclined. Fortunately, we didn’t worry about it.
Carol was breastfeeding, so we were both happy when we started on other foods at six or seven months, me because I could be a greater part of the process. I specifically remember thay Lydia had 8 teeth at 8 months. I used to call her Buddha baby.
An old friend from college, who is my age, but who has two practically grown boys asked: How about – why is some snot green? (I didn’t know this until I became a parent.)
Well, I would, but I’m not sure, and from this piece about purulent rhinitis, other people aren’t sure, either:
The green colour is due to immune cells called neutrophils. These are the first cells to appear when bacteria start infecting the nasopharynx. Neutrophils will engulf the bacteria (phagocytosis) and begin to destroy them within themselves using potent digestive enzymes (amongst other things, another being hydrogen peroxide). One of these is lactoferrin and other enzymes are dependent on iron for their activity. The colouration therefore comes from the iron. Ferrous iron compounds are green. It turns yellow the bacteria have been around for a while and other cells start moving in and dying
Dr Martin Powell, Caerphilly, Wales
I agree with Dr Powell that is is the enzymes in neutrophils that give snot its green colour. However, I thought this was due to another powerful antimicrobial agent, peroxidase. Incidentally, this is the same enzyme that gives wasabi its green colour – a lovely thought for the next time you’re in Yo Sushi!
Unknown
Snot only goes green in the presence of infection. When white cells encounter germs they manufacture a large amount of an enzyme called myeloperoxidase which generates toxic compounds like bleach and hydrogen peroxide. Myeloperoxide is green because it contains a lot of iron, which you may remember from chemistry lessons is green in its ferrous form.
Ben Benjamin, Torquay, UK
Got that?
ROG