Smiles and a Purple Heffalump

As hard as it is to believe, Liam is already six weeks old. There's no doubt he's growing fast, and is rapidly becoming more interactive with his parents and his environment, smiling and cooing with heart-melting sweetness.  Just yesterday I laid him in his crib after a warm sponge bath, and he suddenly discovered the large stuffed purple heffalump that has occupied the corner of his crib since we brought him home.  It was so fun to watch him and really get to play with him for the first time.  I also managed to get a little video (please excuse the dim lighting and the baby talk...) :

The past few days when he wakes up in the morning he greets me with a smile that I know is for me.  That cute greeting goes a long way to helping me feel less sleep deprived and more grateful that I have such a sweet little boy to wake up to every morning.  Even though both Eric and I are kept very busy these days, we still managed to get our Christmas tree up and decorate the apartment. I wasn't at all sure this was going to happen, but we succeeded.  It's not been easy for me to get into the Christmas spirit this year.  Out here it's been unseasonably warm for this time of year.  As much as my Illinois friends and family will hate me for saying this, it's not as easy to enjoy Christmastime when it's 80 degrees and sunny outside! However, today is a nice chilly rainy day in L.A., and I'm enjoying the coziness of being at home with my little boy sleeping on my chest and a cup of mint hot chocolate (topped with whipped cream, of course) next to me. No doubt it's moments like this I'll miss when my leave is over and I return to work.

The First Month

Well, I survived the first month of motherhood.  Caring for a newborn is just as intense and exhausting a job as promised. It makes the twelve hour shifts I worked six days a week at the factory over summers during college seem downright relaxing--at least when I got home from work I knew I'd get some sleep.  The kicker is, I know I've got it pretty easy.  Liam is a good baby.  He's as easy going as you could hope an infant to be.  He takes everything in stride and seems not to mind having two parents who aren't yet finely skilled in the arts of diapering, dressing, bathing , or anything else to do with infant care.  He's also a good traveler.  We've gone out to run errands, go to doctors appointments, get Christmas pictures taken, and so on and he has yet to suffer a complete meltdown.  In short, he's a sweet, even tempered baby.  I can't wait to see how he grows as the weeks go by and we get to know more of his personality.

Aside from juggling the constant care a newborn demands, the hardest lesson of parenthood for me thus far is coming to terms with what I can't do.  I can't keep the apartment as neat and clean as I'd like, or easily prepare a meal, or take time to do any number of things I'd like to do most days.  Letting it go and telling myself this is all okay hasn't been easy.  When the frustration mounts, I sit in the rocker with Liam and try to take a step back and keep some perspective about the situation.  He isn't going to be a little baby forever, and other mothers have assured me there will come a day when I'll wish I had spent less time worrying about when I'm going to find time to dust the living room and more time holding my little boy.  So, while baby Liam learns the difference between night and day and that he can rely on his parents to keep him fed and warm, his mom is coming to terms with all she can't do and is learning to be content in the moment.  I say "learning" because I haven't quite mastered the lesson yet--but I'm working on it.

Last week we had our first family portrait taken.  Liam took being posed and having bright lights flashed in his eyes very well.  He held it together for a couple of family and individual poses before he expressed his displeasure with the situation.  I was just happy we managed to get a few pictures of him with his eyes open!

Life with Liam: A New Reality

As anticipated, November 2010 has been an eventful month for Eric and I.  Our son, Liam Ryan, was born on November 5th at 4:15 p.m.  He weighed 8 lbs. 6.4 oz. and was 22.5 in. long.  Thankfully he has thrived from the beginning.  He was a fast learner when it came to nursing, and even though he is just over three weeks, he already weighs a bit over 10 lbs.  My recovery from the (unplanned) c-section is going well--Mom was in town long enough to help me get through the first two weeks when I was in most need of help, and now I'm operating at almost normal capacity.  My biggest challenge now is adjusting to the lack of sleep and constant care a newborn requires.  As challenging, stressful, and overwhelming as it can be at times adjusting to the new reality of life as a mom, I have to admit that Liam is a very good baby, so it's not been as challenging it might be otherwise.  So far in my experience as a parent I've found a lot of the generalizations about having a new baby are true:  sleep deprivation, going through more diapers than you thought humanly possible, doing laundry every other day, and believing absolutely that it's all worth it--have proven as true to my situation as for any other parent.

In short, there's a whole new reality settling on the Wells household.  I intend to post updates and pictures here as often as I can--that is to say, as often as Liam allows me the time to do so!

Liam and Mommy

Liam with Mommy and Daddy

His favorite sleeping position

One Week to Go

Well, I'm almost there.  It's Week 39, and I'm just one week from my due date.  The finish line is coming into sight, but we're not there quite yet.  Unfortunately, time has also started to feel like it's slowing down--as my friends who have been through pregnancy warned me it would.  Physicists say that if you move fast enough--faster than the speed of light--you actually travel into the future.  That said, maybe time does slow down for pregnant women at the end of their pregnancies because the bigger they get the slower they move.  Ha!  Okay...bad joke.  Entertaining as that image is, I'm sure the feel of a time lag has more to do with the waiting and anticipation than with physics.  I had quite a list of things to do before the baby arrives, but (curse my efficiency) I blew threw it in the first week of my maternity leave.  I've found the great irony that strikes at the end of pregnancy is that just when you most want to keep going and get more accomplished, you are most incapable of doing it.  I can't even begin to describe how it irks me to see something I want to do but having to wait for help to do it.  That reality is something I'm not accustomed to and it frustrates me to no end.  Thankfully the baby will be here soon.  I am very much looking forward to losing this big, heavy belly!

For now, the wait continues...

The baby room is ready!

How Do You Look at Art?

These days with summer ending and school starting up again, it has been a little slower around the museum.  Last week I was giving a gallery talk to two visitors (yes, just two), and one of them commented that they were about to take a trip to Italy and asked, "Can you give us any tips about how to look at ancient art?"  It was an excellent question, given that not all museums have the kind of in-gallery educational programming you find at the Villa, and these visitors wanted to be prepared to get the most out of their experience on their own.

It just so happens that over the summer we educators at the museum had just had a discussion amongst ourselves on just that topic--how do you look at art?  We divided forces and each group came up with a "top ten" list of tips on how to look at art in a museum setting.  The list below, which I shared with those visitors that day, is the result of my group's efforts.  Naturally, every museum professional will likely have a different take on the subject, but I think the list below is direct and simple and therefore easily used.

1. Remember to read the label LAST.
2. Do not enter a museum or gallery with the intention to see everything.
3. Go to an artwork that interests you or attracts you.
4. Find the best vantage point (try different ones).
5. Take your time and challenge yourself to look longer.
6. How does it fit into the surroundings?  (Take a look at the gallery installation and what other artworks are on display in the same gallery.)
7. What details draw you in?
8. What is it made of?
9. What do you understand and what don't you understand about it?
10. Be open to silence and conversation--balance your own reflection and sharing your thoughts with others.

Keep in mind that these are just suggestions, not hard and fast rules, but they will get you off to a good start if you're interested in getting a little something more from your next museum visit.