Lingo

Tomorrow Eli turns three weeks old. It is amazing to think about how our lives have changed in the last twenty days. I've gone from never having changed a diaper to simply not being very good at it. Shelby has learned that she is part milk machine. And we both learned that a three hour block of sleep is a luxury not to be dismissed lightly.

As I suspect is true for almost all new parents, we've come up with our own shorthand vocabulary to describe Eli and his activities, often euphemistically. I'm sure this will continue to evolve as Eli's behavioral repertoire expands. For the time being, we have:

'Checking the vitals' - Examining his diaper. This confused our pregnant friend Renee, who thought, initially, that we literally needed to check his vital signs regularly.

'Fuss-monster' - Slang for an awake Eli (usage: 'what's up with the fuss monster')

'Chasing the cow' - When Eli cries in search of food

'roo him up' - Putting Eli in his carrier sling

'Suck-monster' - Eli, while eating

'Sucktown' - Mom, while Eli eats

'Drunk on white gold' - Eli after eating

'Timing the time bomb' - Scheduling activities in two to three hour windows between feedings

The last few days have been comparatively uneventful. I worked a full day for the first time since Eli's birth, but the fuss-monster was on relatively good behavior with Shelby. Today I was home for most of the day, which allowed Shelby to go on a long walk this morning and run an errand this afternoon.