Where Does the Time Go?
Today is Paloma's nine-month birthday. Nine months ago today I pushed Paloma out into the waiting arms of a midwife, the neo-natal intensive care unit pediatrician, the NICU nurses... and finally, our arms. Sure, I got to hold her for what seemed like a fleeting second (twice, actually) before she was whisked upstairs, but in my mind all those people still got a piece of her first. Ah, well, it's really not that big of an issue. Paloma was a tiny thing once, now she's enjoying finger foods and toast and pieces of the banana bread her daddy makes.

You Suck, Teeth
Gah. I'm hating teeth so much right now that I'm thinking about taking a hammer to my own just to show teeth who is boss 'round here. Paloma's adorable little bottom choppers? Came in without a peep from her, as if there were already pre-set holes for them to pop up through. The two, possibly four, front top teeth, on the other hand, are giving her hell. And when something is giving Paloma hell, she passes on the hell to us. She's gone from this...

What a Difference 8 Months Can Make
Happy 8-month birthday, little P.! (Photos courtesy of Carla)

Sleeping, Baby Food, Developmental Milestones, and More
It's been a weird week. We put the baby swing away a few days ago because while Paloma wasn't exactly too big for it, she had pretty much no interest in sitting quietly in it. She's now an exersaucer and jumperoo baby rather than a I'm-content-to-sit-and-watch-the-world baby. This chick wants to be moving, but she has no fear so were it not for our careful hands (and occasionally straps) she'd be pitching herself off laps and pillows and out of stroller seats.

Bros in Mourning: How Bottle-Feeding Mimics Wife Loss in Fathers' Brains
The legitimacy of the article Breasts in Mourning: How Bottle-Feeding Mimics Child Loss in Mothers' Brains aside, two of the comments cracked me up:Jesse Bering neglected to mention that babies who are not breast fed believe that they are dead. The baby's body tells the baby's mind that if it were alive, then it would be getting breast milk. Instead, it is being clung to and carried like a nonhuman primate baby corpse -- which is a lot like a human baby corpse (the baby's body reasons).I believe, and this is a bit speculative so bear with me, that bottle feeding