I must be getting better; although I had very little sleep last night, I'm still tidying and cooking and doing the myriad tiny projects that keep me busy when I'm not actively mothering. All of this makes me happy; not only because I like feeling well but because for the most part I enjoy the tasks I set for myself. Having another woman in charge of the house means that I can abdicate things like endless cooking, endless dishwashing and endless bathroom scrubbing, leaving my domestic time free to make food for the baby and sew puppets if I so desire. And there is also the sleeping, which rocks.

I've been reading my new copy of The Mother Trip whenever I get a few minutes to string together, and among other wise observations, Ariel Gore points out that a lioness is a fierce huntress, a tireless protector of her cubs, and a woman who can get it all done in a day; yet when all of this is completed, she sleeps for 24 hours. I see this as my invitation to rest, read, work & play guilt-free. As she points out elsewhere, guilt about loafing takes up time that we could better spend loafing.

Speaking of guilt, sometimes I feel a twinge when I think about Blake's baby book. He doesn't have one. It's all I can do to journal here and take lots of pictures along the way; a coherent scrapbook is considerably beyond me. Usually I don't mind; because this journal is an ongoing project, I know that I can give him complete stories instead of bare statistics. But every once in awhile I'll be driving home from the Collective (as I was 2 weeks ago) and wondering where I can possibly record that Blake is now 18 pounds and 4 ounces. Or 6 ounces. I forget; I didn't write it down.

Anyway, the slice of life that is today: Blake has started to imitate sneezes. He's been delighted with his own sneezing since the day he was born, but now he tries to imitate the sound and trick us into blessing him. Then he laughs wildly.

Blakey Silverthumb: explorer, gourmand, raconteur, bon vivant, fake sneezer.

We took the little faker to a nursery today (of the tree kind) so that we can pick out a birth sapling for him. My mother wants to evict his placenta from her freezer, so we're looking for a tree to plant before the ground freezes. I'm thinking that a red maple is a good choice: hardy, cheerful, and indubitably Canadian.

Any other suggestions are welcome. I've never planted an organ before, so I could use the advice.

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- Rocketbride's adventure of 10/25/2004 09:57:00 p.m.