I swore, when I saw these little baby seats years ago (this one is called a bebePOD), that I would have one with my second child. Lou still wasn’t sitting up reliably at eight months – he would get excited and throw himself backwards (and crack his head!). I’m hoping to get good use out of this product.

She really looks like her father in this picture. For some reason, I always notice the resemblance more in photos.

Lou’s first birthday celebration was at school this morning. The teachers have borrowed this elaborate Montessori birthday ceremony where the child, carrying a globe representing the earth, circles around a candle flame representing the sun for each year of his life. For each year, we share a photo with the group. To finish, the birthday child receives a special birthday wish from each classmate. You see the little blond girl in the back? She wished Lou would have his own unicorn to ride!

We’ll also have a small family celebration at home tonight, and the big party with friends will be tomorrow. It looks like it’s going to be pure chaos. I’ve invited all 22 students in the class, and it appears that we’re going to have a big crowd!

January2010 021, originally uploaded by sammy461.

…and surprisingly alert! She smiles and coos and charms us all.

We’re spending the holidays with Mamie this year. Merry Christmas!

Christmas preparations are taking place in a big way at our house this week. The tree is up, the pantry is stocked ingredients for cookies, the Christmas cards are being written, and Johanna got her Christmas dress, of course.

I went to Mass on Sunday, for the first time since Johanna’s birth. I felt like I was jolted out of a time warp when someone announced that it was the third Sunday in Advent. I was under the impression time had stood still for me. But no, life keeps moving forward.

She seems to favor her father’s genes.

There’s nothing like caring for a newborn infant to get one thinking about the early human ancestors. Babies are just so primitive seeming. They come programmed with that grasping reflex, and you can just see the little monkey inside, with the innate urge to grasp onto mother’s chest hair. But then, I suppose it’s been a long time since homo species mothers actually had any chest hair (save perhaps a few anomalies), and it leaves me wondering… how did our hunter-gatherer ancestors go about caring for their offspring? How did they transport their floppy, helpless newborns as they wandered in search of nuts, berries, mammoth, and whatnot? How has our species evolved to carry its babies?

Now, I’m no particular fan of evolutionary explanations for human behavior. From what I understand, the whole field of evolutionary psychology is being largely discredited for lacking evidence, and a rather unfortunate tendency to justify chauvinistic behavior by tying it to the “cave man” genes. Still, I can imagine that something like caring for a child might somehow be more directly rooted in our biology than, say, cheating on one’s wife.

I’ve noticed, with Johanna, that she seems to enjoy being carried in the crook of my arm; that indeed, this seems to be the only thing that will calm her sometimes, late in the evening. And it occurred to me, after a few days of this – the sling’s the thing. She would do well being carried in one of those cloth baby slings. Perhaps nomadic granny fashioned cloth baby slings in the same way she fashioned crude overcoats out of mammoth skin. Perhaps Johanna’s genetic memory was demanding to be carried in a baby sling…

Strings of logic like this make a lot of sense when you’re running on no sleep. Trust me. (Then again, even voodoo priests and witch doctors start to seem plausible when you’re looking for ways to get your baby to sleep).

So on Saturday, while were visiting the new office space, I decided to stop into a chic little children’s clothing store on the street level, just to see if they had any baby slings. Of course they did have one fancy little number, called the Rockin’ Baby Pouch, priced at $85. And of course the lady was more than eager to help me try one on with Johanna; I acquiesced because I find it oddly pleasing when someone works really hard to sell me something. However, when I put Johanna in the pouch, she scrunched down into an impossible position, and I thought, there’s no way I could carry her in this…

….but before I could even finish the thought, she was asleep. Oh yes, I’ll take six please.

And that’s where baby sleeps now, as I finish typing. She’s curved across my chest, looking as peaceful as she must have in the womb. As for genetic memory? I don’t know; but it feels pretty natural.

Cedric gets a de-luxe office space in the sky.