The Baby Blogs: Baby in Slow Motion

Lucas is redefining my definition of "baby"

He simply chills while I need constant entertainment

It seems that the new tenant just may be permanent, but I'm not 100 percent sure. This mysterious baby makes a few appearances during the day and then disappears for a couple hours at a time. I am still uncertain what he does in the meantime, whether he goes for a walk, enjoys a nice latte at a cafe or just sleeps. But then after about three hours, almost without fail, he returns with a resounding cry.

And when I say resounding, I am being polite. Banshee wail is more like it. Mommy and abba told me that as a newborn I had a cute cry that wasn't nearly as forceful as this one. Believe me, when Lucas cries, it sets everyone into action.

When he does appear, crying or not, I usually clap with glee at his arrival, and then promptly return to my toys. I'm not really sure what he does with his time, but if he weren't so sleepy, as I suppose newborns are, he'd be fun to play with.

Big yawn!

If he's not eating, he's either sleeping or about to go to sleep

"Silent Night (Mommy Wishes)." No, not these days.

All of this has served to redefine the word "baby." As I am a baby, and this is the "baby blogs" there is some confusion now as to what really comprises a baby, a creature that is already an enigma to adults globally. Who is the real baby here? Is it the sleepy one who awakes simply to enjoy a latte and then drifts off again to dreamland? Or is it the rowdy one who is starting to show strong signs of a tantrum and chatters without ceasing?

This baby has the ethereally soft newborn skin, but he also has baby acne from breastfeeding. I was smart - I waited eight weeks to nurse so I avoided the dangers of baby acne and maintained my porcelain complexion. However, now when my skin is compared to Lucas' people say it is not "as soft" or that I am losing that "baby skin." How dare they!

At least I have gained in another department. While Lucas' face is still unfolding from his womb time and his face still proportionately small compared to mine, I have recently developed some ample cheeks. Therefore I get kissed way more than he does. I have some generous peck pads now that extend to my chin and neck. And believe me, many have already taken advantage of that fact.

Is he laughing or crying? I'm laughing

Also, while my swirl is continuing to twirl into a pile on my head, this hairy little boy is already losing some of that mohawk with which he was born and is sporting a receding hairline. Simply put, he no longer has black hair on his forehead stretching from his eyebrows to his scalp.

Lucas also has those slow motion baby moves. When he is on his back he moves his hands through the air as if he is still swimming around in amniotic fluid.

Having been born a pound and a half heavier and two inches longer than I, Lucas is now speeding through his newborn clothes and is wearing a few of my hand-me-downs that I didn't wear till I was 3 months old or more! But having said that, with our different complexions he doesn't look as good in my clothes as I did. Whew.

Lucas is also a spitter upper! While I spoiled mommy and abba by not spitting up except on rare occasions, Pucas spits up after every meal. Yes, I called him Pucas. Someone has to prepare him for his schooldays when mean kids will torture him for his name. As a big brother, I feel it is my duty to do so.

So this makes Lucas a one-hit wonder with his outfits. One outfit a day and then it goes into the laundry. He is much harder to keep up with than I was, being a veritable angel baby, as defined by the Baby Whisperer and confirmed by my parents. No, I'm not writing out of jealousy, I'm simply noting the differences in as much of an objective way as I can.

Regardless, now we have even more and varying definitions of baby in this small apartment. I daresay this next chapter of the baby blogs is going to bring more revelation and even more confusion to adults worldwide as babies grow up alongside each other and continue to confound and perplex the learned.