Woot for vw money! Breathing - of the good.

What I find odd about the no-email thing is that my mother considers herself to be a computer expert, since she took this one class on web design. Back in the US, I often got crappy forwards, warnings about fake viruses, huge pictures...and every so often demands that I repair something that someone else must have broken on the computer. Like when the 12 year old spilled the tea on the keyboard, or a neighbor must have deleted half the java because of a spam email claiming it was a virus. But as soon as I'm in a place where email is the optimum communication - nothing.

Or maybe it's part of the thing my mother sister warned me about - that my parents would probably just tell everyone I was really in jail or a maternity home somewhere because it'd be so much more believable.

Timelies.

Yay, vw! That's a relief.

{{{brenda}}} Money sucks. But I think you can definitely wait on the wedding gifts, if not a year, then a few months.

Madrigal, that's awful. ::points up:: What Laura said to your mom.

No I swear I am not a Republican

I remain unconvinced, and may have to write your mother, young lady.

Oh, Madrigal, I'm sorry. I'm a lousy papermail correspondent, myself. I apologize on behalf of my people. Do you think your family is confused by the time zone, and only think to call, and then realize they could be calling you at a very odd time?

Oh, wedding gifts can definitely wait a while. And on the upside, this keeps the fun going on longer, because most people don't get married very often, so the experience of opening wedding gifts is pretty brief. It's like you're turning their Nuptual Christmas into Hannukah.

And on the upside, this keeps the fun going on longer, because most people don't get married very often, so the experience of opening wedding gifts is pretty brief. It's like you're turning their Nuptual Christmas into Hannukah.

'Zactly!

Madrigal, that is frustrating. I'm sorry. Hopefully she'll get better at it the more she realizes how far away you are, and how long it will be till she sees you again. She may just assume you're busy doing your own thing, or something...? I do not know, moms are a mystery to me.

Mal is SIX MONTHS OLD? Wow. That seems fast. Does it seem fast to you, Raq?

FTL. Seems like about 6 weeks.

He was fine with the shots - his first reaction was to wind up a cry so hard that he couldn't actually make noise. The nurses (one of each leg, to minimize the time) were like, "Breathe, Dude!" But after a couple minutes of wailing, he had some milk and fell asleep on my shoulder, resulting in a t-shirt print across his face.

He's a little fussier than usual now, but nothing awful. And I'm relieved because they said he was fine, weight-wise. Everybody's been telling me he's so fat, and saying things like "Don't worry, he'll lose weight once he starts walking." He doesn't look fat to me, but you know, perception.

Madrigal, sometimes people don't get how much lonlier it seems in a foreign country. Your mother's probably thinking that you're having so much fun you don't need to hear from her.

Either that, or she doesn't want to e-mail, because with the time difference it would wake you up.

Ok...I've seen pictures of Mal, he TOTALLY doesn't look fat! Crazy people telling you that. Tell them to go mind their own business!

Who cares if he's fat at six months old. Leif was a little butterball at that age and evened out once he started that fast toddler growth.

Hey missy, aren't you supposed to be reading?

And I'm relieved because they said he was fine, weight-wise. Everybody's been telling me he's so fat, and saying things like "Don't worry, he'll lose weight once he starts walking." He doesn't look fat to me, but you know, perception.

Benjamin was a porker. He was easily as well rounded as Mal, and probably much fatter, really. And you know we theought we knew it, but we didn't realize just how fat he was, back then. When we look at pictures now, we just laugh. I remember my s-i-l telling me her pediatrician had told her that her daughter (who is ~two weeks younger than Ben) was too chubby that first year. Ben was much bigger than she, so I asked our pede at the next check-up, and he said, "Bah! He's perfect." Our pede is young, too, so I don't think he's from the old school that believed in fattening babies up until they were set to burst.

By age one, he was 30 pounds. He was only 7lbs, 5 ounces at birth, and 21 inches long, so the fattening was really something to see over the course of a year. He took a little longer to slim down. He started it more at age 2, than age 1, but walking does make a difference. There's nothing fat about him, now. He's solid, but you'd tell someone to look out for the tall kid, not the chubby kid, if you were trying to point him out in a crowd.

I think Mal is just beautiful, and looks wonderfully healthy. I'm glad you're not worried any more. They all grow at their own pace. The same s-i-l who has the child Ben's age, has a daughter 3 years older, too. She was only something like 12 or 14 pounds by age one, and the doctors were all het up about her, too. She's set to turn thirteen this winter, and didn't starve to death, or nuthin'.