local couple tests dishware

Well, we here in the Pillow Fort have enjoyed a busy couple of days. Rowie and the cats are cohabiting swimmingly. As evidenced by the pictures below, he seems to be starting to notice their presence. They have been noticing his presence for some time now. His presence can be pretty difficult not to notice, given the occasional volume of said presence. However, Rowan is currently so exhausted by life that he is napping it off in a sling, waking every so often to offer bits of commentary. Mercer has been busy studying seventeenth century picaresque poesy, first year student annotated bibliographies, and double mochas, and I have been spending my time coming up with names to ascribe to our son given his current condition (i.e. Robinson Poosoe, Tootankhamen, Pooter Rabbit, and, my personal fave, Gaseous Clay).

We had a much-relished visit from Grandma & Grandpa B. this past weekend. As always, they arrived laden with snacks. Friday night the gang attended a poetry reading in which Papi was participating. Rowie made it through several very noisy jazz sets played by endearing high school-age musicians and a number of readers before waking. It was also his first bar experience. Whoooo!
(Insert random backyard sunset pic here)

I had my big postpartum checkup yesterday. It seems all systems are go. I weigh ten pounds more than did at this time last year, but hey, who's counting? It was actually great seeing the midwife again. Plus, after going faithfully to the practice once or twice a week, I found myself missing seeing Sanjay Gupta's smiling face on the waiting room TV on a regular basis.

We had a bit of excitement today: Rowie's small-screen debut! As a health department employee, I often receive random requests regarding media representation. The most recent request asked for a department employee with young kids to have dishes tested for lead, the results of which would be broadcast on the local news (one of those What Dangers Lurk in Your Abode-type stories). Despite the fact that we knew our plates were lead-free, having been tested using a home kit by my very lead-aware dad, we volunteered: why not? However, news team 2 (I actually don't know what channel it was, but the folks were very nice & entertained Rowie successfully) filmed our shock! and horror! to discover that our plates--which I got from a great-aunt--do indeed contain lead. Apparently, those at-home kits are kinda bunk. The reporter asked if, despite the fact that unless the plates were damaged and/or chipped they probably weren't leaching lead into our foodstuffs, we'd continue to use 'em. I said yeah, we'll probably just take the risk. J/k!!!

This is how I feel right now. G'night!