One week

Last night we finally finished that game of Hand and Foot that we started the previous Saturday. It took us a full week to play the last three rounds. We must have been busy with something else.

Miriam. We were busy with Miriam.

I don’t know why we’re so busy with Miriam because she is such a great sleeper. But even sleepy babies require attention. And sleepy babies with energetic older sisters require almost constant monitoring to make sure they don’t get squished.

Andrew noticed the little bump on Miraim’s upper lip—right in the middle where the philtrum meets the vermillion border—yesterday. There doesn’t seem to be any real name for that part of the lip but it’s always been pretty prominent in my family so there should be a name for it.

“What is that?” Andrew asked.

“My mom always called it an egg-tooth,” I said.

“Like what baby chicks have?” Andrew asked.

“Yup.” I said.

“But why does Miriam have one?” he asked.

“Oh, same reason,” I fibbed, “Babies use it to break the water sac.”

“Really?”

He totally believed me until I started busting up. I love how gullible he is. Gullible and naive and perfect.

When I was still pregnant he asked if Miriam could cry. After asking for clarification he said,

“Like, can she cry inside of you? I never hear her make any noise.”

“What is speech?” I prompted, “How do we talk? How do we make noise? What has to happen…?”

He thought about minoring in linguistics so I knew that he already knew the answer to his question. I just had to get him there.

“We push air through our vocal cords and they vibrate and make sound,” he answered.

“Right…air. Miriam is in an air-free zone so she can’t make noise.”

“But I can make noise in water, like if I go under the water in a pool I can still scream and make noise.”

“Right…but you brought air with you.”

“I did?”

“Yes. In your lungs.”

“Wait…she doesn’t have air in her lungs? How does she breathe?!”

Oh, Andrew.

It’s hard to believe that this same guy totally whipped both his mom and me at Hand and Foot. We didn’t have a chance against his mad skills.

There’s nothing very new to report on baby Miriam. She still sleeps a lot although I think she might be getting more alert and awake as the days go by. We’re certainly enjoying her quiet little personality, though! And she’s adorable!