19
Aug
The Bloodless Turnip
Topic: Kai and Eidan
Eidan is two weeks old today, and he continues to spend most of his time sleeping, with occasional breaks for gorging himself. While he still does 2-3 hour naps, he now has this new thing where he’ll eat for a few minutes, then nap for a few minutes, then squeal and grunt like a pig for a few minutes doing you-know-what, and then repeat. For an hour. This is amusing during the day and no fun at all at night.
His grunting really is quite spectacular, especially in conjunction with the faces he makes (he’s not distressed though, he’s just doing his thing). Maria pointed out it’s a good thing he’s not a girl, as it’s not exactly becoming.
An old friend of Maria’s family told us about a meaning of Eidan’s name that Japanese folks from the World War II generation know well: “Go Eidan.” In Japanese, “go” is a modifier indicating high formality. It’s hard to translate this kind of thing into English, but since Eidan’s name means “wise decision,” probably the best way to translate it would be “The Wise Decision.” The phrase refers to the Emperor’s decision to surrender, and end World War II. If I were to choose a name based on historical significance, I probably would have steered clear of this one. But that’s not why we picked his name, so I’ll try not to dwell on it.
Kai came down with hand-foot-mouth disease on Tuesday night, so he’s been home from school all week (apparently it’s been going around at the neighborhood pool, and we had been going there almost every day, with the incredible heat we’ve been having recently). His mouth and throat have been bothering him a lot, so he’s been waking up several times a night as well. I’ve been taking care of him at night while Maria’s been with Eidan. I have no idea how single parents handle these kinds of situations.
A friend of mine, who already has two kids, sent me this email. His observations are turning out to be very true for us, especially with Kai being sick this week:
The second is more fun, more wonderful, and more exhausting than the first. The stuff that scared you last time will not scare you this time, and the comparison of the baby to the older sibling will make you wonder how the time passed so quickly. The sleep deprivation is (as you know) far more difficult this time. Scheduling is harder too (I use the point that to deal with Child 1, you took all the slack out of your schedule. With child 2, there is no blood left in the turnip. You either do less or sleep less.).
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