Somebody call the HAZMAT team

My baby has officially been contaminated!

It happened in a split second: a curious toddler leaned in, in and furrrther in towards L. in the stroller to get a better view. I can hardly blame him; she is intriguing! (wink.) Like a flash, baby L's hand shot out of her mouth, into his, and back into hers. I did a double take and saw lovely torrents of snot pouring out of this kid's nose (think Jabba the Hut), and heard his repeated hacking cough as his grandmother led him away, laughing (!) about "those crazy preschool germs." I'm not one to go too nuts about cleanliness, but... AHHHHH! Believe you me, I busted out the baby wipes in a HURRY.

In other news, I took L. for professional pictures today. I timed it perfectly: she napped just at the right time, ate just at the right time, and managed not to drool on her outfit. She smiled all the way there and all the way back. But did she smile for the photographer during the shoot? NOT MUCH. Typical, I suppose. Defying me already! Ha. Good thing she's cute even when she doesn't smile...

And, I joined a mom/baby group. First session was yesterday. I just thought it would be a fun way to meet some other potential walking buddies, but turns out it was therapy I desperately needed (but just never knew it). I almost cried while everyone told their stories and talked about their experiences so far. I guess I have been more isolated through all of this than I realized -- not just away from family, but without many friends in the same boat. I think the others felt that way too; you could just feel the relief pouring out into the room. And the babies are CUUUUTE (all within 6 weeks of age), and no one cares if they cry or poop or nurse or whatever. Should have done this ages ago.

(Aside: one of the moms has twins... sired by her husband's 15 year old sperm! He is a cancer survivor, whose pediatrician urged him to bank his sperm as a young teen before he started radiation. They engineered and implanted two embryos, and were blessed with two perfect babies all these years later. What a miracle... it gave me the chills.)

Okay, naptime is surely almost over and I've accomplished nothing really major. Let me go see what I can squeeze in before the boss calls!

(PS: Brook -- do you have a new blog somewhere?? I don't know how to email you to ask...?)