Tell me, what's that noise?

It's been a week or so of firsts, some good, others not so much, all momentous enough to blog about (but what isn't, really?):

--Jacob laughed out loud for the first time(s). I heard him first, on one of the days the husband was home but sleeping off the midnight shift. I was bouncing him between my knees while I was on my back (kind of like baby crunches), and he thought it was the funniest thing and suddenly laughed out loud, several times, a low, distinct, staccato sound, kind of like a monkey hooting. But the husband wasn't convinced it actually happened until later, when I was accusing Jacob of being a lazy baby in a funny voice, and he laughed out loud again, several times.

--Jacob threw up all over me. At night, he and I take his last awake bottle/feeding on the couch, I put him on my shoulder, and we go to bed. We're both in our pajamas by then, ready for sleep. Two nights ago, on the first hot night we've had since he was born, he ate, ate some more, and then I put him on my shoulder. We were both sweating already, but then suddenly I realized I was sweating even more profusely, and it was running down my chest...only that was impossible in such a short time...and I looked down to find my shirt completely covered and soaked through with milky liquid. Apparently, that last bit of bottle never made it down and ended up all over me instead. I yelled for the husband, passed Jacob off, and ran to change, to begin the cycle of getting him to sleep all over again (the yelling and the vomiting, strangely enough, woke him back up). So, another reminder to me to bring an extra change of clothes in my carry-on for our trip next week.

--I started (and read in twice) a book for pleasure. Since Jacob's birth, I have only read either pregnancy/parenting books, general interest women's magazines, or the Internets. In short, only those things that require very little brainpower and time. Lack of sleep, lack of hands, and lack of inclination had been keeping me from doing more. This week, however, I finally got back in the swing-ish and started a book helpfully provided by mtg (she sent books for the baby and a book for me to celebrate his birth, appropriately, I thought). So far, the book is problematic (as expected) but fun in that "hey-I'm-using-a-dormant-part-of-my-brain-again" way.

--Jacob slept most of the night last night on his back on his own. This is huge news since he has been sleeping on my chest or in his various swings since birth. The key came this week because it was too hot at night for us to comfortably sleep like that, and at one point this week I just had to get him off and moved him to the bed, where he stayed without a fuss for the first time. So, after he quieted down for the first leg last night, I slid him into the crook of my arm and then, after a while more, straight onto the mattress, where he slept for a longer chunk of time than he has been recently. When he woke up, I repeated the process after he ate, except that I skipped the arm and just slid him straight to the bed. And again, he slept for longer and seemed content. He did wake up at 6-ish this morning with horrible, cry out loud gas pains, but I gave him some drops, put him in the miracle blanket, and put him in the swing, where he is back asleep as we speak. (Hence, blogging.) So we were both up fewer times last night, and we both got more sleep. Is that light I see on the horizon...?

--I graded and returned my first set of papers for my class. I can't say there were a lot of marginal/end comments (I use a fairly detailed grading rubric so I am not writing the same things again and again, but I usually supplement copiously within the margins), but I read and thoughtfully graded them all in a timely manner (in two days, actually, from Tues to Thurs, so they would have them back before the next one came in). It was a bit rough, requiring me to sacrifice everything else while Jacob napped one day, but he played his part well and slept a lot for once, which helped. The next batch are in and won't be going back until Tuesday, so I have longer to do them and they are shorter, BUT this weekend is general conference at church, so most of my time over the weekend will be spent listening to the broadcast and entertaining the wee one. You may be wondering how I am teaching and yet still not reading anything more substantive...ah, the usefulness of good lecture notes and thorough prep for a course I have taught many times. Small favors!

All in all, this is the good stuff, people!

On a totally different note, is anyone watching Eli Stone on ABC? I'm slightly obsessed with it but think I must be all alone, as usual. No one appreciates a visionary in her own land...or something!