Four Weeks with Yogi

Yesterday marked four weeks with our boy.  Do you call that a month or do you mark the month by the date, which would add three days (the 15th)?  All of these things confuse me, reminding me of the whole week v. month v. trimester of pregnancy which I could never quite nail down.  At any rate, we've been a family of three for a while now and getting more comfortable with every moment that passes.

After getting maybe a cobbled together total of four hours of sleep Saturday night, we went on to make it a big Sunday.  My wife pushed the boy on an early morning run.  Mornings are beginning to be crisp and cool now, which is wonderful.  After cleaning up, we took Yogi to church (we love the Unitarians in our new city) for the first time and he did great!  Although the sermon was long and I kept waiting for a huge toot or scream in the midst of the quiet, meditative moments, none came.  He slept quietly in his bucket and made only cute little baby squeaks.  It was perfect.

Of course it was cool to be able to take Yogi with us and have so many people fuss over him, but it was also great just to BE there.  We haven't been since before he was born, which seems at moments like a minute ago and at other times like a lifetime.  It felt good to include him in something that is such a routine and emotionally significant part of our lives.  It was also quite a nice service that I'm glad we didn't miss.

The focus was on the Jewish High Holy Days that run between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  We were all given stones upon entry that we could use in a ritual called T'ashlich, which means "casting off"in Hebrew.  Although it sounds like bread is traditionally cast off, the metaphor still works with a stone I guess.  The point is to reflect on your sins and cast them off in preparation for the new year.  Unitarians aren't too wild about the idea of sin, so the minister spoke about casting off thoughts or habits or assumptions that have locked us in dysfunctional patterns.

I love that Yogi's arrival has coincided with all of these transition points (the coming of Fall, the start of the school year, the Jewish New Year).  It's a great opportunity to think about letting go of what no longer serves me so that I can be more receptive to what is to come.  It's good timing. ;).  It is also true that every time I have fallen in love it has happened in the fall.  Perfect.

Posted in: Newborn, The Rest of Life