Our Weekend With A Three-Month Old Cyrus

One thing our family really likes to do together is cook. Saturday morning Shirin and I decided to cook omelettes with lots of veggies and some veggie sausage patties. When you're the mother of an alert three-month old, however, you no longer just cook breakfast; you cook with a 18-lb weight on your chest!
Meanwhile, Baba-joon was putting together Cyrus' new walker under the watchful eyes of Frosty Paws.

He and Calvin have a strange habit of licking plastic.
(Frosty and Calvin, not Saeed and Calvin :-))

Cyrus was very interested in this new contraption...

...but not so much as to prevent him from indulging in one of his favorite activities: sucking on his fist(s).

The new walker required a lot of energy so Cyrus grabbed a quick nap in the swing.

This left the adults an opportunity to try out a new game:

Gabriel, the game master, explains the rules. The object of the game is to arrive at the end with the most coins. The problem is, if you get an answer wrong (remember that it's a survival game) you lose a limb or even your head (!), so making it to the end requires not just collecting coins but retaining your body parts.

Part way through the game Cyrus woke up.

Thinking deeply about an answer to one of his dad's questions.

That yummy fist again.

He's totally engrossed in his feet... "What are those things?"

Cyrus distracts Saeed better than anyone! Saeed was ahead till Cyrus lured his attention away from collecting those gold coins.

The Winner!!
I think at the end Gabriel and I had only our heads left.

Saeed, the unhappy runner up, actually poses for a picture (yes, that's a pose, believe it or not.)

While I had no excuse to be left with only my head, Gabriel had a handicap: a baby with a poopy diaper. After a quick change and snack, Cyrus is ready for some snuggle time.

Gabriel worked on his Mental Magma website with the cute little snoozer on his chest.

Sometimes airing out the bum is a necessity.

He's not so sure about this pose.

Wearing a new diaper and riding high!

Sunday Shirin and I went to a store that we'd wanted to go to for a long time; it's an American/Hispanic grocery store.

During college Shirin lived and studied at the university in Guanajuato, Mexico for six months. This shopping trip is particularly fun for her as she searches out products that she ate while living with her Mexican family.

Here she is ordering fried plantains. She tried speaking in English first, so as to not insult the woman behind the counter, but by the time you see the next picture...

... she had to use her Spanish to make sure she got what she wanted. And what's the little bubbsy doing?....

... just havin' a good time!

Over by the bakery, though, he gave his little pink pig a worrisome stare.

Shirin is fixing us "tortas" for lunch, a Mexican hot sub sandwich. With her left foot she keeps the walker moving to keep Cyrus happy. When we were at the store I noticed her moving the shopping cart back and forth as if it were the stroller.

Look at those Mexican hoagie rolls; they look like big sweet potatoes.

In it she put refried beans, tofurky (our favorite veggie "meat"), cabbage, avocado, tomato, onion, and mayo (veganaise) and then heated them through in a frying pan making the contents warm and the bread toasty. Man, was it good!

From David she learned a great way to cut avocados: cut them in half, slice them while still in the half shell, then scoop them out and the slices are perfect. Very clever, David.

I included this ridiculous picture for Tita. I was reaching for my camera when my finger accidentally depressed the button and took a picture of my shirt... Tita, how old were you when you made this for me?

Nearly everyone has given a baby an "airplane" ride before. Often the end result is messy.

"Oh my... What just happened?"

"I'm sorry mommy."

Well, Shirin's a good sport. Heck, she's been through worse....
like childbirth!

To make the car ride back home a sleepy, quiet trip, Shirin filled his tummy and put him into a milk coma.

Goodbye Siroos-joon.

Some videos (in no particular order) for Khaleh Tita: