From the Archives: August 20, 2005 - Age 29

This entry is from Reilly's sixth week. What interests me in this post is how we were beginning to introduce our daughter to the usual suspects we come across each day, and how, just a few weeks ago, these people were truly crushed to find out we were moving. (Yes, even the guy at the donut cart.)

Reilly loves to ride around town in her baby Bjorn. If she is awake, she will grasp onto Shawn’s shirt and just stare up at her mom. If our baby is sleepy, she will nestle down on Shawn’s chest and drowse away. Shawn has found this development to be quite wonderful. She started off making short, local trips around the neighborhood, but now Shawn will go most anywhere, from the post office on 4th Avenue and 10th Street to the MoMA in midtown.

Since we are outdoors all the time now, Reilly has been meeting all of her neighbors. This week she met the guy from my donut cart on 5th Avenue and 16th Street. I’d been talking to him about my new baby for a couple of weeks now, so he was thrilled to meet her. When I made my usual order of one plain donut, he put an extra one in the bag, and said, “I put another in there for your little girl.”

Reilly also made friends with the drycleaner, Mr. Park. He had been commenting on her little clothes for the past few weeks, “so small—and so many colors,” and asking when I would bring her in. Shawn walked with me to drop off our laundry one morning, and Mr. Park just lit up with excitement. He said, “She looks like her father.” I had to smile at that, as he is the only one who seems to think so!

Normally, on Sundays, we walk only on the north side of our street, to avoid the soup kitchen line that forms at the church across the street. However, with Reilly in tow, we have to avoid the sun, and since the shade was on the south side of the street, we had to make an exception. As we strolled by the many characters in front of the church, one of the men asked “New baby?” Shawn and I nodded and he said, “Well, God bless her!” We thanked him, and moved on.

At home there is the Old Monk, who always stops to look at Reilly and smile. He sits on the third floor in his chair, in the corner of the hallway. He spends his time there praying, and it is impossible to break his concentration. Shawn and I used to leave for work, tromp past him, and he would never blink an eye. But now, with Reilly, he will stop right in the middle of his prayer and get up to see our baby girl. In fact, the one time we left without her (my dad was babysitting) the monk said, “Where baby?” which is the most English he has ever spoken in our presence.

This week, Reilly has also continued her visual development. When she’s in her crib, she spends more time watching her mobile. In the past, she would only stare left or right, but now she looks up and follows the black and white objects as they circle above her. She also shows interest in the mobile on her swing.

My favorite visual moment this week was when I said goodbye to Reilly as I left for work Tuesday morning. As I walked away from her, she turned her head to follow me with her eyes.

Shawn’s favorite visual moment this week was when Reilly sat in her lap and looked at her Organic Style magazine for ten minutes. The picture we have of that moment is too cute, and is the attached photo of the week. Enjoy!