One of the things nothing prepares you for as a new mom is the sudden shift of focus from you, the (formerly) glowing preggo, to your newborn baby. One day everyone wants to know how you’re feeling and to lovingly pet your big round tummy, and the next you’re sitting alone in a corner, feeling like a Mack truck drove through your lady bits, while everyone coos over the new arrival. (OK, I exaggerate. A bit. 🙂 )

I also wasn’t prepared for the attention that babies attract when they’re out and about. Once Griff was old enough to sit up in the shopping cart instead of riding in the mei tai carrier, he started to collect a constant stream of (mostly) female admirers. It’s gotten to the point where I tend to avoid Harris Teeter on Thursdays (aka senior citizen discount day) because he’s particularly irresistible to the more, ah, mature woman. Yesterday on our weekly grocery run we were stopped no less than four times by ladies who wanted to wave, smile, touch his hand, and make approving comments. I assume the attention will wane as he ages and becomes less adorably babylike, but it still weirds me out me every single time it happens.

Look at me! I’m a 13-month-old stud muffin!

Look at my JC Penny catalog pose!

And now I’m a total goofball.

If only my fans could see me now.

Now that he’s becoming more toddler-y, Griff is interested in imitating our actions. This is both a blessing and a curse. For example, Jag started putting a giant blue plastic bowl on his own head to amuse Griff, and then started putting it on Griff’s head for the same reason. Griff is now convinced that the bowl is, in fact, a hat.

On a sort of Griff-related note, thanks to Michelle, I am now the proud owner of a serger! Apparently if you whine and moan on your blog often enough about how badly you want a serger, your friends will seize the opportunity to get you one if it happens to come their way. It’s used, and I’ll need to spend some time figuring out how the heck it works, but in a few weeks I hope to be churning out Griff clothes like a one-woman sweatshop.

Also, this is now my favorite overnight steel-cut oatmeal recipe. I think it needs closer to 15 minutes of cooking, and I’d up the total liquid to 2 or 2¼ cups (I used half milk and half apple juice), but this was some awesome oatmeal. If you find crockpot steel-cut oats to be too mushy and slimy, then this is the one for you. They come out very chewy and full of texture.