Misra Family Hebdomadal: Week 2 for Luke, Year 2 for The Heb!

Luke is now two weeks old! And what a handsome boy he is! Week two was better than week one in a lot of ways. We didn't have the fresh new wonder of this little person who has dropped from the sky into our lives, but we also didn't have the stress of figuring out a lot of things. We have learned some new things - like if he isn't hungry and he has a clean diaper and swaddling/shushing/holding/walking doesn't work, that is the time to use a pacifier. It was like magic, he was asleep 30 seconds after we put it in. Amit has also become an expert in getting out poop stains - Oxyclean is the way to go! We've also learned that baby monitors are very useful - not for Luke, he's with one of us pretty much all the time - but for Marinda to ask Amit for things on the days she isn't feeling well. Who's the baby in this family again?

Other fun milestones include Luke rolling over from his belly to his back! The first time he did it was on day 9, and though we concede to the fact that it was more a lucky flailing of arms and legs, he still did it! He did it three more times a few days ago, but those are questionable as well. He did this thing where his hands were under his chest, then he would arch his head up and lift up his legs so he was kind like a boat - and then he would just fall over to one side with the momentum taking him all the way over.

The main event of this week was the 4th of July! Luke spent most of it sleeping, while Marinda and Amit read their books. Luke also had his first stroller ride - which he slept through - but it was exciting for his parents. We also followed a Marinda/Ben tradition and watched Independence Day, because nothing says celebrate your freedom like watching Will Smith take on Aliens!

Commercial Break! Amit's review of Destiny Disrupted, by Tamim Ansary: Destiny Disrupted is a book on the history of the world, but from a different point of view than what most of us are used to seeing. The book looks at the world history of the Middle East and surrounding areas - essentially the history of the world from the Islamist point of view. We all learn about Julius Caesar in school, but I'm guessing most people reading this don't know about Omar, the 2nd Khalifa and his conquests (which were just as impressive as Caesar's). We tend to think of the Crusades as a huge thing for Europe, and they were, but from the Islamist point of view, they were a blip, literally nothing compared to the concurrent Mongol conquests. To top it off, he looks at the effect of this parallel world history on today's political climate, tying relations between the West and the Middle East over the past centuries to the conflict in Afghanistan, tensions with Iran and of course the everlasting violence in Israel and Palestine. Overall, this is an incredibly easy to read and informative book that I think every one should read before they graduate high school.

Anyways, Luke doesn't have a bedtime and Marinda and Amit were going to be up anyways, so Amit and Marinda decided to meet their friends Julene and Danny at the park to watch fireworks. This was the same park they went to as last year, though this time Julene and Danny had found a spot away from the crowds. With Luke bundled up nice and warm (and consequently asleep), we enjoyed celebrating his first holiday with fireworks and good company. Amit and Danny had a funny conversation when we mentioned to them how we spent our day:

Amit: How long do you think we could get away with making Luke think that July 4th celebrates Will Smith saving the world from Aliens in 1996?
Danny: Probably until he's 11.

For those of you who are curious, we also took Luke to church for the first time today, but just for sacrament meeting. He was SO good! He slept through the whole thing.

To end this blog, we would like to acknowledge that we began it one year ago. Thank you to all of our readers and to all of you who have taken the time to comment/e-mail/text your support. We write for our posterity, but we also mostly write for you, our beloved audience. Here's to another great year of Amit's clever wit and Marinda's photo selections!