I wonder what that feels like?

 I can attest to the wonders of swaddling a baby.  We do it every night to Baby Norris and it helps him to sleep.  The transformation really is remarkable.  One moment he's upset, arms flailing about, bottom lip quivering and then, once swaddled, he calms down.


And the wails become whimpers.

And then...
they...
disappear (and we sigh in relief.) 

Why does swaddling work?  Why does it calm him down?  Does it remind him of being in the womb?  Or, does it prevent him from jerking himself awake?

I asked Baby Norris, but he didn't have anything to say on the matter (go figure).  So, I tried another tactic to understand the swaddling phenomenon...

and asked hubby to swaddle me for a late evening nap.

Charlie, of course, had to investigate.

Conclusions?
I still don't understand it.  Babies are weird.

I hated being swaddled.  I didn't feel secure, I felt claustrophobic.  I couldn't roll around.  I couldn't find a comfortable sleeping position. And  I most certainly could not scratch a very annoying itch on my nose.

The answer is no

A couple of weeks ago I noticed a strange rhythmic thumping in my belly. It almost seemed like Baby Norris was keeping time to music.  After noticing this strange phenomenon several other times I started to wonder... was Baby Chuck Norris a musical prodigy?  Is he taking after his namesake?

They do say that (the real) Chuck Norris:

• can play techno music with his heart
• can stop the music
• taught Jimi Hendrix to play guitar
• can conduct an orchestra using subtle variations of roundhouse kicks

Hmm.  Well, after some extensive internet searching, I found out that sadly, Baby Chuck Norris is not a musical prodigy.  He just has baby hiccups.   :) How cute is that?

(By the way, Baby Norris is still not here.)

So blue

Charlie stopped to sniff something on the ground during our morning walk:

What is this delicate blue object?

At first I thought it was a tiny dyed Easter egg.  But who would dare to dye such delicate eggs?  A quick internet search informed me that it was a robin's egg and that they're naturally this gorgeous shade of blue.  Hubby and I are now keeping our eyes open for a nearby nest.

Durian in Michigan?

A couple of days ago my hubby spotted these lying on the ground.

Looking up, he saw a tree filled with these mysterious fruit.

They reminded him of durian, a spiky green fruit that smells like gym socks mixed with turpentine.  Durian in Michigan?  Seemed a little strange, so I puttered around the internet.  According to this website these fruit are called Osage oranges (aka hedge apples, horse apples, monkey balls, and brainfruit).  Osage orange trees were originally planted to act like fences. Some say the fruit also repels insects and pests. 

So there you go.  Case closed.