brianandruby.org

Here’s a cute picture (by our good friend Ayse) of me and Izzy at a local Planned Parenthood fundraiser in Durham last week. (Click for larger version.)

At work I am experimenting with a tool called VoiceThread that lets you post a video and let others add comments as audio, video, text, or doodles. What better subject matter to try it out than my beautiful son!

Feel free to add to this:

Today is Izzy’s two-month birthday. I want to write more about what an incredible experience parenting is. It’s so exciting to see him change, learn, and grow every day. (Which is exactly why it’s been so painful for me to go back to work. But at least we have a fabulous babysitter.)

But parenting also keeps me very, very busy - especially now that I am working part time. Tomorrow is Izzy’s next medical check up so I’ll be back soon with some updated vitals.

Until then, you can follow him on Twitter (if you have a Twitter account): http://twitter.com/izzysinreich

I finally caught one of Izzy’s big smiles on camera! It’s a great reward for all the sleepless nights. Click ‘read more’ (below) for a short video of him.

read more »

This post is brought to you by the blue bouncy chair, a hand-me-down from Nicole’s friend Maria. Thank you!

Mommy’s-eye-view:

Yesterday was my first Mother’s Day as a mom, and it was unexpectedly nice. Saturday, we drove up to Richmond so Izzy could meet Brian’s family. It was very nice and we got to enjoy Cousin Tori’s ice skating birthday party, visit with Grandparents Ralph and Priscilla, as well as introduce Izzy to one of his THREE great-grandmothers.

For Mother’s Day, we went to the Flying Burrito (a Chapel Hill institution) and Brian wore Izzy (which I usually do) I had TWO whole margaritas - probably the most I had to drink since our anniversary last July. I plan to make margaritas a Mothers Day tradition.

Izzy is growing and changing every day. At his one-month checkup, the pediatrician reported that he had grown 3 1/2 inches and a little over 2 pounds since he was born! He is starting to use his hands a lot more, especially to give us sweet baby hugs, and his smiles have evolved from an internal reflex to occasional full-facial grins with eye contact.

Last week, my mom and dad came from the beach and London (respectively) to visit Izzy. So he has now met all four of his grandparents. Here they are:

Finally, I was thrilled to receive the great honor of being named Mother of the Year! (Wink, wink.)

I suppose it’s more accurate to say: I was so inspired by a journalist that I borrowed his name and gave it to my son. The big question on your mind must be why.

Our son is named Isidore Ellis Russell Sinreich. He was born April 3, 2009 at 11:58 am in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The journalist was Isidor Feinstein Stone aka I.F. Stone. He was a truth-telling leftist investigative journalist of the best kind. An old school newsman who refused to eat propaganda and regurgitate it as fact. I didn’t know him but I feel his writings speak to me. We hope our son will be a truth teller.

By reading I.F. Stone, I discovered hope for the future in the way new generations often give to parents. Stone’s writings prove the value of information. Not just the official word but the absolute necessity of access to a vast amount of information. When Stone wrote for newspapers, political news was less diverse. Those who owned the means to manufacture mass media controlled the flow of information. In some ways they still do. But that control is very different now.

The authors of the United States Bill of Rights understood the power of information. This must be why they put freedom of the press in the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

There is a lot in that long sentence. The part that journalists most care about is making no law ‘abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press’. Ever since this was written, the freedom of the press has has been under attack.

Here in America our form of democracy is a bad compromise. It’s not really democratic. We say that we have equality here. Sometimes we even try to treat other humans fairly. But the overwhelming fact is that we are not equal and we don’t really have a civil society. I hope this changes in our son’s lifetime. I have hope that it can.

Isidore is also the first name of Ruby’s great-grandfather. But I didn’t know that when I started lobbying for us to use the name Isidore. Plus the nickname Izzy is just so damn cool.

A lot of folks have been asking for more pictures and updates on Izzy. I know it seems like we should have lots of time to do this while he is sleeping half the day and just nursing and pooping the rest of the time. It’s hard to explain how little coherent time you get to yourself when taking care of a newborn. Just eating or going to the bathroom is a complex process involving handing the baby off to Brian (if he’s here - he works in the mornings), putting him down in a safe place (none of which he likes very much right now), or putting on a sling so I can carry him hands-free. Combine this with an unpredictable boss who might need to be fed or changed at any moment regardless of my own plans, and it’s hard to really get much of anything done. (Speaking of which, thank you’s are on our to-do list, we promise!)

Currently Izzy is sleeping on me in a sling which gives me about 1.5 hands free to type this blog entry!
read more »