Baby's first cold

Full-on sore throat, stuffy head and runny nose. And Michael Alexander's got a runny, stuffy nose and cough. Spin class this morning was the best medicine. I was feeling completely wiped out, but sprinting through heavy tension restored my energy. Now if only my throat wasn't raw. Michael Alexander's trying to shed his sickness in jumperoo.

Time to write

The biggest challenge of working from home is finding time to write. Michael Alexander, now five months old (born April 19), is sleeping like a big boy, but some days he doesn't nap at all. I write, research and report when he plays, but he's not one for solitary pursuits. He's happiest when I pay full attention to him. I'd like to take on more freelance, but I can barely manage the few assignments I have, and already do most of my typing with one hand, like right now. I've mastered the one-handed conference call with taking notes and typing trick, a skill that comes with motherhood. I've had so many more creative ideas since he was born. I thought it would be fun to write a blog using his voice. My husband, Mike, and I speak for Michael Alexander in a kiddie voice our friend Justin calls the Mickey Mouse voice. Blogging daily would force me to take more pictures of my son to accompany his insights and observations. Ultimately I decided it was creepy to write for a baby. Talking for him is weird enough, but at least I'm not doing it alone and we control our son's audience. My other ideas are too brilliant to share. Ha!

Welcome to Nommersland!

I've resisted this until now, fearing I'd become just another blahger. When I got pregnant, I considered blogging on a number of topics from fertility treatments (I conceived the old-fashioned way) to breech positions (Michael Alexander, like both his dad and mom, was upside down and reversed position after a few moxibustion treatments and hundreds of modified shoulderstands) to C-sections (I had an emergency one, which I'm not convinced was medically necessary) to Manhattan vs. Brooklyn (we're still in Manhattan) to being approached by women who'd carry on a conversation with my bump without first asking my name. I pitched the moxibustion idea to several magazine editors, and was ignored by most of my colleagues. I acknowledge every pitch from writers, and was shocked to learn that others can't be bothered to extend the same professional courtesy. After 17 years in newsrooms, climbing the ranks from reporter to editor-in-chief, I am deeply disappointed by consumer magazine editors unwillingness or inability to recognize a good story idea for their audience. That's partly what brings me here. That, and I decided just yesterday that I am happiest at home with my son, and would rather raise him and witness his every incredible development rather than surrender a huge chunk of my salary to pay another woman to do it. There, I said it: I want to stay home!