Gurgling

We've been watching American Idol, and all I can say is that I hope the show is off the air by the time Lyla is old enough to audition. Lyla has been sort of crabby the last couple days; perhaps the reason is that she's annoyed by any one of several hundred annoying aspects of the show. Or annoyed that despite all of them, her parents still tune in.

It's possible that she's having mild digestive annoyances. These might also be a result of American Idol, but they also might come from food recently eaten by Julie. We've read that what a woman eats during pregnancy determines what a baby can tolerate in breast milk. Babies whose mothers eat spicy foods throughout their pregnancy are typically unfazed when the mother eats at an Indian restaurant before breastfeeding. On the other hand, if a woman shuns Ho-Hos during pregnancy, she shouldn't suddenly have a Ho-down when the kid is born.

The trouble is that there are always cravings and anti-cravings during pregnancy. Julie loves chocolate, for instance, but the thought of it during pregnancy disgusted her. Once Lyla was born, she craved chocolate again. But after living with a cranky baby for a couple days a few weeks ago, Julie momentarily eliminated chocolate from her diet. It seemed to work, although it could have also been a coincidence.

Julie's sister Jen made a chocolate cheesecake and sent Julie home with a piece for me. Like Charlie Bucket with a new Wonka Bar, on the first day all I did was look at it and dream about it. On the second day, I ate one bite. Heaven. And this morning, I opened the fridge to find it gone. Julie had stolen my cheesecake, likely while finger-twisting an imaginary handlebar mustache. By the sink I found the empty tupperware, sides scraped with a fork and then spoon and then tongue. I wonder if cheesecake acquired nefariously tastes better.

The note I left her said, "You stole my cheesecake, and you will pay." If history is any indication, we will each pay through the gurgling stomach of our daughter. The nice thing is that even Lyla's whiny squawks sound better than most of the contestants on that idiotic show.