Westley turned 3 months old this week, and we’re nowhere close to putting him on a schedule. Despite our attempts to adhere to a regimen of feeding, napping, and activity, his unpredictable behavior continues to keep us guessing. His eczema migrates from one area to another, and we can’t tell if he cries because he’s hungry or itchy. For his rashes, we tinkered with laundry detergents, oatmeal baths, aquaphor variants, different diaper brands, and 3 kinds of steroids. To help his bedtime routine, we invested in a better baby tub, a motorized swing, dimmer puck lights, and even a fancy bluetooth speaker to serve as a dedicated white-noise machine. With maternity leave coming to an end, we could only hope that some form of regularity sets in. We celebrated Melody’s first mother’s day last week with tulips and breakfast at home with a pan au chocolat from Nugget and fruit basket cake from Ettore’s. We also went out for funky Japanese fusion at Skool for dinner, which included a delicious uni flan and squid ink spaghettina, but was cut short by baby-wailing. Between getting called in for several late-night surgeries, we also visited Merryhill School to check out their newly-renovated space and prepare for his daycare entry in June. For my department’s annual symposium in Napa this weekend, we decided to make it a mini family trip, which meant cramming several duffle bags along with our carrier, stroller, and bassinet into the trunk for a single-night stay. We had lunch at Mustards Grill for their famous pork chop (which was a tad sweet), before arriving at the hotel. Annoyingly, our room was not ready despite our earlier request for early check-in, leaving Melody stranded in the concierge lounge with a crying baby while I gave my talk. For dinner, we went to Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc, where we were treated to a casual but hearty family-style dinner with an arugula and endive salad, grilled flank steak, fish & chips, Cowgirl Creamery’s Mt. Tam cheese, and a cookies n’ cream pudding dessert. This morning, after moderating the conference, we went to Redd Wood for some crispy wings, pizza, and pasta. The sunny drive home appeared to have led to another eczema flare, so we’ll be looking forward to some intense skin therapy this weekend.