Welcome back - from this party of 5

Hello from the other site!

Life since Jack's first week after birth has been interesting and mundane and frustrating and smooth all at the same time. While I'm feeling well and quite a bit "back", I haven't failed to notice how much Dylan is doing for our family at the moment; he's picking up all of my slack while recovering and then some. There was one day when he managed, I think, 6 loads of laundry - and not because it was piled up but because he did all the extras (re: sheets, blankets, and beach towels) that aren't the daily necessities. We are also receiving a couple of dinners a week from neighborhood friends, which is such a beautiful blessing; yes, someone else takes care of my family on what might be a hard night, but it's also such a gift to know that s/he was thinking about us while preparing such a gift. I love it.

Ups & Downs

The four of us during the day fluctuate between simple, when Jack's napping over the lunch and nap hour, making it easy to take care of Paul & Ada, and chaotic, when all three are crying for a myriad of reasons, like "I need food", "She broke my ___", or "My baby doll's not nursing the way I want her to"... I'll let you infer who's who (hard one, innit?). But it's all really wonderful. Except that it's been hot, and I mean hot, like heat index of 110ºF. While I usually like to just go with it and run around for at least an hour or so before it gets too hot, that is a bit much, even for me, with a newborn. Consequently, we've been spending a lot (read: most) of our time indoors. The kids have taken it in stride, though, and have rediscovered a few toys, played with each other in different ways (love!), and have gotten creative. I love the outdoors and am a huge advocate of playing in the dirt, but I've been relieved to see them thrive inside, too, these last few weeks.

We have had a few outings as a family and even a couple with just me with the kids - all by myself, with three children, yay! We've gone to Mass, of course, grocery shopping, into the Quarter (whoa), out for the 4th of July's fireworks, and the nearby story times, art class, and even the playground a couple of times. We also had somebody's 33rd birthday in there ... but since I'm not exactly running errands, yet, and because I didn't plan in advance, Dylan had a full-on DIY birthday, complete with machine-free homemade ice cream, kid-crafted paper ice cream cones, and mini pies.

Birthday Fun

First trip to the Quarter!

Brekky on the 4th

Fireworks on the levy. So. Ada is afraid of loud noises. She also, somehow, managed to gain a fear of fireworks even though we aren't around them often; I dunno. We did major prep work on her for the entire week building up to the 4th, and she would say multiple times a day, "Fireworks, so pretty! Pretty colors. Nothing falls on us." Where she got the "falls on us" bit, I'll never know. She was happy in the Burley with borrowed noise-cancelling headphones & a piece of watermelon...

All in all, this early postpartum period has seemed somehow less momentous than the first two, gliding more easily and more quickly into normal life, and at the same time, I've been, personally, more excited about this baby's newborn-hood and less anxious. How can something seem more normal and more exciting at the same time? I guess both of those things come down to experience and having lived through two newborns before as well as seen how they grow into toddlers and preschoolers; all so very miraculous!

All 3 sacked out

In other, non-baby-related news, we've had several visits: from Gin & Ryan and from Mom and Dad (a few more than I think even they would like to have made what with all the driving). They've both had weddings to attend over our way, and there was also a funeral in the family for an uncle who lived nearby. And then, completely unrelated, yet another stranger has tried to "make conversation" (I guess) with my 4 year old by asking something along the lines of, "What happened to your face?" So he's got that little patch of moles and freckles on one cheek (remember the biopsy fiasco?), and to give the benefit of the doubt, only upon a longer look might one realize there's been no trauma; but, c'mon, even if he did get scraped in some bush or take a tumble, is he likely to want to jump on board that for a conversation with you, Stranger at the Café? Sigh. This encounter was brief and friendly and basically included Easy goes it. It's a birth mark. It's terrible seeing a 4yo self-conscious about such things. The man felt awful, yada, yada, and offered to buy our snacks, but I refused because it wasn't necessary.

Then, again in baby-related news, Jack had his 1-month check-up with Dr. Emily! (Dr. Emily is also a mom-friend who lives down the street. Love her.) He weighs a whopping 10 lbs 13oz (70th percentile) and measures 23in (99th percentile!); so this is apparently a big baby! He's doing everything he's supposed to, and we've only got to pay attention to fat-baby rolls staying clean in this crazy summer heat.

Gesundheit!

And to close, Nana with each of her grandbabies in the first 4 wks.