Burp Cloths

This morning I had just finished nursing Ilea

and was holding her to my chest to burp her

when it occurred to me that,

just as her brother had never spit up sufficiently

after eating to warrant the use of a burp cloth,

it seemed as if I had yet another baby

who would just keep it in.

Of course, as you might imagine, it was at that exact moment

that Ilea pitched forward and threw up about 1.5 cups

of milk directly down my shirt

soaking me all the way to the top of my pants.

So, after a full change of clothes for both of us

and a shower for me,

I have now come to this conclusion:

If you are one of the many people coming to visit

us this month please feel free to not bother with a burp cloth...

I think a full size bath towel would be most appropriate.

Sibling Love

 I thought this picture warranted its own post,

I call it The Disengaged Babysitter:

 Actually, despite what it looks like in the picture

Orin is obsessed with Ilea.

However, given the entire day to play with her

and just 30 minutes to watch Sesame Street,

the cartoon trumps the baby temporarily.

But as my brother Matthew said:

"If at first the claim you want to make is refuted by the photograph, simply take more photographs. Eventually (as with the infinite monkey theorem, which states that if you give a monkey sufficient time, he will eventually write Hamlet), the exact photo you desire will come along.

It just might take a while."

That's a little better at least.

We are home!

On Tuesday after a quick doctor's appointment in the morning

we headed back home to the Cape.

 There were some curiously emotional reunions

(I never knew that Bear and Paley were so in love):

 Ilea took her first bath:

  

We got the first picture of her smile:

Read our first family story:

Napped:

 Played in the bouncer:

 

Played on the floor:

And ate Chef Casey's first fruit shortcake

(please feel free to admire the impeccable presentation):

More to come...

Hanging Out (Sleeping)

Today Ilea worked hard on perfecting

the art of being asleep.

She hung out with mommy and

 slept on her old stomping ground;

 she nestled up with Baba;

 and took a group snooze with her boys.

 She continued to be rather boring as we embarked 

on our first outing.

 And slept through our first family of four photo.

But as long as she keeps the trend going tonight,

I can't complain.

 After all, it is pretty hard being brand new.

Tomorrow afternoon we head back home.

We will check in from there.

Welcome Ilea Part 2

Ok, so never mind about that whole

"...after I get some sleep" thing,

sleeping (at least at night) was apparently not on the list

of things for Ilea to do during the first 24 hours of her life.

Anyway, now she is happily sleeping,

it finally being light out,

which gives me the opportunity to take more pictures

and fill in some details from yesterday.

 At 2:30 in the morning, Casey and I headed to the birth center

and settled into the same room where Orin was born 

5 years and 2 days before.

Early labor consisted of some dancing to Brett Dennen,

rocking on a birthing ball,

listening to the sound of the rain outside,

and eating Dunkin Donuts.

After my midwife broke my water,

my mood deteriorated pretty rapidly,

but it did speed things up a bit.

I hopped in the tub and several hours of hard labor later,

Ilea emerged face first

(a presentation rarely seen that is maximally awful for the mom).

But, of course, it was love at first sight.

5 hours later, we were all back home

still in awe with how impossibly small and adorable she was.

 And, of course, nobody was happier to get to hold her

for the first time than her big brother.

Hopefully, tonight she will have a different agenda,

one which involves sleeping for at least a few hours.

We will keep you posted.

Welcome Baby Ilea!

Ilea Elisabeth-Lynn Zawicki 

made a watery entrance into the world today at 10:33am

after 10 1/2 hours of labor.

More details and photos will be added as soon as I get some sleep.

As for now, here she is:

impossibly small and perfect in every way.

Birthday Bike n' Hike

Yesterday was Orin's fifth birthday.

For his big birthday present this year

we got him a new bike 

which we actually gave to him a couple days ago

so that he could use it on our daily walks around the neighborhood.

 For his actual birthday festivities,

I enlisted the help of my mother,

not knowing what state I would be in on the big day.

She made him a birthday shirt

which he proudly wore all day,

stopping random people to tell them that he was 5 now.

She also made cupcakes which we took to the 

dining common at her school

so that Orin could pass them out to all the other kids

and she got him a couple presents to open

like this soccer ball:

The rest of the day we spent walking

as much as possible

hoping that we could manage one more birthday present 

for Orin if his sister decided to make her grand entrance

into the outside world 

(which she didn't)

 but Orin did find the first pink lady slipper of the season

maybe not quite as cool, but oh well.

 

 Two days late and still waiting...

Mad Dash Home

The longer I have been in Andover,

the more home sick I have become

so today, despite having only a couple days until

my due date, I decided to take a trip to the Cape.

The first thing I did when we pulled in the driveway

was to go check on my girls.

I am not sure who was happier to see who.

I, of course, just wanted to say hi and catch up on some petting,

while they were more interested in the fact 

that I let them out into their

larger pen so that they could take a much needed dust bath.

 I was also happy to see that everything was growing.

My grapes, which several weeks ago had looked pretty pitiful,
 were thriving.

 and all the seeds I had planted the day I moved out were coming up

(along with boatloads of grass and other weeds, 

but that project will have to wait for now)

 Our trees had leafed out and our dogwood was in full bloom.

 The grass which we seeded right before I left had also emerged,

forming a soft carpet of green in the back yard

 and Orin's garden had taken off as well.

When he saw his plants he exclaimed

"Look mom, my carrots! 

I am going to pick some now"

(I had to explain to him that carrot 

harvest was still a couple months off.)

 And then, of course, there was one other thing growing away...

this one in the kitchen.

I am not entirely sure what this was in its former life,

Casey says it was cereal.

Either way, it was taken care of during our frantic
2 and 1/2 hour cleaning spree

before we jumped back in the car to make it to Andover before

the nightly traffic jam. 

And then, just like that, we were back again.

With enough time to pose like Huck Finn

and take our last round of family-of-three pictures.

Next time we go back, it will be as a family of four.

I can't wait!

Happenings

With final exams over, Casey and Orin 

have been with me in Andover full time.

 We have been keeping busy

by posing as farmers:

 

Feeding reindeer through a long orange tube:

(I am actually not kidding)

 Looking at peacocks displaying their colors:

Looking at peacocks displaying their lack of color:

  Going to the local fair:

where I was barred from jumping in the pit of plastic balls:

 and where Orin fell in love with some of the rides:

and was less thrilled about others:

We also went to a music and dance festival at the academy

where we got to play with balloons:

Listen to an acapella group:

Watch dancers make a painting by dancing 

through buckets of paint:

And do some swinging:

  Just a couple more days until 

Baby Number 2 should arrive...