April 25: I meant to write this post about a month back, but I never got around to it.
It was one of my first mornings home alone with both kids, and I decided to try to take a shower. Andrew usually played in the bathroom while I showered, but he had recently learned how to open door knobs, so could take off and play elsewhere. Sylvia was in her bouncy seat next to the shower so I could peak out and look at her.
So I hop in the shower, and almost immediately, I hear the door open-Andrew has left the room. Oh well…hopefully he won’t destroy himself or anything else.
Then Sylvia starts screaming. “OK,” I think, “I just need to be quick here.”
Then the steam from the bathroom floats out into the hall and sets the fire alarm off. Great. “This is relaxing and restorative!” I think over the screaming baby and the fire alarm.
Then Andrew comes in and announces (over the din) than he took off his diaper and had an accident.
I decide at that point to stop hurrying and just stay in the shower as long as possible.
Fun times!
Eveyln Rose Lerner is here!
April 25 update – Her name is Evelyn Rose Lerner
April 23: I just got off the phone with Heather, and she is happily holding her sweet baby girl. The little one arrived at 3:33 this afternoon. She weighs 7lbs, 6oz and is 19.25 inches long. Heather said she has dark, wavy hair. She has super-long finger nails, a perfect little rose of a mouth, a little half-moon chin, and chubby thighs.
I’m hoping for pictures on their website (lernerclan.net) soon. Heather was doing well and sounded great. I’m sure it’s been a big several days!
Welcome new little one. You are much loved.
Some early pictures are in the gallery.
Baby Lerner should be arriving today
April 23: 1:45pm – No recent news from Heather and Michael, but early this morning, Michael’s blog post said that they were re-ramping up the pitocin and breaking the water with the idea of getting the baby out today. Heather called me last night after they’d stopped inducing for the evening. She sounded really good – a bit tired and pretty hungry, and she was alright that they were taking a slow approach to induction. The baby’s vitals were all looking good.
It’s strange to be calmly enjoying a beautiful day knowing that such a dear friend is in the midst of birthing her child! Especially after having so recently delivered Sylvia. Big times!
Gett’n by with a little help from my friends
April 23: We’re having a glorious day today. It’s about 1:30, and already we’ve had a full day’s worth of activities. We took the van in to get serviced, dropped Bryan off at work, went to the bakery so Andrew and I could enjoy cupcakes together, stopped in at the library and got some books, met friends at the zoo, and had a beautiful picnic lunch with same friends as boys romped about in the green green grass.
And at the moment (and when I say moment, I mean this one minute time period), both children are either asleep or at least resting quietly. Ahhh.
As I was trying to get Andrew in his car seat after our picnic, he wouldn’t go and Sylvia was screaming in my arms, making it difficult to just hoist the little guy into his seat. But a woman in the next car over noticed my predicament and offered her help. So she put Andrew in his seat (and he was so surprised he didn’t protest at all) while I buckled in Sylvia. And yesterday it was pouring rain and one of the volunteers at Olbrich offered to watch the kids while I drove the car around to the front so I wasn’t trying to get them both in the car in the rain. My initial response to such offers is, “No, that’s alright, I’ve got it.” But these past days, it’s felt really liberating to sort of acknowledge that sometimes the two kids is a bit bigger of a job than one adult with only two hands can manage. I’ve been feeling pretty good about accepting help from strangers. Makes life feel more manageable!
Pictures from the last several days are in the gallery.
Heather’s in and out of labor
April 22: I’ve been following Heather and Michael’s blog throughout the day. She was admitted to the hospital last night for her scheduled induction. As of mid-day today, it sounded like labor was progressing. However, this afternoon, what I’m hearing is that the things aren’t moving forward, so the doctors are planning on continuing with the drug-induced labor until 8pm tonight and at that point shut off the drugs to give Heather a chance to eat and sleep. Then they’ll start up again in the morning.
The medical professionals are all really happy with how both Heather and the baby are doing. And just so you know, whatever happened to Allan occurred before labor even started, so there isn’t any increased concerns about how this baby does through labor and delivery. We just really want to get her out and hold her!
Sylvia laughs
I’m having a hard time embedding the video, so here’s a link to a clip where Sylvia laughs.
Slow torture
April 22: I hate to do anything that sounds too much like complaining, but Andrew currently has at his disposal a set of behaviors that act upon my brain like the tactics of a malicious, medieval torturer. He seems to assess my condition, and say to himself:
- “I think that the rack (a.k.a. whining) would work pretty well on her right now at melting her brain. I’ve been honing my pitch undulation and body flopping techniques, and I think I’ve hit upon a combo that really does her in.”
- “Hmmm…I know we were just having a great time, but what if I was to run away screaming and hide right now instead of going nicely like we prepped all the way here. That might result in some interesting expressions on her face!”
- “I’ve come up with 14 ways to avoid putting on my pants to go outside. I bet I can come up with another 6 to make it an even 20. Now that Sylvia is crying, this is starting to get pretty interesting. I wonder if we’ll still end up going or if I’ll leave the house a naked screaming flopping mess under her arm. Worth finding out how far I can push the situation until one of us pops!”
He mixes up the hard times with behaviors so angelic, so beatific and sweet that it makes it seem like heaven’s light is shining in our presence. When he makes up stories or chases after bubbles or makes innocent and poignant comments about the weather or his feelings or his love for his sister, well, I can’t imagine anything more lovely.
Sometimes I think it’s a really good thing that he’s cute.
Baby Lerner should be arriving shortly
April 20: I’m really excited for Heather and Michael. Their baby girl should be born this week. Little baby girl Lerner is going to be induced on Tuesday, April 22 (Earth Day:) Statistics show that risks to the baby increase as they go past 38 weeks gestation, so they will be inducing at 38 weeks. Heather’s blog is lernerclan.net, so you can check that for pictures and updates.
Heather and Michael have been through so much after losing baby Allan at 41 weeks in September 2006. I’m sure these final days of waiting are going to be quite challenging, and they could probably use any loving thoughts you have to send their way.
Little baby girl, we can’t wait to see you!!
Fun day in Chicago
April 20: On Thursday, Sylvia and I joined my Gathering Waters friends for a fun day in Chicago. Everyone (but Vicki) drove down to Chicago for a fun day of eating and shopping and museum-going. A perk for both current and recent employees. I was so happy to be included; I just love my co-workers. They are some of my favorite people.
Pam and I drove down together with both babies. Mercy is a week younger than Sylvia. All day, the girls were champs. They hardly had any problems, and they fit right in. Meanwhile, Andrew spent the day at Karen’s having fun playing with all his old favorite toys. Pictures of our gang are in the gallery.
We shopped at Nordstrom’s. The shoe department was…amazing. Karen wrote a great description of the shoe experience in her blog. We ate lunch at a great restaurant by chef Rick Bayless called Frontera. Oh, boy, it was gooood.
Then we went to the Shedd Aquarium for much of the afternoon. When the aquarium closed, it was rush hour, so we decided to shop and eat instead of returning home. We explored Crate and Barrel and then had a yummy dinner at the Grand Luxe Cafe, where everything, especially the portions were grande.
Pam and I didn’t get home until almost midnight, but we had a wonderful day. I feel so lucky to have such great friends. They make me laugh and feel oh-so good about life.
She’s such a sweetheart
April 20: When Andrew crawls in bed with us in the morning, he first wants to snuggle with Sylvia. Often, the first spoken words of the morning are, “Can I hold Sylvie? She’s such a thweetheart!”
Sylvia is so smiley and beautifully engaging these days. Her neck is getting very strong, and she can see across the room clearly. Yesterday while we were gardening, I put her out on her play mat in the yard. She seemed to enjoy it…one of the first times it’s been warm enough for her to enjoy some outdoor relaxation.
In the past couple days, we took two stroller rides with both kids. Sylvia really prefers to be held, but she did well during the 1/2 hour walks to and from Olbrich. It’s neat to have my two kids in the bike trailer/stroller now!
Sylvie can be pretty fussy still. Yesterday she wouldn’t sleep from about 1pm until we both fell asleep at 8pm. She spent much of the afternoon being a not-so-very-happy camper. In the evening, I was trying to lie down with her to help her sleep, but it meant that we both slept together:)
Check out Andrew’s nine-week baby pictures in the gallery. They look so much alike! More pictures of our week are in the gallery as well.