Whole New World

I haven't had time to write to you much these last few months but it's just been because I'm enjoying you both so much! Nora, you are hysterical. You make me laugh, belly laugh, hard at least once every day and at least once a week, you bring me to tears. You are wicked sharp and your vocabulary is astounding. You're constantly trying out using new words, sometimes correctly, usually correctly, sometimes not. Your milk is "lovely," your cookies are "delicious," your book is "precious." You also speak in different character voices, which I can only assume is the result of reading, including my favorite, which is a sort of smoky Kathleen Turner voice with the addition of a Southern accent. Everything and everyone are Mama and Daddy - Daddy Mixer, Mama Kitty, etc., etc., etc. And your obsession with birds continues. (You are also constantly into everything - I just had to stop this to run upstairs and rescue you because you managed to get your leg trapped between your bed, your window and your wall. Honestly.)

Your temper shows more these days and I can tell sometimes that it's hard to get through the day. (It's hard sometimes for Mama to get through the day too.) We do our best to be patient with each other, to not yell or swat, and sometimes we fail, but mostly we do very well. You love to cuddle, which has been a pleasant surprise - you were never terribly keen on it, or were indifferent, I guess, but now you crawl in bed with me in the mornings or you lie sprawled all over my lap while I work and your brother sleeps. Completely out of the blue sometimes, you walk up to my chair and say, "I like you." And you mimic our mannerisms, so now you often say to me, "Mama, what do you know?" or you want me to ask you what you're up to. You're trying hard to learn to share and you talk about sharing and "choosing" and taking "your turn," but at this point, of course, it's mostly in one direction - yours. I keep trying to explain gently that not everything your brother has is yours, but you love to peek at him and make him laugh and giggle and smile. I catch you climbing up to be with him when he's crying and I can't get to him right away, you like to pat his hair and "paint" his feet with your soft brush, and you correct his developing table manners with the rigorousness of a finishing school headmistress, saying in a scandalized voice (which I completely recognize as the one I use with you on occasion), "Naaat, what are you DO-ing? Naaat, we don't put our feet on the table! Naaat, we don't DO that!"

And speaking of, Nat, my darling man, you are sweetness and sunshine and light. You grin and laugh so readily that it's hard to be anything but cheerful with you around. Your plump little hands are busy all the time and no toy holds your interest that long. You love crinkly things (a wipes packet is a favorite) and shiny things (I gave you a cat toy - a jingle ball - in a shiny tea tin, which you love, and which your sister keeps trying to "choose"....) and most of all, you love your sister. You grin and beam and coo at her like she is lit from within, which of course, she is, and you so clearly want to follow her and be where she is. You are hard at work on sitting up on your own and busy flipping yourself onto your tummy and back again (sometimes - sometimes you get stuck and need me to rescue you), and you blow kisses (and raspberries) generously. You love your food: squash, peas, apples, carrots, pears, prunes, oatmeal, you name it. I don't think I've fed you anything so far that you haven't decided you like (although fruit does not seem to like you, poor boy)!

We're learning who you are. You seem relaxed, at ease and peaceful. You seem happy and loving. You are content leaning back in my lap, just watching. You sleep so easily and I have to watch that you don't just drop off to sleep on the bed in the middle of the day after I've changed your diaper. And now you're waking up, so I'll have to cut this short to go love on you.

But remember that I tell you both all the time that you will be each other's best friends for life, that you will love and care for each other. You will each teach each other about the value of loving people who aren't easy to love sometimes, about loving people "in spite of" rather than "because of," and I hope that no matter how dark the roads you walk will be that you will both know in your hearts that there is always someone who will answer the phone in the middle of the night and come without question, even if all you can do for each other is just to be there. I tell you regularly that as long as you're together, everything is fine, so hold each other tight and if you're reading this years in the future and I'm not with you, hug each other for me.

Love,
Mama

Welcome to the world, Baby Boy, Part 5

Where were we? Oh, yes, you and I were cuddled up in bed and getting acquainted. It was getting a little awkward toting placenta around in a tub (you came, by the way, with a very large and lobed placenta), so Daddy cut your umbilical cord, we got things clamped and cleaned up, and after a bit, I got into a nice bath, while you got all cleaned and weighed and whatnot. Then I got into warm jammies and you got into warm jammies (with a hat - the house was very chilly!) and we cuddled up in bed. You wore an outfit with little yellow ducks all over it, and underneath, as a shameless marketing ploy, you had a little onesie that had Chip and Dale on it. (Daddy finished these just hours before you were born - it was one of the last things I'd wanted done and when I started to suspect you might be coming, I had him finish everything up that he could!) Your sister loved (loves?) Chip and Dale and, to make sure you two got off on the best possible footing, we decided to dress you in a Chip and Dale onesie and have you bring her a Chip and Dale t-shirt. Anyway, Ms. Love, our kitty, needed to check on me and inspect you, so we snuggled down in bed, she curled up, and we drifted off. By this time it was about 4:00 a.m., but before we went to sleep, Mama called your Uncle Kelly. Remember that - that was who I called first, the only person I called before we went to sleep. We just talked for a few minutes and then you slept on my chest, so I could keep you warm (did I mention chilly - was down in the mid-60s in here, especially in our bedroom), and I dozed off too.

We got several hours of rest and before your sister started stirring, you woke and while you had a drink, Mama called your grandparents. Poppy had already left for work, so we told Granny all about you and then called Poppy at the office. He was surprised - when Mama told him you were here, he said, "Already?!" Then we called Aunt Betty (she wasn't up) and your cousin Greg. (We talked to Aunt Betty a few hours later). And it wasn't long before your sister started chatting away in her bed and getting anxious to get up. Daddy went up to get her about 8:30. She wasn't too sure what to think of you, honestly, but seemed to like you well enough, and definitely liked her t-shirt. Then we turned the television around, piled in our bed under warm quilts and had our first breakfast together as a family. You had milk. The rest of us had cereal. And we watched cartoons. I wish I could remember exactly which ones, but based on your sister's obsession with Chip and Dale, I'm pretty sure they were on the lineup. And that's it - we were a family.

That was Friday morning. Jill and Amy checked in via text message and we mostly rested, fielded phone calls and established your insatiable appetite. They checked in on us a few times over the next few days, making sure the rosemary goldenseal powder was healing your bellybutton, making sure your weight was stabilizing, making sure that I was healing properly. Poppy and Granny arrived that evening (they left right after work at Granny's insistence) and they stayed until Monday. Your aunt Dana stopped in on Sunday, your aunt Robyn and aunt Dana came again on Thursday, your uncle Kelly and aunt Mary came Friday evening and spent the weekend, and your PopPop came down for the afternoon on Saturday. I wish all that could convey to you how immediately and completely you were loved. My first thoughts of you were of how beautiful you were, how much you looked like your sister with all that dark hair, how thrilled I was to have made your sister her very own Kelly, her very own best friend for life, how strong and sturdy you seemed. You were perfect then and I can say without reservation that wherever you are, whoever you are, wherever I am, you are perfect now.

Love,
Mama