Hanging Around

Peter's mat made a nice swing when attached to the patio awning or a limb of our cherry tree.

Unfortunately, he started to outgrow it and after he wiggled himself out onto the grass, I decided he needed something a little bigger. It works pretty well and was really easy to put together with a 1x2" and some unbleached muslin from the stash.

Introducing Peter

So about five months ago, we had a baby. And the computer became terminally ill, sequestering the pictures that we faithfully took of his birth and first few weeks. The new computer has a different operating system and I am still trying to figure out how to find things.

So here is his birth story.
Peter's birth shared one similarity with Elanor's--a baby was born. Everything else was different. I was fully expecting Peter to be born on or just before his due date. After all, I had gone into labor with Ellie a couple of days before hers and it was only the long labor that resulted in her being born on her due date. So when the 14th came and went (with the delightful news of the birth of Calia's daughter), I was hot, tired and so very ready to be done!

After church on the Sunday before the birth:

The big red rubber ball at Bloedel during Ben and Andie's visit:


Thursday night, we did our usual cleanup and, even though it was late, I decided to make our list of things to pack for the birth center as the last thing before I went to bed. This turned out to be a good thing because as soon as I lay down, my water broke. After a frantic cleanup and a page to our midwife to let her know to expect a call from us sometime in the next day when I started labor, we went back to bed hoping to get some rest before labor actually started. With Ellie, there was a period of several hours after the water broke but before labor started but this time we had barely half an hour before I had to get up and pace through the house to distract myself from the contractions. Jonathan rushed around packing our bag for the birth center while I snacked and started singing through the contractions. We deliberated for a while about when to call my mom to come stay with Ellie (who mercifully slept through the entire process) but finally decided at 2:00 that we were ready to have her come. While we were waiting for her to arrive, labor intensified enough that I needed Jonathan's help during contractions. I remember being scared at how intense things felt and beginning to be worried about whether I could make it through the ten to twelve more hours that I anticipated before the baby would actually be born. Jonathan and I left for the birth center around 4:00 and had a wild ride across 520 to Kirkland. I won't say how fast we were going but it is a good thing that there were neither police officers or other cars headed our direction. It also turns out that having been somewhere 18 months previously doesn't necessarily mean that you will remember how to get there after a night of no sleep and with a laboring woman in the front seat. After several wrong turns we found it (much to our relief--I was starting to think that I might be having the baby in the car). I just had time to get in the blissfully warm tub before I started pushing. Peter Pascal was born on September 16th at 5:17 am weighing 8lbs 11oz.




Mom stopped by with Elanor to see the baby and bring us breakfast and a few other things that we had forgotten (including an outfit for Peter to go home in) before taking her for a couple of days of pampering at the grandparents house. We enjoyed our days at home resting and snuggling the new baby before she came home and we started life as a family of four.



Peter Pascal: We deliberated on the baby's name up until his due date before finally making a decision. Peter has been one of our top choices for a boys name since before Ellie was born. For me, at least, that dates back to the charming and chivalrous Peters Pevensy and Wimsey. It also is a name that occurs frequently in Jonathan's family line. Our Peter is the only one in his generation so far but we don't expect it to remain that way. I have a fondness for somewhat obscure nature references in names and the "rock" sneaked in there too. Most importantly, it reflects our desire to see him grow up to be the passionate follower of Christ that Peter the Apostle became.
We wanted to continue the alliteration theme that we began with Ellie's name but after searching through name books and websites, were having a difficult time coming up with a name to match Peter. Either they were variant on Peter, Paul (Peter, Paul and Mary, anyone? No!) or impossibly odd. We briefly considered Penuel but figured that since we couldn't decide definitely how it was supposed to be pronounced, that wasn't the best option either. We finally chose Pascal for the French philosopher, theologian and mathematician and the roots of the name in the Hebrew Paschal or Passover.

Playing Dress Up

We weren't going to go out trick-or-treating but I did have to make a costume for her. What could be better than an felt Ellie-flower? Of course, it had to fit over a jacket and involve a hat to keep her warm enough. She had a tan striped hoodie that blended pretty well with the petals and a pair of green pants for a stem.


We went for a walk around the neighborhood in the afternoon to enjoy the day and take some pictures. Unfortunately there weren't very many people around to appreciate the cuteness. By the time real trick-or-treaters started showing up at our house, she was in bed.



The petals just tied around her shoulders like a cape so it should be big enough to wear next year too.

Carriers

As much as I love our wrap carrier, it hurts Jonathan's back so when I found this one at a garage sale, that seemed like a great way to try out another type of carrier.
It works better for Jonathan but bothers my shoulders. Go figure.

Sink

Elanor is starting to outgrow her baby bathtub so I am experimenting with other ways to wash her. She liked playing in the kitchen sink but also wanted to lie down backwards in the water--not so good for washing ease.

I'm not excited about washing her in the bathtub because of the miniscule kneeling space between the cabinet and the toilet but we'll figure something out.

Prodigy

Now that Elanor can sit up, all sorts of activities are open to her. Including playing the piano with daddy.

Practicing

Trying to get the spoon in her mouth:

Success and blissful gnawing:

Drinking water from the spoon for the first time to try out another form of getting nourishment besides nursing:

Most of the water was dribbled down her front. I think that she's a little dubious of the value of this form of intake.

Big Girl

No, she's not really standing on her own. But she likes being propped up to look at faces or out the window. She's just starting to look around to figure out where I am.

Smiley girl:

Unicorn baby:

Bigger than the Bathtub

Elanor's first swim:



She loved kicking in the water. We will be doing this again!

Beads! Pretty Beads!

Elanor thinks that Grandma's bracelets are fascinating. So many different, tiny parts to look at!

Toes!

Look What I Did!

Sitting

Elanor is very close to sitting up on her own. She just needs a little bit of support--more to give her confidence than anything else.

She got very excited about being able to reach her toy in a new position.

Maybe a little too excited. Oops!

Hmm...

I put Elanor down for her nap, peacefully gnawing the pacifier. I came back to check on her 10 minutes later to find this.

Her hands are completely swaddled. I cannot figure out how she did this.

Shift

Elanor next to the cats then:

and now:


She has begun to show quite a bit more interest in them. As her ability to reach and grasp has improved, she has made quite a few lunges in their direction. We're working on the idea of "pet the kitty nicely!"


The boys had been getting used to her as the squeaky new inhabitant with interesting toys. Now they are a bit more dubious of the benefits of her presence

Snoozy Friends

Sweetly napping, swaddled babies with matching (spit out) pacifiers.

Picnicking

We have been enjoying our summer by picnicking at various parks. Elanor sometimes sleeps and sometime squawks. It's a little difficult to figure out what apparatus we need and what can be dispensed with. The play mat works pretty well as a sun shade and Ellie snoozes in the cozy moby swaddle. It is wonderfully relaxing way for Jonathan and me talk over the week.

The New Happy

Keren wrote about realizing how happy she has become to be Charlie's mom after their difficult start. This reminded me of something that helped me get through the first weeks of adjusting to a new family member.

We had planned and hoped for a baby for a while before Elanor came along. The first two thirds of the pregnancy was pretty rough. I know there were moments (bent over the toilet or breathing deeply attempting to not be in that position) where I questioned how worthwhile this process was. But when I started to feel her move around inside me, it became more fun to think about how she was growing and get a sense of the small person who was being nourished and sheltered there. I'm grateful to have had a fairly easy end of pregnancy and, while labor was long, I always knew that it was going to be a finite and relatively short period. I hope that I never forget the incredible high of giving birth with Jonathan and seeing Elanor for the first time.

Then we brought her home.

Now Elanor was not a hard baby. She ate appropriately (after the initial adjustment period), cried when she was uncomfortable or tired, seemed happy to be held and slept a normal amount for a baby of her age.

But as some friends of ours very kindly put it, even a normal newborn is hard.

To make matters a little more interesting, one of our cats had gotten himself into some serious trouble while we were gone having the baby and needed several weeks of close observation, vet visits (culminating in surgery) and special care. Jonathan took over this responsibility while I was in charge of Ellie-care. All of my imagining of special cuddle time with the three of us or chats with Jonathan while Ellie slept in my arms were blown away by sheer exhaustion and the separation of having to each care for different, needy creatures.

All of this, in addition to that lovely postpartum hormonal crash, created this sense of horror about our new life. We had been happy with just the two of us, hadn't we? What had we been thinking to change things and bring this new complication into our lives? Had we ruined everything?

The breakthrough came with a realization that birth is a longer and more complicated process than I had realized. Our old happiness had left and was irrecoverable in its previous form. I had hoped for a new kind of happiness--that of expanding our family--but I realized that I didn't really know what that was going to look like and even the glimmers of it that I was able to imagine hadn't arrived yet.

That time between the death of the old happiness and the birth of the new was much longer and harder than labor.

However, as my hormones started to settle down and Maxwell got better, Jonathan was able to spend some time with Elanor and me and we were able to have a few moments that looked just a little bit like the picture of our new family that I had imagined.

There is something wonderful about seeing your husband croon over his tiny daughter. It turns out that a walk through the grocery store with the baby asleep in the wrap can be romantic. Sharing your baby's first smiles is just as thrilling as watching a glorious sunset at the end of a ferry ride.

As Elanor and our family embark on the fourth month of this new adventure, caring for her has gotten a little more complicated as her needs and pace of development increase. But this is usually balanced by more of these moments of the new happy.

Getting up with her at night sometimes can be a special cozy time for us now that she smiles when she sees me and snuggles a little before I put her back to bed. It also helps that we're down to twice a night too.

Changing her diaper is a time for singing and finger games.

It only takes me half an hour to walk to the library and Elanor does tummy time even better outside on the grass in the backyard while I hang laundry or weed the flower beds.

Sharing her coos and giggles with Jonathan is as delightful as sharing a movie.

A casual date for ice cream or coffee is just as satisfying right now as a date for dinner and a concert.

And, of course, sleep makes EVERYTHING better.

Elanor at Home

Bundled up on the bed:

Looking at daddy:

Hanging with the boys:

Playing on the changing pad:


Full and happy:

Swaddled and ready for bed:

Firsts

First bath:

Elanor loved the warm water and didn't seem to mind being washed at all. Being taken out of the warm water to be dried and dressed, though, not so much.

First time being worn by daddy in the moby:

All bundled up and being soothed down to sleep to the gentle strains of John Philip Sousa. I hope that this doesn't mean that we have a trombone player in our family future.

First time out in the yard:

By the time that Elanor was a week or so old, I had to get outside into the sun or go stir crazy inside. She joined me on her mat and blanket for a trip to the backyard for some weeding. We've been outside for at least a little bit most non-rainy days since.

After first trip to church (on Easter Sunday):

Elanor was five days old on Easter Sunday. I don't think that we would have attempted going if it hadn't been such a special day and we were prepared for all sorts of possible catastrophes. However, she ended up sleeping through the entire service and the admiration following. This was also my first attempt at a coordinated outfit.

First meeting with the cats:

This was as close as they got. There were a few tentative sniffs in her direction before deciding that this strange little being was initially puzzling and perhaps alarming but ultimately not of significant interest. She, of course, paid them no attention whatsoever.