Sisters (Weekend)

Some shots of the girls...

Crazy great hair (requires a unique angle - or lots of gel?)

Isla's suddenly gotten all roly-poly and likes to spend time on her tummy interacting with things. She's getting really good at pushing up to get a look at the action, and even trying to work her legs into the act as well. It's now quite possible to find that she's not still where you put her down . . .

I'm really psyched with the idea of the girls being able to play together. It's not all there quite yet, but they can now really interact with the same thing or with each other. Margot's always been great with Isla, but we're getting close to some mutuality. I figure I'd better enjoy it now, before they team up and turn on me.

Hard to tell at first, but this is basically Margot dancing in circles to amuse Isla, and Isla eating it up.

Goin' Mobile

Apparently we're entering the frightening age of having two mobile kids. I put Isla down on the floor-gym mat this evening . . . a couple of minutes later - "where's Isla?":

Oh, there she is . . .

... happy as a clam, under the coffee table! Looks like she's learned to back up.

Isla Pics

A few pics for those waiting patiently...

Sacked out in proper baby-suit and socks:

Candy-cane stripes:

Can you rub your tummy and pat your head?

Isla Has Arrived!

Not Quite Right

Christi and Margot were making muffins this morning - with Daphne the doll observing. Christi asked Margot to move Daphne out of the way so she wouldn't get messy... and a solution was reached.

Off She Goes!

The first morning of pre-school is underway!

Ready to Go:

Out the door:

(and yes, we're doing some paint work in front.)

Walking over:

Next First Post - Making Fingers

So, just in case other methods of communication have failed to reach anyone reading here . . . We can confirm that, as we say in this household, Christi's "making fingers". Which explains why she's been more than usually tired.

Here's the confirming evidence:

This time around we're taking the "making fingers" meme to heart, and calling the little tyke Fingers until they arrive (hopefully sometime in December). We're also not planning to find out if Fingers is a boy or girl, until that time.

Actually, to be quite specific, I think we saw some fingers - or at least hands - although we don't have a printout of such an image. Also (in addition to the head above) arms, legs, feet, spine, chest, and a bunch of internal organs. Everything looked great.

Margot is interested and excited, although I don't think she has any idea when December is.

Totally Unacceptable

Dear Whoever is Supposed to be Posting Here:

I've noticed that NOTHING AT ALL IS GETTING POSTED HERE! Who is supposed to be posting something? Do it!

Oh wait right, that's me... here's something from last weekend. I'll try to fill in the gaps separately.

Overheard Last Night

Daddy: Do you want to sing with me?

Margot: I can't sing.
Daddy: Yes, you can. Why not?
Margot: I can't sing ... without my guitar!

(... and runs across the room to get the Rock Band guitar we've assigned to her.)

Margot's Second Birthday

Margot turned two last Friday, so we had a little party over the weekend.

Naturally, there was cake - with blueberries, Margot's favorite:

... and presents:

(Thanks to Great-Grandpa Bob for Bobby the dog!)

One of those presents was a cool car - strangely, also called Bobby! (Thanks Auntie M and almost-Uncle C!)

Aine thought the car was cool - good enough to follow it and Margot around the yard...

... or even to share a wagon ride with.

Soren and Brady followed Margot (and/or her cookie?).

Danny liked the cookies too.

In case the cake and cookies weren't enough, there were also cupcakes. Soren enjoyed one.

Sam the puppy visited from next door, to play with Elisa among others. She wore him out.

Sigrid just liked sitting on the lawn (or the lawn blanket, even though it prevents her from eating grass).

We hope that everyone had as good a time as we did!

Overheard...

I'm working in the dining room this afternoon, shut in so that I don't have to answer "what Daddy do?" continuously.

Overheard from the kitchen, as Christi and Margot come downstairs:

Christi: (rustling of plastic bag)
Margot: (urgently) No hot! NO HOT!
Christi: But that's what makes it toast!

No specific reply was audible, but I also didn't hear the toaster ding...

Sentence?

Lately, Margot has been saying things that sound a lot like sentences. They generally are missing verbs, but you get the idea. Examples are: "Mama outside" (generally referring to Daddy being outside) and "Margot outside" (to mean that she would like to go outside). Today, we had the start of communication at an entirely new level.

Margot was standing next to Jolly's crate, eating her toast. Jolly was unexpectedly in the crate looking very excitedly at M's toast. I walked over and saw that the door to the crate was closed, presumably by Margot owing to Jolly's lack of thumbs. Somewhat confused, I asked, "Margot, what are you doing?" to which she responded "I close dog". My brain heard, "I closed the dog into the crate, mother". It was amazing AND involved the use of a verb!

Ahh, the unexpected wonders of parenthood.

Margot vs. Daddy's Art

We went to visit my parents recently - Uncle Bill and Grandpa Bob are in town!  More on that later...

Since my old toys are now Margot's toys at my parents, Daddy got to make an awesome tower of blocks.  I mean, it was like, twelve hundred feet tall.  Or, three.  But very rickety.

Margot wasn't that interested while I was building, but became interested once I was done, and dealt with Daddy's creation appropriately.

(Video has sound . . . I tried to cut it down to a quiet level.)

Bean Meets Bear

Margot got a very special visit this weekend from her blog-sister Claire Bear.  

It was really great to get these two together ...

... (as well as seeing our old friends her parents).


She even ate my cooking!

... which apparently has Kung Fu Bean Power!


Thanks for visiting, y'all... even Jolly had a great time with a scamperer in the house, even for a short while.

Two-Month Checkup

So, Tuesday we took Margot for her two-month checkup. For those of you keeping score:
- Tuesday was 9 weeks after her birthday
- She's 12 lbs 6 oz, up from just under 8 lbs birthweight and something under 7 lbs minimum weight around five days
- She's 22.5 in long, which is up a couple of inches (call it 10-12%) although I'm less sure of those numbers, and think they're a little less accurate anyway
- Her head is now 38 cm around - just about 15 inches. I don't remember any previous measurements.

She's in good health and the doctor was happy with everything. The less fun part of the visit was getting a couple of early vaccinations - although a tag-team of two nurses made a very quick process of the shots. She seemed to have a rough afternoon and evening after that, but a day later she's none the worse for wear.

She's making a lot more noises now, I think, than even a few days ago. She can also look at you, if she's in the right mood, when you talk to her. And, we think we can make her smile and even kind of laugh, although an attempt at video documentation of such an effect failed this evening. We'll keep trying - it's like magic when her face lights up.

Friday her Grandparents Andersen are coming for the night, to visit, which will be great as they haven't seen her since she was a week old. How things change!
[Edit - as Christi points out, they HAVE seen Margot, a few weeks ago in Cambridge. I guess I was up too late - I was just thinking that they hadn't been at our house again!]

OK - Blogger's not cooperating on letting me post a picture tonight, so you'll have to wait. Sorry!

The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers

Bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!

Up until this week, Margot has hated her bouncy chair. Now that she can see all the way to the toys and focus on them (two developmental feats that we're very proud of!), she's content to sit in the chair. I wouldn't say that she loves it, but it provides something interesting to stare at apart from the perennial favorites: light bulbs and windows.


Here she is being very focused. Obvious next steps are:

a) reaching out and playing with the toy
b) moving the toy with the power of her mind

While B would be cool, it might be too spooky to have a telekinetic child. Only time will tell.

Home and Busy

All -

Time is relative, and the few days since we came home Thursday morning have been simultaneously a quick blur, and amazingly full and long. Briefly (something I find myself saying a lot these days, but frequently not achieving):

• we are home
  
• we are healthy (in Margot's case, this is the pediatrician's opinion, as well as ours)
  
• we are happy (beyond words, most of the time)
• we are settling in to figuring out how this might actually work
• yes I'll post some more dang pictures soon

We have had great visits with many of our family and friends, and tremendous amounts of help from (among others) Christi's mom and stepdad (now, "Pop-Pop") who are staying with us. Margot is being sweet beyond hope, not fussing overmuch, and even letting us sleep a marginally acceptable amount as we figure out some things about managing her. (Yes, you should ignore the fact that I'm apparently insomniac after the last feeding, 'cause it's working in your favor.) Christi is a tremendous trooper, dealing with her own physical recovery, more changes in her body, and the schedule demands of breastfeeding (meaning that her sleep will always be less than mine, until Margot is firmly established on breastfeeding in a month or so). It's been said before, but I don't know how I'd handle half of it, if it were me (nor how moms who've had a c-section etc can manage). Even Jolly's being amazingly well-behaved, considering (and he seems to be mystified by Margot, especially when she's at face-level).

So stick with us, and we'll try to surface soon. Be well.

Proper Introductions

Our new baby is Margot Louise Andersen-Smith.

Margot, this is Everybody . . . Everybody, this is Margot!

One Day!

We've been parents for a day! Even with all the help and great folks in the maternity ward here, it's a weird mix of "we're doing this strange thing ourselves" and "they can't really be intending to let us leave the hospital".

We did each manage a few hours of sleep in pretty good tag-team fashion. And, Daddy's getting less terrible at changing diapers, which seems like a plus.

MOST IMPORTANTLY (to y'all), I've gotten a first round of pictures up, mostly from post-birth and the first little while in our recovery room.

Go to our Photo Gallery for the first installment. More batches soon.

Here's a teaser:

MiniMooo Makes Her Move

Dear Friends and Family -

Just before 7AM this morning, our new baby girl joined us, after a several increasingly intense hours at home and less than half an hour after making it to the hospital. She's 7lb 14.4oz and 20 inches, and healthy, and Christi is tired but recovering. Me? I had the easy part.

Missing something? Nah - who needs a name . . . we're matching our ideas to this actual little one, and letting the likely choices settle in. Got to keep you string along somehow, don't I?


Ten minutes old and nicely swaddled!

In this moment of rest (believe it or not she's napping), we want to say an immense thanks for everyone's support so far (and, in advance). Having everyone's help has made this feel almost sane. Almost ;-).