Maggnificence

Maggie continues to be Maggie. Or maybe I should say, Maggie continues to be Stephanie. Or Ariel. Or Cinderella. Or any number of other imaginings. She’s pretty much somebody else every day, depending on her mood. And almost always her character comes along with Number 5. This girl has quite the imagination. Sometimes she uses premises from books and movies and acts them out or expands on them. Like when she decides to go fishing on a sailboat and dip her toes in the water like happens in the Little Mermaid. But then she invites me to go along and all of a sudden we’re on an adventure to Alliville and we better hurry before the boat leaves and Number 5 is coming with us but not on the boat, he’s swimming next to us, and don’t go in the hall because that’s where all the sharks are, and I’m not Maggie, I’m Stephanie because it’s almost Halloween, and All Aboard! This can go on for quite some time and she narrates the whole thing in this kind of urgent, breathless way like she’s afraid if she doesn’t talk about it now and fast that it will disappear and the magic will go away.  And sometimes she comes up with just off the wall crazy things to say and I have no idea where she found the inspiration to put those words together. The other night she told me her privates are eighty years old. Umm, how did this thought ever make it into her head? The way her mind works . . .  it’s wondrous and mysterious and absolutely magnificent.

Fantesstic Friday

Welcome to Fantesstic Fridays! I can’t promise a new posting every week this time around, but I’ll try to keep y’all updated fairly frequently.

This little girl is just such a sweetheart. She continues to be totally mellow and chilled. When she’s awake she’s wide-eyed and watchful. When she sleeps she gives out these little squeaks and grunts. She doesn’t complain or fuss or squirm. Already we’ve taken her out to a restaurant for a meal and she was fine sitting in her car seat the entire time. She’s just plain sweet. Bill and I already know we’re going to have to be mindful about paying attention to her. Maggie was so demanding of us (and still is), but Tessa will just chill out with her pacifier while we attend to other things. I’m trying to make an effort to talk and sing and dance with her even though she doesn’t need it in the same way Maggie-babe did. Tess will, I think, be a bit of a worrier; she kind of came out with a furrow already creased on her forehead. But she will probably use passive resistance tactics to get her point across.

At her doctor’s check-up, she did great. Her umbilical cord has fallen off and her tiny bit of jaundice coloring faded. A couple days before two weeks old, she was almost back up to her birth weight and, ahem, voiding like a champ. She’s eating fine and going 3 1/2 or 4 hours at night before waking us up to snack. Oh, and her eye color is getting darker; perhaps she’ll have brown or hazel eyes.

We’re in love again!

We’re Okay

Better than, actually. Our new complete family is working together fantastically. We had some technical difficulties with the one device in the house that allows me to post blogs, or else you would have heard from us sooner. This new kid is pretty darned chilled out; she eats and sleeps like a champ and otherwise goes along with the flow. Maggie is a fabulous big sister. She is super gentle and calm with Tessa and responds well to suggestions most of the time (like “Please don’t jump on the couch when Tessa is on it.”) She fairly seems unchanged, except for needing a bit more convincing with certain unpleasant chores (like peeing when directed, putting on jamas, picking shreds of paper off the floor). Oh, and Maggie’s baby doll Bima is now called “my Tessa.”
Mom and Dad are fairly soaring through this one, since Tess is such a good sleeper. We’re tired for sure, but not (yet) zombified. Bill goes back to work on Monday, so we’ll see how much that alters our state of being. Until then, we’re just soaking up the family love.

This is my favorite sisters picture so far. It’s so typical of personalities (as they’ve been presented): Maggie is all out there, zest and verve and energy. Tessa is in the background concerned but not upset  about the goings-on.

Tessa Has Arrived!

On December 20th at 8:58, Tessa Jane was born! She waited sensibly until the whole family was free of illness and the roads were clear of snow. Weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs 15 oz, our little Bruin Hilda has surprised most of us (motherly intuition be damned) by being firstly a girl, secondly huge, and thirdly the most mellow and laid back (maybe even stoic) baby we’ve certainly ever had in our house.

Thank you, Santa, for our precious Christmas ham. Happy birthday, Tess!