Tea Party

More New Years Photos.

Check these out!

Thom took these great pictures of the girls on New Year's Eve.

Some pix from the holidays

It's hard to type and wear the baby in the sling, so I'm just able to post pictures, not write about them much. But we had a great holiday. More to come.

Christmas Eve's Eve at Nana Ann and Poppy's House, the first delicious Feast of the Seven Fishes:

Lila and Effie


Jeffrey and Sascha


Christmas Eve - the second delicious Feast of the Seven Fishes at Aunt Mary and Uncle Don's house (none of us are Italian so why we do this tradition TWICE deserves explanation...check Josh's blog for the story):


Cousin Mark and 9 month old Luke


Me and Clare


Min, Lucas, Me, Clare, Lila


Lila


Cousin Andy and Atticus, who is 3 weeks older than Clare - and 5 more pounds!


The babies (all 2007 arrivals in our lives, except Lila): Clare (in sling), Lila, Lili, Luke, Atticus


Min and Luke


Josh and Clare

Last bunch of hospital photos

I carry the baby around in a sling all day long which makes it hard to post much other than pictures. Here are the last ones from the hospital...I'll try to post something more recent soon. But we are well. Clare is a sweet, sleepy baby, and Lila is mostly thrilled about being a big sister. She is dying for Clare to talk so that she can confirm that her favorite color is pink - just like Lila.

Hospital Rundown

Here’s how Clare’s birth went down on November 12th:

7:00 AM Check into hospital

8:00 AM Get IV line, settle into labor and delivery room, start pitocin drip

9:00 AM Regular contractions start

9:30 AM Get epidural

10:00 AM Dr. breaks my water

10:30 AM Contractions start to get very intense and painful

11:10 AM Increase dose of epidural, contraction pain eases

12:00 PM I’m examined by head resident, who says, “she’s ready, where’s the doctor?” “That’s it?” I ask. “Uh huh. Good luck,” she says as she leaves the room.

12:20 PM Dr. returns from a c-section. “Let’s get this going,” he says. I suspect he has lunch plans.

12:35 PM “Okay,” the doctor says, “one more push and we’re done. Ready?” “Are you kidding me?” I ask. He shakes his head. He is truly a man of few words. But he's right.

12:39 PM Clare enters the world, screaming. Josh cuts the cord and they give her to me. We marvel at our good fortune.

Clare Byron, 11/12/07

New big sister.



New dad.



New mom.



New life.

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.

Happy Halloween!

Lila has been battling an intermittent virus, and for a little while yesterday, it looked like she might have to skip trick or treating. But she rallied in the afternoon, and was very excited when Daddy got home to take her out around the neighborhood.



(Miss Viola Swamp)

She went as a witch. A bad witch, she likes to tell me, but not a SCARY witch. The character she chose was actually quite specific – Miss Viola Swamp, a sinister substitute teacher in the book “Miss Nelson is Missing.”




We bought the costume online, and though I find her adorable, I think she looks more like an extra in a musical production of “The Crucible” than a witch. In any case, we can pull the dress back out in a couple of weeks and she can attend Thanksgiving dinner as a pilgrim.




Josh said that she was perpetually surprised whenever anyone dropped a candy in her bucket as they made their way around the block. She was even more shocked when she sat down with me on our stoop and I introduced her to the glory of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. She actually had no idea that the wrappers had candy inside them. I've managed to keep that little secret from her for three solid years, but now the cat is out of the bag. And I didn't waste any time either - today I bribed her to take some Tylenol with three M&M's. It was like watching an eskimo eat a pineapple for the very first time.




Oh, and here is the pumpkin she made at playgroup on Tuesday. I just thought it was cute.

Big Girl...Big Girl Bed

After some debate and foot-dragging (mostly on my part), we decided to get Lila a big-girl bed. Because we are also potty-training and preparing for a sibling, it seemed like a lot for her to take on at once. Also, she had always liked her crib, and expressed no interest in moving on.




But two factors led to the transition. One is that it is simply getting hard for me to lift her in and out of the crib. I've developed some mild but annoying pregnancy-related sciatica made worse by the constant kneeling and bending that goes with having a constant companion who is only three feet tall. Weeding out the crib narrowed down the acrobatic moves in my daily routine that I had to navigate. The other consideration was travel. For all the time we spent on the road this summer, a constant issue was finding a pack and play for Lila to sleep in. Once we located the portable crib, we also usually had to pack a blanket and sheet. And then there's the reality that Lila can barely fit in the portable crib space, even at an angle. She didn't sleep well for most of our travels, and for all the time we spent away from Brooklyn, she often got frayed from lack of sleep. Perhaps that is inevitable - she likes her routine, like most kids - but a too-small bed could indeed contribute to the problem.




So we got a bed. At Ikea. And a mattress, pillows and sheets. Everyone says you can put the bed in a kid's room and leave it as an option, but I would like to meet the kid who would choose to stay in his or her crib when a bed arrives. It's like offering spinach or cupcakes as dessert, and thinking you have a real shot at the spinach.




Needless to say, Lila chose the cupcake.




It's been a fairly smooth transition, though bumpier than potty-training, which surprises me. For the first time, she doesn't want to be left alone to fall asleep. She's going to sleep later and waking up earlier about half the time, and she's got some dark circles under her eyes these days. But she likes her bed, so that's good.