Taking care of a newborn can be hard. There's mind numbing tiredness. There is the specter of infant mortality. But there are some things that are so precious to me to see, that fade away so quickly.
Petra is already growing out of many of her newborn features. I want to write down some of the things that charm me.
Those froggy legs, curled up against her.
Her dark blue eyes, unfathomable. We only catch glimpses of them.
A perfect little coconut head.
Ephemeral smiles.
Her cries sound like something torn from her. They can be hard to bear when I'm tired and I just need some sleep. But when I step back a moment, I think her newborn cries are beautiful. They brought tears of joy to my eyes at her delivery.
Thumbprint ears.
Button nose.
Each finger is a work of art.
And the way babies let their hands float sometimes in their sleep. Gravity doesn't seem to work on them.
Petra is starting to gain some baby fat. Her head has already grown and her legs are starting to stay stretched out more. It's all good. I want to drink in every minute.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Backlogged notes from home
Baby is sleeping.
I know I should be too, but I'm not sleepy. Here are a few notes I wanted to write down before I forgot.
October 26, Julia had her first official dentist visit. Now let it be noted that Paul's first dentist visit was to check and make sure some teeth he had bashed were okay. His first two cleanings saw me holding his hand or sitting in the exam chair with him. For Julia's first cleaning, I was in the room next door having my teeth cleaned and straining to listen and make sure that my kids were behaving. She had Paul with her to "hold her hand." The hygienist assured me that both children behaved well. Julia had her teeth cleaned. They talked to the dentist about the virtues of NOT grinding their teeth (mostly for Julia's benefit).
Paul's big news was that he had a loose tooth. My reaction - "Is his supposed to??"
Answer: yes.
Relief!
When I asked Paul and Julia what their favorite part of the dentist visit was, they both answered, "The cookie dough." Flouride treatment flavoring has come a long way since I was their age.
-------------------------------------------
While I was in the hospital after delivering Petra, Paul correctly used the word hypothesis in a sentence. Thank you PBS "Dinosaur Train."
That Sunday Steve and Julia drove in one car to church, while Paul, Grandma and Grandpa drove in another. Julia told her daddy that there were two people in their car, and three people in the other.
Steve asked, "So how many people are there all together."
She thought about it and answered, "Five."
"How many people are there with Mommy and Petra?"
And she correctly told him there are seven.
We are pleased and impressed with our smart little nippers.
-------------------------------------------
And it's good that we are pleased and impressed with them, because Paul is struggling a little bit with Kindergarten. We've found out that he is the youngest person in his class. He has never been interested in writing or drawing, and the fine motor skills he needs for writing letters really shows it. In addition, he is really independent and obstinate. While I trust that independence and persistence will serve him well through his life, it also presents special challenges when trying to teach him literary skills he just isn't that keen on.
The good news is that he has made a LOT of progress already with writing and literary skills. And it seems that his saving grace in kindergarten is that he is funny. Mrs. Hathaway confessed that sometimes she has to choke down laughter when she is correcting him.
-------------------------------------------
One week after Petra was born, Paul lost his loose tooth. My parents were visiting that weekend, so they got to help with Tooth Fairy duties. I don't want to give my children too much money for teeth. But I found out that Mom and Dad got quarters for their teeth. You could buy a lot more for a quarter in 1956. Dad said you could get 2 candy bars and a soda pop. (Which then contributed to getting more teeth out I think.) So we let the tooth fairy give Paul a dollar coin for his tooth.
A week later we took the coin to the dollar store. Paul's toy pick? A gun. Arrrggg!!! I vetoed the pistol that could only be used for pointing at people and saying, "Pow! Pow!" But I yielded to his request for a cheap Nerf-like gun that shot ineffective suction cup bullets. We're using the toy to teach respectful play - no shooting people, pets, no pretend shooting people.
---------------------------------------------
Julia is doing really well in preschool. No trouble with age appropriate fine motor skills with her. And because we are working with Paul on literacy skills at home, she is learning letter sounds and recognition too. Her teacher reported that she was the first child in her class to figure out that if you build your cardboard brick tower against the wall, that you can make the tower higher. Her teachers are enjoying having her in the class.
--------------------------------------------
We're all doing pretty well. Not enough sleep. Kids are crazy, but they still think Petra is really cool. People bringing us meals has been a great blessing. Steve should be given some sort of award for being a Master Baby Swaddler. Oh - and for diverting Paul and Julia in the mornings so I can have a little more sleep.
Peace.
I know I should be too, but I'm not sleepy. Here are a few notes I wanted to write down before I forgot.
October 26, Julia had her first official dentist visit. Now let it be noted that Paul's first dentist visit was to check and make sure some teeth he had bashed were okay. His first two cleanings saw me holding his hand or sitting in the exam chair with him. For Julia's first cleaning, I was in the room next door having my teeth cleaned and straining to listen and make sure that my kids were behaving. She had Paul with her to "hold her hand." The hygienist assured me that both children behaved well. Julia had her teeth cleaned. They talked to the dentist about the virtues of NOT grinding their teeth (mostly for Julia's benefit).
Paul's big news was that he had a loose tooth. My reaction - "Is his supposed to??"
Answer: yes.
Relief!
When I asked Paul and Julia what their favorite part of the dentist visit was, they both answered, "The cookie dough." Flouride treatment flavoring has come a long way since I was their age.
-------------------------------------------
While I was in the hospital after delivering Petra, Paul correctly used the word hypothesis in a sentence. Thank you PBS "Dinosaur Train."
That Sunday Steve and Julia drove in one car to church, while Paul, Grandma and Grandpa drove in another. Julia told her daddy that there were two people in their car, and three people in the other.
Steve asked, "So how many people are there all together."
She thought about it and answered, "Five."
"How many people are there with Mommy and Petra?"
And she correctly told him there are seven.
We are pleased and impressed with our smart little nippers.
-------------------------------------------
And it's good that we are pleased and impressed with them, because Paul is struggling a little bit with Kindergarten. We've found out that he is the youngest person in his class. He has never been interested in writing or drawing, and the fine motor skills he needs for writing letters really shows it. In addition, he is really independent and obstinate. While I trust that independence and persistence will serve him well through his life, it also presents special challenges when trying to teach him literary skills he just isn't that keen on.
The good news is that he has made a LOT of progress already with writing and literary skills. And it seems that his saving grace in kindergarten is that he is funny. Mrs. Hathaway confessed that sometimes she has to choke down laughter when she is correcting him.
-------------------------------------------
One week after Petra was born, Paul lost his loose tooth. My parents were visiting that weekend, so they got to help with Tooth Fairy duties. I don't want to give my children too much money for teeth. But I found out that Mom and Dad got quarters for their teeth. You could buy a lot more for a quarter in 1956. Dad said you could get 2 candy bars and a soda pop. (Which then contributed to getting more teeth out I think.) So we let the tooth fairy give Paul a dollar coin for his tooth.
A week later we took the coin to the dollar store. Paul's toy pick? A gun. Arrrggg!!! I vetoed the pistol that could only be used for pointing at people and saying, "Pow! Pow!" But I yielded to his request for a cheap Nerf-like gun that shot ineffective suction cup bullets. We're using the toy to teach respectful play - no shooting people, pets, no pretend shooting people.
---------------------------------------------
Julia is doing really well in preschool. No trouble with age appropriate fine motor skills with her. And because we are working with Paul on literacy skills at home, she is learning letter sounds and recognition too. Her teacher reported that she was the first child in her class to figure out that if you build your cardboard brick tower against the wall, that you can make the tower higher. Her teachers are enjoying having her in the class.
--------------------------------------------
We're all doing pretty well. Not enough sleep. Kids are crazy, but they still think Petra is really cool. People bringing us meals has been a great blessing. Steve should be given some sort of award for being a Master Baby Swaddler. Oh - and for diverting Paul and Julia in the mornings so I can have a little more sleep.
Peace.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Sunday, November 01, 2009
More Petra Pics
Sarah is recovering more quickly from the C-Section this time, which is especially good since she'll be coming home to 2 very busy kids tomorrow. She & Petra are both doing well in the hospital, and we were able to bring the kids up to see their Mom this afternoon. They weren't allowed into the mother/baby ward, but Sarah was up to coming out to the lobby to visit with them for a bit. And Grandma & Grandpa Kuhlman were able to see Petra again. She did quite the job of charming Grandma, too...smart little girl already. Anyway, here's a few pictures from the day
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