All about the girls- 2013 edition

Here we are at the end of 2013 and I'm thinking back over the year and I can't believe how my girls have grown and how proud I am of both of them.

Olivia recently played the role of an angel in her pre-school Christmas pageant.  Her line that she said was "Do not be afraid, for on this day a baby is born in a bed of hay.  Even though he is so small, this baby is the king of all."  She was a true angel up there and she wowed us with her ability to say that whole line loud and clear.  We have the entire pageant on video though it didn't come out very clear on the iPhone.  The kids all sang so many songs complete with hand motions and it was very cute.  Olivia's teacher this year is Ms. Chrissy and she is a great teacher.  She told me that Olivia is an "old soul".  She went on to say that she is confident Olivia could teach the class in her absence.  lol!   I said, I hope that doesn't mean she's too bossy at school.  Ms. Chrissy, says no, Livy keeps that in check.  So that's good!  
     
Olivia has recently started to sound out and read some words.  A couple months ago we were sitting at the snack bar in Target and Livy said, "Mommy, you have to sip your drink."  I was like, "I am sipping.  What are you talking about?"  She said, "See mom, the sign says, S-i-p  Sip!  And she was right.  Above the fountain drinks there was a big sign that said "Sip. Refresh. Enjoy."  She can read all kinds of consonant-vowel-consonant words, words with consonant blends like "clap" and "lamp" and even some two syllable words like "Kansas". She is also starting to write words with her own creative spelling by sounding them out, as in the word "mrmad" for "mermaid".  She enjoys all kinds of activities and has been taking ballet and tap, gymnastics and swimming lessons.  Earlier in the fall she enjoyed taking a daddy/daughter soccer class with Kyle at the Y on Saturdays.

Olivia loves classical music and begs me to listen to it in the car when I try to pass by it on the radio to find something else.  (Maybe she is indeed an old soul?).   I am amazed by her ability to pick out specific instruments of classical songs heard on the radio.  She'll say, "Go back.  I want to hear that violin part!"  She likes imagining what kind of scene would go with the music- usually involving unicorns, princesses, knights, dragons, rainbows, cats, mermaids or hot air balloons (those are the same things that she likes drawing pictures of)   She recently made a book all about cats getting married.  She loves ballet too and has watched the full-length Swan Lake ballet on youtube several times in starry-eyed amazement.  She loves dress-up, especially putting on princess gowns and and twirling around the living room.  We took her to the movie theater for the first time with Henry and Louisa and Laura to see Frozen.  She loved it so much that she has been acting it out ever since.  Nanny and Bop gave her the doll castle set from Frozen and Grandma and Grandpa gave her the Anna dress-up clothes so she is all set.  She also still loves playing with her favorite stuffed animal, Oreo Kitty and her favorite baby doll, Bitty Baby.  If you ask her, she will probably tell you her favorite foods are soy beans, lima beans, persimmons, pancakes, and creamy crab soup.  She likes all different kinds of books.  One day she said, "My favorite book is Helen Keller and my favorite part is when she was wild and no one could control her."  That cracked me up!  She also loves Little Critter books and The Little House on the Prairie picture books that are based on the actual series.  

Eliza learned how to walk across the room at 17 months and has been walking everywhere ever since.  Actually, the first time she walked across the room she told me, "Say bye bye, baby."  That was a very bittersweet thing for me to hear.  She really gets around quickly now.  She is learning more and more words every day and speaks in many two word phrases like "Puppy running" and "empty cup."
She asks, "Daddy home?" when we get home from school and park in front of our house.  She talks about all of the people that were here over Christmas and it is especially cute to hear the way she says, "Unca Logan" who she was not too sure about at first but now she loves.  After her cousins had already gone home, she was still waking very early at Grandma's house and asking, "Henry wake?"  "Drew wake?"  She saw Livy asleep in our room and said, "Kiss Livy."  So cute.  The most I've heard her say is four words together and I can think of one funny example.  She picked Henry's name in our cousin gift exchange so she helped Kyle pick out a Ninja Turtle to give him.  Then, when she saw it sitting in the dining room she kept asking, "Open Ninja?" and I was like, "No, that's for Henry.  We have to give that to Henry."  Then when Olivia came over she said, "No open Henny Ninja!"

Eliza wants to do everything that Livy does.  When it was time for dinner the other night, she crawled up on the bench at the kitchen table and said "Eat here."  I told her she was too little to reach and she had to eat in her high chair.  Plus we were all going to eat in the dining room.  She pitched a fit when I put her in the high chair but I just put food on her tray and walked into the kitchen.  I hear Livy start talking to her and Eliza stop crying.  Livy then comes into the kitchen and whispers to me, "I made Eliza stop crying because I told her that she is in a big girl chair! I told her she must be a big girl to sit in that big chair!"  Little moments like that make me realize what a good big sister Olivia is.  Eliza says "'Mere Livy" for "Come here Livy" whenever she wants Livy to come to her (like to come and join her sitting at the piano).  She tries to play right along with Livy and the other "big kids".  When Livy and Drew were playing, Livy called out "Who wants to go to the park?"  Eliza called out, "Park!" and started chasing after Livy and Drew.

Eliza's personality and sense of humor is coming out more and more.  When she does something she is proud of or when she appears in a room she says, "Ta da!"  She loves playing a game where she pretends to fall asleep and then says, "Pop up!"  She has her baby dolls act this out, too.  At bed time, we tell her everyone is going to sleep and she likes to make funny comments about all the animals and people going to sleep.  She says, "Scooter Honk shoo, Chance Honk Shoo, Livy Honk shoo."

Eliza nods her head in approval whenever she likes something she is eating.  Her current favorite foods are chips and queso dip, any kind of soup, any kind of berries, pancakes and scrambled eggs.  "Soup" and "dip" are two words she requests frequently.  She loves listening to music.  She loves all kinds of animals and loudly makes the sounds that go along with them when she sees them.  She likes puzzles and loves books, especially Good Night Moon and the Gyo Fujikawa Babies book.  She loves the moon and asks to go out to see it at night.  She loves baby dolls as much as Livy and those are the most fought about items in our house.  Eliza will definitely stick up for herself when someone tries to take a toy away from her without asking.  But for the most part she is very generous and easy-going for a toddler.  She loves passing out chips, cookies, etc. to share with other people.  Her teachers at school say that Eliza is "the sweetest little girl".  She is "always smiling" and "so easygoing."  She has had a great transition from the babysitter to the day care.  Olivia is always so happy to see her there.  When I bring Eliza with me to pick up Livy at the end of the day, Olivia calls out, "Everybody!  My little sister is here!!" I've even heard her say, "Come touch her soft baby cheeks!"  And they all come running up to Eliza.  I have to pick Eliza up to save her from the masses.  If I pick up Olivia first, all the kids are disappointed that Eliza isn't with me.

We joke that Eliza is Kyle's mini-me.  One time we were driving in the car and Kyle asked, "Doesn't anyone want to go to Blimpie and get a sub?  Eliza immediately piped up, "Blimpie! um hmm!"  This was especially funny because she has never been to Blimpie.  Kyle often rises early with Eliza and lets me sleep in in the morning.  He says she asks to smell his coffee beans every morning and she says, "ahh."

Our girls are growing and changing all the time but I'm hoping I've written enough here to capture a little bit of what they are like now at the end of 2013.

 

Eliza Lately

Eliza is going to be starting day care in November at the same place where Livy has been going since she was 18 mos.  Eliza is almost 16 months now.  She's cruising all over the place holding onto furniture but isn't yet walking on her own.  She first started crawling on her first birthday and I've read articles about how important crawling is for developing fine motor skills and upper body strength so I personally think it's good that she has gotten in lots of crawling for the past four months.  She may not be a walker but she is a climber!  She can climb up and down a full flight of stairs and she can climb into an adult-sized chair or onto a coffee table.   She is growing up in all kinds of other ways too.  She is down to nursing just once a day in the morning and she sleeps well for about 11 hours through the night (7:00 p.m. - 6:00 a.m.).   She sleeps with her bunny lovey that she named Hopper.  She will ask for him in a cute, low voice that gets deeper at the end of the word "Hoppu".  This weekend I started transitioning her away from her morning nap in preparation for daycare.  She has been just taking one afternoon nap for about 3 hours from 12-3 and doing well on that schedule.  It is nice because it gives us more time to get out and about in the morning too.

Eliza is starting to eat with a spoon or fork and most of it makes it into her mouth.  She loves to eat just about anything and everything and is always asking for "mo".
Eliza likes to try to get away with doing naughty stuff.  For instance, she will stand up in the bathtub holding onto the edge of the bath and call out "Sit down!"
If you ask her a question, like, "Are you ready to come out of the bath?" instead of saying no, she shakes her head and says "uhm uhm."  

Eliza is very friendly and says hi and bye to everyone.  She has the ability to make any introverted or crabby looking person respond to her with a big smile.  The old men that live across the street hardly ever look my way let alone greet me (they are conservative Muslims and I'm not sure it is even culturally appropriate for them to talk to me)  But Eliza will call out "Hi!" to them and they will give her a big smile, say "Hi!" back and wave to her.       

Miney

Eliza is almost 15 months old.  She is talking and imitating more and more words.
Here are some of the words that she can say:

Uh oh
mama
dada
that - sounds like "dat" (she uses this one all the time when pointing to things)
Ar Ar! for the dog's bark
More
Moo
Hat
nigh nigh
hot
quack quack (which is also what she calls crackers. lol)
meow
hush (from Goodnight moon book)
walk, walk
baw (ball)
baby
down
up
Mine
hey
please (sounds like "bee")
eye
nose
ear
hi
bye bye
Wee!
dot, dot (when coloring)
Livy
Bop
Bapa (grandpa)
"Where are you?"
"GoodnighMoon"
"Haveyouanywool?"

Today for the first time we heard her say "mo bee" for "more please."


Eliza calls me "Miney".  And she sometimes calls Kyle Miney too.  I think it started as a mix of "mommy" and "mine" and is now her way of saying that we are hers.   A couple of times when I was trying to leave her at the babysitter's house she reached out for me and called out "Miney!"  That made it a little heartbreaking for me to leave her, but she was always ok as soon as I left.  In a way, I think it is a good reminder that no matter what Kyle and I are her most special people.  We are so glad she is ours, too!              

Eliza at the end of 6 Months

Here is all the info I emailed Eliza's babysitter before she started going there last week.  I wrote this on New Year's Eve.  I figure this makes for a great blog entry as well because you can see what Eliza's been up to lately.  She is having a great time with her awesome babysitter, Adina.  I will write more about that soon... 

  

Eliza’s Usual Routine

6:15ish wake and breastfeed

8:00 solid foods for breakfast

9:00 nap for 1 -2 hours

When she wakes up around 10:30-11  bottle (drinks about 4 oz or at most 6 oz. becoming less and less as she eats more solid food)

11:30 or 12- lunch solid foods

1:00 nap for 1-2 hours

2:30 or 3-  can give a couple oz of breastmilk to hold her off until I get there (by 4:00)

 

The daily routine is just to give you an idea of what she currently does on a “typical” day but of course  every day is a little bit different and her routine can be adapted.  She is pretty flexible so for instance, if she gets a short nap in the morning because we’ve been out somewhere, she will often make up for it by taking a longer afternoon nap.    

 

Meal Time/ baby Foods

These are the pureed foods that Eliza has eaten so far:

Baby Oatmeal

Peas

Carrots

Sweet Potatoes

Green Beans

Avocado

Butternut and Acorn Squash

Prunes

Pears

Bananas- seem to make her constipated so I haven’t been giving them to her as much

Peaches

 

 

 

For breakfast I usually give her oatmeal mixed with a fruit and maybe some veggie mixed in.   I make just about 2-3 tablespoons worth at a time mixed with a little warm water or formula (unless I happen to have breastmilk left-over from a bottle that was only partly drunk and not finished).   At lunch I usually give her veggies first and then after she eats some of that I give her a fruit.  If she doesn’t want to eat the veggie, I mix a little fruit in it to make it sweeter and then she usually eats it.  I read her cues to tell me when she is full.  She becomes less interested and looks away, stops opening her mouth as much, and seems happy and satisfied.  I don’t care if she finishes any set amount of solid food.  She’s eating for the fun and experience of eating at this point.  She gets all the nutrition she needs from breastmilk.   I just started giving her a sippy cup with a couple oz of water toward the end of meal time to get used to it.  She likes holding it, banging it around and I help her take a couple little sips of water to practice with the cup, not because she is supposed to be drinking water at this point.                

 

Nap Time

You can tell when Eliza is starting to get tired when she yawns, rubs her eyes or starts to fuss close to one of her nap times.   Sometimes, she also makes these noises that you probably remember from small group, like she is trying to sing herself to sleep :)  She usually loves a good nap J  I put her in a sleep sack and then swaddle her with a blanket around the outside of the sleepsack with her arms out.  She likes to be toasty warm when she is sleeping.    I read that babies are not likely to get overheated as long as their hands and heads are uncovered.  She doesn’t even prefer to be rocked to sleep or anything (unless you are out somewhere and there isn’t a comfy bed to sleep in).  As soon as she is ready for a nap, it seems like she can’t wait to get in the bed and stretch out.  I put her in the bed and tell her it’s nap time.  She will often fuss and cry a little for a few seconds or up to a minute but then she quickly turns her head, sucks her thumb and settles down to sleep.     Sometimes during her nap she will fuss or cry out, but if it’s only been less than an hour, I don’t go in to check on her right away, and she often settles back down and goes to sleep again for the rest of the nap.  But of course, if she keeps crying, then she’s not going back to sleep and the nap is over.

 

Bottle Feeding

Eliza has been doing very well taking the bottle as long as I’m not around.  She is mostly breastfed so she is probably pickier than a baby who’s been mostly bottle fed.   I use the latex nipple because for some reason she does better with those.  She seems to like it more than silicone and can get a better latch that is closer to the way she latches on for breastfeeding.   I warm the milk up in the little ameda breastmilk storage bottles by placing them in a mug of hot water and then pour it  into the Ventaire bottle.  The Ventaire has a little silicone valve in the base.  If you ever try to warm it in that bottle, you need to make sure the bottle cap/nipple are off, otherwise it creates a vacuum, and milk will leak out the bottom.  Or, if you have a bottle warmer that’s even better, but we don’t have one.       

 

Skills:

Eliza is just starting to be able to sit up on her own when you are right there to catch her falls.

She’s just recently become really interested in her own feet and grabbing them.

She has rolled over in the past but not very often.  She rolls to her side and just stays there content to be on her side.   I make sure she has some tummy time to work on strengthening those muscles.  But she’s just such a sweetheart and would rather lie on her back and smile and make cooing or other cute baby noises at you.  

 

Eliza's Birth Story

Mom and dad had been staying with us for the week before the baby was due.  Friday, June 8th was the due date.  On Friday afternoon, Dad wanted to go back home to Cape May for the weekend to take care of some errands.  Mom was undecided about whether or not to go. I told her to go ahead and go home because if they were here, the baby would probably never come, just like it won’t rain when you have your umbrella with you.  Our next door neighbors, Craig and Carol Grunke were more than willing to be on call for Livy for the weekend, so mom and dad drove back to Cape May.  Later that evening, Livy and I were dancing around listening to Beyoncé in the kitchen together and I seemed to feel better and more active than I had felt in a while.  I hoped the dancing would help to bring on labor.  The next day Daddy and Livy let me sleep in, and I woke up at around 9:45.  I went downstairs and had a bowl of Cheerios for breakfast. Right after I finished the Cheerios, I told Kyle that I didn’t feel so good and I wondered if today would be the day.  I just had kind of a deep, crampy feeling. I decided to go upstairs and take a shower and see if I would feel better or worse afterward. While in the shower, and as I was getting dressed, I started to have what felt like the pain of real contractions, but I didn’t know for sure.  One reason I couldn’t tell is because I had been having fairly strong Braxton Hicks (false contractions) for months and I thought maybe this was just Braxton Hicks combined with diarrhea cramps (another unpleasant symptom of pregnancy).  I timed a couple of the pains and they were just about four minutes apart. I thought to myself, if these are real contractions, then they are awfully close together! (All the books and doctors typically say to call the doctor when the contractions are five minutes apart for an hour.) I didn’t waste any time before calling down to Kyle and telling him to call the Grunkes right away and bring Livy over there.  I told him to tell them that it could be a false alarm, but no matter what, I wasn’t feeling well and it would be helpful for them to take her.  I also remember thinking and saying, “I don’t want to do this! If this is anything like the real thing, I don’t think I can do this!”  (That sparked the thought that I was probably really in labor).  I called my mom and dad at 10:22 a.m.  I told my dad that I might be in labor. I told my mom I was having pains. I said, “I’m having one right now.” She said, “Ok, call me back and update me.”  (She later said she could tell by the sound of my voice I must have been in transition.)  While waiting for Kyle to come back and throw the bags in the car, I lay on my bed and continued to try to figure out if what I was having were actual labor contractions, while using deep breathing techniques. I imagined expanding my uterus as big as possible like a balloon as I inhaled. When Kyle came up I made him put his hand on my uterus during the contraction to see if it was getting hard.  He calmly said, “Yes. Definitely.”  I said, “Call the doctor.”  He called and left a message. I said, “Let’s go downstairs so I don’t get stuck up here on the bed.”  We hurried downstairs and I lay on the couch as Dr. Garfinkel called back. He asked to talk to me.  I told him I just started going into labor and I seemed to be having big contractions that were four minutes apart with a little contraction in the middle.  I said I was concerned because my first labor was fast so that’s why we were calling as soon as possible. He said I’d better get to the hospital. We got out to the Civic and just as I sat down, I noticed some blood and water leaking out. I felt a rush of excitement like I finally knew for sure this was the real thing.  I told Kyle, “I thought you said you were going to put a garbage bag down for me to sit on!”  I quickly grabbed a thick student progress report from the back seat and asked if Kyle needed it. He said, “No”, so I sat on it. Once I knew for sure I was in labor, I felt excited rather than scared that it was happening. I became completely focused on birthing the baby in a calm, controlled manner. Kyle was trying to drive as fast as possible. He said, “Hurry up, Grandpa!” to the pick-up truck in front of us. I told Kyle not to rush but to focus on driving as smoothly as possible.  I wanted to be as comfortable and safe as possible if I had to go through labor in the car. I told him, “It’s okay. Calm down.”  Kyle flew down 287 at 85 MPH and made it to the hospital in 10 minutes.  I remember thinking this is so different than the middle of the night ride we made to the hospital before Olivia’s birth.  I could see everyone around us going about their usual daily routines.  It made me feel like we were doing something more important than the people around me, yet also very normal.          We pulled up to the hospital door and I waited to have one more contraction in the car before getting out.  My contractions were about 2 minutes apart.  The attendant came and gave me a wheelchair.  It was annoying because it didn’t have a footrest (none of them had footrests) so I had to work hard to keep my feet from dragging while enduring several more contractions.  Kyle pushed me up to the maternity ward doors and there was a big tour group and mop machine blocking the way.  The lady leading the tour asked, “Do you need to get through?” and Kyle was like, “Yes!”  When we got up to the reception desk, they treated me as if I was just your average person checking into a motel or something.  They asked, “Did your water break?”  I said, I think so but not sure.  I’m having frequent contractions and I’m about to have a baby.”  I was still calm and smiling between contractions.  I was admitted at 11:09.  As they were pushing me down the hall, I made the nurse stop the wheelchair for a contraction because I had to rest my feet on the floor during it.  The nurse pushed me to the delivery room and asked me to get up and go to the bathroom to pee in a cup and then change into a robe.  I remember thinking that was going to be way too hard for me, and that she clearly was missing the urgency of the situation.   Nevertheless, I was trying very hard to do what I was told.  I got out of the wheelchair and stumbled into the bathroom.  When I tried to pee in the cup, thick blood was coming out.  I quickly ran back out to the bed and told the nurse I couldn’t pee in the cup because I was about to have the baby.   She examined me and seemed shocked at the amount of blood.  She called for help and started asking me if I had placenta previa or if the doctor had told me my baby was too low or anything like that.  I said no.  Other nurses and a doctor (not my own) rushed in and they were all talking about the amount of blood with panic in their voices.  At this point, I decided to try to tune them out, trust God and reflect on some scripture verses that I had memorized in advance.  One of the verses was Isaiah 26:3  “You will keep him (her) in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he(she) trusts in you.”   The nurses kept asking me questions and each time I felt like they were interfering with my peaceful thoughts.  Kyle came into the room after running back to park the car.  He looked alarmed and confused by the flurry of nurses and I tried to tell him it was just some blood and nothing to worry about.  After he came in, the standby doctor examined me and I was close to 10 cm dilated.  She told us that everything was okay and it’s just that I was about to have the baby.  There was nothing wrong with my placenta.  She said she would be there to catch the baby if Dr. Garfinkel didn’t make it.  There were about 5 nurses in the room with us.   Just then, Dr. Garfinkel blew in and started putting his gloves on.  He examined me and said, “You’re ready to go. I’m glad I made it!”  The contractions quickly became very intense.  I closed my eyes and felt my body in a state of complete chaos.  The words of the worship song “Who am I?” by Casting Crowns came to me: I am a flower quickly fading Here today and gone tomorrow A wave tossed in the ocean A vapor in the wind Still you hear me when I'm calling Lord, you catch me when I'm falling My body was in turmoil and I felt like a wave tossed in the ocean, but my mind was focused on God and the task at hand.  I felt a deep, inner sense of peace and joy like I have never experienced before, even in the midst of the most intense contractions.  I started the birth breathing technique of inhaling and then imagining the air flowing down to the baby and out as I exhaled.  When the pain became too intense, I switched over to breathing “hee hee hoo hoos” and the nurses told me “That’s it!” and that I was doing an awesome job.   Dr. Garfinkel told me I was ready to push during the next contraction.  When the contraction came, the nurse named Pia, next to me, told me to take a deep breath and then push.  I exhaled as I was pushing because I was still imagining that I was gently breathing down the baby.  The nurses told me not to exhale as I was pushing.  I felt a little annoyed that they acted as if I had made a mistake by exhaling.  I wished that I could be encouraged or allowed to try to move my baby down in my own way.  But I put these thoughts behind me to do what was expected of me and push the baby out. They told me to push and I pushed as hard as I could while keeping my jaw, facial muscles, and other extraneous muscles relaxed.  There was some commotion and I heard Dr. Garfinkel say, “Dad is down.”  I came out of my trance and asked, “What happened to Kyle?  Is he okay?” and I told him I was all right and not to worry.  Everything was a blur so I’m not sure exactly what happened next.  I think with one more push, the baby’s head crowned.  And on the third push the baby was born.  Our beautiful baby girl was born at 11:18 a.m.  The Dr. gave her to me right away and put her on my chest.  She looked up at Kyle and me as we smiled down on her and she said, “Cry”.  It was the sweetest word I had ever heard.  Kyle and I looked at each other in amazement and said, “She just said, ‘Cry.’”  I said, “It’s okay, Mommy and Daddy are here.”     I was so glad that I got to hold and nurse her right away.  She was adorable with deep blue eyes and a little brown hair.  Everyone was all smiles.  Dr. Garfinkel looked at me grinning and said, “That was fun! Thanks!”  The nurses said they were amazed at how polite I was during labor and that I seemed more concerned with my husband than myself.  While Kyle went with the nurses to weigh the baby, I was shivering and shaking uncontrollably and realized my hair was still wet from not having a chance to dry it after my morning shower.  I hadn’t even had time to get dressed in a hospital gown.  I asked for blankets and Dr. Garfinkel went to find some and came back with a gown too. It was kinda funny because he told me he wasn’t used to helping with gowns as he struggled to snap it together and put it on me the wrong way. The nurses told us the baby weighed 8lbs., 8 oz.  A good-sized, healthy girl!        After they weighed her and put vitamin K in her eyes, they left Kyle and me alone with the baby for almost an hour.  We called Livy to tell her about her new sister.  We called all the grandparents as well, and everyone was full of joy.    We named her Eliza Joyce which means either “God’s joyful promise” or “joyfully promised to God”.  Little Eliza is both of those things, and we knew it from before she was even born.  I am so amazed at God’s timing and handiwork in this birth story. He made sure I went into labor on a Saturday morning so that Kyle would be with me for the birth.  He blessed me by giving me a fast and furious labor so that I didn’t have to make any difficult decision about whether or not to take an epidural.  He made all the decisions for me ahead of time because He knew I could do it and that natural birth was a desire in my heart.  Eliza was born less than one hour after I had called my mom to tell her I might be in labor, less than 10 minutes after I was admitted to the hospital.   I feel like God met all of my needs.  He blessed me in a way that I will never forget.  Thank you, Lord for your special promise to me in Eliza.    Kyle’s Perspective

I was out of the delivery room for what seemed like an eternity, but was actually only about 5 minutes.  I had to run back to the car to get the camera.  When I grabbed the camera I figured I could move the car to an actual parking spot.  However, the ones reserved for expectant parents were blocked off by construction vehicles, so I took my chances in the parking garage that was very close by.  The only spot open was two floors up and in the way, way back.  I parked the car there and ran at full speed back to the room.  When I got back, the nurses looked a little panic-stricken and I was huffing and puffing and started to get anxious.  I checked on mommy, and she seemed as well as one can be.  When the Dr. told me everything was okay, I felt a little better.

I would like to report that I was an excellent labor partner, but I actually almost fainted twice.  I say almost because the nurses could see it was about to happen and directed me to a chair.  The first time happened right at the beginning of the “pushing”.  The Polish nurse (as I think of her) directed me to grab a leg and hold tight.  This was bad advice – once I did this I became light headed and spacey.  I wasn’t put off by the blood; I think it was just the rush of emotions.  Anyway, the Polish nurse stuck me in a chair where I could watch what was happening.  As I was watching, the baby began to appear.  I went back over to Sarah’s side but got woozy again.  Back to the chair for me!

Next thing I knew, the baby was out!  I went back to Sarah’s side and they gave me a stool to sit on.  I was so proud of Sarah and so excited to see our baby for the first time.  Really, there is no other feeling like it. Watching Olivia and Eliza come into the world are two of the highlights of my life.  I had little tears of joy in my eyes. You can see them in the photos.  I didn’t get to cut Eliza's cord, but I did hold her right away!  And I made sure that they let her nurse right away!  Your mom and I smiled at each other and sat in relief.  I was in awe of beautiful Sarah and Eliza and felt like the luckiest man in the world.   Dr. Garfinkel said he was glad he didn’t have to miss the Devil’s game and I was happy for him – playoff tickets are tough to get!  

To Eliza with Love

I told Livy I wanted to write a blog post about Eliza, but I didn't know where to begin because she is already 2 months old.  This is what Livy suggested, in her own words:

Dear Eliza,

Thank you for smiling at me.  You are so good when you come on a trip with us.  I love sitting next to you in the carseat.  Eliza, when you get bigger you will like going on picnics (pronounced pic-a-nics) with sandwiches, knives and apricot jelly, milk and corn.  I like to watch you and stroke your face and pat you.  You love me.  And you like swinging in the swing.  And I like swinging from the big girl swings out on my swing set.  I like doing things with you.  I like to watch you when you are drinking.  I like to snuggle with you and I like to pat your head when you nurse from mommy.  

I love you. 

Love, 

Olivia      

I took this picture right after I finished nursing Eliza.
  Livy had been snuggling with us and fell asleep while still patting Eliza's head.    

Things I Love About My Three-Year Old

I love Livy's "big girl hair cut" now that she's three :)  I finally found a lady who knows how to cut hair for cheap.  Livy loved Patsy and even said she might want to be a "hair cut lady" when she grows up.  Actually she also said she wants to be a mommy or a doctor but not a dentist.  I asked her why not, and she just said, "Because that's not what I want to be."  She already has some strong opinions, and come to think of it, that is something else I love about her.  I've always appreciated that even though Livy is a gentle soul, she tends to speak her mind and doesn't let other bossy kids talk her into doing something that she doesn't want to do.  She can be a little bossy herself, but usually not in a mean way.  She is a first-born, after all and sometimes she reminds me of my older sister, Laura.  Like Laura, Livy is already good at making up interesting stories and coming up with names for things and games.  

For anyone who doesn't know this about Laura, when I was little most of the games we played had names that were made-up by Laura or maybe Mandy McGrail.  Our detective agency was called "Mini Car, Large Car"; We played a chase game around the ping pong table called "Alligator and Tripper"; The town we made in the basement was called "Sharonsville".  I already see Livy coming up with things like this and can only imagine the fun things she will think up as she gets older.  When we met up with Laura, Henry, Louisa and Clara at the Please Touch Museum in Philly, Livy said, "Hey Henry and Louisa, lets be the red brick trio! We have to run and jump over to the red bricks!"  Here is a picture of the Red Brick Trio:   

Livy loves her cousins.  She was so happy to see them!

I love that Livy's first writing samples have lots of letters that look like "O's" and lines and a couple backwards "a's" because she's practicing the letters in her name.  With a little help, she is getting good at writing her name and some other words like "mom" and "dad" but she mostly practices writing "words" any way she wants and they come out like this:  

I love that Livy is adventurous and knows how to have a good time!
We went to Cape May over the weekend of May 12-13 and Olivia had fun swimming in the cold, cold pool and also riding on Grandpa's new boat for the first time.  Livy giggled the whole time and said, "I love the bumpy parts!"  She fell asleep on the ride home on the boat.

I love that Livy is already a good big sister.  She talks and sings to the baby and kisses my tummy.  She
talks about all the things that she wants to do with and teach her sister how to do when she gets big enough.  I know it will be a big adjustment for her when the baby actually comes, but so far so good...  

I love the way Livy looks in the morning when she comes in my room all smiley.  (And I like that she sleeps in until 9:00)  Here Kyle brought us back bagels to eat in bed.  In the back you can see we have our suitcase packed for the hospital and the cosleeper crib is put together.  But in the meantime, I'm enjoying my morning snuggle and fun time with just my sweetheart, Livy.

I love that Livy is a great eater.  She will try eating just about anything and has a wide variety of foods that she loves.  I just asked her what her favorite foods are and she says, "shrimp, all kinds of soup, tuna fish, cherries and yogurt."  The only food that comes to mind that she doesn't really care for is chick peas, which she will still try but says she doesn't like.  Since my last trimester started, I've been craving avocados.  Livy and I share an avocado with cherry tomatoes every day.  In this picture, we walked to Heavenly Temptations to buy thank you gifts for Livy's teachers.  We had a nice lunch date together with split pea soup and corn muffins :)

I love that now that Livy is three, she is brave and can be a good listener.  She was a perfect patient at her first dentist appt. that I took her to earlier this week.  She got a full teeth cleaning and fluoride treatment.  The dentist said she was an angel.    

Livy made sure to make herself really comfy in the chair.  She asked the dentist if she could take her shoes off because her feet were hot :)  












Livy, there are so many things I love about you.  I'm sorry I haven't been good at keeping up with the blog.  I've really been enjoying this special time I have with you before your sister is born.  Her due date is a week away, and our days of it just being you and I (or you and I and Daddy) are coming to an end.  But my hope is that I am giving you a friend for life and someone else who will look up to you and love the special things about you, just like I do with my sisters.