Day Two

Matt went back to work yesterday. Elinor turns one month old this week. Next month Zander turns four years old.

Me, I am carving out new butt-dents in the sofa.

Spring has sprung: I saw flowers on my forsythia twigs this morning and it has been raining for two days. I've been thinking about planting potatoes.

Elinor has been smiling occasionally this past week, which is charming beyond all belief. It could be gas but these expressions are not that random. And even if it is gas, I have an excellent imagination and enjoy the idea that she is happy to see me.

Elinor's other trick, these past two days, is grasping. Mostly it's my hair but several times she's also gotten a hold of the spindles on the top rail of the changing table. She hangs on for dear life as if she were being dangled over a precipice. She usually looks alarmed and shaky when laying on her changing table so I am sure this grasping is a great security. For me it is a pain in the scalp and blog-fodder.

"These are not the droids your are looking for."

The past day and a half at home alone, just the three of us, has been relatively uneventful. We tried to go to the library today but there were no parking spaces and it was raining so I just said nasty things about the idiot people who put time and money into a lovely green, living roof and not enough parking, and drove home. Zander was not amused by the unfun change in plans. Ellie was asleep. So I spent the next hour trying to shush the rambunctious boy so that E would continue to sleep. Theoretically, I would then be able to get something done but of course I was just trading one child for another so no, here I am, sleepy and bored on a Tuesday afternoon.

Forget lunch, I just want a big mug of hot tea. Or a nap.

"What she said."

Welcome, Elinor

Either we are busy with the new baby or lazy because she is our second. Nevertheless.

After nine-and-a-half months gestation, Elinor Beatrice arrived in the usual way.

March 18, 2009

8:55 AM
6# 11 oz
20 inches

Initial observations:
lots of dark hair
very long fingers and toes
looks a lot like her brother as a newborn
makes a lot of noise -- squeaks, grunts, moans
no problems nursing - yey!



Two-and-a-half weeks later:
she's a pig -- 20 oz in 10 days!
she likes to sleep in (and stay up late)
hates wet diapers
has a strong neck already (like her brother)

Zander's comments:
"I want to hold my sister"
"She's beautiful!"
"Look at what I can do--!" (followed by some inane jig)