The Progress Report

Sigh. My little boy is growing up.



Yesterday, we set up his Big Boy Bed (BBB). The plan has always been to move Ava into the crib and Jonah into a bed, and have them share our second bedroom. I read somewhere that it can be helpful in making the transition to set up the bed ahead of the actual move, giving him time to get used to it - playing on it, etc. After we got it set up, he decided he wanted to take his nap in the BBB. We read books and he snuggled up in the BBB, but just a few minutes after I left the room, he called out for us and decided he wanted to nap in his crib after all.



I figured that would be the end of it - until naptime today, when he again wanted to nap in the BBB. This time, Matt read his stories and tucked him in, and thirty minutes later, all was quiet.



As I type, he's getting tucked in for the night in his BBB. Wish us luck!

In Ava news, we had a two-week check-up today, and she is up to 9 lbs, 2 oz. The doctor asked what I was feeding her. :)



Her belly button is all healed, which means her first real bath will follow shortly! And, she can wear onesies. A whole new avenue of fashion is open to her.

What we've been up to

Jonah has been riding in the "blue line":



There's a "green line", too, but that's full of stuffed animals, and so most of the time it doesn't get used as part of the T. Although today, he emptied the green line, put it next to the blue line, and transferred back and forth between the two. I guess he was at Government Center.

He's also been wearing my shoes around:



Ava has been having lots of diaper changes:



And she's had two sponge baths since we've been home:



She's even sleeping fairly well, although we're all trying to nap as often as possible:

Ava's Arrival

Miss Ava made her arrival into the world on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 8:06 AM, weighing in at 8 lbs, 2oz, and measuring 21 inches in length.

I woke up to a contraction at 5:50 AM that morning. The next one came at about 5:58 AM, and the one after that was at about 6:03 AM. By 6:15, I knew these were real contractions and that they were getting closer together QUICKLY. I woke Matt up, and then called Katie and Blythe and had the midwife on call paged. By the time the midwife, Susan, called me back (about a half hour later, which is unusual, but she was at a delivery when I called), the contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart and very strong. We let her know we'd be coming in soon.

For a few minutes, I thought we might have to wake up Jonah and bring him with us, and have Katie and Blythe meet us at the hospital, but fortunately, they arrived shortly after the midwife called. Also, Jonah woke up right around 7, so I went in to let him know that we were going to the hospital to have his baby sister, and that we'd see him soon.

From then on, I'm not too sure about the timing of things. We pulled up to the emergency entrance and I was wheeled up to the maternity floor. They took me to a triage room, but I was only in there for about five minutes when Susan came in and decided we should go right to a labor room. I didn't have time to take advantage of a whirlpool tub, so it wasn't a big deal that I didn't get one! But I did take about five minutes in the shower before we decided it was time to push. I'm not sure how long I pushed, but Matt thinks it was only ten or fifteen minutes, and then she was here!

I can't say enough good things about Susan! She wasn't the midwife I saw for my care, but she was just amazing. I switched to a different practice for this pregnancy, and I'm so happy with the care I received. We also went to a different hospital this time, and overall, had a much better experience than Jonah's birth.

We went home Thursday, and so far, so good. Ava's eating well, gaining weight, and gives us three or even four hours stretches of sleep. Jonah's struggling just a little bit with having to share his Mommy, but he's also been easy to distract when I've been busy with Ava. And best of all, he still naps every day, so we always get a little rest in the afternoon.

Thanks for all the well-wishes!

Sometimes Mommy needs to say what she means

Monkey has this shaker toy, kind of like a maraca, but shaped like a cylinder, that he recently rediscovered. This morning, he was banging it against a wall, and I told him, "We don't bang things against walls. If you want to bang something, you can go get your drum and bang on that."

I turned around to do something else, and a moment later, I saw him walk past me, carrying his drum. He continued down the hall to the same spot where he was banging the shaker on the wall. I caught him just in the nick of time.

"No, no, honey, I meant that you should bang on your drum! With your drumsticks! Not bang your drum against the wall!"

Photos courtesy of Nana's camera, which she graciously lent to us until little girl is born.