Saturday Meera wore a dress for the first time. Turns out she loves dresses! She loves to have her legs and feet free to kick kick kick. From Day 1 she’s hated to be swaddled or tightly constrained. She’s a free and liberated young woman! So dresses are a good thing in her book! (Good thing since she has about 100 in her closet — all precious baby gifts received — just waiting to be worn!!!)
This past Tuesday Meera had her first bottle. We’re committed to pumping (even though I detest it!) so that the boys (all three of them, but Braydon especially) can feed the baby. Braydon was on cloud 9 feeding his girl the other night. Luckily she took to the bottle just great and was happy enough to go right back to nursing for her next feed a couple hours later. She’s had a couple of bottles since. At age 4 weeks, Meera is still eating every 2-3 hours round the clock. A bottle here and there is a welcome relief to all involved!!!!!!!!
This past weekend Braydon’s side of the family — Auntie Sabrina, Grandpa Robert, and G’amma — all came to visit (see G’amma’s Guest Blogger Post below). They met Meera for the first time, entertained the Big Brothers, and cooked/cleaned for Braydon and I. Here are the top three pics from what was a beautiful weekend.
There really aren’t any words that adequately describe the joy of meeting a new grandchild, especially one as beautiful and wonderful as little Meera. Of course I’m biased and presumably most grandparents feel the same way. Still…..
And the boys are as amazing as ever. Honestly, how many just four-year-olds do you know who can hit a ball all the way across the yard (both of them), steal bases (Owen mostly—pretty funny), execute nearly perfect dives (Owen), practice the crawl (Kyle), and be incredibly gentle with a tiny baby? Perhaps just as remarkable, sit quietly in the back seat while grandpa and grandma spend over an hour lost in the countryside, never complaining for an instant? And then thanking us for taking them?! No kidding.
There was only one troubling moment while in a convenience store paying for cookies and encountering color negativity. Fortunately that was offset by distinct approval on the part of one who asked about the boys’ parentage and was told about their adoption. We can hope that seeing these boys with their parents sets such a good example that it will change the way some people think.
I simply don’t know how Heather and Braydon manage everything and manage with patience and grace. It is truly incredible. But I do know that it leaves me more determined than ever to continue working toward a sustainable future for all of them.
Meera turned three weeks old last night at 10:21 p.m.
These are some photos of her from the past week.
She is changing everyday.
What a joy to have a newborn!
There are lots of baby sister thoughts, feelings and activity going on these days. Lots of baby holding, lots of trying to get her to smile, lots of worrying why she is crying, lots of diaper changing, lots of worrying how it’s all going to get done.Meera is pretty good about sleeping at night, although not without challenges, of course. She eats around 10 PM, then again around 2 AM, then again around 4:30 AM. She’s pretty much text book on the clock 2.5 hour feeding. Rocking it. Does not always go right back to sleep. Not rocking it.
I have never been much of an early morning person, as my parents can attest and Heather can certainly attest. But after the 4:30 feeding when she is ready to hang out and not sleep, I get up and we hang out; Heather tries to get a little more sleep (since, even though she is recovering from a c-section and nasty cold she gets the least sleep of everyone in the house). So now we even are starting to have a little routine!
M and I go downstairs, and she gets into her bouncy bjorn chair. It’s like a big man’s lay-z-boy but for the under-1 set. We watch the light get brighter outside. We get up, go outside and watch the sunrise. We talk politics, shop, burps and diapers. It’s a little one sided, but like the rest of our family, Meera is no slouch when it comes to making herself and opinion known. Inside we go, play a little “wheels on the bus” and sometimes the bus gets a little sidetracked.
Then when she is tired around 6:00 AM, it’s down the basement to shield the rest of the family from her loud crying and my cooing to help her fall asleep. Sometimes by 6:30 she is asleep, sometimes not. At 7 she goes up to Heather for breakfast, and typically the boys are up and raring to go.
This morning Kyle was up first and he and I had a great breakfast. We chatted it up. That kid has the most amazing memory. A few months ago I casually remarked that he was going to lose his teeth and get new ones (yes, I did say that, I know – what was I thinking???). He, of course, asked when and I said when he is 7. Never came up again. This morning, after talking about how when he’s 5 he gets to play golf (particularly important since Tiger just won the US Open with a bum knee), he says: And When I am 7, I will lose my teeth and get new ones! Big ones Papi? Yes, big ones. Big big big grin.
Big grins all around when it can be like this.
These photos are the first that — in my opinion — really capture our baby girl’s spirit. She’s not always this happy and contented, but she is like this much more of the time than I ever would have expected from a newborn. When I look at these photos I really see our Meera Grace — the beauty of a girl that I’m really coming to know these past couple weeks — shining through the images.
Owen and Kyle are loving life (and living their lives) at the pool, yet again, this summer. They’ve only been out of school for just over a week — and so far they’ve spent the vast majority of that time at the pool. This time of year Braydon and I ask ourselves daily what we’d do without the pool. We know what we’d do: we’d be wishing for a pool. For the sake of our boys (and for the sake of our sanity) we’re so grateful to have this pool, especially this year.
Well, believe it or not, today has been a great day so far. I’m still sick as a dog, but feeling a bit better than yesterday. Kyle and Owen have been –miraculously– absolutely perfect (well, as close to perfect as they’re ever gonna get)! Meera has –miraculously– been eating and sleeping beautifully! Once he got past the depression of leaving, Braydon got off to work just fine this morning. And Alex, our lifesaver Nanny, has ensured a fun summer day for K & O. After three days of misery it has been a wonderful surprise to have a really smooth and good day (so far). Sometimes (the past few days) life throws us punches. And sometimes (today) we get roses.
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