Adios Aba

Abuela Anna left yesterday after a whirlwind trip to the doctor's at the last minute. We thought Diego might have some kind of urinary infection, so we rushed to a 1:30 appointment in Capital Hill. Then, Aba left in her volvo, headed to Eugene for a Rotary District Conference. We are now all alone. Today is not the first day I've had to be solo, and soon we will have wonderful friends from San Diego visit us on June 17. Christian's last day of work is today - YAY! He will moonlight about 10 nights this month, but during the daytime, he is off and around the house. We are excited for fun day adventures around the area...time to explore our "new home" now that the crazy year is behind us (almost!).

Baby news includes the introduction of the pacifier. Let me just say, that small device pacifies MY LIFE! Now, before this week, I was a self-declared anti-paci mama. Diego never used one in the orphanage, so he never took to one once I started taking care of him. We did not introduce one to Charley in fear of "nipple confusion" until just the other day. Several of my friends endorsed using them, but I really felt that if I survived Diego's babyhood without using one, I could survive Charley's. Here's the difference: TWO CHILDREN!!! It changes everything! Putting two kids down to nap, fixing dinner with two crying children during the witching hour....car rides where Charley is screaming her head off and Diego is yelling, "Mama, I don't like crying" and covering his ears. Calgon take me away....

Anyhow, I finally sat down to read a few of the books on sucking, and it turns out there is real science behind this pacifier thing. Sucking is a reflex that causes some hormone or something (ask my husband...) to naturally calm the baby. Plus, it teaches them to self soothe. OK, so I tried it, and it works! Now, I can swaddle her up when she gets tired, shhhh her for a few minutes with a rocking motion, stick in the paci, and there you go....she puts herself to sleep for naps now! No more rocking her for 30 minutes to bed! Yee Haw!

Last night she slept from 8 - 11:30 pm, Christian had to wake her to feed her a bottle, and then she didn't wake me up to eat until 5 am! Whoo hoo! I love this child!

So, today we have preschool for Diego (we need to leave in about 40 minutes) and I'm meeting up with another new mom, Lauran, from my childbirth class and we're going to take a short walk, visit, and meet each other's babies. Hers was born May 9 - Chloe, Charlotte's new friend. They live just blocks from my other West Seattle friends, Tracey and Kiran. We'll head home for nap and Sesame Street in the afternoon, then dinner, family time (books for Diego) and bedtime. All in a day's schedule.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Diego's Got the Look

What does this look say to you?

Week 4 Photo

Here I am at nearly 4 weeks old! Pretty in violet. I will spend Memorial Day Weekend and my one month birthday with my abuelos (Abo surprised us with a visit this weekend!), my family, and the beautiful sun (well, at least today) of summer in Seattle.

What am I doing? Sleeping and eating mostly, but I've developed strong head control and will smile off and on with a dimple on the right cheek. It's very charming. I am also tracking and respond well to the different voices that surround me. My favorite person is my brother, who usually gets the most smiles and attention.

3 Weeks Old

Big Brother watches over his precious little sister.

Walking at Alki Beach

Grammy with Charley (Christian's mother)

Here is Charlotte at 3 weeks old. Overall, our lives are adjusting nicely. Today is the 2nd day I've been without help, and while it has gone smoothly so far, I am definitely not yet ready to do this all on my own for long periods of time. Grammy left yesterday afternoon, and after a disastrous trip out with two kids to Trader Joe's, thank goodness my mother arrives by Amtrak train this afternoon after spending 3 days in Oregon campaigning for Barack Obama. She will stay until the end of the month. Christian begins moonlighting this weekend, and we are excited to fill up our dwindling checking account (and to be able to pay next month's bills!). Luckily our tax return was generous and will help us pay off the debt we incurred last year from traveling to Africa and moving cross country. Oh, yeah, and buying a ridiculously expensive home. But, I ramble.

Nothing much else to report, other than I spend most of my day feeding, changing diapers, putting kids down to sleep, fixing lunch and dinner, and collapsing on the couch at night to catch the season finales of all my TV shows. Can't WAIT to find out who America's IDOL is tonight! I am lucky to have the entire summer at home with the kids, and once the sun arrives and stays in Seattle, we'll have many outdoor adventures! We have wonderful friends coming to visit in June and July, so we are looking forward to more good times with guests! BBQ season and backporch living are nearly upon us...it's so close to being that time of year when every Seattlite emerges from their dens, yawns and takes on all that summer has to offer! We can't WAIT!

Week 3 assessment: Life is good to us, but TWO KIDS IS HARD WORK!! (For those of you that have 3, and I have a few friends who do....you are truly amazing. I don't know how you do it!).

Happy Two Weeks Birthday Charlotte!

We welcomed Charley to this world two weeks ago today. What a great way to celebrate Mother's Day! To all those mothers out there, have a wonderful day!!! Everything is still going very well around the house. Charley is sleeping so well at night and Diego has not yet had a jealous moment. He's certainly being 3 1/2....but, I don't think that has anything to do with the baby's arrival. Christian has been back to work until June, and my sister Leslie came this weekend to see the kids. We've had a slow weekend, but a good time all in all. Life is good.

Isn't she beautiful???

Seven Days Later...I can wear my shoes again!

It has been seven days since our arrival home from the hospital. I feel truly blessed and lucky to have had the easiest transition home and recovery from the C-section. Christian has been home since the day before I was induced, and my mother has been here for 3 weeks now, taking great care of us all. In fact, this past week I felt good enough to venture to Lincoln Park for a picnic with the Herf grandparents, to parktake of High Tea on my mother's birthday, and to make several shopping trips to get out of the house. I feel nearly recovered, stronger with each passing day, and I've lost 26 pounds already! (Don't ask how much I gained...it makes my weight loss seem not so impressive.) And the most astounding thing is that I am not sleep deprived. Charlotte sleeps in 4 hour chunks at night, and Christian takes the last nighttime feed, which gives me at least 5 - 6 hours of sleep before she wakes up sometime around 3-4 am. In fact, this morning I had to wake HER up to feed! I know these days may be fleeting, so I'm taking advantage of the time and getting as much sleep as possible. Diego is smitten with his new sister. He loves kissing her head and rubbing her ear to help her "suck" when she is breastfeeding. He protects her from the cats and loves sitting next to her when she is crying in order to console her. Tonight, he said to her, "It's OK Charley, your big brother is right next to you." The other day he told me, "I think we should keep her." Whew!

Christian returns to work tomorrow (boo!) but he has all of June off, so we are just a few weeks away from being a whole family at home again. My sister Leslie will visit for the weekend (yay!), and then Christian's mom comes from Texas to take my mom's place next week. I won't have to face being alone with two children until July; hopefully by that time I'll figure out the routine.

In other news, Christian has taken on a big landscaping project. After one year of futile attempts to grow grass in our "front yard" we have abandoned that cause, and he has created a terraced area in the shady parts of the yard for herbs, shade plants and flowers. I am quite impressed with his landscaping abilities....I'll post a photo when it is complete. Also, Diego started preschool this past week. He loved his first day, but this morning announced that he was "done with school." I explained to him that he would be in school for a very long, long time to come, and that he certainly was not in any place to claim "preschool-itis" this soon in the school year. He returned from school this morning and has decided that he likes it again.

I hope you enjoy the new photos of our darling daughter!