Shire Boy

How he looked last weekend after inspecting the pool for grandpa.

part deux

and a little more "walking"

Walking in the Pleasant St Park...

with a little help
5-23-017

Phone Photo

I finally got the technology to grab the photos from my phone... So now I can save them & even post them here. This is a Beautiful shot taken ages ago --- probably around when we first got to Boston last summer. Its what I see EVERY TIME I open my phone. So when you call me - I see this gorgeous guy, and when I go to check the time... ditto.

2:30 pm & Napping Now...

Of Course ---

I've been trying on & off to get him to go to sleep since around 11:30 this morning - I finally gave up & locked him up so I could take a shower and get dressed with the idea that we'd take the dog out quickly in the rain before she had some sort of major accident. Of Course, as soon as I got out of the shower and half dressed he fell asleep. So Mabel got to visit the backyard and I am trying to creep around the house and pick things up but VERY quietly.

Please Goddess of sleep... let him stay napping for awhile.

For Deb

Birthday Weekend in the Berkeshires

Here is a little collage commemorating our Birthday/Mom's Day weekend in the Shire with the Grandparents & DGina. As you can see the lil monkey got his first taste of Ice Scream thanks to the yummy Ice Cream cake that his grandma & grandpa got for him. At first he was a little shocked by the taste of something so cold, but then he started chomping on the cone peices and I think he developed a taste for the sweets - we poured a little fudge sauce into him as well and he seemed to enjoy that also. So now we have to discuss how much & how often we will give him this kinda super treat --- Em and I are both planning on doing an ice cream taste test of the Northeast as the weather continues to heat up - but we're not sure if the monkey is included in that or not... Only time will tell.

The best part of the weekend is probably watching how the cousins are with each other now -- & to get to watch them be excited to be in the same house in the morning. F. is so sweet to the little guy it kills me - her new thing is to run grab his sippy cup and bring it over to him - so concerned that he stays well hydrated!!!

The weather was wonderfull and I love being out of the city & up in the woods, even if I don't leave the house. Plus - I got to read about 65 pages of a book!!!!! Now its back to real life - Em's at work, I am downloading photo's, doing laundry and thinking of doing the dishes, R is taking a nap. Gotta love this life.

On to YEAR TWO.

Tarot Card of the Day

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Words

He understands lots of words - mommie, daddie, doggie, Seattle, Bobo, Blasto, more, hot and on and on... but so far he is only speaking two... "Bobo" from the Hug book and more recently "Woof" - which he started saying last week when he woke up to the dog barking insanely.

Happy Birthday Robby

We are sending love & birthday wishes out to Mr. Robby in SF. and also wishing love & goodness to his mama who is about to pop with number two....

Pooped

This is what it looked like at our house last night - note all the dirt between the monkeys fingers - he was filthy and there was no energy left over for baths. I found myself not really sleeping for the second night in a row --- I just wanted to stare at him (well at both of them really) - a desire that I'll indulge on special occasions like this week but that I am hoping to get over soon since my ass is now DRAGGING.

I can't find the words for what magic they bring to my life ... I try and I stumble around with I love you's and such but I think they get it.

Especially in the morning when it is all squeels and giggles, or when its bedtime and Em is reading him his stories and I listen to them laugh and play. My heart does keep just cracking further and further open - the words sound kind of stupid but the feeling amazes and awes me.

Some Birthday Photos

First Birthday

Short Birthday Video

Happy Birthday

Today I am ....

WOW --- reminiscing... birth story included

Well, what do you do with your little lillie-pie tickler after your baby reaches one year old?

Anyways I am up at midnight on May 7th/8th having just made a bunch of cupcakes and then turned the leftover batter into a mixed chocolate yellow cake. Em & the lil' monkey are both sleeping soundly and have been since around 10:30. So a year ago tonight I was at St. Lukes Hospital getting the magic cervadil along with IV antibiotics because we hadn't gotten back my Strep test since it had only just been done. Labor was helped along with the magic needles of Joey Wyman that she placed around 9pm or so that night. Em went home around midnight I guess and I tried to sleep on the funky little hospital bed.

Woke up at 3 am with cramps... tired & confused it took me awhile to figure out that these were probably contractions - hmm regular cramps coming in rhythmic patterns a few minutes apart... what's going on here? I waited as long as I could before I called Em - it was 4:30 or 5. It's funny when you are induced after you have been prepping for going into labor at home - all the things I thought I was supposed to do were around figuring out when we should contact the midwives and go into the hospital & I realized I had no idea what I was supposed to do since I was already in the hospital - at a loss I looked at the clock and timed my contractions anyway - then I put on my headphones and danced around the room a little bit.

I took a shower around 7 and then got to move to my L&D room from my little holding room - the biggest difference was the size & it has its own bathroom. We put in another cervadil in the morning and had a meeting with Cynthia the midwife and Amy, our Doula. I remember we all had a meeting but I don't remember what anyone said, and I remember taking another shower around 11 am and by this time I totally wanted DRUGS - Amy and Em got ahold of Joey again & she came back and made everything better with those accupuncture needles and some tea ---
I don't know how or why I got it back together but I did & from then on I was able to go with the labor as it happened.

Deb arrived from Seattle some time in the early afternoon - I still had needles in when she got there. Her presence was the most amazing gift & she had the perfect effect on me - helping me stay calm and focused & feel safe. For the next bunch of hours we all just hung out & labor happened - I felt safe & taken care of with Em, Amy, Deb, the midwife & the AMAZING nurses from St. Lukes. Finally they checked me out at some point & said I was 7 cm dilated (YEAH) and we set up the water tub for me to do the last part of labor in. We had a glitch before getting me in the tub though cause we couldn't get a good reading on lil Blastos' heart rate on the monitors ... it seemed like we were trying for hours and I was about ready to jump out the window --- but FINALLY they said I could get into the water.

Water GOOD --- going from 7 to 10 cm's not so good, but better when done in water.

I felt his head - oh my god !!!! His head was right there, where I could feel him with my fingers - oh my god... this kid is going to get born. So we climbed out of the tub, and Em held me & Cynthia climbed underneath me and we pushed like 4 times (I think I nearly knocked Em over - except Amy was behind her holding her up) and he was born. There was cord EVERYWHERE and he was kinda greyish but then they took him over for a quick blast of oxygen and he scored a PERFECT 10 on his second apgar score*

(*Anesthesiologist Virginia Apgar, M.D. (1909-1974) was inducted on October 14, 1995 into the NationaI Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. Dr. Apgar was honored with a U.S. postal stamp for the development of the Apgar Score, which evaluates the transition of newborn babies to extrauterine life. Dr. Apgar is the only anesthesiologist and the third woman physician to be honored with a U.S. stamp)

Then we were cuddling him & feeding him and marvelling at how wonderfully brilliant and gorgeous he is & we haven't stopped yet.

We miss & love you all ----

Happy Birthday Baby Boy - I can't believe what a big guy you are

Mama-Daddie R

April 2007

Photos from last month - 10 - 11 months old - the sun is coming out so we had lots more time in the swings and less time in heavy jackets, Passover was spent in Nanuet, more play time with friends - and he began crawling.

March 2007

Here he is at 10 Months - enjoying Disco, Snow & Meeting the SF Twins Avi & Lilah. He plays a lot more with his friends now - we see Connor & Christopher at Farah's park almost every day, and Gabe, Xan, Nick & Seth at Mom's group stuff a couple times a week.

February 2007

9 Months old. More travelling - another trip to SF as well as a voyage to NY and Connecticut.

January 2007

Eating his first cherrios while visiting Florida, and his first bagel in the shire - not to mention a snuggle and feeding with great grandma Anne - being Eight Months Old Rocks!

Dec 2006 Seven Months

Trips to Seattle and Portland including a train ride on the Coast Starlight. Chanukah with the Newfields, and New Years Eve in the Shire... not a bad month

Almost Walking...

Here is some footage of the boy as he works on his walking skills at the park. He isn't doing it on his own yet, but as you can see he is a rockstar when he's holding onto a pushtoy or either of his mommies hands.

Six Months to Seven

Eating solid foods, travelling to Seattle and Portland, visiting the Shire ... November and December 06 were good months for the boy.

Months Five & Six - October & Nov 2006

Before winter started we got to make our first trip back to SF, for Aimee & Tam's wedding, and we had a nice Nov. weekend in the shire with the Grandparents Phancy, as well as a fun evening trick or treating at the Pleasant St Park with Dan, Gina and all the neighbors. R. also went to Harvard and earned himself a young scientist bib!!!

Late Oct 2006

At 5 1/2 months the lil monkey was just so adorable I need to post 2 sets of photos.

Month Five - Fall 2006

Fall & Rosh Hashana pictures from 2006 when duck boy was 5 months old.

Month Four Collage

These are the Aug/Sept 06 highlights as we keep heading down memory lane - The coat and hat shot was during our labor day trip to Vermont -as Boston was Balmy during those months.

July - Month Three (He Wakes Up)

After sleeping for the first two months lil Monito began to wake up in the Boston Summer Months.

Month Two of Monito

These are our first days on the farther coast, still not much hair but working on the facial expressions.

Blasto's First Month

Okay so I am shameless on the trip down memory lane....
I just can't believe that our big guy was actually such a lil bit just one year ago - I also can't remember most of last May - thanks to the craziness of birth, graduation, packing & moving & all the non-stop love we got from friends, family & neighbors.

Last May

Some shots from the first few days with the lil guy

See my Tabblo>

Some shots from Year One on a Tabblo

These are some shots from Blasto's first year. ... See my Tabblo>