Miles the cat?

A great philosopher once postulated that babies are like kittens. Although Joe is very optimistic that Miles will one day demonstrate cat-like-speed-and-reflexes, at this point, all I can confirm is that he has kitten eyes. For the first days of Miles' life, he never opened his eyes! I occasionally saw one or the other (most often the left), but never both together. Today (Miles is now 5 days old) was two-eyes-day!! Hurray! After days of straining with his eyebrows up, he finally got them both to cooperate at once, and now I have confirmed that he not only has two matching eyes, but also that they focus together -- success! (however fleeting). Hilariously, when he manages to get them both open, he gazes around with the most startled, confused expression. It seems he thought he had this place all figured out, until - shock! - a whole new dimension in sight.

introducing Mr. Miles!!

After a few frustrating false alarms, Miles Joseph sprang into the world at 8:26am today. Once he decided today was the day, he didn't mess around: we were at the hospital exactly 9 minutes before he arrived, long enough to make it to the birthing suite (barely, and only after running down the triage nurse in the ED), but not long enough that the nurse had time to ask my name!! Joe says little Miles is announcing his Nelson-ness: late and in rush!! He weighed in at 8lbs 1oz, 21in long. Lots of brown hair, but too short to be curly (yet). After a few short hours of intense excitement, we had quite a mellow day together. So far he's got a great disposition, and the most adorable little expressions. Oh, and all 10 fingers and toes.

Ms. Adelaide, for her part, is the most excited big sister imaginable. She just couldn't wait to meet her new little brother, and talked non-stop about his tiny fingers, soft hair and her favorite part, the "funny belly button" (aka stump). She asks about every 30 seconds if he needs a diaper changed yet. Hurray!! I couldn't be happier! :-)

pregnant women are people TWO

No, I am not miserable. No, I am not going to pop. No, I do not know if today is the day. Yes, I am still pregnant. And, believe it or not, I'm feeling pretty good about it. My new perspective is: what's the rush? I only have a few weeks of my life to enjoy being about as wide as I am tall, and accumulate all the excitement (and empathy) that goes with that. So I am living it up. I figure, how lucky for me that I am not swollen or sleepless or plagued by any of the other terrible 3rd trimester problems that most preggos face. So, I am enjoying this time with my belly and my family, before things change again forever. Might be this week, might be next; hopefully won't be two weeks from now, but if so that'll be okay too.

Adelaide, on the other hand, is very ready and quite excited to be a big sister. Little Ada is at such a great stage right now; she's figured out imaginative play, and she's expressive enough to narrate everything she can imagine. The interplay is hilarious. She's been preparing her doll for how to be a big sibling to the baby she imagines is in her own belly! Yesterday, she settled her baby doll into the car and informed me: "this baby girl is getting so big, she's ready to be a big sister now. When she came out of my belly, she was so tiny, but now she's big enough to be a sister and she's ready for the baby to come out of my belly." I love it.

Happy Halloween!!

I'm still pregnant!! And Ada is still a strawberry.
I had to work in the peds ED on Halloween (while my family went trick-or-treating at the zoo), so I wore a pumpkin on my baby, and generated a lot of laughter.

The fantastic thing about having a belly this large is that my brain doesn't remember that the belly belongs to me, and I run into things! Especially in close quarters, I often look at a small space, and think: I can fit ... but I don't!!

see Ada read

We hit a new linguistic breakthrough in the past couple weeks. Adelaide has been working on learning the sounds that letters make for quite a while, and she's reliably identified her favorites ("o" and "s") all over town for many months. But recently, she's figured out that the sounds string together to make words. Better yet, she's realize that we string the letters together to know how to read to her.

Each of her favorite books right now has an associated letter to "practice". Fiona Loves the Night holds the distinguished honor of her first sounded-out word: plop. She very reliably identifies p-l-o-p, in rapid succession, p-l-o-p, p-l-o-p, over and over. A huge first step!

A funny anecdote: this week she and Joe were sounding out words in a book about body parts. They got to "knees" and Joe tried to skip it (as the silent "k" is pretty confusing). He said, "this is a hard one, let's do the next page." She patted his shoulder sympathetically, nodded her head in earnest, and encouraged, "No, it's okay, you can do it! Just try!" Knees.

baby priorities

There are plenty of rotten aspects to being in residency while being pregnant; let's just say it's not a combination I would recommend to anyone wishing for life balance or sanity. However, as I am just in the thick of my toughest rotation of residency, which is perfectly aligned with the toughest part of being pregnant, I have been trying hard to keep perspective and focus on the silver linings. This pregnancy has been all about remembering my priorities, and only bothering with the important things. This means that I remind myself everyday that the only things that really matter are to get my job done (as efficiently as possible so that I can get home) and to spend time with my family. Fortunately, the tiniest of my family members comes along everywhere I go, so the two of us get lots of little moments to share experiences. Every time Roo jumps on my bladder or tries to push out my belly button, I think, "hi little buddy, I know you are in there!" while I push back on the little parts that stick out and make me look lop-sided. Time with the little one isn't hard to come by these days, but unfortunately I can't carry Adelaide with me all the time. So these last few months I have been learning that it's impossible to fit in all of the things I wish for, and I have to prioritize the big ones. Time with Adelaide is essential. And, at least occasionally, thanking my husband for holding down the fort and being full-time Dad / housekeeper / cook / savior -- this also is essential. All the rest -- just details. If the dishes don't get done, or I miss my exercise time, or I don't do any of the reading I had planned, well, there's always next year for those things. I am learning that working 80-hours per week and having a family is enough! This is a good lesson, because it makes me so thankful when I make it to yoga, cook a healthy meal, talk to a friend, or when I get caught up on my reading. These things don't happen all the time anymore, and almost never happen simultaneously. But that's okay. For a short while longer, life is all about getting through the work, making the most of moments at home, and absolutely cherishing the rest. I am learning a lot in residency; one extracurricular lesson has come from being forced to challenge and define my priorities, which is a good lesson, one that I hope I remember after life lightens up on me.

summer activity

The weather always seems to turn to "fall" just as the school year starts; perhaps it knows that we need help adjusting to the back-to-school routine. The JAM family had a very active and busy summer. Little Roo is constantly on the go, turning, kicking, swimming, you name it; never a dull moment. I hope this kid sleeps more on the outside than on the inside! For now, I'm very much enjoying the not-yet-powerful fluttering that serves as a constant reminder that I am not alone. But hopefully s/he slows down over the next few months if those movements get any stronger! I'm not sure how much more 're-arranging' my insides can tolerate...

Adelaide in the meantime has become quite proficient with her little tape measure, calling out numbers ("eighty-two, nine" is a favorite) as she sizes things up, and she has a mini-sized wheelbarrow that she uses to tote gravel around, thanks to helping Joey with a series of very extensive house/yard summer projects.

She also worked hard to keep up her reputation as a tiny traveler. This summer she ventured to South Dakota (via motorhome, which lost 2 wheels on I-90! prompting her comments like "Grandpa, slow down! the wheels might fall off!" with perfect timing during the last few months). Ada also went on her first canoe/camping trip and absolutely loved paddling around wearing her little red life jacket (tragically, we forgot the camera on that adventure) . And she made it back to Wisconsin to visit her grandparents and cousin Sam. Thanks partly to him, she is very excited for "our" baby to arrive. When we talk about baby coming and all the things s/he will do and need to learn, she often says, "... like Baby Sam?"

All of us are getting excited for her little sibling, and I am feeling more confident that she's going to handle the transition well. However, we recently visited a friend with a new baby. Ada was entranced: wanted to hold him, change him, sing to him, examine his little hands ... but when he started crying, she knew just what to do, "put he on the ground!"(pointing to the concrete patio). Maybe she's not ready to babysit yet :)