Birthdays!

We've had two birthdays this month, so before the month is over I thought I'd better give the birthday report. We'll start with Alexander who turned six (6!) on Feb. 9th.

Let me take a moment to marvel at the fact that I have a six-year-old. Wow!

I remember being six. I remember getting on the bus to go to kindergarten. I remember being scared to be with so many other kids and not knowing what to do. I remember getting those little half pint cartons of milk at snack time and not knowing how to open mine until a boy next to me showed me how. I remember lying down on mats for nap time, sitting in a circle and passing letter-characters around, singing songs, clamoring for praise from my teacher Mrs. Gex. (I don't even know how to spell her name since I couldn't read at the time.) And I remember having a bright and vibrant internal world. It's amazing to me that my son has entered a period of life that I remember so vividly from my own childhood.

But enough about me. More about the birthday boy.

For his party, Alexander invited five friends (Sage, Sebastian, Leo, Nate, and Noah). Michiel took the boys to Northwest Kids Club for a morning of rambunctious play, while I stayed home and got the cupcakes ready. They returned for opening presents and a decorate-your-own-cupcake party. Lots of fun and not too difficult to manage.

The next day we had a second party with the Gerlits clan. I got to exercise a little creative energy on the cupcakes. (With Mieke as young as she is my artistic ventures are rather limited, but I had fun trying marzipan for the first time.) Alexander wanted an orange octopus, so here's what I came up with:

More presents for Alexander and a whole slew of Legos. He's been busy with them ever since.

I'll save Annabel's birthday for another post.

First Smile

Mieke gave us her first real smile today at five weeks old. This isn't it. But I wanted to include a picture since we didn't capture the actual smile.

I was holding her this morning, after a night of lots of crying. She looked into my eyes and her mouth widened to a big smile. All my exhaustion of the night before melted away. Mieke smiled at me! She's smiled lots of times before but always in her sleep or while looking at the wall, and those don't seem to count.

When I said, "Oooh, she's smiling," Alexander came over and she gave him a big smile too. Another for Annabel when she ran over. That's the moment I want to remember from today: three heads bent over a baby, inviting her to smile again.

A Rose By Any Other Name...

Yes! Our baby has a name! Introducing:

Mieke Emery Rose Nankman!

The story:

Each family member gave her part of her name. I've always liked the Dutch name Mieke.

Annabel has been insisting that her new baby sister be called "Rose Flower" for at least four months. Recently, she switched to "Rose Flower Rainbow Fairy Princess Butterfly Sparkly and Everysing Girly Nankman."  You'll be glad that we cut it down to "Rose."

Alexander wondered why he couldn't choose a name for the baby, and we thought, Why can't he? And so, he suggested "Emery." And so, our third child got two middle names, one from each of her siblings.

And Michiel, of course, contributed Nankman.

First Two Days

Our little girl is here! We're still working on the name, so stay tuned.

She was born at 2:31pm on January 16th, 2013
weighing in at 7lbs. 14oz
measuring 19.5 inches
and with a head circumference of 13.75 inches

Here are some impressions from the first two days:

She was amazingly calm from the moment she was born, only crying when manhandled.

She has more hair than Alexander or Annabel did at birth, and she was covered with an amazing amount of vernix. Annabel was with us here at home for her sister's birth, and when she saw the baby seconds after delivery, she said in a soft sweet voice, "Oh, the baby's here." Then she saw the vernix and her tone changed. "What's all that yucky stuff?"

She has big hands and long fingers that she kept flexing and stretching that first night. Also long toes. And long fingernails. Though she was very calm to first night, she squirmed a lot and made lots of little squeaking and sighing sounds, as if trying out her voice. She also had long periods of open-eyed alertness that night. At least, one eye was open. Tiny pirate. She makes all sorts of little-old-lady-who's-lost-her-dentures faces. It's pretty cute and funny looking.

She's got a strong sucking instinct and pretty much wants to do that every time she's awake.

And last, for now: Jolene was here for the birth and she was going to catch the baby, but the last bit happened so fast and surprised us all. Our little girl came out in one push and I got to catch my own baby! Pretty magical.

Expecting

We are two weeks away from the due date of our new baby and the excitement is mounting.

I'm feeling mostly ready, having gathered baby things from friends and family, put the house in better order, and finished all the important paperwork I had been neglecting. Of course, there are still endless tasks to do, but if I were to go into labor right now, I'd feel prepared. Mostly, now, I feel like we're waiting, joyfully anticipating what this new little being will be like.

Annabel is especially interested. She talks about her new baby sister all the time and always wants to "listen to the baby." She is really quite sweet and gives hugs and kisses to my belly throughout the day.

More and more I think about how this baby will change our family. Not just the whole roller coaster of having an infant in the house again, but the changes in the family dynamic. Annabel will go from the baby of the family (a position she relishes) to being a big sister, and the middle child. How will that change her?

We joke about how we've decided this baby will be our Buddha-baby, a child that brings peace and calm and enlightenment to our family, but who knows what she'll be like?

We're waiting to find out.

Waiting for...

There's much excitement in our household these days. Awaiting the new baby? Yeah, but that's old news. The latest excitement is Alexander's first loose tooth!

Technically, we first noticed a slight wiggle in said tooth over a month ago, but now it's flopping around all over the place. And the new tooth has already started to push up underneath. It has broken through the gum in a valiant effort to oust the old tooth. But the baby tooth hangs on.

We'll keep y'all posted on the next exciting developments.

Happy New Year!

A new year has begun and we're all excited about the changes 2013 will bring. A new baby at the end of this month. Hopefully a job for Michiel. Annabel will start school this year. And Alexander...well, everyone knows that six is soooo much older than five.

And here's our fun art project with sparklers. Michiel did the 2 and the 3. Annabel did the 1. Alexander did the 0, and I took the pictures. Joy and peace to you all in this new year!