Archive | Lena

my last day as a mother of one {Part 2 of 2}

February 8, 2013 at 3:53 pm

Exactly two weeks ago today I gave birth to our precious little baby Gil, an adorable bundle of love. Of course, that bundle of love has currently had me dancing for the last two hours to keep him happy and get him to go back to sleep. (Welcome to my new life!) While I would never go back to live without this precious baby, I must admit that this day I am in the process of chronicling — my last day as a mother of one — is looking very restful right now!

I know this last day with just Lena and myself was an unusually good one; we had no errands or activities on our plate and spent the entire day enjoying each other, mother and daughter, and peacefully playing, eating, walking, and talking together. I also know that these days will come again, perhaps in six months or so, once Lena and I and Gil all have a routine. But until then, this day with just Lena and myself is very much a thing of the past, even though it still seems close enough to relive in the blink of an eye.

Anyway, back to the agenda at hand. We’re picking up again at lunch, where I had leftovers (veggie enchiladas and blood orange salad) and Lena had Ramen (so easy…), blueberries, and yogurt. We shared an apple.

Lena: “My?” (Meaning “more” noddles.)

Me: Drink your soup, Lena, and then you can have more.

Lena: *gulp gulp gulp*

After lunch I got to wash the lunch dishes, something which I knew then would be impossible with two little children. (I was right. So far it is impossible.) Lena occupied herself for a few minutes while I did this… apparently by climbing back up into her high chair and shaking her water cup upside down.

I try to make my household tasks into a game and include Lena as much as I can. Helps me get more done! In this case I had to get the stubs of candle out of the top of the candlesticks. She enjoyed playing with the bowl of warm water while I dug out the soft wax. Then we set up the candlesticks with fresh candles to be ready for dinner that night.

Time to do something that she wants to do. We spent the next hour or so playing on the living room rug. One part of playtime was all 150 blocks through the shape sorter. Whew!

Siena, our Maine Coon kitten and ever-present companion.

Bathroom break. Lena’s playing with a jar of chocolate chips, one of which will be her “teet” (treat) when she is finished. We’ve since moved to giving her a goldfish after each successful trip to the toilet, which works extremely well if you only dole out goldfish as a reward! She loves them and always wants the parent who is with her to enjoy a goldfish as well.

Good girl… cleaning up after herself.

And back to playing, this time with the kitty and also the punch and drop toy we got her for Christmas.

Naptime again! These very yellow photos are due to the mellow, sleep-inducing (we hope) lamplight in her room. Siena snuggles down in her new favorite spot until I nudge her out so I can snuggle there with Lena for storytime.

Two naps in one day… I know I’m blessed! I use the 1.5 hours to clean the bathroom…

… put a few more things in my bag for the hospital…

… and do some dinner prep. On tonight’s menu: Sausage, Potato, and Fennel Chowder with fresh sausage from a butcher in town.

She’s up again! Someone’s happy to see her.

She helps me finish up a little dusting, which for her means using a paper towel for about 3 seconds before announcing that it is “tash” (trash) and running off with it to find a garbage can.

Back to the kitchen to finish up dinner before Elliott gets home from work. Lena tries a sip of my “doose” (juice), Pom and sparkling water. She’s not a huge fan.

We’re in the bathroom again when Daddy walks in! Lena runs to him for a hug, telling him excitedly that she just earned another “teet,” which earns an extra enthusiastic hug and kiss from him.

I stopped taking pictures at this point. I think I thought the routine would be the same with two babies as with one once Elliott got home. But I forgot that newborns don’t go to sleep at 7:30pm and wake up at 7am like Lena does. I forgot that they like to be held, especially while you’re eating dinner. I forgot what it’s like to put your baby in the Moby wrap and rock from one foot to the other while you wash the dinner dishes. I forgot that I might be nursing a newborn in the evenings while Elliott and I are watching Downton Abbey or dong Bible study together or attempting to blog. Basically… I think I conveniently didn’t realize how much a newborn would transform our whole lives, not just the 9-5 weekdays that Lena and I spent together.

So yes, the newborn is here. Gil is here, all adorable 8.5 lbs of him, with his beautiful thick hair and sleepy blue eyes. He has completely transformed our lives in every way, and it is taking an enormous amount of sacrifice so far. We’ve sacrificed having free hands. We’ve sacrificed our free evenings. We’ve sacrificed sleep… oh, so much sleep. We’ve sacrificed snuggles with our daughter (and turned them into double snuggles, which aren’t always easy to do!).

But we’ve gained so much. Welcome, little Gil. How will our days look with you in our pictures?

11 :: in a picture an hour, Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom Series, family, Gil, Lena, motherhood, thoughts

my last day as a mother of one {Part 1 of 2}

February 7, 2013 at 5:53 pm

Two weeks ago today was my last day as a mother of just one child. I didn’t know this then, of course, but I did know that it could be just a matter of hours before Lena would no longer be my only baby. I decided to photograph our day so that I would have a record of everyday life with just me and Lena.

Even though these pictures are from just two weeks ago, I can’t believe how much Lena has changed, much less our whole lives! One example: when she plays with her alphabet puzzle now, she knows about 75% of the letters by name and doesn’t need any help to put the pieces in place correctly. Children grow up so, so quickly.

So, if you will, take a walk with me down memory lane!

That morning, while Elliott showered and shaved, I got the day started in the kitchen. I served Lena a bowl of Raisin Bran (her favorite because she knows nothing else) and a cup of milk. I started coffee brewing for Elliott and me. And then I packed a lunch for Elliott. That day his lunch included leftover sweet potato and black bean enchiladas, carrots and dip, a pear, soft gingersnap cookies, olives from the market, and Triscuits.

These cold days, instead of serving cereal, I’ve been making oatmeal for Elliott and myself. Lena is usually finished with her Raisin Bran by then and asks for a small bowl of oatmeal to eat with us.

While Lena is eating, I like to do her hair. It’s the only time she’ll sit still for me because she’s strapped into her high chair!

After this Elliott left for work and Lena and I ventured out into the cold for a short walk.

She’s pointing to Mt Etna for me, which is unfortunately invisible in this photo. We then wandered through the old streets of our neighborhood and Lena tried out our key in different doors. She was unsuccessful in opening any of them, to her chagrin. I, meanwhile, was relieved that there was no one at home behind any of the doors she tried!

We headed back home to “pay!” (play) for a little while before her morning nap. She loooooves this wooden alphabet puzzle; I think we have completed it at least three times a day together for a month. It’s such a fun, easy way to learn the alphabet, though!

Below is a video I took of her working on the puzzle with me. It’s not great quality and my voice annoys me (I’m learning — slowly — to cut down on the baby talk), but it does capture so well how we spend our days together. Here it is:

After this it was time for her nap. I read a few books to her before laying her in her crib, singing her a song, and murmuring, “Sleep well! I love you, Lena!” as I shut the door.

While she slept I worked on this blog post.

She’s awake! Time for a trip to the bathroom. She was in the middle of potty training at this point, able to tell us when she needed to go but not to be trusted without a diaper on.

We taught her to empty the pot and clean it after she’s done. Finally we found a use for that bidet!

Even just two weeks later, the routine is totally different. She is sitting on the adult toilet now on a kid-sized seat and hasn’t had an accident in awhile. She also doesn’t need a pacifier to get her through the drama of it anymore. Growing up so quickly.

We moved outside to the balcony so that I could fold the laundry that had dried overnight.

Lena — wearing a pair of “big girl underwear” and no pants to help her remember that she doesn’t have a diaper on — played with my muddy boots from a hike we took last weekend. She then asked to be lifted up to make the wind chime sing. I held her up (cautiously, for we live on the edge of a cliff!) after taking this photo.

These are the last cloth diapers of Lena’s that I will wash for awhile, I think! We’ve moved entirely to training pants and underwear. The end of an era.

After that we moved inside to make and eat lunch together. I’ll pick up at this point tomorrow to finish chronicling the day.

If you stuck with me this far, thank you! If you don’t have kids, what surprised you the most about a day at home with a one-year-old? If you do have kids, what looked the most familiar to your routine, no matter where you live in the world?

20 :: in a picture an hour, Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom Series, family, Lena, motherhood, video

customized board books for your baby

January 24, 2013 at 3:55 pm

I’ve been eying these customized photo books from Pinhole Press for awhile. Plug in photos of family and friends, press “order,” and in no time flat you’ll have a way to enjoy the faces of loved ones with your baby. Especially since we live in Sicily and Lena’s entire extended family lives in Virginia, this seemed like a wonderful way to help her remember their names and faces.

However, as with most things in life that cost money, I just looked. I did not do.

And then what should my mother-in-law get Lena for Christmas but a customized photo book! It came from a company called Pint Size Productions. After browsing around, I really like Pint Size because it’s much more customizable and they also offer many more book options. I’ll be going to them with any future board book orders, I think.

Lena’s Marmee (which sounds like “Mommy” when she says it these days) put together a beautiful book with all Lena’s aunts and uncles from Elliott’s side of the family. She loves it! Below is a little video I took of Elliott and Lena reading it together on the night she received the book. Makes me want to make one for my side of the family!

Have you ever made a customized photo book? Or a board book? What’s your favorite online resource/company to use?

***

P.S. This is not a sponsored post. I just like these board books and thought you might too!

8 :: in Lena, video, wishlist

searching for bugs

January 18, 2013 at 3:45 pm

Elliott has a four-day weekend starting today (hip hip hooray!), and so we decided to kick it off with a hike down into the valley below our house. Lena is lately obsessed with bugs, which you might remember from a recent post about our walk to the orange groves. Here’s a little video that I took of her searching for bugs while Elliott and I relax on the picnic blanket with our books.

And yes, it’s chilly here! Clear and cold, a perfect day for blogging by the fire with some hot chocolate after a beautiful hike. Of course I also have a huge pre-baby to-do list, so it won’t be all relaxing around here this weekend!

What are your plans for the weekend?

3 :: in hiking, Lena, Sicily, video

these final days

January 16, 2013 at 3:38 pm

I had my 38-week appointment today for our little babe. Hard to believe he could arrive any day! The news from my doctor is that he doesn’t look that ready to come out yet (can’t blame him) and so we’ve probably got another two weeks to wait here… at least. Maybe three weeks. Maybe four.

Or maybe he’ll come tomorrow.

In the meantime, life as it is has taken on a whole new meaning for me. These days are limited. Change is on the horizon.

What will he be like? Quiet and chill? Anxious and colicky? A good eater? A good sleeper? Mothers tell you they are so excited for their new babies–and they are!–but they are also full of apprehension about what this unknown creature will be like. In some ways a mother already knows her unborn child better than anyone, for he came into existence and has grown inside of her for nine months. Yet in most ways everything about him is a complete mystery.

My response to the unknown has been to worry, which is foolish, I know. Worrying will do me no good! But my other response has been to slooooow down and take a deep breath and savor. Life right now is not perfect by any means, but it is good and it is full of beauty. I want to treasure these days up in my heart, locking them away to ponder over and remember forever.

Most of all I want to remember my quiet days at home with Lena. Our days are fairly routine here: awake by 7-ish, breakfast at 8-ish, goodbye to Daddy at 9-ish, nap at 10, lunch at 12, another nap at 2 or 3, and dinner prep starts at 5. In between we go on walks around the neighborhood or I push her stroller into town for groceries. We bake cookies for Daddy. We sit on the rug and play with her puzzles, her baby doll, her blocks, her paper and crayons. We read books before her morning nap, before her afternoon nap, and sometimes in between, too. She occasionally helps me with cleaning, like turning the vacuum switch on for me or dusting side-by-side. We practice words. We dance. We change diapers, we change clothes, we wash diapers, we wash dishes, all day long.

In this world, my daughter is my constant companion, my chatty little shadow, my ever-present friend. When she is napping and I am putting together a blog post and I see a picture of her, I actually miss her. And she’s only been asleep for 30 minutes! And I need the break! But I look at her–her huge blue eyes, her curling brown hair, her petite little hands, her beautiful little body–and cannot believe she is our daughter, and how pretty and sweet she is, and that she exists in this world and loves us more than anyone and calls me, “Mama.”

As some of you know or remember, I’ve felt a great deal of emotional conflict about being a stay-at-home mom. As a result, I am spending a lot of my spare time trying to develop talents so that I can work from home. Yet in this past year I have also fallen in love with this new job of staying at home with my child. I wake up each morning and look forward to the day. (And that is saying something when you consider other things that have happened in our lives this past year.)

With a new baby due any day, I feel a great deal of apprehension about the changes ahead. Apprehension… excitement… thankfulness… and just a bit of fear. And that is why I savor my life as a mother just as it is right now, savor our quiet and uneventful days together, savor today.