January 2012

January 2012 / Sam is One Month Old

It's almost too much of a cliche to say it, but I can't believe that a whole month has passed since Samantha came into our lives. The picture above is maybe my favorite from this month--she was just a week old, and we hadn't yet gotten up for the morning; the sun was coming into our bedroom windows, and while my parents sang "Happy Birthday" to Sam on her one-week birthday, Marcus had to have his stuffed dog kiss her.

Samantha is growing faster than Marcus did, and might be a better nurser than he was. She weighs 9lbs 2oz, which is 9oz more than Marcus weighed at the same age. She is burpy and sometimes sucks her thumb and doesn't like to be swaddled, but she is just as good a sleeper and just as quiet a baby as her brother was.

Marcus is still an amazing big brother. He almost kisses the skin off Samantha, honestly. I'm never so happy as when I have the two of them in my arms, or if I'm laying down on the couch or in bed with both of them right by me.

With Sam's birth, I got so many presents from friends, both real-life and online--the doll mei tai arrived from an old high school friend I'd reconnected with online a year or so ago, and Marcus loves it (though he does insist on a front-facing-out carry--no idea where he got that idea from).

My parents went home on New Year's Day, and the next day (Monday, a stock market holiday), Robert, Marcus, Samantha, and I took our first outing as a family of four. It was also Sam's first subway ride and first nursing in public experience--she'd been off the nipple shield for about four days at that point, and I was feeling confident enough to tag along as we brought Marcus to his first-ever ice skating experience. He'd been fascinated with ice skates, so we got him a pair of expandable clip-on ones and headed over to the Kelly Rink behind the Stonybrook T, about 15 minutes total from our door, including the brief wait for a train. Robert wore Marcus on his back in a custom buckle carrier and I wore Samantha on my front in a wrap, and Robert and Marcus skated for about an hour. When they cleaned the ice, we all took a break in the little trailer, and, elbow-to-elbow with a bunch of teenagers and random other skaters taking a break, Sam nursed very happily.

I think this is the first picture we have of all four of us together, actually, even though Samantha isn't very visible in it. You only see the top part of her hat (an Etsy find, designed to look like a breast--I find it pretty funny, and Robert just rolls his eyes).

On Martin Luther King Day we went skating again, to the ice rink the city had set up in Fenway Park for the Frozen Fenway hockey tournament. Sarah came with us, which was good because we needed two skaters to help hold Marcus's hands. It was very cool being right on the field at Fenway, and it was of course Sam's first time at the stadium. Afterward, we walked over to Sweet Cheeks for really good barbeque sandwiches, and just had another great family day out.

This month we've kept going to karate lessons on Saturday for Marcus, both for the karate and to see/play with A.; we've been visiting Great-Grandma Helena, who is of course thrilled with both kids; Marcus has gone back to preschool; and we've managed to get out and about on Marcus's non-school days, just for fun and variety.

The first week of January was my first week "alone" with both kids, with my parents gone and Robert at work. We had a lovely time together. Sam is such a good baby--she only ever cries occasionally if she wants to sit up and burp (you don't have to "burp her," just let her change positions and she belches quite loudly) or if she wants to nurse but I'm in the last minute and a half of dinner prep and just want to power on through. In that final case, Marcus is wonderful about stroking her and singing to her--for some reason, he always chooses the ABCs to calm her down (and he mentions the episode of "SuperWhy" when the SuperReaders discovered that music will soothe both the giant and Jack's baby sister).

Not terribly surprisingly, wearing an eight-pound floppy newborn is worlds different than wearing a thirty-pound preschooler. I can't believe Marcus was ever this small and floppy! She is a joy to wear, and I love having her close to me, either just around the house for eating meals or getting laundry or snacks, or else for longer outings, under my coat. I haven't yet gotten around to putting her on my back, but I will soon. And, after the OB who ended up doing Sam's birth cleared me for it at 3.5 weeks post-partum, I started wearing Marcus again, and even both of them at once--though so far just around the house and mostly just for Marcus's amusement (really, he begged me to!).

Singing happy one-week birthday to Sam.

Bopping around the living room to Music Match on the Apple TV.

Skating at the Stonybrook rink.

Marcus playing his ukulele (Christmas present from Grandma and Pop-pop), albeit before I had a chance to tune it (it sounds positively pleasant now, especially in comparison to the ridiculously twangy "banjo" he had before).