fiona is one month old today. she has already grown so much. just like it was hard to imagine life before we married, and life before ella, now its hard to remember what life was like before fi was here. major news this week…her plugged tear duct has cleared up on its own. baby acne appeared (ella had the same thing), but seems to be clearing up already. she is much more vocal, cooing more often (and crying too, for those who don’t believe she ever cries). she has spent a lot of time in our new fleece baby slings, and she (and i) really loves it. very cozy.
ella is well. very much a fashion diva this week, tossing aside her pink sundresses in exchange for black velvet frocks. today, already in a black velour ankle length dress, she colored her face with marker and looked ready for a marilyn manson concert. in other news, grandma kathy came for a visit, which ella was very excited about. we also went to a halloween party last friday for which she wore her lovely butterfly costume (fi was a lion). we also carved pumpkins this week - two from hog’s back farm and one from the garden.
well, that’s about all from here. oh, yea….more pictures…
ella, about to take over the world…
see, fi really DOES cry sometimes…
lucky for us she calms quickly…
“ya don’t say?”
10/29/2003
10/27/2003
Is there anything better than having your 2 1/2 year-old daughter say, “i love you” seconds before falling asleep?
10/20/2003
fiona holding her own head up
fiona is 3 weeks now. she is already starting to hold her head up and push herself up by her arms. she smiles quite a bit and makes sweet cooing noises. she has the sniffles at the moment which makes breathing hard, so we’ve had to suction out her nose often. poor kid. she tolerates it quite well…and is also very tolerant of being handled by her big sister.
lions, and panda…bears, oh my!
ella is now 29 months…i guess we can start saying two and a half now. she is doing very well adjusting to life as a big sister. and she really is big…well over 3 feet tall now, and 34 lbs. she is going to be a butterfly for halloween this year, in a costume masterly constructed by grandma sandy.
big sister butterfly
when she grows up, she’s going to be a wacky doctor. we know this because she is in love with the kid’s sized stethoscope her grandpa terry got her…but she likes to wear it around her waist like a belt. she sings constantly (row row row your boat, the farmer in the dell, old macdonald, ABCs, twinkle twinkle little star, baa baa black sheep, to name a few). oh, and the english majors among you may find this humorous - she has recently started talking in quite a literary manner, such as: “‘i am mad’, i cried.” or “‘you can gobble it all UP,’ said the little girl”
is she a future doctor? or a future show girl?
we’re doing okay too…trying to get as much sleep as we can. we got some new slings last week (fleece and solarveil, made by a local woman - www.kangarookorner.com) and fi and e both have spent time in them. its funny, after we had ella we often thought ‘before we had ella, what did we do with all our time (and money)??’. now that fi is here, we find ourselves asking the same question. adjusting to life with fi has been pretty easy, but it makes us ponder how much easier life with just a toddler was.
and here are some much awaited pictures! these are from the last week…
proud papa…
proud (and tired) mama…
proud grandma.
cookin’ & slingin’
hee hee. ella being shy (or sly?).
ella riding her trike.
10/14/2003
baby fee is 2 weeks + 1 day. she had her 2 week check-up yesterday and gained 6 oz (right, bill?) and has grown a half inch. we had several worries - a little eye goop, some prickly heat, a touch of diaper rash - all of which our wonderful pediatrician assured us were normal and of no big concern. she is very alert, wide eyed, and observant…yet very peaceful and quiet. i think she’s more mellow that ella was as a newborn, or maybe its just that we’ve done this before. she is very strong, already starting to try and hold up her own head and push herself up with her arms. oh, and she discovered her thumb yesterday too.
ella is still adjusting, but doing well in general. she’s had a few regressions and a few moments of wanting mama or papa all to herself. at the same time, she loves being a big sister. she wants to hold her baby, give her kisses, and comforts her by saying ‘baby sister, what’s the matter? don’t cry, baby sister.’ she has loved the extra time and attention grandma sandy has given her (and bill and i have loved the apple pies, home cooking, and amazing help around the house and yard).
ma & pa connell are also hanging in there. we’ve had a few nights of little sleep, broken up by nursing, diaper changes, wakeful toddler, anxious pets, etc. the above mentioned home cooking, pies, and help all around provided by grandma sandy has done wonders for our sleepy selves.
more recent pictures and some video tidbits will be posted soon enough…so check back soon.
10/12/2003
With Grandma Connell visiting for a few days, we’ve been able to get a few extra chores done, like all of the laundry and lots of clothes sorting and house cleaning.
Today was the bonanza though: with a nice sunny day, we all went out into the yard, putting the garden to bed and cleaning up the piles of leaves. We got about 5 lbs of carrots that we’d forgotten about, about a dozen pounds of kale and collards blanched and frozen, and our ever-wider-ranging horseradish dug up. Then lots of plant pulling to clean up the rest of the garden, moved done compost into the garden and filled the compost bins with vines and leaves from the garden and yard. Grandma even painted the front steps!
yes, and more Fiona pictures coming soon 
