fidean.net

Now that the holidays are past, we’ve slowed down a bit on the updates. Life hasn’t slowed down much, just the time to write about it

Fiona is finding her voice, talking up a storm with coos and hoots and giggles. She’s very talkative when she’s happy, just laying there chatting up a storm. Autumn has taken some video footage of her talking, we’ll try to get that online soon. She continues to be a very happy and charming kid, and seemingly on the verge of sitting up already (very strong). She’s also teething like crazy, gnawing on our fingers and on toys within reach. She’s apparently on about the same teething schedule as Ella, who got her first teeth breaking through at about 3 months.

Ella is 32 months old today! She has been painting a lot with the easel that John got her for christmas - pictures of her work are here: http://fidean.net/ellaart/. She has been a big fan of the Lord of the Rings movies that we got on DVD. We skip over the scary parts for her, but she likes Gollum - i think partly because he’s similar to Dobby in the Harry Potter movies that she also likes. She gets ever more sophisticated in her english skills; a favorite recent phrase is “i’m prepared to…”, as in “I’m prepared to paint now”. We’ve also signed her up for dance classes, starting next month. She’s very interested in dance, and I think she’ll like the structure of learning new movements.

We’re working through another round of winter colds this week, complete with sore throat. I’ve been super busy at work since the holidays but relatively healthy. Christmas cards are starting to trickle out, but we’re hopelessly behind with them. We’re thrilled to have a new Bueschel baby arrive: Rianna Grace, born in December to Christie and cute as can be.

Update: Actually posting this in the morning - we just had a 45-minute power outage right before I posted this, not sure why. The whole neighborhood was dark, and one of the coldest nights of the year (-10 on the backyard thermometer this morning). We had a fun time with candles around, reading a bit with camping headlamps on. It was a almost disappointing when the lights came on again, but nice when the furnace cranked up.

Fiona’s getting so good that she’s come up with a trick - she tries to get her whole fist in her mouth.

well, she’s getting big, growing out of her 0-3 month clothes. she finally got to meet her name sake, my aunt eileen, and they were immediately in love.

she went swimming for the first time with ella, grandma kathy, aunt eileen, and me. we thought she would be ready to get out of the water after a couple minutes, but she was quite happy and ’swam’ in the water sling for a good 15 minutes or more. ella is the only one who can really make her laugh for more than a few moments. ella’s bouncing and dancing make fi giggle for minutes on end.

i love the way…

…her sweet milk breath sustains me

…the little dimple in her right cheek dimples

…she tells stories in coos and gurgles

…she clings to my nightgown as she nurses into baby sleep smiles

…she looks when she is completely asleep, peace and beauty and light

…my pinky smells of her milky breath

…her little fingers gracefully curl and sweep, like falling stars

…just a few moments of being naked brings her joy

…our older daughter explains the world to her sister

…her dancing and jumping inspire gales of laughter from her little sister

…my husband smiles with his children

…motherhood has expanded my life

We hope to eventually get the actual cards in the mail. Forgive our tardiness, as our hands and arms have been quite full lately…

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January 5th, 2004

Better late than never, right? Happy belated holidays, winter solstice, and a blissful beginning to the new year. We hope this letter finds you and yours in good health and spirits.

The past months have comprised the Year of the Sheep, which is quite apt, considering the amount of herding we?ve been doing of late. Its amazing what an endeavor it is to just get out of the house these days. Make sure Fiona has nursed and is in a clean cloth diaper, get Ella on the potty, dress all in fleecy layers, herd the dog out from underfoot, fill a sippy cup for the road, put on multiple pairs of shoes, avoid tripping over the cats, nurse Fiona one more time, change Fiona?s diaper yet again, get Ella back into her coat, shoes, and gloves (all of which she likes to remove while mama is predisposed), locate the keys…well, you get the idea. Despite the chaos involved in getting out of the house for the most simple of outings, becoming a family of four has been wonderful.

Fiona Eileen joined us September 29th at 7:19am, after several days of five mile hikes through the city and woods. She was 8 lbs, 14.5 oz; 20 1/4 inches - just an ounce lighter and 3/4 inch shorter than her older sister - with lots of red hair. Her birth was sublime; her sweet fingers and milky breath ambrosia. She nurses very well, is constantly in arms or sling, and sleeps like an infant should (dream smiles, waking just enough to nurse and cuddle closer to mama). She is smiling, laughing, cooing, flirting, rolling over, holding up her own head, enjoying her own hands, and we suspect she may be getting her two front teeth soon.

Ella Kathleen, now two and a half, loves being a big sister. She checks on Fiona often, speaking in a soft, high pitched voice about how tiny and cute her baby sister is. She is an incredibly verbal toddler, offering explanations (?Fiona was in your uterus, and she came out. I used to live in there when I was a tiny baby, and I came out too.?), making joyful declarations (?Oh, chocolate! I can?t believe it! I?ve been waiting for this!?), sincere apologies (?I?m sorry mama, I?ll be more careful.?), statements of fact (?I am very, very, very, very, very, very, very clever?), and creating tales (?This is the mask of Agamemnon. Agamemnon was a king. He had three sons, three princes. He lived a long, long, long time ago.?). She loves to explain the reasons for things, how things work, and is very imaginative, assigning characters to the whole family (such as various animals, or the characters from Pooh). Other events in her life include graduating from cloth diapers to big girl underpants, from crib to big girl bed (although she is still sleeping with us now and then - thank goodness for the new king bed), getting a green stick fracture and first x-ray, and plans to marry her best friend, Benny.

Autumn just placed her orders for seeds for next year?s garden. This summer, sunflowers grew sky high and we picked peas, purple beans, tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, herbs, and raspberries. Bill planted seed potatoes, and dug 5 lbs in the fall. Loads of kale and collard greens were harvested in the fall, blanched, and frozen for the winter with the help of Grandma Connell. Our first pumpkin was picked and carved for Halloween. We also had a cornucopia of vegetables in our share from Hog?s Back Farm (hogsbackfarm.com), as well as organic pork and pasture raised beef from Anderson Farm. We were blessed to have a full table (and bellies) all through the year.

Bill has spent the last few months being Ella?s best friend, spending even more time reading and playing with her. He helped lead his first Twin Cities Attachment Parenting (twincitiesapi.org) meeting a couple weeks ago with nearly 40 people in attendance (babes included, of course). The topic was ?Attachment Fathering?, which he helped plan with several other involved papas. He also spent quite a bit of time building and finishing the new bed frame before Fi was born. It was completed just in time to hold all four of us in comfort.

2004 is the Year of the Monkey, which may mean we have ahead of us a great deal of play and conversation in the coming months. Let?s hope it is a year of hope and joy for everyone.

Peace & Love - The Connells - Bill, Autumn, Ella, & Fiona