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More Family Photos

Here's some photos that my sis took of our little one's first week at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family

This first week has been quite a whirlwind of activity, as we are learning to juggle two kids.  Our family, specially Baaaaa (J.'s mom) and my sister, have been indispensable.  They have helped us with the little things that have become big things due to our addition.

Our major worry is helping our boy cope with his new sister.  He is a sweet sweet boy, suddenly unsure of his place in the family.  We have been trying to give him as much attention as we can, but it is hard.  He sees J. nurse the baby, and he suddenly understands that mommy's little boy has to share.  It is hard for him, but I think he will get it over time.

Yesterday was the toughest day.  He woke up in a bad mood, and it only got worse.  His need to reassert himself into the gravitational core of our lives expressed itself in many ways and many layers.  But we can see him trying, and we just need to be aware and just need to reassure him that he is /just as important/ as she is, but she has more physical needs.  We see him trying to process, and love him for trying. 

For all his cry for attention, he totally loves his sister.   He is always one of the first to give her a caress and kiss when she's crying, and he is always excited to share his favorite things with her:  favorite foods (chocolate bunnies and ice cream), Wacky Races (favorite DVD), and all his favorite toys (cars, marbles, cars).  He gives from the heart.  His generosity is genuine, and the grandness of it still takes our breath away every time.  The first time he heard her cry, he came running over and gave her his most treasured possession of all:  his snuggly elephant, Buddy.  The elephant he won't even let go in his sleep, he didn't hesitate to give to his sister so that it could comfort her the same way it comforts him.

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Here's a few more random family photos from this week.

Baby girl, totally passed out after feeding.

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The boy, playing futbolin during a daddy/son afternoon.

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Aunt and niece.

We're Home!

After running our own version of the NYC marathon - skirting around traffic, coordinating massive logistics with boy (thanks, neighbors!  thanks, Rita and John!), coaching a taxi to skirt around traffic while coaching J.'s laboring pain, figuring out stomach flu vs. contractions as we're on our way...phew!

The actual labor within the Birthing Center felt like a breeze, a downhill home stretch.

Here are some early photos:

 

 

Our 6lb. beautiful baby girl was out by 4:45pm, a head full of hair, and our amazing midwife even got to go home for an early dinner and a regular night's sleep.

  

Here's a quick video:

I Guess He Really Likes It...

Tonight, I came into the bedroom and saw this:

After running back out to grab the camera, and taking the obligatory "for posterity" photos, all I could do was marvel at the boy's persistence and focus in taking his obsessions into new heights.

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PS:  He doesn't like saying umbrella, sombrilla, paraguas, parapluie, or any of the other permutations of the word.  He prefers to call them "foo-fa" as in, "daddy, it's raining, I need my foo-fa."

And the countdown begins...

A quick update from casa Panda.

It's been a crazy busy summer, and an even crazier busier autumn.  We are now settled into a nice rhythm of school and work, which will soon be disrupted exponentially with the arrival of baby #2.

Between renovating the kids' room (apple green paint!  decals!  cabinetry!  beds!) and trying to fulfill all our social obligations, there is little time left to enjoy our little nuclear family of 3 before a fourth decides to join our dance.  We are heart-torn for our boy, as we want to give him as much undivided attention as we can while we can, but with so many family members and friends in the city (that's why we moved back, remember?) we don't get enough alone time.

One of the things I look forward to every morning is taking our little boy to school.  It's a nice little bit of quality time, although it tends to zoom by as he likes to use his scooter to get there nowadays.  Today, of all days, was amazing:  beautiful crisp autumn morning, sunshine, and what felt like all the time in the world to explore the sidewalks of Brooklyn.  At one point, my boy zooms towards me, a biiiiig smile under his even bigger helmet, and screams, "daaaaaaddy!!!  I'm happy!"  This is going to be one of those moments I want to remember forever.

We're still torn about having two - mainly because we want to give to our beautiful son as much of ourselves as we can.  In a way, a little sister/brother would be a gift for the future, a companion and someone to commiserate with and love after we're gone, but there are all these ifs.  What if they don't get along?  What if his thoughtful, sunny nature gets changed by having a sibling?  What if?

I am an optimist, and these fleeting negative thoughts will always be trumped by visions of siblings walking hand in hand, of an even bigger and warmer and squirmier family group hug, of sunshine and scooters and smiles and moments that live forever.

T-minus a few weeks...

Children's Fashions

I admit to being conservative fashion-wise, but sometimes, current trends just befuddle me.  While doing research for work on children's fashion trends, I ran into this:

I hate the hat in #1, while the rest of the outfit is just meh.  #3 is cute, but it's kinda traditional, plus maybe the brown sweater is covering up the current multi-layered "I'm a gypsy" skirt that is popular nowadays.

Does anyone else find it disturbing to to see a little girl dressed to play a puritan in a pre-K remake of the Scarlet Letter (#2), and a boy ready to join a hipster parade (#4)?

I admit that I am surrounded by too-hip-for-you Brooklynites all the time, and cannot even relate to their fashion sense.  Not only am I out of the loop, I'm not even in their same fashion universe.  But to subject poor kids to these clothes?  At least they didn't try to stuff #4 into skinny jeans and try to pose him next to a miniature fixed gear bike.

Daddy's Little Girl

Sorry we've been off the radar for a bit, but it has been a tumultuous few months at Panda Headquarters.  Our time had been filled with home renovations, unpacking storage boxes, multiple visitors, unpacking storage boxes, multiple visits to doctors' offices (for about 6 different people in the family) and, of course, interminable rain in the area.  Oh, and more unpacking of storage boxes.  This is navel-gazing, no real news.

Newsflash:  It's a girl!*  Due in mid-November!

Here's one of the first pictures of her:

Look at that larynx and cutie nose.  I think she takes after me.  That, and the fact that she's been kicking up a storm at all hours - a very restless little guppy.  Our panda household has been a flurry of activity, and not just from prepping for more visitors.   Not only do we have to speed up renovation plans, but we now have to redesign certain aspects to account for the boy/girl mix in the new kids room.

Hopefully, by autumn, we will be living in a proper 2-bedroom apartment with a kid's bedroom with a bunk bed and/or  trundle bed, activity areas, and lots of his/hers toy storage places.  Oh, and be fully unpacked.

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*Of course, there's like a 1% chance that the guppy had been playing "hide the sausage" during our sonogram session, but our doctor seemed pretty certain of that.  We'll try to think of some boy names, just in case.

A Lovely Day

Our dear friends Alejandra and Ben got married this past week.  It was a magical day.  Just think:  even nature cooperated with us.    The weather forecast looked like this the week before (and the week after):

On the wedding day, it was sunny, warm and rainless!  The days before and after?  Rain.  Rain.  Rain.

After the jump, some photos.

Uniqlo Calendar

Click on the widget to view it on a larger browser window, and click on the volume icon in order to hear the awesome music!

(via Dr. Dave)

Vocabulary Lesson

My favorite phrase in the boy's burgeoning vocabulary:  "no-rain."   A sample usage:  "Daddy, open the no-rain?"

Here he is, holding the no-rain over himself and his grandpa.