December 2011, brought to you by the letter "Why?"

Aside from Christmas festivities taking center stage this month, we had several milestones as well. James is smiling, cooing, and acting less like a helpless newborn every day. We've made absolutely no progress in the duration of his nighttime sleep but he has, at least for the moment, become easier to get to sleep. We'll count that as a victory, albeit a small one.

 

Ava has a renewed interest in letters (or what we're grandly terming "early literacy," because we can.) She can recognize each letter of the alphabet and relate words to the letter that they start with. She can also write A, T, V, H, O, and J with ease. At this point most other letters look like centipedes or Sanskrit.

Ava is also either incredibly curious about the world around her or she's getting great enjoyment out of the one-two punch of "Why?" and "What you said?" (decoded: What did you say?) Combined they land us in a downward spiral of explaining, repeating, explaining, repeating...so on and so forth. We're all for a love of learning but we wouldn't mind just a teensie bit less curiosity.

Enjoy this months set of photos! It's a biggun', but you know you love it.

Our Last Christmas of Low Expectations

It's been a few days now and we're still getting over the web of lies we just told Miss Ava Kate about Santa. It's a messy business, this parenting thing. You start out with an innocent, "Hey, some bearded stranger is going to give you presents for Christmas," and then all of a sudden you're working through extensive follow-up questions. Why? Where is he now? Why does he need milk and cookies? Ava didn't appear to buy the story at all but seemed to understand that presents would come to her if she just nodded along. Next time we'll just have a movie take care of the explanations.

"Seriously? Milk and cookies gives him his energy?"

Glamour shot by the tree

Our primary gift to Ava this year was a trunk of dress-up clothes. It quickly became clear to us that we had failed to give her the proper little girl training when she thought the full-length satin gloves were in fact latex, and should be used to change diapers like they do at school. Or at least that's what we assume she meant when she screamed out, "I'm going to change someone's poopy diaper!" as she pulled them on her hands.

Christmas? What a hoot!

Taming the Wild Mane

So, 6 months after her last haircut, Ava had begun to look feral. Apparently kids need more than one haircut a year. Who knew?

Before: angelic, but still feral

For Ava's first two haircuts, we took her to kiddie salons where you fly around in airplanes and watch tv. Ava was unimpressed and screamed like a banshee from start to finish. This time we picked a location we hoped would be hip enough for her exacting standards. As a bonus, parents get to drink beer. It was all very...Portland.

Elliot escorted her to Bishops Barbershop and got his haircut first. Ava had a lot of insightful questions like, "Who is that woman?", "Why is she spraying/combing/cutting his hair?" and "Why did she stop cutting his hair?" Ava doesn't like to dive right into anything at all so the preview was good for her. 

When it came time for Ava's turn, it took a fair amount of cajoling to convince Ava that she needed to remove her hat and, preferably, her jacket. She conceded on the condition that she be allowed to keep her boots on, to which Danielle, her stylist, agreed. It looked like we were going to move beyond the impasse until Ava also demanded that she sit on Helen's lap, her hair be cut dry, and that Danielle not use the blow dryer. She eventually got her way and is now the cutest little non-feral two year old out there.

Ava, contemplating if she should have made more demands.

More vinyl than Little Clippers.

Mother reclaiming her daughter.

Little Feet

November 2011

With our first full month with two kids under our belt, we have a lot to report. Here are some FAQs:

- Are you tired?

Yes.

- How is the little man sleeping?

James sleeps fabulously during the day for several hours at a time. Nighttime slumber is an entirely different story, though. His longest stretch of sleep during his first month was 2 1/2 hours and most nights he slept for an hour at a time. Worse still, his latest "trick" is waking up to eat and then finding some reserve of energy that leaves him awake for the next hour until he needs to eat again.

- How has Ava handled the transition?

Ava is a champ and, obvious to all those who have met her, a true maternal spirit. She has stayed faithful to her campaign promises and picks his outfits and his diapers every day. She also folds the old diapers up, disposes of them, and helps put new diapers on. After 2 plus years of practice, she can probably put on a cloth diaper better than most adults can.

Ava loves James and usually places her head centimeters from his nose to let him know she is there for him. She's also fond of poking his head, so we spend a great deal of time saying things like, "Not the head holes. Please stay clear of his head holes." She calls him "Baby James," "Jamesie-poo," and "my baby broder."

- What about Brody? Didn't he completely lose his mind when Ava came along?

Brody surprised us all and seemed genuinely happy to have the new guy join our pack. He sniffed his head once and then just lay down next to him.

- Does James have any special talents or skills? (Well, nobody has actually asked this but here's what we would say if they did.)

James is an oddly strong infant and could hold his head up within a few hours of birth. By the third day we would hold him on our shoulder to burp him and he could lift his head up and turn to look at us. While still in the hospital he rolled onto his side but since then he's seemed too lazy to repeat such a feat of strength. Around Thanksgiving he wowed us with a few coy smiles and we've seen him doling them out a little more frequently in the last few days.

- So you gave birth to a 10-pound baby? Was that totally awesome?

We'll spare you the details, but we can now tell you that birthing a 10-pound baby is harder than birthing a 6 1/2-pound baby. In fact, Helen lost her voice during labor. As Brian commented shortly afterwards, "I hope there weren't any expectant mothers touring the maternity ward this afternoon."

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a welcome respite from doing stuff all the time. Instead we had the Edwards grandparents do everything for us while we sat around and said things like, "Two kids?! Who has two kids?"

"I'm helping. But I don't know why we're doing this."  -Ava

Straight Talk with Ava

• "This ear infection is not working for me."
• Walking in on Brian while peeing, placing a hand on his leg: "I'm going to stand here and keep you company so you don't have to be lonely."
• "James, what's your name? James? Ohhhhhh...that's a great name."
• "I can't get my shoes right now because my hands are preeeeeeeeetty dirty."

Rabold, Party of Five

James's First Lunch Date

James's First Bath

A few days ago we gave James his first bath. He is now officially the cleanest person in the house.

 

Little Man's First Week

Apart from anxiety over naming our child, week number 1 has been pretty smooth sailing. You'll notice that James spent most of his first week with his eyes closed--a point not lost on us.  But you don't gain a pound a week by being active.

Today in Ava

"Oh...babe. Oh...babe. Why are you crying? Big sister is here. I'm not going anywhere."

"First name? Baby. Middle name? Boy."

Okay, he's been here for a week, but hey, we're not ones to go around willy nilly giving our child a name after only 10 months of deliberation. We knew things looked grim when Ava's teacher asked Ava what her baby brother was named and she replied, "I don't know. Maybe you should come over to our house and help us pick a name." That was day four.

We were even more certain we were in trouble when the hospital called--twice--to inform us that there actually is a deadline for picking a name for a newborn. That deadline was today, so we turned to the most decisive person we know: Ava. We told her the names we had on our trusty list and asked her which one she liked the best. Without hesitation, she sang, "James. James. James. James-James. James." And it was so.

Re-presenting:

 Mr. James Dylan Rabold

Now weighing in at 10 lbs, 8 oz!

The biggest, baddest baby around

Little Man

To give credit where credit is due, we also received assistance on the middle name, courtesy of Rodney.

Introducing...

...our gentle giant,

Mr. Baby Boy Rabold
Born on Friday, November 4, 2011
5:04 p.m.
9 lbs, 15 oz (conversion = 1.5 Avas)

23 inches (conversion = almost 1/2 of a Paula, as she pointed out)

The young man is behaving well, even though he is yet to be named.

Let's Get This Party Started

At two days past due, we're fearful that Helen has made things a little too comfortable in the baby condo. Of course, we're slightly apprehensive about labor, a newborn, and bouts of toddler envy, but the alternative is to be pregnant forever. Seriously, it's time to move on from this:

This weekend we took to some folksy but indisputably reliable baby expulsion techniques.

Step 1: Smoke him out. Here is Helen eating something named "Hot Pepper Chicken Bath," which receives four out of four bombs on the restaurant's "ass-kicking scale." What's that, baby? Can't handle the heat?

Step 2: Hiking "Mt. Labor." Just like every other pregnant woman in Portland, Helen walked to the top of Mt. Tabor, squatting often to encourage the baby to move along. If nothing else, this one was worth it just to see the concerned look on strangers' faces when they saw a big ole prego squatting on the side of a mountain.

Step 3: Nesting. Chores that require being on ones hands and knees have helped pregnant women stay productive and induce labor for Millenia. So we're told. By men.

With this combination, we are certain that our average-sized baby will be here any day now. In the meantime, our hearth is spotless.

October 2011

The family spent most of October wondering when the baby was going to come. October 29 came and went without an arrival, but we are certain we will have a reasonably sized addition to the family very soon.

Today in Ava

While reading a book:

Ava: What's this spider's name?
Brian: I don't know. Maybe Momma knows.
Ava: Momma, what's this spider's name?
Helen: Um...Spindy Spider.
Ava: That's a good name for this spider. Good call, Momma.

Big Sis in Training

As we get closer to baby #2's arrival, a number of people have been inquiring about Ava's level of understanding about what lies ahead.  She talks about her new baby brother pretty much constantly and tells everybody interesting facts about him. Here's a brief summary of what seem to be her baby talking points:

• The baby is in Helen's belly and will be coming out soon
• He has no teeth 
• He has a penis
• He can't walk, talk or do anything much at all
• She will be in charge of diaper changes
• She will also hold the baby and feed the baby a bottle
• She will need to teach the baby how to walk
• He is her baby brother and she is going to be a big sister
• The baby will start out nursing, then will drink from a bottle, and then eat "yucky baby food"
• The baby will be born in hospital and she will go on a field trip to Nana and Grandad's house.  Then she will visit him.
• The baby will cry. The baby might stop crying if you put him on your shoulder, put him in a swing, bounce him on a ball, or put him in a vibrating chair. It is best to try all techniques in quick succession.
• When the baby spits up, you run and find a cloth diaper and vigorously rub it against the baby's face.

Ava isn't taking her big sister duties lightly.

September 2011

September marked the beginning of the college football season for Ava.  Last year's horrible season taught Ava to say, "Oh no!" whenever she saw football on TV. This season she's recognized a change in the football mood around the house and has taken to cheering throughout the games. Her take on the sport: "Those men are going to run and when they fall down I say, 'Yay!'" which I guess does kind of sum it up.

Ava's non-football-viewing time was spent preparing for the baby. There's a lot of stuff for her to practice and the latest is wearing "Baby Katie" in a sling while pushing "Calf" (a doll, not a baby cow) in the stroller. For a new mom, she's getting out quite a lot. Just today she took the kids to the "country," the zoo, and the park, all of which are located somewhere between our dining room and our living room. With around three weeks left, we're hoping to dedicate a little more practice time to diapering as we would really, really like to outsource that.

Ava's School Picture

This year's picture is so angelic, it's almost hard for us to imagine that 30 seconds prior to this photo and 30 seconds following, she was most likely screaming, "MOVE BACK, FRIEND! I NEED SPACE!" to some innocent kid in the play yard.