December 2016

So now there are two of them, and we are complete as a family.

I had a detailed story of the day we found out we were pregnant with S on this blog.  (Hint - Erwin didn't believe me.)

The day I went into labor with Maya, our contractor was at our house fixing some lights etc.  He is a chatty Irishman, and Erwin indulges the conversation sometimes.  This time, the man was standing in our dining area with his back towards me when I felt my water break.  I was trying to give Erwin "eyes" to get this guy out of our house NOW, which took a minute or two.  Once he was gone, I called my doctor, who is becoming a social friend to us, and when I told her I had no other symptoms, she said she'd give me a couple of hours to be home but then she wanted me to go to the hospital.  Couple of hours go by, no more symptoms, doula says to not go to the hospital because we'd just be sitting there, and I call the doc to check.  She says we can wait another 45 mins or so - at which point, like a child, I realize this rule can be broken and tell her I'm waiting at home until something changes or the morning :)  When we get to the hospital in the morning around 9, the doc tells me to not tell them she said okay to these shenanigans (truthfully, infection could have happened).  Unfortunately, I'd already told them :)   Anyway, Erwin and I were there waiting for something to happen until about 3, which I was already pushing the nurses to their limit of how long before they'd induce.  Finally at 4 they induced, 4:30 labor started and Maya was out by 7 pm.  She's been pretty quiet and easy since.

One other thing we learned - if your child care arrangements when you go in labor involves a great friend who is also really really pregnant, you might want to have a backup.  But that's a whole other story...

S really enjoyed the entry of the baby, and then went through a bit of a hard time during her 3 week winter break where the disorder in routine and less time with me seemed to impact her.  Also, three weeks is a really LONG winter break for a new mom to have 2 kids at home.  Some of my favorite memories of it are all the wonderful meals Erwin brought to me each and every day and watching S invent a game of basketball that could be played in Maya's room where I seemed glued the first couple of months.  Thankfully we picked up on her changes quickly and rearranged things so that she and I had more time together.  It probably also really helped that Maya only fed during the daytime by about 7 weeks of life, and she slept 12 hours a night by 9 weeks.  Oh yea...we got lucky.   Let me tell you, Erwin and I are exactly the kind of people that sort of baby personality should be born to :)

Anyway here are some pics, as well as a video of S on her way to meet her sister.

November 2016

We all remember November 2016, right?  It's the month where most peoples' expectations of how 2017 would be were flipped over.  The best thing I can say about that day is that I was able to vote with my girl and show her a belief in a process...however corrupt it might be, it's not worth abandoning altogether.

The most memorable day in November to me was the day of the baby shower.  Two wonderful ladies in my life put together a day that I cannot imagine every forgetting.  It started off with the kind of stress that made me just unload in tears upon arrival.  There were not one but two parades running through the city in between our home and the restaurant, which mind you is no more than a mile down the street, and we were late.  And if you know how badly I wanted to enjoy the entry experience at one of my favorite restaurants wherein there would be warm scones and jam, you'd understand the stress I was experiencing as Erwin did his absolute very best to get us as close as possible, and then me and S had to just walk the rest of the way.  Sanaa, who was very hungry, was a trooper, and when we got there, I just broke down in tears in the arms of a good friend.  But then, I jumped into it and had two not so warm scones!  :)

A few very close friends were missing, but the people who gathered to celebrate me and my munchkins, and who promised to be great role models for them and be there when they need them, humbles me.  It was one of the most magical afternoons ever in my life.

But lest this get too sentimental, I encourage you to laugh with Sanaa, who is perennially silly, as you can see in the below video.  And a few pics are here.

October 2016

A very important thing happened this month: I turned 40.  And it's true all the articles I read when I was in my 20s and 30s.  The 40s do feel great.  In honor of that, I've taken the liberty of making the above picture one of me, rather than S.  The Mister and the Miss joined me at the office for my birthday and took it.  The little Miss is somewhere in that belly...almost ready to come out.

October was a time for fall and S settling into the school we plan for her to be at for the next 10 years, through 8th grade.  We just fell in love with this school.  Its approach and candor about diversity issues, its amazing vegetable/fruit/herb garden, and the love the teachers seem to have for their work.  There are days she liked it, days she didn't.  And the adjustment period of finding new friends and missing old routines, friends and expectations.

And of course, Halloween!  This was the year where she was more forthcoming about going to ask for candy.  That blossoming was fun to see.

Here are a few pics.

September 2016

I'm amazed at how far I've fallen behind again in sharing our pictures.  This time around, I blame the two shutterbugs in this family.  Like father, like daughter - they take 10 pics a second whenever they open up their cameras...and I have to sort through them!

September marked the beginning of S's time at her new school where we plan her to be through 8th grade.  There's something very settling about having come to that place in her life.  And it's simply the most amazing place we could imagine for her.  I know that someday my mother and sister will love to see the garden the school and kids maintain - every herb, fruit, vegetable you can imagine is grown there. Here we are about to leave home for her first day.

We enjoyed the last days of summer and the beginning of the third trimester of pregnancy with a lot of rest :)  And sundresses, it seems!

Here are a few pics.  And to get a sense of what was standard behavior for our silly girl at the time, here she is wishing her good friend Hannah happy birthday via video.  Thank God for friends who love you even when you're at your silliest :)

August 2016 - Bookended by wonderful trips

August was one of those rare months where we started it out on vacation and ended it on vacation.  What a treat!  The beginning marked the last few days we were in San Francisco, saying goodbye to "our San Anselmo house" and aiming for us to go back next year.  We wouldn't have to say goodbye for long to Uncle Reggie however because he was on his way out to Philly for 10 days, just in time for his birthday.  Two times to see him is such a treat.

Then we were back in Philly, doing our annual celebration of Auntie Ebonie's birthday, getting ready for the end of one school and the start of the new one she would begin in September and attend through 8th grade.  There were handbooks to read!  Timed arrivals and dismissals to get acclimated to!  New online tools to register for!

But not too much time was spent on that pre-Kindergarten planning because we were off to our annual pre-Labor Day weekend beach trip to Cape May.  S's confidence near water was certainly higher and her ability to play by herself with the sand was greater - all good growing signs that we were excited to see...and be able to thoroughly enjoy from our lazy places on the chairs!  

Here are a few pics and videos.

And as a closing thought - mark my words, this girl will either love tennis, or hate it.  In September we start her lessons again and she equivocates dramatically between "when is it going to start again???" and "oh nooooo, i don't want to do tennis".  During the Olympics, I told her about Serena and showed her one match, which was equally dramatic between "Go Serena!" and "oh this is NOT fair.  She is going to lose....(after missing one ball)".  That's our girl - dramatic.

July 2016 - San Francisco bound!

I am just way too excited today. I'm finally caught up on this blog, and this post about last month means a ton to me.

Last month we went to San Francisco for S's first time, to celebrate our anniversary, spend some real quality time with Uncle Reggie (Erwin's brother) and just relax together as a family with friends before baby #2 gets here.  It was such a magical trip.  We stayed at a lovely AirBnB house in San Anselmo, CA (which is in Marin).  It had 4 bedrooms - which really means Sanaa had 3 bedrooms and we had one.  The house owners who were away in England had such a warm, welcoming home - even leaving us treats to welcome us.  The garden had 4 levels to it, in that very California way.  And that was just the house.

S bonded with her Uncle Reggie - finding him to be her path to trashy food that Mom (and even Dad!) would not let her eat, her Legos building partner, her guitar friend, her silly face making buddy, and perhaps most importantly for little girls: the other pillar to the strength of her father.  Seeing the 3 of them walking around, playing, etc. was just so heartwarming to me.

I got some much needed time with Wendy/Ben and family, with all of us going to the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito, chased by bees, "losing" Atticus for a few minutes, and watching S follow Tallulah around everywhere, and Miss T indulging her as she has in the past.  It was followed by lunch at a lovely restaurant , letting the dads take care of the kids while Wendy and I looked out on the grass from the porch of the restaurant on a beautiful day in Marin.

Families need trips like this, not particularly scheduled, with lots of friends and family, and in warm, homey places.

Here are some pictures from the month.

But wait!  That's not all.  This was a month where Erwin and I got to get away for the weekend by ourselves and when S found out her favorite big cousin CC was coming to stay with her, she had this to say, or dance as the case may be.  It's just so cute to be that excited about seeing someone.

July 4th meant a block party on our block, and her first time to play out in front since no cars were allowed.  A very interesting dynamic manifested as she brought out her toys to the other kids on the block for the first time.  The girls were the first to come over, play and then leave.  The boys came over later, and stuck around for a lot longer.  As Erwin said "so if I sleep in on a holiday, I come out to my daughter serenading a bunch of boys???".  See below.

And finally, here are some parting philosophical thoughts by S.

(here's a link to the webpage in case you don't see the videos)

June 2016 - The month of big developments in the family

June was a terrific month.  We passed all the tests on the new baby girl we're expecting in December, and had the opportunity to take S to The Cheesecake Factory for the first time to tell her the big news.  (The Cheesecake Factory has a special, yet caloric, place in me and Erwin's relationship as we often used to go there before/after the airport when I would visit him in Orlando.)  Here's a video where she reacts.

June was also big because she flipped her fears on their head and came to love tennis, and I documented it for posterity.  (And so I could just play it for her whenever she tried to complain again.)  See such a video after a great lesson.

(Both videos are available here.)

Erwin and I had the opportunity to do not just one but two special dates.  A day trip to NYC and a night out for my good friend Andrea's wedding anniversary party.  TWO DATES!  Yay :)

Here are a few pics.