Adventures in babydom

Winter Fun

02Jan10

I’m not one for winter. I don’t really know what to do with myself during the bitterly cold New England winters, so I usually just hibernate. Why go outside when it’s nice and cozy inside? So, I’ve lived in the Northeast for 7 years now (that is really hard to believe) and I don’t even have snow pants. Well, with a two year old this all must change. The energy that gets pent up indoors is incredible.

When we were growing up we would play in a ravine in the woods at the end of our street. We’d slide down the hill on flattened cardboard boxes. Until last year, this was the closest I’d ever come to sledding. I don’t really remember too much about the thrill of bumping over sticks and rocks and mud, but I do know that the real thing is a lot of fun. Even the dinky little hill that Nola and I go down. Our neighbors head to Florida for the winter (smart people) and we’ve been using their yard for testing out the toboggan sled I got at Target. We didn’t know what we were missing growing up without snow! Nola and I have been twice this year. She loves it for about 15-20 minutes, when she hits a wall and is done with the cold. The fuzzy pictures are the beginning of one of the biggest tantrums we’ve had to date. She must have southern blood in her after all. I’ve posted all these on Flickr too by the way.

Here’s some Christmas Eve / Christmas morning shots too. She got WAY too much stuff for a two-year-old.

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shameless video

31Dec09

More pictures soon…in the meantime, for those of you who care, here’s a shameless baby video. Two minutes of cooing, a few smiles, a couple of whines, and Nola watching Pinocchio in the background.

This is our favorite early evening activity during this cold cold weather: watching classic Disney movies (Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Pinocchio) or The Wizard of Oz. Surprisingly, Nola loves the wicked witch and evil queen characters. Actually, they are the most interesting now that I think about it, and who can resist that green face? Don’t worry, Nola does go to the tumble gym, library, or friends’ houses, but her screen time has definitely increased as the temps drop outside.

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Month one

20Dec09

Well, we’re almost six weeks into our new family of four. I have to say, it’s been quite a challenge. I mean, it’s been wonderful in a lot of ways. As I sit here watching football with both kids asleep and snow falling outside, it all seems a little blissful. But talk to me when I’m trying to piece together dinner with a whining toddler and a screaming baby and I might have a different perspective. Baxter is doing really well; he’s 12.75 lbs, which is big. I think petite little Nola was 3 months before she was that big. It’s probably because he nurses all. the. time. It’s a little frustrating, but gives me a good excuse to not do housework.

Since Dru’s work is seasonal, he hasn’t been working, which is actually a good thing. He’s been able to take Nola to the play gym, library, coffee shop, or occasional movie. Still, we’re both pretty sleep deprived most of the time which makes for some tense situations. I’d like to take this moment to thank him for not walking out the door, even when I suggested he do so. He’s a good man.

Christmas is upon us, and we’re thankful for so many things, even in the midst of the craziness. We’re thankful for such loving family and friends who have called, written, cooked, and cleaned for us. We’re thankful to have a warm house and clothes when it’s so cold outside. We’re thankful for cookies and hot chocolate, and gumbo and all those yummy winter foods that keep us from getting too skinny.

I’m still (obviously) having a hard time carving out time to blog. I’ve even had difficulty uploading pictures. Bear with me; it’ll happen, though apparently more slowly than last time.

Dunnaway / Primeaux family Christmas card

First smiles

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Baxter pix

18Nov09

Dru got out his fayncy camera and lens and got some pics of Baxter. Other than that Gran and Grandad have been taking most of the pictures, and I’m negotiating for the rights to download from Grandad’s online MobileMe Gallery, so I don’t have a ton of candid shots. But these turned out great, I think. Yes, Baxter is a tad yellow (jaundiced), but it’s totally normal, don’t worry.

We’re doing well. Nola has acted out a few times, needing extra mama time and affection, but her two year-old jealousy hasn’t gotten too bad (yet). Bax is a nursing machine. He was above his birth weight five days after birth, and is putting on the ounces daily since he’s nursing just about every hour. I wish I could siphon off some of his nursing to moms who have trouble nursing. I haven’t written the birth story to post yet, but I can just tell you that although I thought this birth would be fast (as most second labors are), it wasn’t. Active labor was 8 hours (as opposed to 6-ish with Nola), and there was a lot more pushing and major work that went into getting him out. He was posterior (face up) and his head was at an angle, which made for a LOT of back pain. I had to push way before I was ready in order to get him around my pelvic bone. I wondered halfway through if I could do it, but I did, thanks to Dru and my fabulous midwives. He was born in the water…thanks also to that birth tub, which really helped my comfort level. Anyway, I’ll post that birth story for those of you who want to know more.

I’m getting used to the idea that we not only have two kids, but we have a boy! Boys pee on you when you change their diaper, by the way. I don’t know if you knew that. I knew it in theory, but when it actually happens it’s quite a shock. I’ll adjust.

Thanks for all the kind words; I hope to keep up with this blog more than I did during pregnancy; I may need some nagging, so don’t be shy!

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It’s a Boy! Baxter Primeaux Dunnaway

13Nov09

Well, he finally made his arrival, as you no doubt already know. Baxter Primeaux Dunnaway was born on Tuesday, Nov. 10th at 7:50 p.m. He weighed in at 9 lb., 1 oz. and is 22 1/4 inches long. Big boy! He was born at home and Nola was here to help. She was the perfect midwives assistant, offering me water and holding my hand through contractions. She’s a darling big sister, holding Baxter and kissing him. My mom JUST made it in time for the birth; she got here and 15 minutes later Baxter was born! It was pretty crazy. I’m feeling good, napping and letting people do things for me. Dru’s mom was here helping me clean today and my mom has been cooking. Dru’s been amazing, helping with Nola, cleaning up, and doing laundry. I’m so thankful for a great support system.

In typical fashion, I haven’t been on the computer much in the last few days, but if there’s still anyone looking at this blog, I figure you want some pics. I think that some have been posted on facebook, and there’ve definitely been some kicked around on e-mail, but right now this is all I have. I’ll give you some more soon.

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Just pictures

30Sep09

Since I’m clearly not good at updating blogs nowadays, I’ll just upload a few pictures for you. My Aunt Michelle called this the “analog pregnancy” since I’ve been inconsistent about e-mail, blogging, and generally everything having to do with the computer!

: Nola & Matilda at the farmer’s market

: checkin’ out the animals at the apple farm

: Looking at the enormous pig

: Apples come from trees?

: yum

: playground in Charlestown

: The USS Cassin Young

: Pooped out in front of the Zakim Bridge

: Halloween costume

: 32-ish weeks pregnant

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Maine, belatedly

19Aug09

Oops, I got behind again. Sorry. Summer weather FINALLY arrived in New England around the first of August, and we had two wonderful trips to Maine to ring in the season. The first was to Camden to see our friends Travis, Diana, and Matilda. Travis and Diana were lucky enough to be able to teach at the Maine Media Workshops, and they were there for a month. I uploaded these pics to flickr.

The second trip was to see our friends Todd and Sharon, who have a house in Otisfield, Maine, which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. We had fun swimming in the pond, eating good food and making multiple trips to Reny’s, Maine’s favorite department store. I haven’t uploaded Linda’s pictures from the second trip, but will do so ASAP. I promise.

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summer outings

15Jul09

Summer has (sort of) arrived FINALLY. I know that Mississippi has been sweltering, but I swear, I think we saw the sun twice in June, so just understand that we were itching to get out of the house. A few weeks ago we went to the zoo, which was fun. There are two zoos in the Boston area, Jackson Park Zoo and Stone Zoo. We went to Stone Zoo, which is smaller and closer. It was the perfect amount for a two year old. Ask her and she will tell you about seeing a yak, an owl, a monkey, and a giraffe. The funny thing is that Stone Zoo doesn’t have a giraffe. Go figure.

No, this isn't a real wolf. The real one is on the other side of that glass.

Nola and a cougar

snake

Last weekend the tall ships came to Boston and Mark, Linda, Nola and I decided to go check them out. It was hot and crowded, but a really nice day and fun to get into Boston.

Uncle Mark and Nola by the tall ships

Gran doing her duty

Then, we walked to the Rose Kennedy Greenway in search of a fountain for Nola to get her feet wet, and a restaurant for hot, pregnant mama to sit down in. We found a fountain, but Nola was way more interested in the carousel that was set up nearby. She loved it!

carousel

Later, after we ate dinner at a really nice restaurant (it was the only one we could find without a wait), we headed home way past her bedtime. She was so tired and started crying in the car. Poor baby. While she was crying she kept saying things like, “I ride the green horsey!” and “Mama has a baby in her belly!” all while wailing. It was pretty cute. She was still crying when we got home and she climbed into her brand new big girl bed. You can see here how proud she is on days when she’s not having a crying fit:

Nola's big girl bed

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I’m a nut

25Jun09

Nola has been practicing for the preschool graduation day they are having at school tomorrow. She doesn’t normally go to school on Fridays, but I might take her just so she can perform this song that her class has been practicing together for so long. I don’t know the song, but can get the gist of it from her remarkably advanced musical skills. If you want to know the words though, I found the lyrics on a Kid Songs blog.

At the end she says, “I wanna see,” which is the main reason I don’t take a ton of pictures anymore. Whenever I get out the camera she just wants to look at the screen and see pictures of herself.

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Farmer Nola

02Jun09

Well, we had a very busy month of May. Uncle Mark graduated, which brought Papa and Mama Lisa (now known as Sisa or Mama Sisa). Although my dad had to head back to his judging duties, my mom stayed for a little over three weeks, and we had a great visit. Uncle Paul came for a long weekend and was here for Nola’s 2nd birthday, which was a crazy but fun party. Unfortunately, I kept leaving my camera at home, or forgot to charge its batteries. But, my mom took tons of pictures. I’m not holding my breath, but maybe I’ll get a photo CD in the mail soon.

In the meantime, we’ve been enjoying spring and looking forward to Linda’s visit (she gets in town today. Allelujah!). We took a trip out to Chip-In Farm in Bedford, MA, which is a small farm with a general store. They are known for their eggs, but they have some amazing strawberries right now, and we made a special trip yesterday just to get some more. They have a couple of cows, some calves, goats, sheep, rabbits, hens, a rooster, and a big pig. The first time we went Nola was scared; especially by the goats. This time there were some kids who were feeding the animals green beans and they offered some to Nola. It helped her to see the big kids feeling comfortable, and by the end she was wanting to feed all the animals, even the pig. I had to tear her away! Matilda was with us (you can see her in the pictures), and she was totally fine with it all because she’d been around animals at her grandparent’s farm in Colombia. Here are a few pics from our outing: