Hannah had her birthday on the weekend. Family and friends alike came, and it seems everyone knows Hannah quite well by all the gifts of colouring books, stickers, and other art supplies. She has been scribbling all week, since, and making toy ice cream cones for us, and telling us how to eat them. Her party was unfortunately scheduled right during the World Cup final, and of all teams, Germany was playing. Andrew bought her a Germany jersey for her birthday, so she could wear it during the game. So we were inside, TV on, snacking and waiting for the game to end. Guests all over. 31C in the house. Some of us sitting on the deck, but there was no breeze. I feel like I should've served ice cream cake, though my angel food and poppyseed lemon cakes went over well, as always. Hannah's candles were prematurely blown out by the wind, and we forgot how hard little fires are to see on a summer afternoon, out of doors. I think she did manage to blow out 3/4 herself. Perhaps this is a good sign of some sort.
Ben slept through much of the party. He has two solid naps a day, when we're not out and about. He is such a fantastic baby, I can't even say how much!! He isn't too hard to figure out. He smiles a lot. He sleeps well. Nurses readily. Loves his big sis, and cries less as she tries to play with him and move him all about. And she loves him so much. I know she's a little jealous at times, but for the most part, she just wants to be his buddy, his caretaker, his best friend. And he rewards her with smiles and laughter, though I hear myself saying to her every day to be gentle and listen to his response when she isn't gentle, hear when he makes sounds of disapproval. I tell myself that all these little blips are leading to greater empathy for others in her.
Benjamin at 5 months. The little one gets ignored, doesn't he? I'm not so eager to get him interested in this toy or that, as I was with Hannah. When you have all day to pay attention to one little baby, you try everything. I figure most babies across the world, across time, aren't drowned in toys the way ours are in the western world. Their primary entertainment is probably the best one of all: their family. And that's what Ben does most, is sit or lay, with me and Hannah talking and playing, doing our chores around him. I ran across a blog today, a mom who outlines every month the things baby does, the things he likes or not, all the gushy monthly love that I certainly haven't been committing to blogs. And I don't exactly have these lists for baby. He smiles at me in the mirror when we go potty. We can make him giggle using the mirror too, or just by going close-far-close-far and making funny noises. He's happy with pretty much anyone we pass him to. He nurses normally, it seems Hannah's nursing was a little more urgent most of the time. He doesn't like being wet, but then, who does? He sleeps on his stomach, because he wakes up if he's on his back. And sleep he does. Most nights he'll get 7 hours in a row, more or less. This morning we slept in till after 10am together, after a little wakeup around 7, nurse and back to sleep. Sometimes he doesn't go back to sleep, and just kicks and dozes, coos and smiles next to me. I feel a little guilty by trying to catch more sleep instead of looking at my marvelous baby.
He really is. Just marvelous. I LOVE those two.
Hannah is three. She is hard sometimes. She was put to bed after 10 last night, and was up til after midnight. She clearly did NOT get enough sleep, and was a bit of a terror this afternoon. My throat is still sore, because after so many minutes of ridiculous crying over 'mommy took off my coat which was on upside down and I wanted to wear it upside down' I went beast mode, yelled and sent her to her room for being absolutely nonsensical and overtired and crying about it all. And you know, she felt better after that. She hung out alone for a bit, and after 10 minutes or so, baby woke up, and I quietly went in and deposited him next to her in the bed. She was thrilled to have her baby brother there, that I'd trust her to take care of him for a bit, and the cuddled up together, Hannah chatting and holding his hand.
She loves to hold his hands, to touch him. If I take him out of her care, she always makes one last request to touch his cheeks, touch his feet. In the car, she always wants to hold his hand, across the gap between their car seats, and gets upset if she can't reach his little hand.
Was my brother so loving toward me? I can't imagine it. I hope she is always like this with him, truly, a big sister. But love, there is much. I hold Ben, I smell him, I kiss his fuzzy little head, his soft cheeks. And I know that someone once did that for me, for my husband, for all these beloved people we know. How beautiful, that each life starts with such an outpouring of love. That each of us has loving people to build us up and fill our hearts, one snuggle at a time.
I wish I had more interesting stories about Ben. I took him to the mall, he was cheerful as I tried on clothes, then he slept as I finished my shopping trip, and all through the farmers market. I took him to a friend's house for a Norwex party, he kicked around on a blanket and was happy for a few hours before I finally had to take him home. He slept in the car.
He can't sit up yet. He can push up when put on his stomach, and look around. He gets the bouncy chair going pretty good, and slides down til his bum is higher than his head.
He went in the pool for the first time last Tuesday, though I suppose he's been in the ocean a little bit. We lounged around Sun Valley wading pool, while sister played around us.
He's big, but not too big. About 17lbs. Fits into 3-6m clothing pretty reasonably, like, actually fits in things according to their tags. It's all good.
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