Meet The Brother

We went to the hospital and met Theo hours after he was born. Hours! This is the closest I've ever been to the birth of a baby--the whole process and all that. Imagine meeting a baby hours after he was born! He was all swaddled up with a blue hat on his head. He was adorable, and I'm not just saying that because he's my charge.

Mom made me hold him--no fooling around! I sat down with a pillow propped on my lap. I posed for a picture--on my face was some sort of grimacing smile. I was panicked, but I did it. I got the stiff arm from holding him, but he didn't move at all, and slept through the whole thing. Whew!

A day after everyone was home, I held him again. When he was being swaddled in preparation for the holding, I had a panic attack. I imagined his little head actually rolling off the couch and onto the floor. I like to talk through my fears. I had to say what I was imagining, to make myself feel better, but of course I couldn't do it in front of Aurora, so I spoke in code to Mom and Dad. I sounded like I had lost my marbles. Did they really want me to take care of their newborn?

This time I actually held his head with my hand, so I could face my fear head on, so to speak. His head was soft and warm. He made little movements with his mouth, it was so cute! I think it will be like everyone says; I'll get used to it, and I'll learn quickly.

I'll see him again tomorrow. I won't wait to be asked to hold him; I'll take a deep breath and ask first. In the words of Aurora...watch me. 

Waiting for the Day

Mom was due on Saturday.

I got the text on Wednesday night, after watching Survivor and turning off Modern Family because it was a repeat. Good timing, Theo! I ran around like a chicken with no head, packing a bag, preparing to spend the night with Aurora while Mom and Dad went to the hospital.

When I arrived, Mom was eating pad thai and Dad was walking through the condo, calmly gathering bags. Thank goodness I was wearing layers; I had to take my sweater off because I was sweating. At least someone was worked up! After everything was packed and Mom got dressed (she looked like she was going out to a nice restaurant--professional work clothes with a light scarf around her neck and jewelry, I'm not kidding!), off they went.

The plan was that I'd sleep in Mom and Dad's bed, and in the middle of the night, Aurora would come into the bedroom like she often does to sleep on a pull out sleeper. She wouldn't try to wake me or anything, and wouldn't know that it was me in the bed, not Mom and Dad, till the morning. I went to bed and slept fitfully. Sure enough, in the middle of the night (of course I had to check my iPhone to see what time it really was--12:30 AM), Aurora came in, had a sip of water from her water bottle, and fell promptly asleep. So did I.

Around 7:00 AM, Aurora came to the side of the bed. I was sure she would freak out as soon as she saw that it was me in her parents' bed. I prepared to soothe her tears. She crawled in beside me, and we snuggled for a few minutes. Then she really woke up and looked at me. Here's our conversation:

Me: Hi, it's me!

Aurora: (smiles)

Me: Mommy went to the hospital to have the baby!

Aurora: On Thursday?

Me: (I had to think a minute) Yes. Yes, today is Thursday, yep. It's so exciting!

Aurora: It is! And he'll come home on Saturday, and then he'll be here on Sunday, and Monday, and Tuesday, and Wednesday...(she went through the days of the week a couple of times)

No tears. No freaking out. No need for soothing words. She was fine. We got texts throughout the day saying that things were progressing as they should. Around lunchtime, Grandpa drove down, and we spend the afternoon together. At 5:00, I was preparing to leave for the day, as my shift had ended. I jokingly told Grandpa, "I'm leaving so that we'll get some news." No lie--I was in the vestibule, and I got the call that Theo had been born at 4:34 PM! 9 lbs, 6 oz.; roughly four times the weight of Aurora when she was born. New plan: Go back, have dinner together, and go to the hospital to meet The Brother.

The Brother

Any day now, Aurora will have a baby brother. Early on, I tried to guess his name before it became public. I guessed that his name was Theo; wrong. We started calling him The Brother, which I think is a great name, but a little impersonal. His name is now public, but I'll use a pseudonym for the purposes of this blog. His pseudonym is Theo. And by the way, it's really hard to spell pseudonym.

Snack Attack

We were eating snack at the library the other day. Aurora had a full bag of Pirate's Booty that looked mighty yummy, so I asked her if I could have one. She said, "It's my snack." I said, "C'mon, you're not even gonna eat that whole thing anyway." Her reply? "Watch me."

Don't you know that child finished the whole bag.

Crafty!

Aurora has this tee pee that we use as a tent when we play Camping. The first time I saw it, I wondered where it came from. Had to be the Disney store, because it has Disney princesses all over it. Target? Anyway, it was pretty cool. It folds up, and the four poles slide out evenly to make the tee pee shape. It has a netted frill on the entrance, and the windows have jewels on them. I wondered how much it cost.

And then, shock of all shocks. I found out that AURORA'S GRANDMOTHER MADE IT!!!

Check it out. This grandma also made Aurora a purple fleece bathrobe, complete with hood and attached belt. I want her to be my grandma.

Car Doc

One day Aurora's car (a toy Volkswagen Beetle) wasn't feeling well. Aurora got the doctor kit and went to work. Here's the transcript:

Let me check your knees (under her breath, "Well, cars don't have knees, but...").

She gets on the phone. "Yes, yes, well, okay, you can help us."

Oh! I need my glasses! (inspects car)

Oh. Ah ha, let me see about that. Now I'm gonna check his eyes. Oh, here's your nose. Oh, maybe I have a better idea. Oh, I have a knife. I think you have like a...rip. I have a shot. Maybe tomorrow...
I think it might change a little bit.

Okay. Good. This is better than...did you get hit by a car? You did. How do you like it?

Funny, I see a bruise. It stings? Well...the car hit you? Well, Honey...here's something to swallow.

(runs back and forth, spins car wheel)

I think that's what's happening. That's the problem! I need my tools! (gets tool kit)

Here's a saw. (saws car)
Okay. (gets screwdriver) Okay. Oh. I think you'll like...let me check the seats (screwdriver
goes up and down in the seats)

Okay, that's good. Just one more thing! I need the hammer (bangs car).

Me: Did you fix it?

Aurora: I did.