Irish Babies Rule

Dear Elizabeth,

We went to the Irish fair in June. You had an entire entourage with you. You got lots of cute Irish baby stuff were by far the prettiest one there. You danced with Nana O to the Irish music in the Pub Tent and you were a big hit among the older ladies in the crowd (as you always are). Mommy drank Guinness and Daddy had fish & chips. We both decided to take you to Ireland as soon as possible. We want you to be able to remember it. You will be a well travelled baby.

Bassinet Blues

Dear Elizabeth,

For the first few months of your life you slept on the couch in your "boppy." You didn't want to hear anything about a bassinet or laying flat on your back. Whoever had baby duty that night slept downstairs with you. Aunt Carolyn thought of putting the boppy in the bassinet and it bought us a few nights of relief, but you soon rebelled against this too. It is hard to understand because you would sleep on the bed in the boppy, on the couch in the boppy, but not in the bassinet in the boppy. I have a feeing you are going to be very particular for the rest of your life.

First Bath!

Dear Elizabeth,

Your umblical cord fell off when you were exactly a week old. That night you had your first bath. Grandma Mary and Nana O came over to help. You did not struggle at all and really seemed to like it. We had an obnoxious little claw foot spa tub that I had fallen in love with while pregnant. You continued to love bathtime for a few months and then screamed until your limbs turned blue after that. It took a while to bring you back to a love of water, but now (at 6 months) you once again enjoy a bath. You just figured out how to splash a few days ago. You really are adorable.

Nurseries

Dear Elizabeth,

Your Father worked for two days to prepare your nursery. He still makes fun of the "fuscia" color I had on the walls. He painstakingly touched up the mouldings with a painters brush and paid more attention to detail than I had ever seen him do before. He was very excited; anticipating your arrival. I slept in the nursery for the last month. Your Father snores loudly and my 20 pillows left little room for him in the bed. I truly enjoyed my time in your room. The colors are calming and the room was very peaceful with the snow falling outside. Occasionally I would hear fog horns in the morning. I rested better than I thought possible in that room. When you first came home you seemed to really like being in there. I hope that continues.

P.S.

Seamus loved hanging out in your room too!

Baking and Babies

Dear Elizabeth,

With the impending snow storm rattling everyone's cages, I thought it best that you and I have some down time. We were supposed to bake together but then your vibrating seat lulled you off to dream land and left me by my lonesome. We (I) made some food for the weekend and brownies.
It was nice to relax with you. I had a glass of wine, you had a binky. I mixed batter, you filled some diapers. It made me look forward to teaching you how to bake (or follow the instructions on the back of the box). It also afforded me some time and realization that this won't always be so intense.
Too bad you can't have any brownies, they came out pretty good.

All Smiles Here

Dear Elizabeth,

You have begun to interract a lot more. You are smiling and cooing. I love when you make eye contact and how your entire face changes when you smile. That little toothless mouth opens wide and anything that bothered me that day is suddenly gone.

You stare intently at my mouth when I talk and I believe you are trying to mimic me. You are definitely testing out your mouth muscles and figuring out your tongue. You are very curious and stare intently at lights and a certain corner of the living room, which freaks out your father and I.

I have a feeling you will be talking early and once you start we won't be able to shut you up. As excited as I am about you communicating with me, I know better than to rush through these more quiet times. It is starting to sink in a little more that I am not only a mother, but I am YOUR mother. Crazy stuff; wouldn't trade it for the world.

Grandpa Floyd's Craziness

Dear Elizabeth,

I have dedicated an entire letter to Grandpa Floyd's photoshopping. He is dangerous with family pictures. The Telletubby one is my absolute favorite.

I dug up an old picture of him from his "Vietnam Days". He looks more like a conscientious objector to me.

Concerts and Collaborative Babysitting

Dear Elizabeth,

This past weekend your Dad and I went to the Eric Clapton Jeff Beck concert with Nana O'Leary, Great Aunts Carolyn and Maureen and Great Uncle Bill. Unfortunately you couldn't come but we left you in very capable hands... we hope.

Grandpa Floyd and Aunt Stephy took over until Grandma got here. You are going to love Grandpa Floyd, he is a lot of fun and seems to like you quite a bit. Although you look alarmed in these pictures, I assure you that everything was fine.

Hopefully you will have good taste in music like your parents. I will allow for an awkward stage of pop music and various disposable artisits, but you have to snap out of it in a timely fashion or we WILL have in intervention. Daddy looks foward to you discovering Led Zeppelin (like he discovered his dad's albums) and I can't wait for you to hear Pearl Jam for the first time.

You are lying here next to me being completely adorable, FYI.

The Storm Rolls On

Dear Elizabeth,

It seems that you have been born in a year with record snow fall. This "February Fury" has been relentless. You have been pretty unphased by this, but I assure you, everyone else is pissed. I share your sentiments though. You and I are stuck in this house until you have your shots on March 11th. It has been nice to have your Daddy home for a few extra days and the snowy view outside has kept cabin fever at bay.

Two nights ago we went out to dinner with Aunts Kathleen, Stephanie, and Donna. Our plans for Bayou were thwarted by a 45 min wait and the apparent disdain of the customers at our presence. Mommy will take them on when she is less stressed. Yuppies only feel it is acceptable for them to breed.
We ended up at Vida where you were peaceful for 85% of the meal. You were over stimulated and had a VERY rough night. Mommy is still learning, be patient with her.

1 Month Old Today!

Dear Elizabeth,

You are one month old today! A lot has happened these past 30 days. You are now over 20" and 8 lbs. Your hair continues to come in, blonde I might add. You have rolled from your back to your side, mostly because you move INCESSANTLY.

You have a few nicknames... "Wiggles" because you are constantly wiggling around, kicking, punching and flailing. It is nearly impossible to change your diaper but desperately cute.

"Squeaker" because of the little chirping noises you make when you are beginning to get frustrated.

"Long Suffering Liz" because of your fake cries and contrived sad faces. Everyone can tell you are faking it; truly melodramatic but always brings a smile to my face.

"Belligerant Betty" for when you scream at the top of your lungs, as though being murdered, only to immediately stop when a bottle is placed in your mouth. You also give this blood curdling scream when being changed or undressed in any way.

You have grown out of all your newborn clothing. Although you got more outfits than imaginable at the baby shower, almost none of them fit you. We all (including the doctor) believed that you would be much bigger. Grandma Mary had to go to Babies R Us for smaller clothes when you got home from the hospital.

You hold eye contact for a while now. I love looking into those tiny eyes. I wonder what you are thinking, what is your impression of me. You are trying to smile and starting to coo. You become more dynamic with each day and I eagerly anticipate the day we can interract. I want to hear your voice. I believe that I will have a minor breakdown the first time I hear you say "ma". As much as I can't wait for all of these, I am enjoying all the little moments we have together now. This time will fly. You won't need me as much and I will miss catering to you, listening to your cues and deciphering your cries.

You have made visits to both Grandmas and been to the doctor. Soon enough you will be a girl about town.

Right now you are wearing pink polka dot pants with a teddy bear face on the butt. I never anticipated being so excited about this kind of stuff but I practically live for it now.

Happy 1 month Elizabeth, it's been my best month by far.

February Fury

Dear Elizabeth,

Today you experienced your first snow storm! From your pictures you can see that you were generally unaffected. The first picture was in response to a bottle. We got over a foot of snow and I am very sorry that you didn't get to play in it.

As you can see from the last picture, there were a few unfortunate occurances. Sanitation plowed us in and considered us lucky to be plowed at all, being the last house on a dead end block. The tree branch you see hanging down is courtesy of one set of neighbors. Their tree is dead and falls into a our driveway piece by piece. They are far too busy smoking pot in their garage to tend to landscaping. The car you see is parked illegally, facing the wrong way and bocking our ability to back out onto the street. I have asked this other neighbor to atleast leave us enough room to back out. She chooses not to and YET uses our driveway to turn around. Daddy hit her car once accidentally, Mommy's may not be an accident. She will have her come uppance. I digress.

Daddy took the night shift last night because his office was closed today. Mommy got to sleep 9 hours and appreciated every second of it. You are lovely, but tiring nonetheless. You spent the majority of your first snow storm asleep. Next year I will bring you outside and hook you up on a sled to Seamus, pray he doesn't see a squirrel.

Welcome, Welcome!

Dear Elizabeth,

Here is your very first picture. I know, much less romantic than the agony of labor leading to the extacy of the first glimpse of your slippery, muck covered child. We went the more sterile, modern route. Equally exciting, slightly less tearing.

Actually, we were not given much of a choice. It seems that Mommy's pelvis is "incompetent." For such an able and educated person, it was difficult to hear that any part of me was incompetent. It felt like a personal affront and I wanted to take it up with my pelvis who appeared to not only be incompetent but mute as well. If you could fit out at all, it would have been a long and "traumatizing" experience for mother and child. We opted for the C-Section. You were 4 days late to start with and Mommy had, had it with pregnancy. I couldn't bear the thought of the endeavour ending so poorly after having been so trying.

We had to wait a few hours for my peanut butter and jelly breakfast to digest and then I walked myself into the operating room. I was scared out of my mind and shaking uncontrollably. Luckily I was not paralyzed during the epidural because of my shaking.

The surgery was not necessarily quick. I anticipated the sound of your first cry and was petrified when I heard it. You were so foreign even though you came from inside me. My love for you grew and grew with each passing minute and hour.

Your Dad and I cried. He got to walk with you to the nursery, keeping a close watch that no one tred to switch you out. He took this job very seriously, and we are now sure that you are the one God intended. Getting sewn back up proved to be the longest 10 or so minutes of my life. It is slightly unnerving to have ones insides splayed out on a table and waiting patiently to be put back together without giving much thought to what is actually happening. May you never have to experience it.

I can assure you that it was all worth it and more. We made a good team, you and I. Pleasure working with you kid.

January 11, 2010.

6:23 PM

6 lbs 12oz

19 1/2"

100% Adorable

Pregnancy

Dear Elizabeth,
There is A LOT I could say about pregnancy but will save that for another post. Your first impression of my pregnancy with you should be the poem I wrote when I was about 7 months along. Aunt Megan helped me "tighten it up". You will love poetry, Aunts Cate and Megan will make sure of that.

I feel quickened
and she is moved
within me. Tiny

sprouts stem
outward in a daily
spurt and sputter

of not quite life.
Raucous rolling;
flinching of foot

at my voice;
our ancient dance.
She does not

burst through.
Leaves me whole
until that final

calling out where
cries melt together,
flow into our

long breathed sigh.
Tapping on her
door to plunge

forward, foot
leaving water
to test air.

As difficult as the pregnancy might have been, I never lost sight of what we were achieving. I never failed to smile at your every movement. My dreams of you got me through. Maybe I will try to get this published...

You and Daddy

Dear Elizabeth,

Hopefully you will realize how lucky you are to have this man as your Dad. A lot of children are not as fortunate and it is important to always be grateful, especially when dealt such a hand. From the moment he found out I was pregnant he was elated. I have never seen a man so excited about registering for baby clothes and furniture. FYI, all the pink and frilly stuff we bought was courtesy of him! He surfed the web for baby necessities, checked product safety sites, and read consumer recommendations; all stuff I couldn't wrap my head around. You see, pregnancy did not treat Mommy well at all. She didn't even like being around herself. Daddy did his best to be patient, faltering only a few times mostly toward the end.

Since we have bought you home he has tackled dirty diapers, spit up, and some night shifts. He secretly loves his trips to Babies R Us and wants to buy all the cute girly clothes that come out each season. If nothing else, you will be well dressed.

Big Plans for a Little Person

Dear Elizabeth,

Everyone says you look just like your father. There is no doubting that his lips and chin have magically appeared on your face, but I see some of myself in you as well. There are certain looks you give where I can catch a glimpse. I would rather see myself in you in this way; fleeting and like a secret you and I share in short moments.

I have a feeling that you and I will share moments and glances like these for the rest of our time together. There is so much I want to do with you. I hope you like Yoga, museums, and traveling. I know that anywhere we go together will be awesome. I look forward to seeing the world again through your eyes and the prospect of what you can teach me.

May you always know how much you are loved by so many people. Your Grandmothers have been waiting a looooong time for you. Expect to be spoiled in spite of my best efforts and cherished because of them.