Rosemary Wren: 7 months

RM today.  She has a bad cold but you would never know it because she just keeps smiling.  RM thinks that balls are hilarious- giggles every time someone throws one when she is around!

It is hard to believe RM is 7 months old.  In many ways it seems like she was just born but in more ways it seems like she has been a part of our family for a long time.  It is hard to believe how someone so tiny at first comes into your your home and has such a big place in our hearts.

With our first two babies, I noticed that Cora and Allen revealed their personalities in the hospital- Cora, so alert, eyes wide open, taking everything in and processing it, eager to connect with us emotionally but more sensitive to the world around her.  Allen was so zen and calm we called him "Yoda" as well as "Benjamin Button" because of him looking a wee bit like an old man.  He just wanted to be pressed against you and snuggle and barely cried at all the first few weeks of his life... taking his sweet time in life to enjoy it!  I didn't realize how much you could see their little personalities until I looked back months later, but by the time RM came I was aware at how quickly their individuality is revealed.

Our first impressions of Rosemary were that she has a real brightness about her.  After our first few days together I could just see a little light in her that was always sunny and warm.  She just seems to contribute positive energy to the world around her and is eager to connect with just about anybody as long as I am around.  She smiled early and often and loves to be playful and cuddle.  She is an easy baby for the most part, although she always wants to be held in her sling whenever we are out and about (I have nicknamed us Kanga and Roo) and so she is not a big fan of the carseat or stroller.


She is a good eater and loves to nurse for nutrition and comfort as well.  I let her take her time because I know this is the last baby with whom I will get to form this special bond.  It truly seems like a miracle that I am able to sustain a thriving baby with only my body!! One thing I have learned as a parent is that sometimes what seems to be the most common, mundane things are really the greatest of God's miracles- pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, every milestone RM makes, seeing our loves the Bigs interact with her and already forming a close bond. 

We started solids and her favorite food by far is my Mom's split pea soup (which is my favorite as well!), stuffing and gravy and beef stew. She turns her little nose up at anything sweet which has surprised me but I guess she is just a savory girl like me.  She sat up at 6.5 months and is just beginning to wave hi now and is thinking about crawling.  Her favorite things to do are ride in the pink sling like Kanga and Roo :-), take baths, sit on a blanket in the back yard and when Daddy and Poppy make her fly.  She also is very cuddly and loves it when Cora and Allen hold her and play with her.  It is amazing to see her face light up when Allen and Cora get in the car during carpool- she already adores them and somehow knows they are also part of the "baby nation". 

Here are a few of my favorite pics so far:

Coming up for air

Tender big brother and sister.  Please, please stay this way forever T3.

Our 3 in a nutshell.  Cora nurturing RM while admiring her other "charge", Allen, who is being his goofy self.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rosemary is five months old now and before too much time goes past I wanted to come up for air and give a quick update.  The dust seems to have settled a bit around here and we are enjoying the new normal.  We put off having a third for so long and then braced ourselves for mass chaos and so it has actually been easier than Colin and I thought.  Of course Cora and Allen can dress themselves, are potty trained, can communicate (this can also make things significantly harder though) and go to school a lot of the time which is what we thought would be the best for our family before having our savor baby.

The summer certainly had its challenging moments... the neverending stomach flu that plagued our home for 3 weeks but miraculously RM and I were the only two to avoid it.... learning to load the T3 in the car while keeping my patience... coming up with manageable activities to do with 3 kids... attending two weddings and we took a trip to CA with the girls which was also a lot easier than I thoughts... adjusting to being home alone with the T3 when Colin resumed working nights and weekends.

Rosemary is only five months old but it is already hard to imagine life before her.  She has been so quick to smile and laugh and has a wonderful bright demeanor.  She is alert but seems to take life in stride.  Loves to be massaged, held, snuggled and lights up whenever she sees her bigs.  She loves to take walks especially with Daddy in the bjorn, play with her little baby toys and she sings her baby cooing songs in her crib every morning... no better sound in the world.  She has been overall a great eater and sleeper. However she is amazingly loud- happily screeches and babbles and fake coughs for our attention when we don't respond to her noises.  Pretty soon it is going to be hard for the men in this family to get in a word edgewise!! She is in the 97th percentile for height and the 95th for weight- our fastest growing baby by far.

Some photos from the past few months...

 

Rosemary Wren

Last pregnancy shot, courtesy of Cora, at my dad's birthday dinner, several hours before I went into labor and didn't realize it until she was about to come! crazy!

Little beauty

!!!

Yesterday was Rosemary Wren's "official" due date.  We had scheduled her induction on 4/16 but sometimes life happens while you are making other plans.  In this case, literally, and we couldn't be happier!

Rosemary Wren was born at 1:05 p.m. on April 9 and was a healthy 7lbs, 3 ounces, our largest baby by far and was 19 inches long.  She was alert, snuggly and has only cried when she wants to be fed (now that we are seasoned parents we realize this could change at any time but are counting our lucky stars).


Rosemary is in honor of Colin's maternal grandmother, Mary, a sweet, adventurous, down to earth spirit who passed away several years ago and Rose, my Russian maternal great, great grandmother, a mother of ten children.

Wren honors of one of my dearest friends, Saskia Wren Loewy, who was my housemate senior year.  I hope that she will be a role model to Rosemary Wren because she is one of the most intelligent, fearless, gracious and cosmopolitan women I have ever met.  She is currently living in Tel Aviv (one of her many tours abroad) but I can't wait to introduce RW to her namesake.  Also Wren reminds me of the main building at William and Mary, the Wren Building where I fell in love with Colin right before I graduated.

Saskia Wren (on the left), Rosemary Wren, 14 weeks in my tummy, and Melanie, another best friend on the right at Saskia's bridemaid's lunch last fall.

So excited to meet her! 

Meeting Patsy and Cora for the first time.

Sweet Colin with his girls.

What a gentle big brother! Loves kissing RW.

Cora can't hold her enough.

The Thakkar 3!

Pops holding her for the first time.  The look on his face says it all.

Mom and dad counting the days until they can give her ice cream for breakfast.

zzzz

My grandmother, Gracie, meeting her for the first time.  So blessed!

So far the transition has been easy thanks to my amazing mom.

Never been more grateful for this Lady!

Tired when you are up all night!

Notice: The Lizard Princess has abdicated the throne

The high today is 83 and it is sunny and beautiful and since it is going to be yucky the rest of the week (and I will do just about anything to ensure Allen takes a nap), we headed to the Apple Way-wound, otherwise known as the playground on Oak and Cherry, our happy place where we play with Apples, long story.

After much swing-pushing, me and my colossal baby bump got tired of standing so I suggested that the Lizard Princess and her little guy in waiting head over to the lizard land (the gazebo) because I had a feeling that the lizards were finally out and about due to the unusually warm weather.  Cora had been crushed when they went into "hibernation" and it had been months since we had seen any around so it didn't surprise me at all when it took her less than one minute to catch a small brown one.

So something about Cora despite her love of mud and bugs and amphibians and dinosaurs is that she is incredibly maternal which is one of many reasons why I think she and Allen are so close and why all of us are so lucky to have her.  I can't even imagine how sweet and wonderful and helpful she will be with #3, especially if she is half as nurturing to her little sister as she is to her lizard subjects.  She she proceeded to pet the little lizard and then held it to her cheek, closing her eyes and savoring the long lost reunion between her and her amphibian subject. 

Suddenly she started to scream in a shrill manner and I saw that the lizard was dangling off of her bottom lip.  As in many situations in this adventure of motherhood, I didn't know whether to laugh, panic or throw up.  I followed by instinct and yanked the baby lizard off of her lip.  (btw I never in my wildest dreams thought I would write that phrase, I'll say it again- "yanked the baby lizard off of her lip.")

The poor Lizard Princess was in a pathetic state, relieved to be free of the lizard, which somehow had ended up in her hand.  She was crying softly and looked so shocked and confused about what happened so I did what I often do and tried my best to make her laugh.

"Cora, you know this really reminds me of that book we just read about Tiana and her frog prince.  I think that Lizard is a prince and since you kissed him you seem to be turning brown and I see a tail sprouting out of your bum.  Should I make you some bugs and leaves for dinner?"

She laughed and cried at the same time, as she often does and was quiet for a minute.

"Mama I think I am ready to be something else for a while." Cora placed the Lizard Prince on a shrub.

"How about I'll be the Lady Bug Queen, from now on? Okay mommy?"

"OK Queen Lady Bug".

My heart did sink a little as I wondered if that was the last time I would ever see the Lizard Princess in action.  

That is one of the toughest things about motherhood.  You never know the last time a child does something... calls her baby brother "Addy", sleeps in the closet, asks me to set a place for Jonathan, her imaginary husband at the table, or wants me to sing her Edelwiess before bed,  the song that my dad always sang to me when he tucked me in.  So I try to savor this sweet, funny, weird, chaotic season of life we find ourselves in. 

Though it won't be the same or quite as much fun without My Lizard Princess.

Stay tuned for the adventures of her Majesty the Lady Bug Queen Cora Therese Thakkar.

Cora holding court at Allen's birthday.  Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most regal of them all?  CORA!!

Four!!! Happy Birthday Addy-boom!

This morning we celebrated our little guy's 4th birthday by granting his wish for a bicycle-Tball-stomp rocket-cakey-contruction site party. So in a very un-pinteresty way, his little group of friends brought their bikes, wore capes with fire on them made by my mama and we brought all of the other aforementioned items to a park and let the boys have at it.  Mimosas were in order for the adults as it is the key to surviving mass chaos before noon.

Thank goodness it didn't rain and despite many bicycle collisions and wipeouts, there were no major booboos or trips to the E.R.

Ivy with baby Bishop, the beauty queen of Avondale Avenue. 

Jake, whose friendship is extra valuable to Allen due to the fact he has a real train in his house.  I am not kidding.

Cora let Allen lead the bike race, for once.  She was ok with this because she was the only girl and had lots of other little boys there to boss around.

Little riders with their bad-*** capes.

Fierce little fellow!

John and fierce Pierce

Another fierce Pierce.

Carl and Jack.  Jack gets credit for starting the whole cape trend.  Thank goodness he did because everything in life is better with a cape on, especially when you are a little guy.

Cora and her subjects.  I mean, Allen and his best buddies anticipating cakey.

Steve and Dane, our next door neighbor who has taught Allen about how much fun it is playing with their tool set.  So someday my future daughter-in-law can thank Dane and Steve for Allen being "handy" as he certainly doesn't get it from me or his daddy.

Husein and Penelope, whose hair is just as impressive as her brother Jake's!

Bicycle cupcakeys

Birthday candles! 4 of them now- wow!!

Making a wish... probably to survive life sandwiched in between two girls!

Allen and his best friend, Corapunzel.  My Loves!!!!!!!!!!