"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life" Proverbs 13:12




Monday, October 5, 2015

A Girl and a Singleton

She is here.

My little girl was born as planned on the 26th of June.  Yes I know that was three months ago and I feel bad for not recording anything.  But life with three is full and to be honest I find it hard enough to tear myself away from her cuddles to do jobs I need to do (like housework!) so I haven't had blogging up there as the greatest priority.

Our daughter is named E.  It has been our number one girls name for over six years.  Overall everyone has liked the name.

She has dark hair like me and those dark blue eyes that could turn to anything.  Some people say she looks like C (she has his big eyes and dimply cheeks), and some say she looks like S (she has his bone structure and small stature).  I think she looks a bit like me as a baby and a bit like my sister which is rather fun.  She has the sweetest smile and while she smiles at other people (particularly Daddy and Grandma) she saves her most bright smiles for me.

I would have been overjoyed to have another boy and I don't love her more than her brothers.  But there is this weird thing about having a child the same sex as you.  The boys still sometimes seem a little bit of a mystery to me.  But the connection I have with E is strange because I feel like I already know her in a way I couldn't the boys.  I get a little of what her life will be like.  And particularly if she is the only girl (which we can't know for sure but it's a reasonable possibility)- there is a sense in which we are a little team within our family, and we will probably do things together just as "the boys" will.

And having one baby is a nice change!  I had forgotten how much i love newborns, and she is an "easy" baby, doing regular six hour stints at night and being pretty happy when awake.  One of the biggest joys is with more sleep and experience Earl and I are getting on well and enjoying parenting together.

In terms of the birth is was very different than the boys.  She came out and was held up for us to see, and then was dressed and checked by the ped.  But because she was elective rather than emergency they had a camera and a screen set up so I never actually lost sight of her.  And the moment they confirmed she okay i got to hold her. But the ped knew just by touch she was too small to stay with me so i had to say goodbye. and this was strangely harder than with the boys because i had hope i could avoid goodbyes. She had 9 days in special care and it was horrible aways being away from at least one child. She had no complications (she just needed to suck feed and grow) but it was a tough start.

The boys are developing so fast i feel like I could blink and miss it. C has been full sentences for a month, S just this week. Yesterday I told him Daddy wanted to play and he said "I too busy play trains with Belle and Tonnor" (Belle and Connor are his trains names)

It's like someone flicked a switch in their brains and now they are little people with thoughts and imaginations.

C is out-going and silly.  He is full of energy and climbs on everything.  He is super imaginative and is always pretending to be animals (Cats and Giraffes are his current favourites).  He loves songs and singing and when in the car will happily sing to himself.  His favourite songs are Twinkle Twinkle, the Thomas song, and 1,2,3,4,5 once I caught a fish alive.

He is quite a thinker.  He often talks about people he knows or repeats what I say in a way that shows he gets it.  He is much more interested in God conversations than his brother.  He adores family members and also talks about them.  He is particularly close to my mother.  He loves Daddy and one of his favourite statements is "Daddy and C Go X TOGETHER" (he always says together in a loud voice).  He always wants to go to work with Daddy and even says "C help Daddy at work".  He is rather disobedient and cheeky, but loves "helping".  He favourite jobs are watering the garden, putting washing in the machine and "taking out the rubbish" with Daddy.  All of these jobs would be done better without him but we are happy to encourage him!

S is such a little comedian.  When he does something wrong you say "That was naughty" and he replies "Not naughty, funny!"  It is so hard to keep a straight face.  His smile is so sweet we often have strangers commenting on how cute he his (the mop of blond hair and the lashed up green eyes probably help too).  He is such a Mummies boy and my hand is his security blanket.  He constantly says "Mummy hand-a" and then either gentle pinches each knuckle, or holds my hand to his face and gives it little kisses.  He is pretty good with other people but will always ask for me if I'm gone for long.

He is such an affectionate boy.  His k and c's are pronounced as t and so he always asks for "Tisses and Tuddles"

Both boys love Thomas but S is obsessed.  He loves the books, the show and the trains and will sit there by himself just babbling out little Thomas stories from his head.  He always asks to watch it, and even though we keep his TV watching to a strict schedule, he is very good at finding Daddy's not very well hiden ipad and turning on Netflix.  That is the other S characteristic- he is amazing with technology.  Family members often get unexpected calls from S because he finds my phone and knows how to call them!

Both boys love books.

Life is actually really good at the moment.  I am very happy.  Partly it is just the excitement of a newborn.  Partly it is spring which is my favourite month.  Partly it is that I'm an extra-vert and I've designed my life so there are lots of people in it and that makes me happy.  And partly it's that Earl is going well and that is such a corner stone to my happiness.

Thanks for those who are still reading,
LG