otto has still not fully forgiven us for bringing another living thing into the home. to be sure, it does take away from the attention we are able to give him. but he is doing so much better with her than we ever thought possible (he’s a hunting dog that has the propensity to get very [scarily] excited by small creatures).
slowly but surely, they are getting used to each other.
just realized i am way behind in posts from travels. actually, i forgot.
here’s the remainder of we captured on our instagram during our trip to the windy city.
post-avec with the loveliest, tessa (look at her amazing belly!)
bird poop under the el. welcome to chicago, ramona.
at the bean with little bean!
family photo session/nap time at the pavilion
dropping joy’s on the baby
farewell breakfast at the doughnut vault
enjoying the last few moments with just ramona (she’s strapped to my back asleep to the world) and myself before max comes over. french press is nearly gone and i’m working my way through my google reader.
i’ll be watching max mondays thru fridays. he’s a wonderful 5-month-old who certainly rivals ramona in the easy-going department. my days will be different though; it won’t just be ramona bean and me. and i’m really going to have to find a rhythm for caring for and entertaining and soothing two infants. i’m definitely going to have to adjust to not having as much “emily” time.
this opportunity is a blessing bc it means that i don’t have to go find a job outside of the home. it means jp and i don’t have to finagle our schedules to make sure she’s cared for. it means that i can continue to breastfeed and don’t have to worry about pumping. it means that i get to continue to be with my daughter (who needs me now more than she ever probably will).
any suggestions or advice or words of encouragement for me as i learn to care for two small babes? what activities can i do to make the time go by?
ramona loves max. look at those smiles!
apparently, we care more about ramona and jp’s whiskey than we do about otto.
last friday i got to have breakfast with blogger friend, andrea, from maiden metallurgist. she is so great!
i started reading her blog–which i found off apartmenttherapy.com–well over a year ago, bc i loved her honesty and style and approach to life. what was even more fun was that she and her hubby got pregnant right around the time jp and i were talking about trying to get pregnant. and then, once henry was born, i found that our two families have a lot in common as far as parenting-style, a lovely coincidence.
so we got together over quiche and coffee at crema, where i finally got to meet her and hen, her charming son. andrea is as honest, forthright, and energetic in real-life as in her writing. being able to spend time with her and pick her brain about motherhood and blogging and babywearing was a gift to me; a perfect way to spend a friday morning.
before ramona was born i had already acquired a sling, a moby wrap, and a boba carrier. jp and i planned to do more wearing of ramona than carrying her around in her carseat. based on the research we have done we think this is a great way to include ramona in our daily going-ons, stimulate her, socialize her, get her to sleep, and be with her while also being able to get things done around the house.
andrea seemed like she had the babywearing thing figured out while i was still struggling to get ramona snugly in the moby wrap or get things done with her in my beautiful but not-so-task-friendly, sakura bloom sling. so i asked her about it and she followed up with a most helpful email about resources (thebabywearer.com), groups, (mine is a denver group), and wraps (i prefer the didymos). and when we got together last week she showed me a very helpful rucksack tibetan wrap. my life is changed.
i can get so much done around the house. she loves to ride around wide-eyed watching over my shoulder everything that i am doing. eventually, and without fail, she will fall asleep (as shown in these photos) and sleep through most anything. this carry is also great for working w two kids, which i will start to do on monday. in order to soothe her (after ensuring diaper is changed and belly is full) i strap her to my back and then i can more easily tend to max, the 5-month-old i’ve watched a couple of times and will start to watch full-time on monday.
max in front and ramona on back. life saver.
welcome
