Fiona started smiling a few days ago, but today is the first time we have been lucky enough to capture it on film/media.
She was busy beaming up at her father with love in her eyes when these shots were taken. She seems to be very smiley right after a good meal.
We look forward to many more smiles down the road. Enjoy!
T-minus two years! Rory is officially 20 months old today.
Some of her words (those requiring translation) include the following:
Ah-hoe = airplane
Feesh = fish
Appa = hippo
Ah-ghee = again
Nie-no = rhino
Baba = frog (don't ask)
Ah-poop = octopus (ditto)
Rory also says many words clearly, such as: hockey and puck (her mom is so proud!), cat, poop (a favorite, especially when combined with "dada," as in "poop, dada, poop!"), teeth, blink, nose, no, yes, please, book, shoe, mine (another popular toddler word), hug, and the like. She is quite a chatty little thing, and sings constantly. Constantly. Did we mention constantly? => She is very fun and silly, and we have a ball with her.
That's it for now! Four months to the big 2!
The visit with David (left) & John (right) - born on the same day (in the same hospital) as Rory - went well! The boys are extremely cute, and the three played together as well as can reasonably be expected for three 19-month olds. Kids this age don't play "together," per se - they basically play near each other, periodically snatching each other's toys and snacks.
It is wild to watch twins interact, because not only do they have their own language, they have already learned how to push each other's buttons. David grabs toys, and John tries to outsmart David by luring him away from a desired toy using another desired toy. Fascinating stuff! The chrono trips are about the same size, with Rory outweighing them by a few pounds - again, not uncommon for a singleton vs. multiples. The boys will outsize her soon enough!
Their mom, Dawn, seems to be the pinnacle of patience, breaking up fights and no doubt feeling like a broken record: "John was playing with that toy, David, now give it back to him" and vice versa. She puts them both into time out when needed, and I must say, I was amazed at how non-stressful having three kids the same age was. I certainly thought it would be... I dunno - maybe louder, crazier, more competitive. It wasn't that way at all, and I am excited to get the threesome together again.
Per her usual, Fiona snoozed through the entire visit. =>
Welcome to the Mayhew blog! I started a Rory-only blog what seems like a thousand years ago (but was, in fact, a scant year back - when she was only six months old), but not only was I unable to recover it from the Blogger site, I figured now that we have TWO kids we needed more site parity. Besides, it can't all be about the kids. We boring adults have lives, too, you know. It's true, despite our maany protestations to the contrary.
And so here we are on Day 1! Most (if not all) of the commentary seen here will be sucked from the brain of Laura, as frightening as that thought may be. Fiona Catherine Mayhew, wee sister to Rory Elizabeth Mayhew, is now a whopping 36 days old (see FionaClock, in live time, at: http://www.mayhewmayhem.com/fionaclock.html). Rory, her not so wee big sister, is now 603 days old (http://www.mayhewmayhem.com/roriclock.html). And don't ask me why Rory's clock is spelled "roriclock" when her name is spelled with a "y." Ask Craig (someplacedark@gmail.com). He is the clock creator. =>~
Man, does 603 days sound like a lot! Rory has accomplished quite a bit during that time. She has learned to walk, run, talk (some intelligibly, most not), sing, play, and then some. For the past 36 days, Rory has been learning how to be a big sister to Fiona, a job at which she improves daily. She is always concerned when Fiona cries, and says "baby" until someone takes care of her sister's needs. Fiona, in the meantime, seems completely unconcerned with needs other than her own, which I guess is to be expected for someone so small.
She only woke up once in the night to eat (at 2:15 am), graciously sucking down 5 ounces of formula and going right back to sleep. She woke up again at nearly 7:00, which is just fine with this writer. Fiona is still eating from both breast and bottle, for those of you who care about such trivialities, though I am starting to cut back on the breastfeeding a bit now. Fiona has turned out to be a good little nurser.
Today she started really checking out the world around her (highly interesting), as well as me (far less interesting when observed NOT during feeding time). Smiles are starting to come, and the gorgeous dimple in her right cheek becomes more pronounced all the time. Fiona's hair is still reddish, and we wonder if a) it will remain attached to her head (many newborns shed their birth hair) and b) if it (or its replacement) will be reddish for life. Wouldn't that be cool? One blond and one redhead - whoda thunk it?
Nothing else too exciting thus far today. It is 73 degrees here in D.C., and when Fiona wakes up from her nap she will eat and we will take a walk. Rory's chronological twin brothers are coming over today - David and John were born in Reston Hospital on the same day as Rory. We call them "the trips," and this will be their first visit since last summer. I hope they have fun! More on that tomorrow.
And here is my final bit of TMI for the day: Rory has learned to associate the word "poop" with actual pooping. This morning, when I went in to fetch her from her crib, she looked at me and said, happily, "HI!" This was followed by "poop!" I asked if she had pooped, and she said no. But of course she had. This is a big thing for a toddler - associating words with action. She might want to start potty training soon. Woo hoo!
A day in the life of a woman on maternity leave... hah!
