Inaugural blog

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!