The Next Meryl Streep

Last Thursday, as I was getting ready for Hip Hop class, Lotta and Ben had discovered a bottle of Burt's Bee's lotion.  I adore Burt's Bee's, its honey smell, it's 99 percent pure, so pure you could actually eat it, should you become hungry during your lotioning.  The way Lotta puts on lotion is she slathers a huge quantity on, then uses a cloth to wipe it off.  I could not let my wonderful lotion meet this fate.  I mean come on!

As soon as Lotta was turned the other way, I moved the lotion to a less visible location.  Which, of course, was quite sad for our beloved heroine.

My mom is visiting so she was in charge of Lotta's bedtime, while I was Hip Hopping.  They went upstairs together and read in bed.  Afterwards, Lotta requested that her mommy stop hurting her feelings (because of the previously mentioned lotion incident).  Then she told my mom that she would be back in "one minute".  Previously, I'd told my mom of this trick, wherein Lotta then disappears, never to be seen or heard from again...When my mom resisted, Lotta said she needed to give hugs and kisses to her dad and brother.  Hard to say no to that!  This time, she accomplished her task and returned promptly.

Lotta laid in bed with my mom, feeling quite squiggly, continually flopping and moving about.  Finally, she started making sleeping noises.  So convincing was her performance, that she actually fell asleep.  Those are some acting skills our young Lotta has!

Babette

When Ellie was around Lotta's age, I got fed up one day because Ellie once again, refused to wear her winter coat.  Suddenly, I decided I would become a different person, whose main job it was was to put on Ellie's coats.  Thus, our "staff" was born.  Ellie had a manicurist, a bather, a coat check person, really whatever needed to be done that Ellie did not want to have any part of could be accomplished easily with a staff member.

This week, I was feeling tired and out of sorts and it was bath time.  Lotta wanted to put on her beautiful easter dress given to her by Aunt Linda, while I on the other hand, wanted her to take a bath and get the marker she'd drawn all over herself off.  (I think she was going for a zebra look as there were many many stripes involved).  We were getting frustrated.  I gave the baby to Thom so that I could better deal with the situation.  As I arrived in the bathroom, I donned a "French" accent and introduced myself as Babette the Bather.  Lotta shook my hand, surprise showing on her face.  We then proceeded to have a lovely, fruitful bath, with me even being able to wash her hair.  Later, Lotta kept insisting on playing with "Ballet" (her name for Babette) because it had been such fun having a new playmate.

Our staff for Lotta has continued to grow as we now have Delilah the Dentist, Henri the male version of Babette, Hank the Hand washer....

AND

As I may have mentioned previously, Lotta has decided she enjoys being messy.  One of the things I love about being two, is that you can BE more than one thing.  For example, Lotta can BE a fancy girl loving fancy dresses AND she can build a mud castle, loving to get messy (typically while in said fancy dress).  She can love playing with dolls AND playing with cars.  She can adore reading books AND dancing a jig AND drawing with markers (mostly to decorate herself).  What she does never defines who she is.  It seems freeing to not have to choose one or another, but instead be able to just BE.  What a world of possibility is open to her.

Oh Baby!

Contractions started at around 12:30 on Wednesday, or they became uncomfortable enough that staying in bed was less of an option.  Thom had pulled an all night-er on a work project the previous night, so I was trying to let him get at least 4 hours of sleep.  I became worried that I would move into the transition phase before I woke him up, so at around 3:30 I woke him.  Everything went pretty slowly, I was having not so strong contractions.  Based on my previous births, I assumed that we would be done in a timely manner, as my longest previous birth was 9 hours.  By morning, we decided to allow Ben to stay home from school until the baby was born.  Originally, we were hoping for one of those 1 hour or even 20 minute births.  We'd already exceeded those expectations.

Things continued this way with medium contractions irregularly spaced.  Ben decided to be "second mother" taking  care of Lotta.  Ben instinctively knew that this was a free-for-all day.  He would come upstairs and inquire if he could make an afternoon snack.  To which we responded with a resounding "yes!" When he asked if he could watch more television another affirmative.  At some point, as things started getting more intense, Ben changed Lotta (including her diaper) into her pajamas.  Had we known that this birth were going to take so much longer, we probably would have made other plans for the care of our children.  I did feel guilty over ignoring our children all day long.  On the other hand, the day really allowed Lotta and Ben to bond and truly allowed Ben to rise to a leadership position.  He felt so proud of all the ways he assisted Lotta and in turn our family during birth.

As birth progressed, I became more vocal.  By the time I was near the end, it was getting quite loud (with Ellie the hospital personnel asked me to be quieter).  Lotta kept coming in to check on me, inquiring, "Mommy OK?"  Ben, once again, came to the rescue, making it a game, telling Lotta they would run away from all the noise.  Finally, the two of them ended up watching a movie.  Because Ben had experienced Lotta's birth, he was not at all surprised or scared by my vocalizing. He passed this attitude on to Lotta, allowing her to relax.

Also around this time, Lotta found a pair of Thom's old eye glasses.  She put them on and pretended to be Doctor Lotta.  She came to Thom and I requesting that we say "AAAHH" and open our mouths for her viewing.  I said my "AAAAAAArrrgggggHHHHHH!!!!" as I was having a contraction.

At this point I was around the 20 hour mark of birth/labor.  There were many many moments near the end, when I thought this was incredibly bad idea and wondered if there was any possible way to get out of this IMMENSE pain.

When the baby arrived, a beautiful baby girl, she had the umbilical chord wrapped around her little neck.  She was slightly purplish.  I had read about this happening occasionally during birth.  One family said they simply unwound the chord and the baby was fine.  So I felt confident in doing the same.When the midwife arrived, she confirmed that the umbilical chord around the neck was not cause for concern, that in some ways it was a better place for the chord than others.    The baby quickly started turning pink (instead of purple) as I talked to her and wiped her off.

Ben and Lotta came upstairs to meet their new sister, Madeline Elizabeth (nicknamed Zibbi).  My favorite favorite part of birth was the whole family sitting around me and baby Zibbi, admiring her.  I love how giving birth this way bonds my family in ways that I cannot even describe or imagine beforehand.  I know giving birth in this more native fashion without technology immediately available causes concern for some.  After experiencing birth this way, I however, cannot imagine giving birth any other way.

Come out Come out!

Since yesterday, Lotta has been encouraging the baby.  She asks the baby to "Come out come out, Don't be shy.  I want to hold you hand."  How could the baby possibly resist THAT?!?!

Back It Up

Lotta drives cars at the mall...

A few days ago, Lotta and I were preparing to go to the bus stop.  She did not want to wear shoes, so we compromised on bunny slippers.  She decided to ride her tiny car that she can push with her feet.  When we arrived at the bus stop, the bus was nowhere in sight, Lotta wanted to continue her car ride away from the bus stop, I suggested instead, we continue down the street in the direction the bus would be arriving.  She agreed.  We got caught up in noticing things on the sidewalk--scat from an unknown source, a peapod that she thought would fit perfectly inside her car seat.  Suddenly, I looked up and the bus was zooming towards the bus stop.  I told Lotta we had to race back to pick Ben up.  Instead of doing a "u" turn or even a 2-3 point turn towards the bus stop, as I anticipated, Lotta began yelling "Beep beep beep" as she backed herself up.

We have been utilizing a great deal of reverse psychology to get Lotta to do what we want.  Ben in particular enjoys this technique.  Recently, Lotta has started utilizing the technique back to me.  "No chase me, Mommy.  No chase me...." as she races around the house.  If she's already on to us at two, I'm not sure where we are headed...

Hard Work Deserves Cake

 Those youngsters have a LOT to learn

Before we traversed to Prawnee this year, Ben and I were discussing the opportunity he would have to play with his younger cousin, Dariush.  I exclaimed how superb Ben is with younger children and I just knew that Ben and Dariush would have a grand time together.  Ben paused and looked at me rather gravely, explaining how he enjoys spending time with younger kids because he feels he has a lot to teach them.

Welcom out!

Recently Ben made a poster for the new baby.  On one side it says, "Welcom out!" on the other side it says, "Hard work deserves cake!"  I guess we will be having cake the day baby arrives.  Yum.  (We had pancakes to celebrate Lotta's BIRTH day, which Ben is keen on recalling).