Growing Up Meehan

Today was a perfect potty day! Thanks to Dani plying him with Pez candies, he stayed dry and in the same set of clothes all day. We’re so proud!

We’re at that stage. You know the one if you have ever interacted with a toddler. It goes like this.

“Good night Jeffrey.”

“Gooooood Niiiiiiight!”

Wait….

“I’m skeeered.”

This is followed by any number of various scenarios. It could be the wind. It could be the cars. It could be the wind created by the cars whooshing by. But there was no way that I could have imagined what he was afraid of this time.

“What’s the matter, buddy?”

mumble mumble mumble through tears. Something about making noises.

“What’s making noises?”

mumble tide mumble ale roar

What?

Here’s the final translation after I calmed him down. The nefarious item that was causing him such consternation?

“There’s a side table drawer making noises under my workbench”. No fooling. I asked him several times to be sure. And under his workbench? No drawers of any kind.

Where does he come up with this stuff?

I love having a pre-schooler. He’s at a perfect age. His mind is moldable and eager to learn new things. He makes deductions and observations on his own and is excited to present them to us… often ad nauseum . It’s exciting to see him interact with us, his new sister, his friends at school and the world around him.

Yesterday we pulled into the driveway after work/school. I exclaimed "We’re home!". With a matter-of-fact tone, he announced, "It’s a good place to be." I agreed with him. It’s these little phrases that catch me, surprise me and make me proud. Just last week, we had to stop by a client on the way home. Jeffrey often accompanies me for these quick visits. He’s been doing it since he was just 4 months old in a baby carrier, and now he’s helpful because he can crawl under desks easier than me and patch cables. He’s actually pretty good at it! As we pulled up to the door, he asked, "Can I go in with you? I won’t be miserable." Clearly somebody had a bad nap day at school, but it’s amazing to hear him put things in context like that.

This weekend we went on our annual Walk For Babies as part of the 2009 March of Dimes fundraiser, and we were joined by Shelly and Grayson. We had a fun time on the 3.0 mile walk with thousand of other preemie parents, family members, friends and supporters. A great big Thank You to our friends who helped support us. After the walk, there were crafts for kids by Home Depot. Jeffrey made Danielle a wooden wheelbarrow plant potter. He even nailed in the tack nails by himself!

On the Elena side of things, we’re still getting used to being 4 after being 3 for so long. She dropped in at 10lbs 10oz for this week’s 1 month checkup, tipping the scales to the 95 percentile. Does anybody remember how long it was before Jeffrey was 10lbs, 10oz?

The answer: May 24th, 2006. He was 5 months old.

Ok, so she’s a little bit orange. Not alarmingly so, but when we left the hospital, her bilirubin levels were 12.6 mg/dL. By Thursday, they were 17.6 mg/dL. Her pediatrician asked us to keep an eye on her, continue nursing her (that’s how you flush out the jaundice) and if she appears very sleepy or more orange, call. By Saturday evening, her color didn’t seem to be improving, so we went back to Highland Hospital were they measured her again at 14.9 mg/dL. They discharged us immediately and told us never to be seen bringing our carrot-faced baby around these parts again. No, they were very nice.

Her color has improved over the weekend, and at today’s weight check, she gained 5 ounces! 7lb 4oz. Nicely done.

We welcomed Elena’s first visitors today. This afternoon we were greeted to a surprise visit from Meme and Poppy. We had a nice time catching up and sharing our new little life with her great-grandparents. Of course, we had to pry the baby out of Poppy’s arms… he just LOVES holding babies! But seriously, she got lots of quality time with Meme. She’s going to look very cute in the outfits they brought out for her.

Thanks for coming to visit!

After a mostly sleepless first night with our new daughter, Jeffrey rang the wake up bell a little after 9AM. Bridget and Meghan brought him to be the first person to meet Elena. We wanted to make sure that he knew that he was going to be first; it was his special time to get to meet the person who would be his little sister for the rest of his life.

He came in sporting a yellow smiley face mylar balloon. “I brought you a balloon, Mama!” Then he stopped in his tracks as he passed her bassinet. Hmmm… what’s this?

It was empty because Dani was nursing her at the time. He checked that out, and pet her head while she fed. Then I set him up in a chair and let him hold her… with some supervision of course. Let’s just say that Jeffrey is not known for his gentle touch.

“OK, I’m done now.” As if he was asking to be excused from the dinner table. We ate breakfast together and then Jeffrey tried to make a break for it with her in the bassinet. I scooped her out just before the collision with the hospital bed. Fortunately, it will be sometime before I have to teach either of them to drive.

The pregnancy was different this time. The delivery was different. And we’re looking forward to enjoying the uniqueness that our two children will bring to our family.

Today we welcome Elena Renée Meehan. She was born a few hours ago, at 11:09PM. She’s got a full head of dark, thick hair and weighs 6lb 15oz. She’s 19.5 in from head to toe and had a healthy APGAR score of 9 and 9 again at the 5 minute mark. The on-call pediatrician checked her out and deemed her healthy and ready for duty. She nursed well for about 40 minutes and is currently enjoying a nice nap along side Mama’s bed. Now it’s time for me to join them.

So the contraction appear to have started. I added my twitter feed to the right column so that we can easily post updates. You can also keep up to date through my facebook status. We’ll probably head to the hospital sometime before breakfast.

I gave Phonemom her birthing gift… a Phillips iPod boombox so we can listen to the Soundtrack of Baby Elena at the hospital.

PS: Just called the doctor’s office.