Seventh Heaven

Today is Maddy's seven week birthday! We were fortunate enough to be able to celebrate it by joining our friends, Rachel and Phil, and their new son, Evan Max, for dinner. The Segaloffs and Solomons went through pregnancy together, and we were so excited to finally meet Evan, who's been referred to as "Tadpole" for the past nine months and who made his debut on Monday evening. He is so tiny, but really only a few ounces smaller than Maddy was when we brought her home. It makes me appreciate how much she has grown these past seven weeks. She is getting bigger and rounder every day, and is truly thriving.


Everyone is always telling us what a "good" baby Madelyn is. I'm never quite sure how to respond to that. Is there such a thing as a "bad" baby? I really don't think so. But it is true that she is a generally mellow and contented baby. Obviously she gets her calm temperament from Ethan! The past few days, however, she has been going through what we refer to as the "waah-waahs." She has been quite fussy. I'm not sure if this is developmental or gas or fatigue or boredom, but it can be very trying when she cries for no apparent reason and has difficulty settling down. There are some methods that are proving very effective, including vigorous bouncing on a giant blue ball and rather energetic swinging in a papasan swing my parents bought for her. Maddy loves this swing more and more, and lately she's begun to notice the tiny plush animals that rotate above her head. She will stare at them for a long time, utterly transfixed. It's interesting to note what captures her attention. She is captivated by light and shadows. She also is becoming quite expressive, as evidenced by both her vocalizations and her facial expressions. It's clear that she is starting to wake up to the world, and though I am still waiting for her to become interactive in a way that's meaningful to me, she is obviously interacting with her environment and is learning from and ostensibly loving life!



One of my favorite parts of this week was the discovery of a new book called "Yummy Yucky" by Leslie Paatricelli. It is an adorable board book with hand-lettered text that compares things that are "yummy" with things that are "yucky." Especially entertaining is the page on which is says: "Eggs are yummy. Earwax is yucky." Of course, the baby on each page is eating both items! Another highlight of the week was watching Ethan get peed on as we prepared a bath for Madelyn. He handled it with good humor, and I thought it was only fair since I got pooped on...twice!!

One of the lowlights of the week was rushing to work after trying to get Maddy changed (she had a THREE for one special!) and fed. She decided she was hungry just as I was attempting to get out the door. It is clear that it going to be very difficult to balance the demands of motherhood with the responsibilities of a career. I am only back to teaching part-time at the moment, but it's incredibly challenging to be somewhere at a specific time given that Maddy is neither aware of nor concerned with my schedule. Fortunately, people seem to be generally understanding at this point and I am trying to cut myself some slack. It's impressive that I am juggling as much as I am already.

Finally...there is a Yiddish word--nachas--that refers to the pride and joy one experiences through others, particularly through one's children or grandchildren. In an e-mail this week, a friend who meant to use this word wrote: "You have a beautiful daugher and I know you will share many wonderful moments and have a great deal of nachos." Nachos?! That is definitely a YUM!! And nachas? For sure!

:)