To Solvi, A Little Note from Dad

I've been meaning to sit down and write a blog for some months now. I have a new baby, a baby girl this time and that clearly deserves some thoughtful commentary from dad. Actually, she's not new anymore. She's already 3 months old and I have yet to post. I've been waiting for the muse to visit and deliver specatular insights and the proper dollop of wit, but in waiting I've delayed and delayed and now find that I'm embarrased by the great lag since her birth. Time to charge ahead sans muse. Here goes...

She's beautiful. Every parent would say that, of course. With Solvi, it's her smile. She follows people around the room (holds her head up completely at this point), preferring to people watch over batting toys and other baby paraphernalia. Once she catches your eye, she shoots you the most beamish toothless smile you've ever seen. Her eyes sparkle and sometimes she even bursts out with a delightful laugh. These are terribly joyful moments, the kind that free you from horizon watching and hold you to the fire of embracing the here and now.



There have been so many fine moments already with Solvi, too many to relate after 3+ months and some are already slipping away into the fog of my memory. With Olie's arrival, I was gripped by the need to grab onto and ponder each little moment, to hold and expound on each nuanced advancement he made. With Solvi, with my 2nd child, those moments aren't so much the heart of the matter for me this time. She's an easy baby, not at all fussy and she skews naturally towards happiness; she's smart and strong and healthy and vocalizes her exultant glee frequently and vociferously. Her hair is coming in blond like her brother's did and she's rolling in her baby fat as she should be. There's a plethora of beautiful Solvi moments to hone in on, but for me there is another much different source of awe this time. It is as if her arrival has introduced a set of heretofore unknown chemical compounds into our family equation. As she grows and evolves, the molecules of the whole fam damily intermingle, spark, and coagulate, and a wholly different outcome results. Our family now works more as a unit, with the actions of the individual components combining and rising into something that has a life of its own. There's another kind of magic arising from this simmering beaker.

So, a belated welcome to you, Solvi. I very much like having you with us. I like it a lot. Your good natured joy is infectious. Olie enjoys having a baby sister and your momma drinks up the adoration you shower upon her. We feel lucky. There are a few difficult moments, but these are generally very happy times for our fur family.

Love, Daddio

New advancements from the parenting front (where all is anything but quiet!)

At 13 weeks, our little girl continues to amaze with her social stamina and physical skills. As of last week she had officially mastered thumb sucking. This has greatly enhanced her ability to self-sooth - a necessary survival tactic when one has an older, "terrible two-year-old" for a brother. Unfortunately this has not led to a repeat of sleeping thru the night, largely because she makes so much noise sucking her thumb that she wakes me anyways. I don't really mind thought because she only gets up once a night about 4am, and when she sees me she shrieks, "Ha!" with delight (other sleepers be dambed - she's happy to see her Mama). She's also quite the talker now laughing with delight and letting out more loud, conversational "ahhs, ha's, oos" and other vowel sounds, whenever people are having a conversation. Solvi also absolutely loves her hands now - she seems delighted that she can manipulate them so well, either to bring them to her face or to bat toys around over her head.



What I love is the growing halo of blond peach fuzz atop her head. "So soft!" Olie will cooo at her. Except for a slight monk's tonsur around the neck, this has completely replaced the brownish hair she was born with.

Solvi is also has amazing concentration. We went to a puppet show the other day which had both my children absolutely wrapped - natural for Olie, but stunning for one as young as Solvi - she literally watch the whole thing! In fact the other day I decided to peruse my "Your child in their first year" books just in case I really had forgotten something. While reading up on what your child "should" be doing at such and such an age, as well as what they "may" be doing, and even "might possibly" have accomplished, Solvi had achieved most, not only on the three month list, but also on the four! 

* Lifting head 90 degree while on stomach - check

* laughing out loud & squealing with delight - heartily like a Bonnell

* following object in a 180 degree arch above head - check

* holding head steady while up right - ahuh

* rolling over one way - yep

* grasping & reaching - righto

* putting some weigh on legs - try, if you hold her hands while she's sitting, she can push with her legs all the way to standing!!

Olie on the other hand... Well just so you don't think I operate in the Shangri La La Land of parenthood, let's be frank. Olie is having a hard time. He's really struggling with all the change in his life, especially with his beloved father not being around. Suffice to say he has embraced the "terrible two's" with gusto. One night a few weeks ago, the Auntie's and I were enjoying a nice dinner. Olie had thrown his pasta on the floor much to my chagrin. So I moved on to the corn on the cobb course, for which I presented him with brand new corn holders. When he finished he surprised us all by saying, "Mom, thank you for my lovely present. May I be excused?" I said, "of course," and being sure to embrace the opportunity for positive reenforcement I urged the Aunties to join me in extolling his polite behavior. To our cheers, Olie responded with his own, "Yeh! I did the right thing!"

Other classic Olie moments include one in which Brian was wearing a Condor on his shirt. Mom wondered if Oliver would be able to guess the bird. I noted that it was a rather poor rendition of a condor and if Olie guessed eagle, we should give him credit. So Oliver emerged from his nap and looked at Brian's shirt. "Eagle." He immediately proclaimed. We all cheered, during which time we could vaguely hear Olie muttering something about wig span or such and then he says, "No wait. Condor!" Grandma Martha was proud.

Olie continues to be a model older brother. (Each time I write that I knock wood and pray I'm not spitting in the wind.) He enjoys tucking Solvi in and making sure she is "cozy," at night. He has also taken to holding her and singing "I'm Herman the Wormin'" and other toddler standards.

Sleepin' (and rollin') like a log

Solvi slept through the night last night! Yeh!!!!

She also rolled over for the first time last week - several times from her tummy to her back - so advanced!