One Month of Sleepy Nights

Nora is one month old, so it's time for an incredibly wonky post without any pictures, but with lots of data and charts! When Owen was one month old we did a post titled, "One Month of Sleepless Nights." Well we're still using the trixie tracker, and we're both still economists, so there really is no better way to show what a dramatically different baby Nora is than to delve into the data and examine how Nora has slept away her first month. Without further ado, here is Nora's first month of sleepy nights:



All the blue areas represent naps, the yellow areas show when she was awake, and the light blue is transition. Nora averaged a little over 15 hours of sleep a day for her first month, and slept completely through the night for the first time when she was four weeks old!

For comparison, below is Owen's sleep chart for his first month. Owen averaged about 13 hours of sleep a day and never came close to sleeping through the night in his first month (he didn't accomplish that feat until he was almost four months old).



We have all the data, so let's break this down a bit more. The chart below shows each of Nora and Owens naps with the start time on the X-axis and the length on the Y-axis. Let's focus on two areas, first the green ovals in the upper right of each chart: Nora fell asleep between roughly 10 pm and midnight and slept for over four hours 17 times in her first month with the longest being over 7 hours (note some of the dots are overlapping); Owen, on the other hand, did the same four times with the longest still well under 5 hours. In a related area of the chart, the red ovals in the bottom left show that Nora put us through the frustration of falling asleep in the middle of the night and waking up again in less than an hour only five times. Owen on the other hand treated us to these middle of the night cat naps 17 times in the first month.



One more way the trixie tracker lets us look at this data is a comparison to all the other trixie tracker users. The chart below shows Nora and Owen's average hours of sleep per week, along with the average for all trixie tracker babies, and the 95% confidence interval. Owen started out well below average and then ended up tracking close to but a hair under the average. Nora on the other hand has always been well above average for sleep time, and by her fourth week is near the top of the range!



What does all this mean? Probably not much in the long run, but for now we are all blissfully sleeping through the night, and my fears of feeling like a zombie from long and sleepless nights have proved completely unfounded.

Aunt Katherine and a Party

We're beginning to get used to being a family of four now, venturing out of the house a bit more with both of the kids, seeing our friends and neighbors, and figuring out split parenting duties now that we no longer outnumber our children. Aunt Katherine came to town last weekend to meet Nora and Owen was invited to his friend Sophia's birthday party, so we had a full weekend. On Saturday, Daddy and Owen went to the birthday party where Sophia greeted us by saying, "Hey everybody, it's my best friend Owen! Owen, I want you to meet all of my grownups." Owen and Sophia have always been close, and it was fun watching them interact outside of daycare. All of their daycare friends were at the party, and the highlight was a concert by Mr. Derby in Sophia's back yard. I wasn't aware, but apparently Mr. Derby is quite the star amongst the three year old set here in DC.

After Sophia's party, Owen and I rushed home to pick up Nora and Elaine, and headed up to Mom Mom and Grandpa Don's house for dinner. Aunt Katherine and Adrienne were both there, and Nancy, Danny & Christopher were there as well, making it feel like a Christmas dinner in September. We all had a wonderful time, dinner was delicious, Owen stole the marzipan flower off of the cake, and Nora slept like a baby.



(click here to see all the pictures from Sophia's party)

Busted

It turns out that Nora's birth was no cakewalk for her either. Apparently, Nora broke her clavicle en route (not an unusual feat for babies over 8 lbs) and while our pediatrician assures us that it's healing nicely and that she's not in any pain, it's a little disturbing to find out your newborn is broken and that your birth canal was the culprit. It's also a bit surprising because we really thought that her big brother would be the first to bust a limb, having made a practice of making Mommy nervous by climbing and jumping from heights not generally advised to the under three foot crowd. Miraculously though, Owen is still whole while Nora is merely fused together, which makes one wonder if this is an indication of things to come.

All By Ourselves...

Grandpa and Grandma Z left on Saturday. This was a much better planned trip than when Grandma Z came to help out with Owen's birth and arrived 2 weeks before Owen did. This time, they got here 2 nights before my water broke and had just enough time for them and Owen to get reacquainted -- they learned Owen's fake cry and how to tease him out of it; Owen learned that sometimes Grandpa and Grandma Z accidentally put diapers on backwards -- before we left them to each other for several days.

It all worked out swimmingly -- Owen got some extra TLC (and trips to the library and park) and Mommy and Daddy got used to having freshly laundered and folded clothes as well as a well cleaned kitchen. Sadly, eventually Grandpa and Grandma Z had to go home (or at least to Uncle Steve and Aunt Becky's for Sam's 5th birthday party). Owen became very sad and slept most of the day away after their departure (which was funny since the previous day in his major tantrum since Nora's arrival he told them he wished they'd get lost). Nora cried. Mommy and Daddy just lamented how nice it was having two extra sets of hands to either hold Nora or entertain Owen.

We seem to be muttling though, however, and I think Grandpa and Grandma Z are happy to finally be home in their own bed bereft of the occassional baby crying in the next room. Until Christmas at least...

100!

We just changed Nora's 100th diaper (and Owen had his 6,901st, although he keeps telling us that he's going to stop wearing diapers now that he's a big brother and in Ms. Courtney's classroom at daycare...and we keep telling ourselves we'll stop tracking him after he's potty trained at the latest...) For reference, Owen' had his 100th diaper way back on September 2nd 2006 and Nora is averaging 3 more diapers than Owen had at this age.

Edelweiss

Owen has been obsessed with Mary Poppins lately, to the point where he can sing just about every song in the whole movie. (He even knows the Fidelity Fiduciary Bank lyrics, it's really cute hearing him reach for the lowest notes he can and sing, "All from tuppence, prudently fruitfully, frugally invested in the, to be specific, in the Dawes, Tomes, Mousely, Grubbs, Fidelity Fiduciary Bank!")

Why do I mention this in a post titled 'Edelweiss'? Well, we'd been meaning to make a little movie of Owen singing a Mary Poppins medley, but we never seemed to have the camera around at the right time, and after Nora was born we gave him 'The Sound of Music' as a big brother present, and his musical obsession changed with the wind.

This time we're not missing our opportunity. He's still working on the lyrics, but every time 'Edelweiss' comes on he grabs his guitar that Mom Mom gave him for his birthday (which he'd been asking for for months by the way), and starts to sing and play along. So without further ado, here is our latest musical sensation.

Bringing Home Baby

Vive le difference. Owen's homecoming was fraught with obstacles and uncertainties: Would his bilirubin level be low enough? (It eventually was). Should we let our obstetrician perform a circumcision at 9 o'clock at night after performing three back to back c-sections? (We did). Would Allen get to play in the EPA softball playoffs? (He didn't and they lost).

But with Nora, it all pretty much went like clockwork. Initially we were told we'd be checking out Wednesday since our insurer had a new policy that all healthy, normal deliveries completed by 7 pm (Nora was born at 6:54 pm) should be discharged the next day. However, after I pointed out that having authored the economic analysis of the Mothers and Newborns Act, I was pretty sure such a policy was illegal, they seemed content to let us stay until Thursday.

Thursday came and by 10 am I had already been given the thumbs up and Nora had passed her bilirubin test with flying colors. Since circumcision was not an issue, we simply had to arrange for Allen to come get us and officially be escorted out. This turned out to be slightly more complicated than we initially thought.

Due to Nora's surprisingly slim legs and feet (given she weighed almost 9 pounds), the security tag which alerts the staff if someone should try to remove her, kept falling off during our stay. We had it re-attached numerous times and apparently the last time they did so they forgot to reactivate it. Moreover, they forgot to take it off when we left. While no alarm sounded, they apparently realized the mistake and had security hold us in the downstairs lobby while a nurse came to remove it. (There was talk of a guard losing his job, but we left before that was sorted out).

We made it home by 12:30 pm, just in time to see Owen, Grandpa and Grandma Z back from a fairly extensive walk. Owen got to watch his baby sister nurse and make sure that Mommy and Nora would stick around before the entire household took a nap. Afterwards, Grandma Z enticed Allen into a trip to the grocery store with promises of a homemade rhubarb pie which expanded to grilling pork chops and having Mom Mom and Grandpa Don over for dinner.

We had a hard time prying Nora from her grandmothers' hands in order to try and get her down for at least the first part of the night, and Grandpa Don got Owen a bit riled up for bedtime, but eventually we all settled in for our first night at home as a full family.
(click here to see the latest pictures)

Nora Atchison Fawcett

Between facebook, email, and text messages I think most of our loyal blog readers are well aware that Nora Atchison Fawcett was born at 6:54 pm on Tuesday, September 1, 2009. She weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs, 14 0z, and was 21 1/4 inches long at birth. It is somewhat amazing how the speed and style of communication has changed in the last few years with iPhones and facebook enabling a much more real time reporting of events, this blog is feeling down right old media, but it none the less provides a forum for a much more detailed account to preserve for our family history. So, for all of you die-hards out there lets dive into the details!

Compared to Elaine's pregnancy with Owen, this has all been a very different experience. For one thing, this baby was far more active, kicking up a storm, where as Owen was comparatively calm in utero. With Owen, we were constantly being told how big the baby was and his due date seemed to be a moving target always moving up even though Owen ended up being late. This time around, we ignored any revised due dates, and Nora showed up right on schedule, almost a pound heavier than Owen! Also, whereas a sonogram technician's slip up gave us a pretty good idea that we were having a boy with Owen, this time around we were completely in the dark. We were always pretty set on a girl's name, still being happy with the name 'Nora' that we picked out for a girl before Owen was born, but we never quite settled on a boy's name. (We were still debating between 'Henry' and 'Calvin' between pushes.)

One similarity is that, as with Owen, Elaine's water broke sparing us the any debates about contraction timing and when to go to the hospital. This time around, Elaine's water broke at 4:40 am, so we were relatively well rested for the big day ahead. We quickly gathered up our bags, told Grandma and Grandpa Z what was happening so they could take care of Owen for the day, sent a couple quick emails on the blackberry to make sure Allen's latest analysis would be delivered to the Senate Finance committee, updated facebook, and headed out the door to the hospital. This time around there were no doubts from the hospital staff about Elaine's water having broken, so we were checked in right away and didn't have to walk the halls for hours to prove she was in labor. This also meant that the epidural arrived much sooner, providing much needed relief. Elaine was dilated 1 cm when she was first examined at the hospital, so we knew we had a long day ahead.

With Owen, Elaine also started out around 1 cm when we arrived at the hospital, and after 18 hours of labor she was stalled out at 8 cm requirng a Cesarian section. This time aroud the plan was for a VBAC, but given past history, we were a little nervous about how things would progress. By 11:30 am, Elaine was at 5 cm, much more progress than we were expecting by that point, and we started feeling more optimistic about avoiding a C-section. By 2 pm she was at 7 cm and our wonderful Nurse Robin was becoming quite confident that Elaine would deliver the baby before her shift ended at 7 pm. When they checked at 3:30 pm, Elaine had blown past 8 all the way to 9 cm, and upon hearing this, Mom Mom headed down to the Hospital excited about meeting her new grandchild. At 4:40 pm, exactly 12 hours after her water broke, the cervix was gone and it was time for Elaine to start pushing!

Given that we never reached this point with Owen, we weren't entirely sure what to expect. Elaine's friend Audra was due the day before Elaine, and she just gave birth to her son a couple days earlier after less than an hour at the hospital and just a couple of pushes. Marlo just needed a few pushes to deliver baby Ben a few months earlier. Not that we expected things could possibly go so quickly, but after the first half hour of pushing or so, the epidural began to wear off and the pain began to intensify. After an hour of pushing we began to see a little swirl of dark hair on our baby's head, but the baby still had a ways to go and the pain was beginning to get to Elaine. She may even have wanted to get up, but soon the doctor arrived and solved that problem for us. Elaine's usual doctor wasn't at the hospital, but her evil faternal twin sister was. As Elaine was straining to push, the doctor came in and mumbeled something about having to give up on the VBAC and do a C-section. This of course made Elaine all the more determined, and after the doctor left, she beared down for another half hour of pushing and our baby was finally ready to come out. The nurse called the doctor back and our baby was delivered at 6:54 pm. After a little twisting around, we saw we had a little girl, and we could stop debating boys names and welcome Nora to our family. It was a truly remarkable experience that I was ever so fortunate to witness (not sure Elaine would feel quite the same way feeling everything first hand). Seeing our little girl for the first time she stole my heart and overwhelemed me with joy (and that certainly goes for both of us).


(click here to see all the pictures)

Birthday Boy

Wow. Three years. 36 Months. 1095 days. All Owen, all the time. We're a little freaked out about all the change that is about to come and how we'll all adapt, but hopefully we've learned enought over the past three years to muddle through.

1. You can lead a boy to the potty, but you can't make him pee.
2. Don't touch Owen's haircut.
3. Not all sticks are created equal.
4. Watching too much Mary Poppins may induce your child to break into song and dance, as well as panhandle.
5. Mommy and Daddy are not perfect substitutes, and if they try to be there will be tears.
6. Never underestimate the value of a good-sized box.
7. Naptime does not come with a moneyback guarantee.
8. Farm relatives have the best toys ever.
9. Always be jumping.
10. The twos really aren’t so terrible.
    

Diving into the County Fair

Sunday was just about as full as a day can get. We started out the day waiting in line with the crowds for delicious dim sum at Oriental East in Silver Spring with Mom Mom, Grandpa Don, and Jen. Somewhat surprisingly, Owen actually did pretty well eating, although we weren't quite adventurous enough to order the chicken feet off of the secret menu.

After dim sum, we went back to Mom Mom and Grandpa Don's to squeeze in a little swimming in their neighbor Rose's pool before nap time. For the last month or so, Owen has been taking swim lessons every Saturday. So far those lessons have consisted mostly of Owen fearlessly leaping into the pool and trying to doggy paddle back to the edge (with a little support from Daddy). Last time we went with Brad and Marlo to their pool, we remembered to bring Owen's water wings, and Owen had such a great time swimming free in the big pool, that he even convinced a reluctant Mia that swimming could be loads of fun. Well, combine Owen's love of leaping, a pair of water wings, and a diving board, and our little boy had the best time ever jumping and flipping off of the diving board swimming to the ladder, climbing out and doing it all over again. In a little over an hour he probably jumped off the diving board thirty times, and squealed with joy the entire time (the video at the bottom of this post gives just a little taste of the fun).

Exhausted from a big morning, Owen and Daddy took a nap to prepare for an afternoon at the Montgomery County Fair, and Mommy headed home for a well deserved break (can't blame her for not quite being up for lots of walking around in the August heat while nine months pregnant...). Well rested from our naps, we met up with the Brown's for our second annual trip to the Fair. We were joined by Marlo's family to make for a quite the crew, and armed with our knowledge of the fair grounds from last year we made a bee line for the animals, fire trucks, and the combine slide. But the biggest hit this year was something Owen and Mia were too small for last year, the pony rides! Mia was a bit scared at first, but eventually they both had a grand time riding around on their beautiful ponies. To top off the evening we had dinner at the fair with ice cream for dessert, Mia even shared her cone with Owen. Next year the family will be a little bigger, but we'll be sure to go back for more fun at the fair.

(click here for all the pictures)

Party of 13

 

Historically we've shied away from big birthday celebrations for Owen, primarily because 1) we have a very small home which will only accommodate a limited guest list; and 2) renting a venue to celebrate a day that will never be remembered by the guest of honor has been hard for me to justify. But this year is different, mostly because we've been a little worried about how Owen will feel about his place in the world once the new baby comes and want to make sure he realizes he's very important to us, but also because Owen is turning three which means there's some chance we'll get credit for this in the future. We decided to go big. To that end we spent a month or so investigating various venues before deciding to hold his third birthday bash at "The Little Gym" a few weeks prior to the actual DOB (lest baby #2 decided to crash). 15 friends were invited; 12* were able to make it, and for an hour and a half on Saturday August 8th, they ruled. But despite the parachute, the air track, the balance beam, the uneven bars, and even the Conga line to the party room afterwards, Owen informed us that his favorite part of the day was blowing out the "3" on his cupcake. Afterwards, we went over to Mom Mom's and had a lovely dinner Mom Mom and Grandpa Don as well as Mia, Marlo, Luke, and Claire before getting a very happy and tired little boy back home and into bed. *Thanks to Leo, Brady, Fiona, Sophia, Tadashi, Will, Katie, Gavin, Chloe, Sophie, Luke, and Mia for making Owen's birthday party such a success! (click here to see all the pictures)

A Boy and His Stick

There's just something about a good stick. Owen's Grandpa Fawcett (my Dad) tells a story about how when he was little, his grandmother (Owen's Great Great Grandma Melissa Fawcett) amazed at all the toys available to her young grandson, told him that when she was a little girl they didn't have all of these toys. Shocked at how deprived his grandmother's youth must have been, Dad asked her the most pressing question on his mind, "Did you have sticks?" When his grandmother said that yes they did have sticks, Dad lost his concern thinking that as long as she had sticks, everything must have been just fine.

I think Owen is in a similar boat now. He has lots of toys, but his favorite is his stick. He's managed to keep the same stick for over two months now. The stick is his violin, his microphone, his baton, his horn, his chimney broom, his lollipop, his birthday candle, his ice cream cone, and his constant companion in all outdoor activities. It's not allowed in the house, but every time he goes inside, he puts the stick down in its bed on the windowsill. At night he wants to go outside and give his stick a hug and a kiss to wish it good night.

Someday he'll break this stick, and while I'm sure he'll find a new one, I think we'll all be a bit unreasonably sad at the loss of such a great stick.

Dentist

We've been a little nervous about Owen's first dental appointment as an introduction to our dentist last year didn't go too well (Owen spent most of the interaction cowering in Allen's arms). Moreover, we figured that the moment of reckoning regarding Owen's "be-be-bes" was upon us as dentists are notoriously anti-pacifiers and while we are loathe to go against a doctor's advise, we are terrified of what should befall us should we actually take Owen's sleep companions away. But Dr. Sheila Samaddar and the rest of the crew at the South Capitol Smile Center allayed all our fears. They quickly got Owen to sit in the big chair, allow them to put their hands in his mouth and not freak out when the big toothbrush tickled his teeth. After gushing about how well he did, their only comment was that he had a little bit of plaque on his front teeth and that we should keep doing what we're doing which means the battle over the "be-be-bes" has been deferred a bit. 

Time passed

Usually when we go a couple of weeks without a blog post it's because nothing particularly notable has happened in our lives. And while we're not above memorializing the mundane --we have blogged multiple times about Owen's diaper count, after all -- we generally like some hook to accompany our online ramblings.

The truth is that a fair amount has happened over the past two weeks, we just haven't found time to write a blog post about any of it: Owen started swimming lessons (and in order to enroll him in said class Allen and I made multiple phone calls, had some words with a Capitol police officer, drove around a street blockade, and begged); Owen went to a birthday party; Owen and Daddy went on a field trip to the Botanic Garden; Owen taught Grandpa the lyrics to Blitzkrieg Bop; Mommy & Daddy went to the Wilco show where Captain Slurry made a special appearance (thanks to Brad and the store which provided him both with the alcohol and the free tickets).

The main reason we haven’t had any time to blog is because Owen has decided to make our lives a little more difficult -- it seems someone might be less thrilled with the prospect of a sibling than initially appeared. Potty training has completely stalled. Tears are a frequent companion. Bedtime has drifted to what is considered late night in the Central time zone.

We haven’t quite found the right strategy to get potty training and bed times back on track. But as the baby is set to be here in seven weeks and we're running out of creative parenting strategies, we thought we'd open it up for your suggestions as to how to improve our current lot (and keep in mind that I'm not allowed to drink).

Hazel Marina Pearson

Congratulations are in order for Chris & Elise, and their beautiful new baby girl, Hazel Marina Pearson, born on July 2nd. Head on over to their blog (mochi) for some great pictures of the new family!

And the Band Played On...

Uncle Dave and Aunt Kara were in town for three full days last weekend. Despite the brevity of the trip, they managed to hit several museums, the Capitol and the Library of Congress. But probably most importantly, Allen and Dave formed the band, 2454, toured the country and earned a jet before breaking up due to artistic differences (as well as geographical ones). Expect a reunion tour come Christmas (assuming we can fit Rock Band and it's accessories in the minivan)...

(click here and here to see all the pictures.)

Father's Day

 

Elaine and Owen gave me the game 'Rock Band' for Father's Day, and Owen has decided he loves to play it with Daddy. He likes pretending to play along with the guitar, and he really likes grabbing the microphone and singing. So far his favorite song is 'Biltzkrieg Bob', especially the "Hey Ho, Let's Go!" part, but as soon as the song is over he wants to play, "Hey Ho, Wait For Me!" Aside from all the rocking out, we celebrated Father's day with a trip to the pool with Brad, Marlo, Mia, and baby Ben. Owen and Mia had a great time playing with the killer whale torpedo (which Brad and Allen also found fascinating), and Elaine enjoyed relaxing in the water and not feeling the full weight of baby number two. We also finally got to see the finished product of the great Brown family home renovation, and we were of course suitably impressed.

Night at Mom Mom's

Friday night was the 75th birthday celebration for the National Archives, and Mom Mom and Grandpa Don decided that it would be fun to celebrate the occasion by taking Owen to the Archives birthday picnic so Elaine and I could go out to dinner and celebrate our sixth anniversary a few days early. To cap it all off, after the picnic Owen spent the night at Mom Mom and Grandpa Don's house, his first night away from Mommy since he was seven months old. By all accounts, Owen had a great time at the Archives picnic, and with all the excitement of staying at Mom Mom's house, he didn't miss Mommy and Daddy at all (though I'm not sure we can claim the converse is true, even if we did have a lovely dinner ;-)

(click here to see all the Archives pictures)

Iowa

We did it. 28 hours round-trip in a car with a potty-training 2 1/2 year old and a 7 months pregnant woman. This was not a roadtrip for the meek or for those that can't handle listening to multiple readings of The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. No accidents (either vehicular or urinary), no speeding tickets, and Allen even managed to take a conference call despite Owen belting out "Step in Time" while watching Mary Poppins in the back seat with Mom Mom. And it was worth it for an all too brief a visit to the homeland. We had two nights in Cleveland where Owen was able to release some pent up energy with Aunt Katherine and Uncle L. We managed to get in a trip to Des Moines to see Ethel (sans Allen who had to work). Shared some quality Pond time both with Owen's and Allen's cousins. Had all sorts of fun with Grandpa and Grandma Z. Owen had lots of play time on the farm (he even got to drive the tractor, though that almost ended disastrously and reaffirmed Iowa's good sense to not issue licenses to the under-3 crowd) and got to feed Kendra's horses. We even convinced Uncle Bernie to make a trip down to see us in order to get some adorable Owen time (which we neglected to capture on film since Allen was working again) and for Elaine to beat him in a Russian Bank grudge match. We're thinking that next summer we'll try and coordinate the baby's baptism with the Fawcett Sweet Corn Festival and make it a two week stay. Until then, feel free to enjoy all the pics here.

 

Hi Baby, I'm Your Big Brother

Owen Dancing

I'm sure this will be embarrassing for Owen when he's in High School, but this is just too cute not to post... 

It's Not Swine Flu

Shortly after I got to work on Wednesday the chills and aches began. I bravely put on my rain poncho (the only additional layer I happened to have in the office) took my allowed allotment of extra-strength Tylenol and continued working on some health statistics for the Hill. A few hours later the sweats began at which point the poncho was removed. By the time we sent my numbers off, I felt good enough to cheer Allen and the rest of "Bad Air Daze" while wrangling Owen at the softball season opener against the "Reg Soxs."

After a brief celebration we went home to discover that I had a 102 degree fever. It broke a bit after Owen went to bed, but returned around 3 am, breaking again around 5 am. I woke up for work, and a series of meeting, with little trace of the previous day's issues, but they quickly resurfaced as soon as I got to work. I went home and continued the series of peaks and valleys well into the early hours again (this time reaching all the way up to 103 degrees).

Friday we decided I should stay home and try and get a doctor's appointment, which isn't the easiest thing to do at 8 in the morning on the holiday weekend, particularly when your illness concerns 2 specialties. Multiple calls later, OBGYN decided that it was an internal medicine issue, but internal medicine wasn't sure what to do with me. My fever having broken again, I'd decided to forget the whole thing, but alas Allen was there on speaker phone when they called back and informed me I should go straight to the ER.

I protested, but Allen insisted, so off we went. Upon arrival, ER took one look at me and escorted me to to Obstetrics. Upon hearing my symptoms, Obstetrics moved me to an isolation room, put on a mask and order a swine flu test. Eight hours and once incredibly painful and intrusive procedure later (with nary a temperature above 98.6 recorded officially the whole time) I was informed 1) that the baby was fine; 2) that I officially didn't have swine flu; and 3) they had no real idea what was causing the temperature spikes (which recommenced shortly after we tucked in Owen that night, who was still wired from hours of play with Grandpa Fawcett).

Saturday continued to be unpleasant but on Sunday I rested comfortably (thanks to Mom Mom who kindly watched Owen for the day). Now I'm feeling much better and ready to celebrate Memorial Day with friends.

Sonogram

Elaine had a sonogram on Monday, and once again we were told that the due date was considerably earlier than we thought. Owen's original due date was August 16, but after the first sonogram his due date was estimated as August 6, and after the second his due date was moved all the way up to July 26. Of course Owen wasn't born until August 20, which meant that we had a full three weeks in a hot DC August expecting a baby anytime (plus Grandma Z came out a wee bit earlier than needed).

Well, fool us once, uh, shame on you, fool us - well we can't get fooled again. This time we won't give any heed to the sonogram technician's silly August 21 due date. We're sticking with September 1 thank you very much, and surely this time all will go according to plan...

Mothers & Motorcycles

Having learned our lesson from years past, we kept our plans for Mother's Day fairly simple this year: Owen and I baked some fresh blueberry muffins for breakfast, and we planned on a trip to the Arboretum before nap time. We also thought we'd swing by Frager's to pick up some pepper plants before heading up to the Arboretum, and in this small, little detail, the seeds of our plan's destruction were sewn. As we drove down towards Lincoln Park on our way to Frager's, we hit a bizarre Capitol Hill traffic jam -- we could see up ahead that the police had blocked off the road ahead for "Rolling Thunder", a parade of motorcycles. Trapped on a one way street with cars behind us, we were lucky enough to be next to an open parking space, so we parked the van and changed our plans. Owen had a lovely Mother’s Day morning watching the motorcycles roar by and there was eventually enough of a gap for us to cross the street and play in the park as the parade of motorcycles turned into a parade of Corvettes. We headed back home for lunch and a nap, but we weren’t done with the park quite yet. Our friends Andrew & Claire and their son Luke were down at Eastern Market in the afternoon, and gave us a call from Lincoln Park right as we were waking up from nap-time. So we went back to the park so Owen and Luke could play together, making salad in their hats and chasing monsters around the grass. We topped off the evening with all of us heading back to our place to grill some sausages for dinner. Nothing went according to plan, but we had a lovely Mother’s Day none the less.

Ready for Takeoff

Ever since we went up to Boston in February, Owen has been talking about wanting to see Kaden again. This past weekend the Hyatts were in town and Owen finally got his wish. On Saturday morning we drove out to McLean to Nabeel's parents house for a morning playdate and burgers on the grill for lunch. We had a great time seeing Nabeel, Megan, Kaden, and Liam (who is looking much bigger than he was back in February), and it's always fun catching up with Nabeel's parents. After heading home for naptime, the whole crew (minus Elaine and Megan who both wisely stayed home) gathered at the Air & Space museum. Kaden and Owen decided they owned the place and had way too much fun chasing each other around and pointing out all the airplanes and rockets. We finished up the day with a walk to Tortilla Coast for dinner (which in retrospect was a pretty long hike on a hot day with three kids and two grandparents, but oh well, the fajitas were tasty). I'd put up pictures, but I didn't manage to take any good ones, and I'm still waiting for Nabeel to post his ;-)

It was the best of times...

We'd made plans to attend our niece Olivia's First Communion in Chicago a couple months ago. We didn't realize at the time that I would be horribly ill that weekend and that Allen would be under a White House imposed deadline. We made it to Chicago (though Allen arrived 9 hours later than Owen and I after missing the flight for a meeting with White House staff and flying stand-by) and we're able to attend the festivities (though Allen was working on the analysis throughout most of the day with only a slight reprieve for breakfast and the ceremony), but it was a bit of a haze for us all. In the end, Olivia looked beautiful and is now a Communicant, Owen had an amazing time with all of his cousins, the White House approved Allen's analysis of the Houses' latest climate change legislation,* and the only the losses were my voice and Owen's beloved baseball hat (which got left on the flight back).**

* For the wonky out there, the above link is to the executive summary, here's where you can find the rest of the analysis.

**Also possibly Panda, the Zimmerman kids' pet hamster who went MIA after the party. We're hoping he shows up soon.

Easter

We've been fighting with Owen about nap time -- we're all for it while he likes to fight it for 2 hours before ultimately surrendering which in turn messes up his bedtime. While we have no control during the week when he's at daycare, we decided that on the weekends we'd just skip a formal siesta and instead allow him to rest his eyes if the opportunity should arise. Unfortunately, we decided to implement this new regime change Easter weekend.

Saturday, after a fairly relaxing morning we headed out (with Owen napping en route) to meet the newest addition to the Brown family, Ben. While Allen and I were focused on observing the dynamics of balancing a newborn and a toddler, Owen was all about playing with Mia on the playground right outside their temporary digs. We intended to just stay an hour, but with the swings beckoning, it was a good 3 hours before we headed out to dinner with Mom Mom & Grandpa Don and Aunt Katherine, Uncle "L" and Makayla. We eventually carried one tuckered out little boy to his bed.

The lateness of the previous night and the required search for Easter Eggs in the morning, threw a wrench in our schedule and meant that we had to attend a later mass service. Despite that, as Owen pointed out, "Daddy doesn't want to go to church," and that "this is another church," it turned out to be serendipitous as the belated service allowed Owen to watch the pipe organ player conduct and even to briefly meet the Easter Bunny (which only sort of freaked him out).

From there we went directly to Mom Mom's where Owen participated in a much more elaborate Easter egg hunt with Makayla, who was gracious enough to help Owen search. After a lovely dinner and far more chocolate than was probably advisable, we headed home where the entire Fawcett clan ignored our previous directive and took a collective 2 hour nap.



(click here to see the Baby Ben pictures)
(click here to see all the Easter pictures)

A Slight Change of Plans

Our plan for the weekend was to try to get together with Brad & Marlo before their new baby arrived, so Owen and Mia could give each other a little pep talk about being big siblings soon. Andrew & Claire and their son Luke were also joining us, and we all were planning on meeting for brunch Sunday morning followed by an outing to Wheaton Park. The weather was gorgeous, and we were about to head out the door when the phone rang. Brad was calling with a slight change of plans: James Benjamin Brown (Ben for short -- going by his middle name just like his daddy) was born a little after 6 Sunday morning and so the Browns would have to take a rain-check. We're extremely excited for the Brown family, and we can't wait to see the new baby. We'll put up a link to Dia de Mia (their now misnamed blog;-) as soon as there are pictures. Owen was disappointed we wouldn't be seeing Mia, but he was very excited that she is a big sister now -- though he's decided he's content to wait until after his birthday for big brotherdom. With Brad and Marlo otherwise occupied, we met up with Andrew, Claire and Luke at Woodside Deli for a lovely brunch, and then drove over to Wheaton Park, which turned out to be a little boy's paradise. There was a gigantic two story slide, that was part of a massive old-school wooden playground complex; a train that took us on a very scenic ride through the woods; and a carousel with a zebra for Owen to ride! Owen had a great time playing with Luke, and we'll have to be sure to go back to Wheaton Park sometime soon.

Baby's First Taste of Rum, Sodomy and the Lash

Almost exactly three years ago, we took Owen to his first prenatal rock concert, a great show with the New Pornographers and Belle and Sebastian at the 930 Club. In our efforts to make sure baby number two doesn't feel left out, we enlisted Grandpa as a babysitter on Tuesday night so Elaine and I could venture out to see the Pogues play a St. Patrick's Day show at the 930 Club. Grandpa and Owen had a great time staying up late and playing with puzzles. Elaine and I had a blast at the show, and I think baby number two will feel a little more Irish after hearing Shane MacGowan and company tear through a great set (including Sally MacLennane, Dirty Old Town, and The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn -- some of my favorites off of Rum Sodomy and the Lash) and mumble through some unsurprisingly unintelligible drunken Irish stage banter.

By Any Other Name...

Owen has known Sophia since he was 4 months old and started daycare. Theirs is a somewhat complicated friendship, but for the most part they've gotten along well, which is pretty impressive given that they spend about 40 hours a week together.

Recently, for reasons known only to herself (I checked, her mom has no idea what prompted), Sophia started referring to Owen as "Bob." Were she merely a Bob-calling island unto herself, this would simply be one of those odd quirks that Sophia's parents would be blogging about instead of us. But Sophia is a rather persuasive two-year-old, and has managed to convince most of Owen's class to also refer to him as "Bob." Most disturbingly, she's even gotten Owen to call himself "Bob" on more than one occasion.

Nothing against the name "Bob" but we're partial to "Owen." Moreover we think completely changing one's identity for someone else, even someone as cute as Sophia, is probably a bad idea. As such we are aggressively trying to stomp out all "Bob" references. It's mostly worked, but only because Owen has now started calling himself "Bruce" from Finding Nemo.

What a Difference a Week Makes

March roared in like a lion this year with the biggest snowstorm of Owen's life bringing 8 inches of snow to DC on Monday. While not quite enough to close the federal government, it was enough for a two hour delay that gave us some time to dawn snowsuits and venture out into the snow. Owen had a great time marching about in the snow and catching snowflakes on his tongue. The cold start to the week was just fine with Owen as it gave him a chance to indulge the serious puzzle kick he's been on lately. After seeing Owen play with Kaden's puzzles in Boston, we realized it was time for him to get some more advanced puzzles. Turns out we were holding him back with the simple little puzzles he'd had for so long. Now he's putting together 48 piece puzzles on his own and playing with puzzles morning, noon and night. By the end of the week, the only lions left roaring were at the zoo, as the week's early snowstorm had given way to 70 degree temperatures and sunny skies. It was time to pull Owen away from the puzzles and take advantage of perfect zoo weather. We saw lions, tigers, elephants, cheethas, zebras, and gazelles. But the most excitement was seeing the gorillas. We saw a giant silver back gorilla up close eating a 'gorilla popsicle', and we saw the adorable new baby gorilla nursing with it's mommy. On Sunday the weather was still wonderful, so we visited Lincoln Park in what seemed like the first time in ages. Owen brought his green soccer ball and showed off his skills dribbling like a pro. Hopefully the weather will hold, because as much as we enjoyed the last gasp of winter, now that we've had a taste of spring it would be hard to go back. p.s. For those of you wanting a little more info after last week's post, yes you heard it right, Owen is going to be a big brother. The due date is around Labor Day, but as we learned with Owen, due dates are non-binding and subject to change. p.p.s. In other news, our good friends Chris and Elise are not only expecting their first child this summer, but they've started a blog!

And Now for Something Completely Different

The Agony and the Ectasy

Life's been a bit of a roller-coaster of late for our hero. Last week Owen's best friend Leo threw up all over him. Owen seemed largely unfazed by the experience and immune to the viral exposure so apparently, no harm no foul. Besides, there was Valentine's Day to look forward to complete with a class party (minus Leo), card exchange and more than a few hugs. Still feeling the love, Owen had another play date with Mia that culminated in a kiss and some hand holding. All seemed perfect in the world, but then yesterday, he was accidentally kicked in the head by his friend Fiona at daycare, resulting in his very first shiner. It seems that there's always a bit of drama around Valentine's Day for our little Owen.

Boston

Taking advantage of a business trip I had last week up to MIT, Elaine Owen and I all spent a few days up in Boston visiting our friends the Hyatts. It had been a while since Kaden and Owen had seen each other, so it was great to see the boys have such a fun time playing together. We also were excited to finally meet the wonderful but seldom blogged about Liam Hyatt.

The whole trip was great fun, but the highlight had to be our outing to the Boston Children's Museum. As if the museum itself wasn't going to be enough fun, we got there by walking through the snow to the bus stop, riding the bus, riding the T, and walking across a bridge before finally arriving at the museum. Not wanting to be overshadowed by the journey, the museum immediately awed Owen with it's gigantic undulating wood and steel net climbing structure. Kaden led Owen on an adventure climbing through the structure as Nabeel and I looked on somewhat enviously. The boys tired themselves out climbing the structure, and playing all over the museum, before we went around the corner to meet Megan and Kaden for a delicous lunch at Flour.

All and all it was a great trip, we always love seeing Nabeel, Megan, Kaden and now Liam too, and we're looking forward to our next adventure together.

(click here to see all the pictures)

Museums with Mia

It was a marathon of a playdate. After months of scheduling conflicts we were finally able to coordinate with the Browns and arrange a day of cultural stimulation for Owen and Mia. Naps were missed. Antebellum line dancing was interrupted. Lunch was delayed. And hand dryers had to be employed after a little too enthusiastic splashing at the Portrait Gallery's atrium. But it was all worth it, if for no other reason than the visit afforded Allen and Brad the opportunity to build a truly tall tower that was the envy of all the other dads at the Building Museum.



(click here for all the pictures)