A Day of Children

I’m sitting on my balcony enjoying a lovely August day.

Yesterday at 9 am or so we got the call we’d been expecting for some time now. It was from Gav and Emily, with the happy news that they were about to become parents all over again.

I headed over there with Jen close behind to find Emily in Gav’s kneepads (she was finding the early contractions easier while kneeling). While Gav made us all tasty omelettes, the midwife came and told Emily that the contractions could stop and the whole deal might be off for today. This was a bit frustrating to Emily (not to mention the rest of us) but Emily persevered and the contractions got more and more serious.

It was at this point that we decided to take their daughter Aladara out of the picture a bit and entertain her. The plan had been to see if she wanted to be involved in the process, but I think she didn’t exactly know what to do, especially once things started to get more intense for Emily.

So, Jen and I went upstairs with her and made paintings, then we read books together. I had forgotten how exciting The Cat In The Hat Comes Back really is as a children’s book. Seuss was the master of rhyme, metre and fun. I think it’s just as fun to be the reader as the listener in terms of enjoying it. I had forgotten the pink snow too.

Aladara’s masterpiece. She likes to work with paint and white glue

Anyway, we tried to have a picnic outside, but the wasps came, so we had an inside picnic in Aladara’s room.

We decided to head out to the park, to totally vacate the premises as Emily moved into the final stages of labour. So we packed Aladara up in her stroller. She’s old enough now for us to be able to ask her what we need to bring to the park (Water and Juice!) and how to get there (Go that way!) and being at the park was fun. There was much running around and sliding, and meeting of friends, and sharing of buckets of sand. It was a good place to get some photos too, so here’s some of Jen and Aladara at the park.

Having enjoyed the park we walked up the street to the drug store (Aladara enjoyed pressing the door-opener button) to pick up some extra strength Tylenol for Emily, then came back to our house for bread and cheese, and to watch Monsters, Inc. together. No sooner had we started, however, did we get a call from Gav with good news and a request to bring the big sister home.

We arrived back at their house to find the happy but tired parents in the basement with the new baby! Aladara was a sweetie, declaring that she liked the baby, which while endearing as a new human was still getting adjusted to the realities of life outside a warm damp cosy bag inside Emily.

As always I am stunned by how much less placid life is with a new baby. I mean, just a few hours before we’d been chatting with Emily, and the baby was presumably entertaining itself as it released its “I’m ready to come out now” hormones, and now it’s out and ready to be taken care of!

There really is nothing like a newborn baby for enjoyment though… Gav and Emily wisely decided to nap the afternoon away, and I held my new friend for a few hours in the living room. (Newborn babies are known for napping deeply right after birth, so it’s a good opportunity for parents to rest.) She snuggled into my arms as I closed my eyes myself and later read some short stories from an anthology within reach. So small and light, you kind of feel like you’ve just picked up the clothes and left the baby behind, but there she is, all 6 lbs. 10 oz. of her.

At the end of the day we went out to pick up a So Good feast. Mmmm… a tasty end to a very good day.

Edit: Just found this picture of Jen holding the new baby. Thought it deserved a home here too:

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