One week of Milo

Besides eating voraciously, this is how Milo spent his day. This is also his fourth outfit of the day, as he insists on peeing all over the place.

Please welcome Milo Elliott Zalben

Once again, the extended blog silence is due to the fact that one week ago today, we had a BABY!  Milo Elliott Zalben was born on July 29th, 2014 at 11:08pm.  He was 8lbs 4oz, 21 inches, and is pretty cute if I do say so myself.  We've all spent the week getting to know each other - my mom stayed with us for the first six days, which was so incredibly helpful I can't even begin to tell you (thanks, Mom!), and we're trying to settle into our old routine as much as we can so that Penny's life is as normal as possible.  We've had a really great non stop parade of family visitors, and Milo has now met all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles and first cousins!  Not too shabby for a week!
In case you don't want to do the math in your head, I ended up being 5 days overdue, and the doctor decided to induce.  I'm pretty happy about the way it all worked out this time around - I managed to get a haircut, a mani pedi, and a day of sitting around doing absolutely nothing before Milo was born.  Now I am enjoying Alex being home and taking amazing care of us, and trying to decide who this baby looks like (I'm pretty sure he's got a Bogin face) please take a look and decide for yourself!

Milo is born!

He has stats!

Big sister meets little brother for the first time!

Our first family portrait!

Me and my babies!

Penny holds Milo!

We come home from the hospital!

My heart breaks

Then it melts

I have become an expert swaddler.  Thank you, Maternity Ward Nurse!

Milo attends a 5 year old birthday party, and is clearly enjoying himself.

I enjoy myself - first drink out in a looooong time.

How Milo spent his one week birthday.

Happy one week on the planet, little dude.  So far you've been a great addition to our family, and we look forward to getting to know you and helping you find your place in this world.

40 weeks!

Well, here we are at 40 weeks, a place where I am totally unjustifiably shocked to be. Penny set us up with unreasonable expectations of how long a pregnancy should last. Though in my mathematical brain I understand that being "late" is just as likely as being "early", since a due date is sort of arbitrary, I like to think of myself and my children as being so exceptional that we are all ready to deliver at 39 weeks. See? I'm learning stuff already. Since today is my due date, I am now officially on leave from work! I hardly know what to do with myself! I am going to try and get a haircut and a mani-pedi, and stay out of Penny and her sitter's way this afternoon. Maybe the New Kid and I will watch some TV!

39 weeks, not in labor.

Hello! Did we trick you by not posting yesterday? Sorry about that. I am taking this opportunity to wear all of my nice maternity stuff, because maybe this is my last chance? Who even knows at this point! Wooooo!

38 weeks!

38 was the last photo we got to with Penny - she was born at exactly 39. Have I mentioned that her due date was also the 24th, and she was born on the 17th? Hahahahah, that doesn't mean anything, right? I'm sure this baby is staying put - we've got things to do!  Besides having potato feet, I'm feeling really good. I have worn shirts two days in a row that don't really cover this ridiculous belly, so it may be time to switch to dresses full time.

penny's art show

when i came home from work this evening, penny and her sitter had something very special to show me.   they had made a project together, and the reveal was just as exciting as the painting itself.  first, i had to turn on a light for penny, and she showed me the "do not enter" sign taped to the wall.  next, she told me that "there are three very important rules about this project.
- do not step on it
- do not touch it
- do not smell it
- and least important, do not step on it"

she then asked the sitter for the key to the room, and dramatically "unlocked" the living room/gallery.  did i mention she was wearing a princess skirt this whole time?  as it turns out, it was a delightful collaborative watercolor, but the presentation really put the whole thing over the top.

A very patriotic 37 weeks!

Happy 4th of July, everyone! We're at 37 weeks now, which means this baby is practically cooked! We hope to make it to 39 weeks at least, but understand that it could be anytime now! We went to our final ultrasound yesterday, and found out that the New Kid is in position!  His head is a normal size, which makes me very happy, and the tech still thinks 7 lbs 10 oz if he's 39 weeks, 8 lbs if he's 40 weeks. We shall see!
We went to a delightful 4th of July party at friends' house tonight, with an amazing view of the fireworks. I'm so glad they've moved back so that we don't have to leave Brooklyn. Take a look at my feet in the photos above - they are so swollen, they don't want to go anywhere.