Happy Birthday Phoebe!

I'm a few weeks behind in posting this, but here it is: the birthday bash for Phoebe. She had her own piece of chocolate cake, which she crumbled into a million pieces before eating it piece by piece until it was all gone.

October was an eventful month last year (see archives here) and I'm happy to report that this year is much less eventful. Phoebe is completely healthy, caught up in growth, and breathing on her own (among many other things). It sure took a lot of work/heartache/stress/support to get her here, but she made it and we couldn't be happier - even when she causes trouble.

better than and not quite what was hoped for

Today in my first day on the labor and delivery floor, I saw a C-section, just over a year since my last C-section. This time, I was on the other side of the sterile field, with full view of the skin, muscle, uterus, and then, baby. I was focused on the surgery, the approach and the closure, but when the baby started crying, I had to push out a torrent of memory that came from last October.

It wasn't until I was home this evening, feeding Phoebe the bedtime bottle and staring down at her lashes, her red cheeks, and her carefree hair with a hint of auburn, that I remembered what Emily wanted on October 15th and what she got on October 16th. She had hoped for a normal birth at 40 weeks with no complications and a baby in the car-seat coming home the next day. She was indignant when the OB suggested a C-section and shocked to tears when she was compelled to oblige. She was broken after weeks of daily visits to the hospital nursery to see her child and then to leave her child.

But now, after this year, it is hard to account for a little girl so full of smiles and joyous outbursts, who was then inconceivable and even now is miraculous.

Phoebe on the Swing

She fell asleep a few seconds later.

Half-Day Makes a Full Day

Bruce had a half-day at school yesterday, which can only mean one thing: a full day of fun!We went to the park. Phoebe got this awesome pink coat from her grandparents for her birthday. Someone at the park called her a "fashionista." We've got to work on posing though.We went to the Children's Museum. I love going on weekdays during the school day when no one is there. We had the place to ourselves!After that, we went to the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Bruce has been learning about rocks and minerals in kindergarten and was very excited to see a bazillion of them here. He was also stoked about seeing real meteorites. And we found Bruce's rock. All that museum-hopping makes Bruce hungry. Popcorn and fruit snacks please!

Memory Lane

I was digging through old files on my computer and came across this one. This is Bruce at 14 months. Look familiar?

Monkey Wrestling

This is how we calm down for bedtime.

Tufts 10K Race Report

Happy Columbus Day! The best part about this holiday is being able to run an awesome road race midday on a Monday. A few ladies from church trained for the Tufts 10K; for many of them, this was their first road race. We met once a week for an evening run together, and some of them trained in pairs. They were all so excited; they wanted to wear the race T-shirt to the race (which made them very hard to find!). The photo above is of the group before the race, all smiling big. As you can see, the smiles are just as big if not bigger afterward. The only difference is that we're slouching a little more (and our group shrunk since it's impossible to find your friends among 8,000+ women wearing the same shirt).

Here's the official race report:

After meeting up with the ladies for a photo opp, I waited in line at the port-o-potties for a solid 25 minutes. While in line, I changed out of my tights and put on my racing flats. After that, I found my GBTC team and ditched my stuff in their pile. There were about 15 minutes until the start of the race at that point, and I hadn't warmed up yet. I did a 5-minute loop around the Boston Common and then headed for the starting line. Unfortunately, there is a fence between the start and the Common, with only one entrance to get through. 8,000 ladies were squishing into this one 10-foot gate and onto the road where the starting line was.

When I got to the road, the start was still about 150 meters away. And the announcer had just sent off the wheelchair race, so I knew I only had 2-3 minutes until the start. I looked up and saw the 10-minute-per-mile pace sign and knew I was in the wrong place, but there were about 4,500 people between me and where I wanted to be. So I started darting through the crowd, throwing elbows and ducking and turning until I got up to my team. Just as I got there, bang! the race began.

The first mile went quickly - in all meanings of the word. I felt great. Then I looked at my watch. 5:56. Ugh, too fast. I am going to die, I thought. Mile 2 was better - 6:20. Then I saw Scott, Phoebe, and Bruce on the side of the road. I managed to give Bruce a high-five. Mile 3 - 6:20 again. I rounded the BU Bridge, which is where I stood last year with a giant arrow sign directing runners with my prego belly. Laura was there this year with the sign and she yelled something like, "Better than last year!" Indeed.

I saw Scott and the kids again. They cheered, Bruce shook a cowbell, and once I'd passed he turned to Scott and said, "Now can I have my fruit snacks?" I chased down a girl during mile 4 - 6:15. On mile 5, I settled back into the 6:20 groove and she caught me again. Rats! I tried to catch her on mile 6, but even after a 6:13 I still didn't get her. I didn't die! Yea!

After a quick kick at the end, I came in at 38:49, third for my team and 51st overall (hey, this is a competitive race!). All in all, I had a good race. I pushed hard but didn't hit a wall.

Weekend Adventure

Bruce has been fantasizing about going in a cave for awhile. We hiked to some caves while in Ohio this summer, and he's wanted to find more ever since. Scott made his dreams come true this weekend by finding a cool hike in western Massachusetts that went to some caves.
First we hiked up Mt. Norwottuck, a lofty 1100-feet above sea level.
Then we hiked down to the Horse Caves, where local lore claims Daniel Shays' rebels hung out after their defeat at the hands of the Massachusetts militia. Bruce's wildest cave-man dreams came true: there were plenty of nooks and crannies to climb in and through.


Phoebe got a nice ride from Scott for most of the way. She rubbed his back and whispered sweet nothings into his ear to thank him. I only carried her for a few minutes while Scott and Bruce went scrambling over some big boulders. I was pretty tired: I've been teaching a core fitness class (abs, a few strengthening exercises, abs, just a little aerobic bouncy action, and more abs) at MIT's student housing complex on Saturday mornings. After an hour of core fitness, an hour of running, and a few hours of hiking, I was tired (and ready to eat a house). After that tiring and fun weekend, I'm ready to run tomorrow: the Tufts 10K is on Monday at noon, starting from the Boston Common!

5-minute Shower

And this is what happens when I put Bruce in front of the TV and Phoebe in front of a tub of toys for five minutes while I take a shower. Bruce was completely oblivious. Phoebe apparently got bored with the toys, found the banana bread that I'd made for a school potluck (and put on the bench by the door so I wouldn't forget - oops), and spent a few minutes digging her fingers through it and eating the chocolate chips out of it.

Smart Shopping

Phoebe discovered that the shopping cart under Bruce's bed makes a wonderful little walker. Bruce, of course, thinks she is very funny.

Bruce the Musical

If Bruce's life was a musical, what would it look like?

It probably wouldn't be very different. He hums and sings all the time. He makes up new songs, sings old ones, and puts new words to old tunes. This song is a silly one he learned in kindergarten.

It came in handy on the hike.

Science!

After this little trip to the Museum, Bruce told me he wants to be a scientist instead of an engineer when he grows up.

Week o' Fun

My friend, Sarah, came to visit last week. She lived here for a few years, then packed up and moved to Utah two months ago so her husband could attend business school. We miss her, and Bruce misses her kids. She and her husband owned a business here, and she came to close it down. She stayed with us at night and worked all day (and some nights) to get the job done. It was fun to have her, even for just a bit. We went for a hike last weekend. Bruce loves hiking up big hills, so we found a big one in a big park and went to the top. We celebrated with some goldfish and water.Scott has less than three weeks left to the surgery rotation (and perhaps that's why he's smiling in this picture). This week will be relatively easy, but the last two weeks will be hard. The schedule in the emergency department is 24 hours on, 24 hours off. Ugh.
Phoebe took her first steps last week (the day after that last post, of course) and is getting better at wrestling Bruce to the ground.