Today was my first day back at work....

and I thought I'd be more of a mess but if the truth be told, I only squeezed out a few tears immediately after drop off and did not call to check on Lucy at all.....for a minute, I felt guilty for not being more upset....but I'm pretty sure I'm still a good mom...

Lucy is sound asleep
Two loads of laundry have been washed, folded and put away, the third is toiling away in the dryer
The dinner dishes are done
Lunches are packed (egg salad, yogurt, grapes, goldfish crackers and a kashi bar for the grown ups, three bottles and a spare for baby)
And the husband is having his ice cream (and thoughtfully brought the wife a bowl, half churned so fewer calories...therefore I have three scoops instead of two)

We call Lucy Birdie (or Birdy, however you feel like spelling it) because when she was born, we fed her with a medicine dropper for a day or two and she looked like a little rescue bird....she squawked like one too. So we started calling her Birdie...which morphed into Birdie Boo which is sometimes shortened to Birdie or Boo...but never Boo Boo, that's just silly.

She appears to respond to all three names(Lucy, Birdie or Boo) but she also answers to Sean and Maria...and Mummy...and Daddy...but I like to think she really responds to one of her three names.

While we were anticipating her arrival, Sean and I took a "Getting ready for and Birthing your Baby" class....we were the only ones who did not know the sex of our child (which confounded one woman as she asked how we were going to name the baby if we did not know the sex) and I appeared to be the only woman who actually enjoyed being pregnant (and not just because of the gift of life thing....I found true happiness in fish sticks while I was in the family way) We were also the only ones who did not have a nursery with a theme...at that point, we did not even have a crib. And no one thought it was funny when I said i cleaned out the bottom drawer of the dresser and had lined it with a couple blankets...
You'll be happy to know that Lucy does not sleep in the bottom drawer but in a crib (thanks Dad and Sean for putting it together) and though there is no "theme" to her corner of our second bedroom (the corner has actually become the corner and one wall), she does have some lovely decorations that make the room her very own: a birdhouse from Uncle Michael and Maureen that hangs from the ceiling, the Lady of Fatima that watches over her courtesy of Cousin Cooper, one of my favorite portraits of a baby from Uncle John and Aunt Jane, a crazy monster picture that I bought at a street fair in Cambridge years ago and a hammock of stuffed animals.....no theme but fun nonetheless.

Anyway, Lucy is approaching the 4 month mark (April 16th was her birth date for those who may not have heard) and is all kinds of fun now - she responds to our voices, and is able to look at us without her eyes crossing (thank goodness because I was starting to feel badly about laughing at her every time it happened) She even responds to her own voice....that is when she shrieks really loudly, she startles herself and and looks around all wild and wide eyed trying to figure out where that shrill noise just came from....

She reaches for things and bats at whatever you put in front of her- which at times can be amusing.....especially when she hits it hard enough that it either swings back in her face or
hits Mummy in the face which apparently is funnier than anything in her whole little world because she throws her head back and smiles and squeals (still working on the laugh...for now, smile and squealing = laughter) enough to make me laugh which makes her laugh harder...(disclaimer: no child is hurt during this activity, I don't let it hit her hard enough to do (permanent) damage and it's usually a little stuffed toy or a soft rattle....I stopped letting her play with the Leatherman key chain weeks ago)

The dryer has just gone off and Sean is asleep and snoring in his chair....the weight of the blog is on me....one last load of laundry to fold, teeth to be brushed and dreams to be had so more on Birdie tomorrow ...

Maria