Two-Week Stats

Miles did well at his big weigh-in at the doctor's office yesterday, topping the scale at  9 lbs., 2.5 oz. He remains a whopping 21.25 inches tall. He's outgrown newborn diapers and filling out many of the clothes that his brother was swimming in at this age.

Thankful...

With Grandpa at the zoo

1. For parents who entertain my toddler every day for a week (even though my dad has a bum ankle).

2. For in-laws who bring us lunch and then clean the entire house (even bathrooms!).

3. For friends who bring meals and baked goods.

4. For a toddler who is so loving and gentle toward his baby brother.

1. 

   Checking in on his baby brother

5. For surprisingly restful nights. (I can enjoy this because nights with Baby G were ridiculously bad.)

6. For a healthy, hungry newborn. He weighed 7 lbs., 13 oz. last Wednesday, up 9 oz. from when we left the hospital. 

7. For two babies napping at the same time.

Sweet, sleepy Miles

A Trip to the "Farm"

Kent took G to the Iowa State Fair on Sunday. This was a perfect activity because, A.) G got out of the house and B.) I didn't have to go. The highlight of the trip for G was a visit to the Little Hands on the Farm exhibit, an interactive farm designed for small kids.

First, he gathered various vegetables from the garden.

He then picked apples from an orchard.

Along the way, he stopped at the dairy barn to collect milk.

Then he sold his wares at a farmer's market, earning a "Little Hands dollar" that he could spend on things like a granola bar, ice cream sandwich or piece of fruit. He made his momma proud by choosing an apple.

His farm adventure wasn't complete without a ride on a tractor.

Finally, he completed his trip with some peanut butter and jelly on a stick,

and an airplane ride.

This Is What I Do

Is it too early to brag that Baby M is a great sleeper? This will come back to haunt me, I'm sure. He does sleep so much better than G did at this stage, especially at night. But then I'm already taking back what I said about him being quiet. Wow, the kid has lungs.

Our sleepy baby

First Days

All is well with Baby Miles. He seems so quiet and mellow to us. When he does cry, he'll make a short squeak and wail, but he's quickly calmed. I don't remember G being quite this easy-going, even in the first days. Maybe it's a second child thing? Today we enter reality, heading home from the hospital to life with a newborn and toddler, little sleep and lots of chaos.

This was shortly after he was born, when the doctors and nurses left the room.

He loves to snuggle on our shoulders.

He didn't mind his first bath too much.

When he's awake, he's alert and generally calm.

He has a good old man face.

Born at 41 weeks, 5 days, he was a bit overdone. His skin is wrinkly and dry.

The Brothers Meet

Grant came to the hospital on Friday morning to meet his baby brother for the first time.

He climbed right up next to Kent to check out Baby Miles.

"I want to hold the baby," he said.

G very sweetly gave Miles a kiss.

Then he showed the baby Elmo and Super Grover, and went off to play with a new choo-choo train.

Introducing...

Miles James Smith, born today at 1:35 a.m.
Stats: 7 lbs., 12 oz.; 21.25 inches. 26 hours of labor and an amazing birth.
He's perfect.

Berry Picking

We had fun picking blueberries and raspberries at Berry Patch Farm in Nevada, about 30 minutes from Des Moines, recently.

G quickly got the hang of finding the good blueberries and picking them...

...and eating them...

...and eating some more.

We brought home a lot of blueberries. But no raspberries. G ate every one that we found.

40+ Weeks

This post is overdue (much like Baby Dos). It was a bit of a rough week, between losing my grandmother, feeling achy and exhausted, and another trip to the hospital. The good news is Baby Dos is doing well and contractions come and go. These last weeks and days are truly a test in patience.

40 weeks, 6 days

Happy Anniversary!

Six years, four homes, two babies, one baby (and one soon to arrive), many adventures.

Wedding, 2005

Paris (on top of the Eiffel Tower), 1999. We are so young!

Greece, 2006

Peru, 2008

Looking forward to so much more fun ahead!

Remembering

Betty Iskander

My beloved grandmother, Betty Iskander, passed away this week at the age of 91. My memories of her will always reside in her kitchen in her red house on Hollis Lane, where she cooked and entertained with a fury. Through food, she showed her love to family and her many friends. Her postcards to me from locales around the world were often filled with more details about the food she ate than the places she visited.

In front of my grandparents' Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., home

She also inspired in me a love of travel and openness to meeting new people. When she met my grandfather, an Egyptian native who had literally just arrived in the country, she accepted him unconditionally even though she had little knowledge of the world outside her New Haven, Conn., hometown. They married in 1948, had a daughter (my mom) and after my grandfather finished his graduate work at Springfield College, he moved his young family back to Cairo. My grandmother had to adapt to a new culture so different from her own and learn how to get by in a new language, which she later described as "kitchen Arabic."

With my mom, on-board a ship back to the U.S., 1951

They moved many times over the years, living in Pittsburgh, Pa.; Amman, Jordan; Beirut, Lebanon, among other places. No matter where they were, my grandmother's genuine interest in other people helped her overcome language and cultural barriers, and make many friends. I was lucky to travel with my grandparents on many occasions -- to Disneyland as a 6-year-old, to Washington, D.C., and most memorable, to Egypt in 1999-2000 to meet my grandfather's family. 

Egypt, 1999

Along the Nile River, 1999

 She lived an extraordinary life, but remained modest. She was nurturing to the core, caring for my grandfather until his death. She was a loving wife, a doting grandmother and a proud great-grandma to G.

Meeting G at her home in New York, 2009

RAGBRAI

Kent joined his co-workers last Friday to ride a 60-mile leg of RAGBRAI, a week-long bike ride that crosses Iowa from the Missouri River to the Mississippi.

Outside Marengo, Iowa

Victor, Iowa

Rest stop in Marengo

(Photos courtesy of Lindsey Mills.)