On Thursday, August 18th at 1:53am, our much anticipated granddaughter arrived! 8lbs 12oz, 20inches long, and cute as a button! This means that starting on Wednesday at about 7pm, Papou and Gigi were on full time Henry duty until Saturday afternoon…we have had so much fun…and we are EXHAUSTED!

I can remember my mother saying, “Have your kids when you’re young and you have the energy.”  Gosh, never did I understand this more, and I consider myself energetic.  As many of you may know, watching a two year old is non-stop – it is physical (he is heavy, chasing after him, bathtime, etc) and  it is emotional (we want him to be happy 100% of the time he is with us).  Going back to work today will be a piece of cake!

To all you grandmothers out there who babysit solo, kudos to you – I would not have survived this without Peter! We were structured and strategic, and we took full advantage of nap time – no, not what you’re  thinking – we ALL took naps on day one, then got laundry done on day two! Full Moon in Cambridge was a terrific place for lunch where Henry could play as we were waiting for our food…after lunch we had a shopping excursion to buy mommy and new baby a treat, and of course something for the big brother…

On Friday we ventured out to the town pool and were very lucky to have the company (and help!) of Uncle Brad.  Packed a cooler with meticulously cut up fruit, PB and Js.  No need to bring chairs because we did not sit for one single minute.

Thursday night is usually the start of the weekend for us, so we decided to still go out, with a couple of tweaks to our plan: early bird dining, and no sitting at the bar!

As we were sitting outdoors at Il Casale waiting for our meals, Peter pointed to my mouth and remarked, “Your lipstick is running outside of your lips.”   My lips? I have a face? Did I even brush my teeth?  With all the focus on Henry I never looked in the mirror (yeah, believe it or not!), never ‘fixed my face’, just kept reapplying lipstick without using a mirror…what a riot!  With one swipe of a cocktail napkin I just wiped it all OFF.   Who is this person???

We certainly consider ourselves blessed to have had this experience. It was good for us. It was so eye opening about the circle of life (wow, we will both be close to 80 when Emily is old enough to marry!)  In less than four days (that’s all???) there have been so many beautiful moments, one of my favorites shown above when Henry met his little sister.

And here she is in her ‘going home’ outfit, a sweet pink cotton ensemble from Bringing Up Baby. (This is an amazing shop of upscale children’s clothing in South Boston – certainly pricey but good for truly unique pieces and/or special occasions.)

If you wondered why there was no blog post last Friday, now you understand!