First impressions

Before Zoe was born we really had no idea how Owen would react. It was hard to even tell how much he understood. When we took him on a hospital tour designed for older siblings a few weeks before she was born, he started yelling at the tour guide to "take the baby out NOW," but he also told everyone on the tour the story of getting a cast on his broken leg (the last time he saw a hospital bed, I guess), and cried "It's Owen!" when he saw the babies in the nursery (we must have overdone showing him pictures of himself when he was a newborn, swaddled in those hospital blankets).

When Nana brought Owen to the hospital to visit us and meet Zoe, it was clear he definitely understood. As soon as he saw Zoe in her bassinet he said, "it's baby Zoe!" Then we gave him an etch-a-sketch as a present for being a big brother and that was pretty much the end of his interest in Zoe.



Before the end of the night he did manage to "pat her gently" a few times. Surprisingly, her crying actually piqued his interest, and he came over to help Mike rock the bassinet to calm her down. Mercifully, it worked, and he beamed with something that looked a lot like brotherly love.

Since coming home he still hasn't shown much interest, but what interest he has shown has been positive. He really doesn't like it when she cries - "Don't want Zoe to be sad again!" he yells - but he does occasionally ask about her if she's not in plain sight and he smiles whenever anyone says her name. He was a little afraid of the boo-boo on her belly button, but then who can blame him? And though he doesn't want to interact with her much, he has also shown almost no signs of jealousy. All in all, we're counting it as a big win.

That Orglet look

I've been thinking that Zoe looks a lot like Owen, but even I'm surprised by the remarkable resemblance upon direct comparison:
Zoe, left, Owen, right. Owen was 11 days old for his picture, Zoe just 5 for hers.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Owen!!!

She's here!

We're excited to announce that Zoe was born on Feb 11th, 2010 at 4:03pm. She weighed in at 7lbs 6oz and 20 inches, with a perfectly reasonably sized head. We're all doing well.

...or maybe John Hancock

Sometimes progress is fast and furious. On Sunday I was really proud that Owen had scrawled his name on the back of an envelope in almost-recognizable, only slightly out-of-order letters (see last post). Just one day later at school the kids decorated their own placemats. Much to everyone's surprise, Owen wrote his name on his: