Lucy Marie!

Lucy Marie

Lucy Marie is here and we are so thankful for her!  I knew a lot of things would be different this time around.  One baby is easier than two.  Recovering from a VBAC is way worse than Cesarean recovery. I did not expect the gender difference to be significant.  I was very wrong!  Lucy is a little lady and innately SO feminine.  I don't know why.  Perhaps it is because God made us male and female in spirit as well as body and so the difference IS literally innate.  But regardless, it is super sweet to have a little girl.

Who does she look like?

(Nichole)                                             (Lucy)

   (Lucy)                                             (Peter)

Lucy is 6 weeks old.  Lucy was born on Sunday, February 23rd at 12:50pm.  She was much bigger than we expected ... 8lbs 9oz.  She had a good amount of dark hair and was 20.5in long.  She pretty much came out nursing and continues to eat well.  In 8 days she gained 10oz so the doctors don't need to see her again until her 2 month visit.  It is so odd to have a large baby!  The boys are still probably less than average in most categories!  I have enjoyed very much NOT having to wake her to feed her... ever.  She sleeps pretty well and it already feels like she is so old.  It seemed like she was holding her head up after only about 10 days and has been practicing bearing weight on her legs.  Perhaps that is normal, but I feel like it took forever for boys to do these things.  So already she feels grown up!  Already it feels too fast.  

She doesn't cry too often but she gets mad quickly when it happens. I am glad she is loud.  It seems like a good defense against big brothers.  If the boys are bothersome, she will squawk loudly. She is slower to calm down.  She makes a super sad face and seems to cry for a few extra breaths to express her indignation at having to wait for milk or put up with such treatment from her brothers!

Lately she has been going to sleep on her own at night.  I can put her down sleepy in her bassinet and she will drift off to sleep on her own.  LOVE it. I completely understand why 3rd babies can sleep through anything (noise, poking, screaming) and I hope this continues.

Lucy is practicing her smile.  Most of the time I can get her to smile by talking very sweetly to her.  She also smiles if you make turkey noises.  I am hoping those two things are actually different!

We have yet to capture her smile on camera... another difference with the third child!

How have her brothers been handling "the transition"?

Lucy touching Gabriel's face in hospital.

Well as expected, not too well.  Gabriel loves her and is super attentive but he is obsessed with the soft spot on top of her head and we are constantly reprimanding him for trying to touch it.  (Thanks to whomever taught him that!)  Gabriel also loves to hold her and thinks he can do it all by himself... even carry her.  So Lucy gets a little too much "love" from Gabriel.  David is the opposite.  He finds her "cute" and "good".  He pretty much goes through his day normally and when he finds himself having to look at her deems her "so cute" or "a good baby"... maybe with a brief kiss, then bounds on his way.  But while David kind of ignores her, he is still not too happy about less attention and tends to take it out on me or Gabriel.

David on hospital floor with his car.

"pat pat Lucy"

A few stories:

As most probably know, the boys were extremely resistant to the news that Lucy was "Lucy" and a girl and not "Bondo" and a boy.  Gabriel has decided he wants another baby... "a real Bondo, a boy Bondo." "Then Lucy will have a boyfriend."
***
The topic of another baby came up again.

D: "When we grow up and wear Mommy clothes then we will have a baby in our belly."
Nichole: "Well you might become a daddy someday if it is God's will.  .... yes a lot had to be discussed... "God makes babies and puts them in Mommy's bellies."
G: "Is there a baby in your belly?"
Nichole: "No, not right now.  If we want more babies we will have to pray to God and then if it is God's will... "
Gabriel cut me off right there, made the Sign of the Cross and started praying.  He prayed for another baby, closed with the Sign of the Cross, then looked up and said "OK, we got another baby."
***
One day while I showered Lucy was lying on the bathroom rug in the sun shine when the boys burst in.
D: "Don't worry Mommy.  We will take care of Lucy."
I panicked and quickly finished my shower.  As I was stepping out about a minute later I see Gabriel touching Lucy saying to David "OK, I screwed her head back on."
***

And just a few more stories unrelated to Lucy.  (The boys are so entertaining these days...)

Gabriel: "David, i want you to die."
Me: "WHAT!"
Gabriel: "So he can go to heaven" (all innocently)
Gabriel: "I want you to die too Mommy and Daddy and me and Lucy so we can all be together in heaven."
Me: "Ah Ok then."
(I think Gabriel might be a good story teller.  He has a knack for dramatic pauses.)
***

I happened upon the boys in the backyard digging with something shiny.  It turned out to be my butter knives!  Their explanation:
G: "The ground was too hard for our little shovels, we needed sharp knives."
(They have this way of seeming so surprised that I am not unhappy about their behavior.. like I am super unreasonable.)
G: "Oh mommy, we were just digging."
***

The boys wanted to play snakes and ladders so they set it all up.  But when I sat down to play it turned out the die was missing.
G: "Hmm, we can just use this cucumber die".
Me: (very confused) "No, we need a die."
D: "Yeah, we need a die."
G: "We can just use my cucumber die"
D: "Ok, lets use the cucumber die."
Me: (still confused, I just sit and watch)
G (rolls cucumber piece): "10!" (moves 10 spaces)
D (rolls): "20!" (moves 20 spaces)
Me (rolls): "What did I get?"
D: "one"
Me: "Why did you roll big numbers and I rolled a one?"
D: "We are good at rolling."