One Week on...

The week and a half since the welcoming of Amalia has gone by faster than we could keep up. Between the two extremes of Amalia's quiet demeanor and looooong naps and Irini's exuberance and energy, it seems we are adjusting as well as can be expected. In the meantime we have had numerous visits from friends, presents from colleagues and time to ourselves as well. Our very close friend Rebecca was 'with it' enough to snap our first whole-family picture, putting a visual starting point to the new chapter of our lives together. The pictures above are all from her. So far so good as Amalia, Natalia, Laurence and Irini all learn to deal with their new realities. We are all in love, the kissed keep on comin' and the smiles (as well as the naps) are multiplying!

Learning to be a Sister

Though we've been introducing the concept of a baby to Irini for quite some time, and it is obvious that she knew where that baby was - Laurence asked her where the baby went from mommy's belly, and Irini immediately responded by pointing to Amalia and saying "baby". Obviously biology isn't lost to her, even at 2 years old. Now that we've returned, and Emilia has flown in to join us, we begin a new journey. But as difficult as it might seem for the adults in the family, certainly for Irini it must be a whole new world. Suddenly she has to wait for her mom to feed Amalia before she can have attention paid to her, even if she has a slight fever. She has to look on and see how things work - to put a diaper on someone else, to bathe a baby, etc. - but she has taken it, so far, with no sense of complaint or worry. She is rather stoic, and sometimes downright welcoming of the new affair, and though it is obvious that some of this newness isn't completely to her liking, she still holds no grudges and rushes into mommy and daddy's bedroom in the morning to see "baby". She is learning, in short, how to share her life with someone new. Whether she knows that this new person is here to stay remains to be seen, but in all honesty she is showing signs of being a great older sister already. Be it her inherent caring for others, her innate wanting to share, or just a simple interest in things new, she is doing a super job so far!

Sisters Meet...

We have been introducing Irini to the idea of having a sibling for quite some time. She knows to refer to her sister as "baby" and just today, as Laurence went from the hospital to the apartment to pick up Irini and Idah to bring them back, he tried to explain that the baby was not in mommy's belly any more, but was not outside. Laurence tried explaining it a couple different times, but wasn't sure if Irini really understood.

As they walked into the room Irini noticed her sister right way. She took one look at Natalia, seemingly just to make sure, and then walked right up to her sister. The experience of older sisterhood has just begun. The video below was taken withing two seconds of their meeting. Let's just hope that this is the beginning of a loving and positive relationship...

Amalia Sienna

It was about 11:30 pm when Laurence rolled into bed after his last blog entry, a Facebook update and a letter to Irini. Natalia had trudged to sleep a while earlier, if you want to call it that. She had been having contractions all day, and by that time of night they were coming at ever shorter intervals. Still, she insisted on staying home. Laurence turned off the lights of the small visitors' room and felt his way down the hallway, pushed the door open and tiptoed across the floor to pull the sheet aside. With one foot up onto the bed, Natalia, feeling the movement, turned and said, "I think it's time to go to the hospital". Alas, there is no rest for bloggers, it seems. :-)

Instead of bed preparations, the pre-packed hospital bag was picked up off the floor where it had been patiently waiting for a few days. We took a pillow and the necessary toothbrushes and such, and slowly made our way to the living room, the hallway, and beyond.

The trip to the hospital only lasted a few short moments at that time of night. The parking ticket read 12:04 am upon arrival. A few minutes of additional transit time - with necessary breaks for contractions - and we were finally in the delivery room.

The nurse on staff said the contractions were too far apart and not strong enough to signal that the baby was due any time soon, but we should settle in and expect to stay until the morning. She returned a little later to check on Natalia, and changed her ming, "this baby is coming out soon" she announced and rushed off to call the doctor. The doctor arrived a half hour later, looking sleepy but happy.

By 2:16 am the little one decided to make the move and get to know mom and dad. She arrived in the middle of the night, at a time so quiet and in such isolated circumstances that her birth is still vividly juxtaposed to Irini's. Where Irini had arrived to a mass of nurses and extended family and friends in the middle of the day Amalia Sienna arrived to no one more than mom and dad, a doctor and a nurse in the quietest of moments in the deep of the night. She was placed in an incubator, with no fanfare and no extensive exclamations of jubilation. She was quiet and looked around at the world which is now her home. What she saw as a very tired but content mommy and a father filled with tears.

Welcome to our lifes Amalia.

Waiting for the Future to Reach Us

It's 10:15 pm. Natalia is just now settling into bed. Irini has been sleeping for a couple hours now, this time sharing her room with Idah, who brought her little suitcase with clothing. and personal items, enough for a couple days. We went shopping this afternoon to make sure that there was enough food to keep the family in order for a while. We took a shower at 8 pm or so, and filled the bathroom with the joys of sprinking water and giggling toddler talk. We brushed our teeth in our traditional family manner and made phone calls to grandparents on other continents to tell them the news.

This is the night. The last night of our lives as we know it. Tomorrow at 6:30 am (if not earlier) Laurence and Natalia will head out to the hospital and on to a new chapter of their lives. Irini knows this conceptually, of course, but she cannot know what this might mean for her life, her future competition for that commodity which is about to get more scarce: time with mommy and daddy. Laurence and Natalia look into each other's eyes, share a thought of two... a thought about missing what they now have, knowing it will never be the same... a thought about what is to come and how they cannot possibly know how wonderful it will be until it happens.

Irini rolls over in her crib. Natalia rolls over in her bed. Laurence sits thoughtfully on the computer writing to the world. The next time Natalia and Laurence roll into bed together things won't quite be the same. But tonight the dreams will be of safe arrivals, of getting to know new people, of building on an already happy family, of making the world worth while for two little beings who, by their mere presence, make ours so much more so.

We wait for the future to reach us. We sleep dreaming of beautiful laughter, of happy children, of family giggles multiplied. Tomorrow the world begins anew, and we can't wait!