Bryony - Two Weeks Old

Daddy-Time

Jake took Abby to the zoo on his day off:

And, every now and again he sets up a 'tent' in her bedroom. It is a bed-sheet stretched across the room to enclose them about a foot off the floor. Then they prop a laptop up under there and watch a movie together. I have been told I'm not invited:

Thanksgiving

Bryony was five days old on Thanksgiving Day. She spent it like this:

But thanks to my mother, the rest of us did get to enjoy a (somewhat) traditional Thanksgiving meal:

Jake carved the turkey:

 

And Abby performed her Preschool Thanksgiving song for us (I only caught the 2nd half):

Bryony's Birth

Here are the first few pictures:

And here's a little help with her name:

1. pronounced 'Bry-uh-knee'
2. it's a turn-of-the-century botanical name - the Bryony plant is a vine
3. it's a literature name - read the book or see the movie 'Atonement' by Ian McEwan
4. it's more common in the UK than in the U.S.
5. check out these 2pgs:
http://appellationmountain.net/2010/01/06/name-of-the-day-bryony/
http://xanthelinnea.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/name-of-the-day-bryony/
6. The Royal Navy have used it for 2 battleships:

Introducing: Mini-Madonna #2

Bryony Ann Madonna

born Saturday November 20th 2010 at 2:53pm weighing 6lbs 12oz

End of Pregnancy

Work threw me a surprise baby shower - it was really nice for Bryony to get some things that weren't already Abigail's once.

diaper cake

Abby with all the gifts

And, one of our last days out to the park as a family of only three:

2 days before Bryony was born

Big Sibling Class

My posts are going to be all over the place because I'm still catching up on things that happened before Bryony was born. Don't worry, I'll catch up to real-time. Just not that quickly because there's a 7wk old running my life for me now :)

Anyway, just three nights before the baby was born, Abigail took a Big Sibling Class at the hospital (just in time it turned out!). Matteo was there too in preparation for his younger brother on the way. Both of them were among the youngest but they did very well. They learned about what's going to change at home (some interesting comments at the breastfeeding part) and left with a Certificate to prove they were prepared to be a Big Sister/Brother. It was particularly fitting for Abby because she's been telling us for a while that she wants to be a doctor when she's grown up so she LOVED the part where they got to wear scrubs and visit the maternity ward to see a baby born just that day. Here are the pictures!

bringing a baby doll to practice putting on a diaper

Dr. Abigail

cutest doctor I've ever known