Tidbits

We're in the middle of a heat wave right now, with temperatures reaching the hundreds, so we've been spending a lot of time either inside or, in the evenings, at the pool. It's a good thing Grandma's here or we'd just be stuck inside the house with each other all day every day (and that would probably drive us all crazy).

We found a dead stag beetle on the pool deck that was just about as big as Zoë's foot. It's called a "giant stag beetle." It's ginormous. Go figure.

Yesterday when it was unbearably hot, I showed the girls how to make corner bookmarks. Rachel went to town! She made a Star Wars set and a Doctor Who set and had a grand ol' time. Here she is with Yoda and an Ewok.

Here's a picture of Benjamin cuddling Zoë this morning (don't mind her terrified expression; she puts that on whenever Benjamin's around (and I don't blame her)). I would say that I can hardly believe how chubby she's gotten except that she demands to be fed every hour or so, so I really can believe how chubby she's gotten.

Aside from eating, her most favourite activity is sleeping. She is a champion sleeper. I'm so excited to have another sleeper in the family! You'd think then, with how much she sleeps, I wouldn't be tired, but I am. She still wakes up every 1–3 hours at night to feed, which I'm fine with, but it does mean that I'm habitually exhausted and/or that my brain is still stuck on a red light.

Red Light Confessional: I left my keys in the lock on Monday night. Rachel found them on Tuesday morning. Oops.

I switched to cloth diapers the other day and now I think we have to move up a size in onesies to accommodate the bulk, which makes me sad. I wish the newborn stage could last a while longer—squishy little babies are so much fun (in my opinion), but so tiring that it all goes by in a blur. We only have a few days left before we hit the four week mark and once we do, that's it. My newborn will have disappeared and she'll officially be an infant.

It was so hard for me to believe that "it goes so fast" when Rachel was a baby. Adjusting to motherhood was so hard—it was wonderful, too, but it was hard. And a little bit boring. And, oh, so tiring (Rachel was not a sleeper like Zoë). It seemed like it took Rachel forever to grow up.

But now I know better. It does go so fast, which is exciting (because it's fun to watch these little people grow up) but...I just really enjoy little babies and they just don't stay little. They insist on growing up, which, as I mentioned, is exciting...but also just a little bit sad.

What's that poem about babies not keeping?

Beautiful Zoë 

I had to look it up.

Fittingly it's called Song for a Fifth Child (though this is only my fourth) by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton.

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

So many things in this poem that I didn't understand as a "young mother" ring true now that I'm a "less-young mother" (because having an eight-year-old means I qualify as a "less-young mother," right?).

I've been doing things to keep up with the house. Little things, like laundry (that I maybe make the girls help me fold) and dishes (that Grandma helps with) and things like that. But other things I've let slide completely. Like the state of our bedroom.

When Andrew got to New York he sent me a picture of his hotel room:

It made me laugh because our bedroom currently looks like this:

Zoë has a bassinet and a sit-and-play in our room. Benjamin's bed is in our room. Andrew pulled all the suitcases down from the attic before he left so that I can choose one to pack in while he's gone (I'm leaving for Utah like twelve hours after he gets back from New York—this summer is crazy, I told you!). Then there's the piles of too-small-clothes from the kids' drawers on our headboard and the pile of maternity clothes on top of a box of yarn next to Benjamin's bed, and a myriad of other messes.

How about from another angle?

We'll deal with all of that sometime later. Like when the school year starts up again. Or something like that.

'Cuz I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.