I tried posting these last night to make the grandmas happy, but Blogger was not cooperating!

Anissa hanging out at the bottom of the musical staircase at the Musuem of Science in Boston.

Elianne, happy that bath time is over.

(More to come soon, I promise.)

Between keeping two girls happy and fed, dealing with the crazy amounts of laundry (how is it such little people produce so much dirty clothes?), chauffering Anissa around to her activities, keeping the house semi-clean, and preparing for our fast-approaching move, I have to make a point of sitting down and just watching Elianne. These little newborn days don't last long, and I want to soak in every moment. She's becoming so much more aware of what's going around her, and starting to "play" with us - she mimics our facial expressions, makes the occasional "goo-ing" sound in an effort to talk, and of course has no choice but to interact (maybe more than she wants to) with her very enthusiastic big sister. She enjoys staring at stuffed animals and mobiles, and her own beautiful reflection in the mirror (as Mehdi said, who can blame her?). She hangs out occasionally on Anissa's old play mat, and Anissa is happy to show her the ropes. Her favorite toy is this dangling mirror she's gazing into.

Tonight, while I was wolfing down my dinner so I could take over Mehdi's job of walking and bouncing and shushing a crying Elianne to let him eat (the usual routine this past week or so), Anissa offered to make up a lullaby to help get Elianne -aka Grumpy Smurf- to sleep. It went like this:

"Oh little baby, grumpy baby, why don't you just go to sleep? Stop crying and go to sleep and sleep all night long? Please?"

My sentiments exactly!

(Did I also mention how totally lovable Grumpy Smurf is, and how we can't stop kissing her, despite her protests?)

I can't believe how quickly the days are flying by. Elianne is already three weeks and a day old. She's changing so fast, and her checkup on Thursday confirmed that she is one hungry munchkin - she's over 9 pounds!

Today was our first day on our own since Elianne's arrival. We've been so spoiled up to now: my Mom and Dad, then Mama Jo, had been taking care of us and entertaining Anissa for the past month. Thank you, merci beaucoup - we appreciate your support soooo much!

So far, our transition into "real life" has been smooth - we spent the morning doing errands, had a lovely lunch out together, and Mehdi and Anissa played outside in the snow while I attempted to fold laundry (unsuccesfully, since Elianne was demanding my attention more vocally than the pile of socks on the couch). I tried to entice her with a little reading and she stayed interested for, well...30 seconds or so?




We feel so blessed to have these two little princesses.