We were a little late to the age of laptops and WI-FI (which I don't even like having, as those transmissions are thought to not be good for developing brains, but I was overuled), but I'm making up for lost time and lovin' it. As I write this I'm sitting on my deck in the shade, enjoying watching the kids play in the pool with Kiera curled up in her best imitation of a frog, sound asleep in my lap. How lovely. Not that I need to be "connected" constantly, but when I have work I need to be doing (or blogging I need to catch up on), I'm happier taking it with me than the other way around.
We're having lovel weather right now, warm enough to swim but not too hot to be outside. I'm afraid any level of warm is too warm for babies sleeping on shoulders (we've both been very sweaty), but she seems to enjoy it when she's not trying to snuggle into my damp neck. Speaking of sweaty babies, Kiera is sunshine--she knows her mind and fights for what she wants, just like her mamma. When her needs have all been met, she is peaceful and inquiring--always studying, often with a quizzical little pucker in her brow. Our doula came for her final visit last night, and Kiera spent about a half an hour analyzing her face before signaling her approval by falling asleep in Alissa's arms. Troy later discovered she was ticklish by running his fingers up her back, causing her to suddenly sit blot upright. Very funny to watch. As of Monday morning, she weighed 8 lbs 6 oz (as measured by the Wii Fit), and seems so very big to me-at only a few ounces larger than her cousin William was at birth. She is very strong, and has been holding her head for for a couple of weeks. Her favored position is anything upright-either propped on pillows or being held-bolt upright. A recline will not do. She is already displaying the younger sibling tendency to want to do what the big kids are doing. And big kids do NOT lay on the floor. Big kids sit. And/or stand. She's good with that, too.
Garrett and Morgan are getting into the full swing of summer, asking every morning (rain or shine) if they can get in the pool. They are anxiously awaiting the magical day when we will go to the city waterpark. They are both still awesome with the baby. Garrett has even figured out how to put her diapers on, and surprised me this morning by getting her diapered while I was depositing the poopy cast-off in the bathroom (for anyone made nervous by the thought of me leaving her during a change, fear not-she was on the living room floor. It was quite an extraordinary poop, and required immediate action). Morgan isn't that brave-she's content to hold Kiera's hand.
And for the big news in our household--Sassy, our youngest cat (she was 1 in May), snuck out and got herself knocked up. We became aware of her fall from grace a few days before our own blessed event, and the night before last she delivered her kittens. We knew it was time when Troy picked her up, and with a horrified look at his hand said, "uh, her butt's all wet." It is unusual, but it happened-her water broke. So we quickly readied a place for her, which she refused to use, then followed her around the house while she searched for a nesting spot, finally deciding on Dervish's, (our oldest cat) bed. It wasn't long before she was obviously in labor, and not much longer before she was pushing. After her first tentative push I took a flashlight and peeked her rear end-to be startled by her having two tails! The first baby came hind end first, which we were afaid would be difficult for her, but she birthed him just fine. Over the next few hours she settled into a natural rythym of labor, push, birth, clean, rest, repeat. When we realized around 11 PM that the kids were still awake, I got them up so they could sit with us and see the third kitten born. They were so excited, and it was charming to hear them relate Sassy's behavior to what they remember from Kiera's birth.
At 2 AM, after settling in with her 4 babies, I transported them all to the upstairs bathroom for the night and deposited my exhausted self in bed. The next morning, upon checking on her and the babies, we were startled to discover that she had not 4 but 6 mewling newborns! 2 grey, 4 orange, all boys. What a trooper she was, and what a testiment to the natural, normal process of birth. Allowing cats to breed has become so taboo in our society that no one ever sees it anymore-and a valuable experience is lost. I'm very glad my children (and myhusband) got to witness what birth is like outside of humanity. They were all mystified. And the babies are really cute.
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