Today is Magpie's real deal. Her official birthday. Her bash isn't until Sunday and she doesn't know better anyway, but this is the day I get to remember her coming into the world and into our lives.
Magpie was induced, like her sister, and like her sister it took a couple days for the pitocin to work. We thought she'd be born on October 19, but I think my body knew that 10-19-07 doesn't have the same ring to it as 10-20. Bo's birthday is 7-7. We like to keep the numbers simple, I guess.
There were lots of starts and stops to the labor, but when she finally was ready it didn't take long to push her out and at 12:34 p.m. (1,2,3,4) she was in my arms. A much different experience than with Bo, who was rushed to the NICU without a pause to meet her mama. (That explains why later that day when I went to visit Bo there I gazed longingly at the wrong baby for several minutes. Oops. She has been making up for our lost first moments together ever since.)
Magpie is much more independent than her sis, scooting her way around the house as she pleases with her octopus-like crawl. She usually plays sweetly at my feet while I sew, only once throwing me for a loop after sitting on the sewing machine's pedal.
Most people who approach us in the store call her a zen baby or comment on what a calm demeanor she has. She does have a sort of chilly-chill persona, and I can't wait to watch it evolve over the years.
Happy birthday, my sweets.
I stayed up late last night painting a wall in the kitchen with chalkboard paint, a project I started about a month ago. The green I chose was supposed to look more vintage schoolhouse than the result, which I would call Fenway Park Green Monster green. But hopefully it will look more chalkboardy as we fill it up with scribbles and such. Here's a start to a woodland scene I hope to fill in by Sunday's party. I used an overhead projector and some coloring book images for help.
Happy Birthday sweet Magpie! I hope they just keep on getting better... enjoy that bday cake, too, because there is just nothing better than birthday cake. Really. Nothing! :)
p.s. Mimi, I love that the "Helpful Tips for a Better World and a Happier Life" book made it on the good reads list... MK and I read it and love it! :) xoxo
p.s.s. Go give Stacey some love today, some anonymous poster really chapped her (and all of her readers, me included)... she needs hugs
Posted by: Nis | October 20, 2008 at 05:29 PM
Happy Birthday, Magpie!! You do such beautiful work, the party will be stunning. Thanks for sharing her birth story, I just love them.
Posted by: anymommy | October 24, 2008 at 02:29 PM
Nis--we love that book so thanks again for it! We just read it last night. Bo likes to list the things she already does, like being kind to Mother Nature. It's cute.
Stacey--you're too kind. It really is going to be a pretty simple bash. I had ideas for woodland-inspired food, like stuffed mushrooms. But it's just going to be pizza and cake. Maybe I'll order mushroom pizza ...
I forgot the most important part of Magpie's birth story. I got pregnant with her five months after a miscarriage. Anyone who has had one knows how horrible they are. When we were going through it, my sister-in-law said to me, you can't know it now, but a baby will come that you won't otherwise have had if you hadn't been through this awfulness. That was the case with her Hannah, who we couldn't imagine life without today. And so we have our Magpie, who is a million times worth the sadness of the miscarriage.
Posted by: Megan | October 24, 2008 at 06:29 PM