Sisters!

Claire is very much in love with Eloise. So far, Claire has really accepted Eloise into her life and our family. The love is apparent and it makes us so happy!

Visitors

Over the last couple of weeks, we were very lucky to have two sets of visitors to come and see us, meet the new addition, and explore Italy.


First, Julie Krainick, my step sister, came with three of her kids. Tony (age 16), Mary "Izzy" (age 15, and Katy (age 12). They did some sightseeing and spent a lot of time playing with their cousin Claire. Boy, was Claire thrilled with their trip. She loved all the special attention she got from her cousins, the big kids. They all enjoyed meeting baby Eloise too.

Then, Andy's parents, Roberta and Otto came to visit for a week. They also spent some time doing some sightessing. They did a tour of Capri and Pompeii and explored some other local sites. They also spent a lot of time with the grand kids. Claire loved spending time with them. Grandma Roberta went swimming with Claire several times, which Claire loved, and she put Claire to bed every night too. There were lots of stories and cuddles and kisses for all! Of course, Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed meeting baby Eloise too!


It was very nice to have family in town to meet Eloise and spend time with Claire. I really think that Claire benefited from the extra attention from the family. All the love and attention shown to Claire went a long way in helping to ease the transition to having a new baby sister.

The First Two Weeks

Eloise is now two weeks (and one day) old. So far, things are going really well. Nursing during the first few days/week was a little rough, but with a few adjustments, I feel that we're in the clear now. I don't remember it being that difficult or painful in the beginning with Claire, but Andy reminded me that he thought it was worse. It's funny how we tend to block out the tough stuff like that!

We had Eloise's two week appointment yesterday, and she is now 8lbs 15 oz and 22 inches long. She is three ounces above her birth weight, which is great. The goal, in general, is to be back at the birth weight by two weeks, so we're a little ahead of the game. So far, the sleeping is going really well too, although I know that could change at any moment. She usually only wakes up once or twice during the night to eat and then go right back to sleep. In the mornings, she'll wake up around 5 or 6 to feed and then sleep until 8 or so. Having Andy home has been great. He'll get up when Claire wakes up around 7 and I continue sleeping until Ellie wakes up again around 8 or 9. I definitely don't feel sleep deprived at this point, which makes a world of difference.


Claire seems to be doing well. She really loves her little sister and loves giving her hugs and kisses. She is definitely acting out in some ways to get a bit more attention, but she is not acting negatively toward the baby so far, which is great. We are doing our best to keep Claire in her routine of swimming lessons, park outings, and play dates. She seems to do better when we are active and doing fun things. Claire loves being involved. Recently both she, and Eloise, had some much needed, "tummy time!" Claire also loves "helping" with the baby... whether it's giving her a bath, or helping to change her diaper. She's a great big sister!

We are looking forward to having two sets of visitors in the next two weeks. First, Julie and her kids are coming and then Andy's parents are coming. Hopefully both groups will get some good sightseeing in as well as some good time with the girls. We are looking forward to their visits!

Eloise is here!

Eloise Kelleher Honig was born on Friday, July 30, 2010 at 8:17pm Central European Summer time. She weighed in at 8 lbs 12 oz and was 19 inches long. She was five days overdue, but well worth the wait.

Her labor and delivery were very similar to Claire's, but a bit faster. Recovery for Mom has been great so far and Eloise is a great baby who is sleeping well so far. Claire is totally excited about her little sister and Daddy is happy to be pleasantly outnumbered!

So far, Claire really loves her baby sister. She is a great "helper". She particularly loves helping to carry the car seat.






A happy coincidence is that Eloise's birthday, is the the exact same day that Jessie (Molly's close friend from college) delivered her baby boy Tristan, which is also the same day as Margie (both Jessie and Molly's other close college friend, turned 30. What a day!

Due date, but no baby....

So, today is my due date and no baby in sight. I can't say that I'm shocked because Claire was a week late. All is well and we are all doing fine and hanging in there. No signs of labor, but I'm not too worried about it. We'll be sure to keep people posted via phone, email, facebook, blog, etc. So, sit tight and stay tuned....

Fourth of July Weekend

We had a very busy and fun Fourth of July weekend. On Saturday we went to Carney Park where there was a big carnival and festival. Claire rode some of the kiddie rides for the very first time and while unsure at the beginning, she really had a great time.


She really loved the swings which she rode with her friends Sadie and Ryan.


Claire and Daddy also enjoyed the Ferris wheel.


On Sunday, we drove to Gaeta for Andy's beach rugby tournament. Before the tournament we spent some time at the beach. Claire had a great time digging in the sand and eating popsicles and she loved swimming in the water with her pool noodle.


Andy did well in the beach rugby tournament, which was a shortened, more fast-paced version of rugby. Andy and the rest of the team had a lot of fun.

Adventures in June

After our recent busy days of sightseeing, in June we hung a bit closer to home. That is not to say, that we didn't have fun, though!


Early in the month, we visited the Solfatara, which is an "active" voclano fairly close to our house. It is constantly steaming and smells VERY strongly of sulfur. It was HOT on the day we went, so we didn't spend very much time out in the crater itself...


We also have had fun on the bases. We have made lots of trips to the playground and Claire even went bowling with her Daddy for the first time. She LOVED the bowling, even though Daddy needed to give the ball a little nudge for her.


We are also slowly working on the potty training. We basically only have Claire use the potty when she asks to, which is about every three days or so. We're not too anxious about pushing it because of the big transition coming up when we bring home the new baby. She sure does have fun when she's on the potty, though.