Welcome Baby Sister Janna!

Zev is now a big brother to our beautiful baby Janna! She arrived on Monday, February 16th at 1:35am and was 6 lbs 1 oz, 18 3/4 inches. My water broke in our home at 9:30pm, we went to the hospital, I started having contractions at around 10pm, and she was born just a few hours later! From 6cm I dilated to 10cm so quickly that my doctor hadn't even left her house. The nurses were telling me not to push while my doctor (who I am forever grateful to) actually broke her toe rushing out of her dark bedroom. From what the nurses told me I turned the whole thing into a stand-up comedy routine and had them laughing like crazy between contractions. I don't remember much of this but I know how I get once I have an audience so I'm not really surprised... For more details, ask Jeffrey.

Janna is now one week old and here are a few things we've learned about her:
-She's a natural when it comes to nursing. Her first latch was great and she nursed for 40 minutes right after birth. Now she nurses about every 1-2 hours during the day and once every 2-4 hours at night.
-We are blessed with a good nighttime sleeper. Last night Janna woke up to eat after 3 hrs, then 4 hrs, then 2 hrs. I got a good 8 hours of sleep! We credit this partly to her relaxed and happy nature but also to the Arm's Reach Cocoon Sleeper . It's a baby hammock that cradles her like she's being held and swings gently when she moves.
-Sometimes Janna covers her eyes with her hands when she sleeps. It's very cute.

-Girl can eat and poop. A lot. Nuff said.
-I can make her smile by rubbing her head. It's a real smile, not just gas. I know because her eyes roll to the back of her head and she gets this heavenly look of happiness.

Zev has been gentle and sweet with his baby sister. When he sees her in the morning he says "Hi Baby Jannna!" and sometimes he gives her kisses. Still, we can tell that it takes an emotional toll on him by his 3 hr naps and 1x a day crying fit over something that normally wouldn't bother him. It's an adjustment period that I hope won't last long. Other than the crying fit he's a happy and healthy boy. His vocabulary has increased exponentially and he's saying 2-3 word simple sentences like "Read the book"
and "I did it." He says words like vitamin (he loves his gummy vites), balloon and all of the primary colors. He loves wearing his fireman's hat and saying "wee-new, wee-new" like a fire truck.

Having two beautiful children feels great and isn't as hard as I thought it would be. As Jeff said, Janna brings a sense of balance to our family. We're so excited about our present and future as a family.

Really, really cute.

I feel like we're on toddler holiday. Zev has just been so amazingly cooperative, fun, smart, active and happy lately. He wants to help and learn everything! Almost every word I ask him to repeat he does. Yesterday I told him "it's 80 degrees outside!" and after that he kept saying "ay-teee! ay-teee!" Zev's been exploring opposites on his own lately and often says them together, such as hot/cold, up/down, on/off. He loves turning the light switch on and off but can't always reach it so he sometimes uses his plastic hammer or the broom to hit the switch. Yes, he's using tools! He can also feed himself a bowl of cereal, getting much of it (maybe 2/3) into his mouth. We spend a lot of time coloring at his art easel, which he loves. He draws a lot of small scribbles, big circles and zig zags. Two days ago he picked up the brown crayon and said "BROWN!" I was stunned. He also says and knows blue and red. He says "Lellow" for yellow but I'm not sure if he knows which color it is. In the bathtub he loves getting some soap on his hands and washing his tummy, arms, legs and feet. His favorite bath toys are still a plastic cup and one or two tupperware containers. These have been his only bath toys and he never gets tired of them! Sometimes we switch tupperware to get some change but it's basically a tupperware party in the tub. Only 5 weeks until his baby sister is due. Zev's been spending a lot of time in her room playing with his basket of toys that we're keeping in there while I put her clothes away. He's getting to be such a big boy! He stays in the bathroom with me, playing in the closet or watching me while I shower. I can see him since we have a glass shower. While I'm blow drying my hair he plays with our extra, unplugged blow dryer. Zev has become quite a girl chaser recently. The other day when Ray and I were in Old Navy he was chasing a 4 year old girl (common occurrence) and when he caught up to her he showed her his belly button. It was hilarious. When our friends Christof and Alicia were over last week he was chasing after and kissing their wonderful 3 1/2 year old daughter Eva! It's very cute to watch. I'm glad we're having a girl because he really seems to like them, for now at least!
Here's an adorable video of Zev dancing, counting and blowing kisses.