Exit Strategy

This evening I left the party early. With two kids in pajamas strapped into car seats. I prayed that they would sleep and that a method for getting them out of their seats and into their beds would appear to me en route. I am amazed to report that it worked. Leo cried intermittently all the way home. Iza was happy and drowsy and then suddenly snoring about fifteen minutes after we left. Both babies were asleep when I got home. When I took Iza out of her seat, she woke up. I managed to get her inside, find her wearable blanket, and get her into bed with a kiss. She didn't look happy about it, but didn't complain either. I then raced back to the car terrified that Leo was out there in full panic cry mode. Nope. Sound asleep. I carried him up to bed and we laid down together and he nursed back to sleep. So what if I missed the lobster. Two sleeping babes. A quiet house. A warm cup of tea. I am good.

All About Leo

Baby Leo is only 9 months, 3 weeks old. Yet I am starting to compile this-and-that for his 1-year-old montage of memories. Not being an over-achiever here. Just being realistic: it will take me at least three months to finish this job.

Context: On Iza's first birthday I wrote a portrait of her (Read it here: First Album.) I would like to do the same for Leo.

So here are some impressions when I think of Leo:

Speed. He came into this world at top speed and hasn't stopped. Well, he did go through that newborn slug stage, which Izabella somehow missed. And then he sat up. And then he learned that he could stick his little chubby paw into the air and someone (usually mama) would oblige him. Two impossibly chubbed thighs floating above two incredibly delicate ankles, would twist and lurch and hop upright. One step. Two. Then, if you held two hands, he would put his head down and run. Run. Lest we forget, this operation usually required the tongue thrust. His pink tongue curled up and over his lip on one side. Really, too cute. And as he started to take steps on his own, his grins would light up the room.

First food: mashed banana.

Bath: splasher. Avid. Gleeful. Not afraid to get his hair wet.

Sleep? I was happy to nurse Leo at night since his sister was nursing during the day. It was a comfort to know that he had full access at least at nighttime. He grew like a weed in the sun. He still loves to nurse at night. This means that he also wakes up frequently. Seriously, a three-hour stretch is a luxury. This kid usually needs a cuddle/nurse about thirty minutes after he goes to bed. Then it may be every hour, sometimes every 15 minutes. Thus, sleep followed by a question mark. Despite the work this entails, it is so delicious to sleep cuddled up next to him. Mama loves when I have my back to him in bed and he snuggles up against me. So warm and alive. So little and so big.

The eyes. The eyes. I have no idea if there is a name to describe them. They are rimmed in navy. The center is a version of brown that wants to be green. When I look into them I think: Earth. As in the earth viewed from outer space, a globe mostly dark blue with flecks of earth floating in a blanket of white clouds. It will slay me to have to fill in a form with one word: they are not just blue, or brown, or green. They are Earth.

and he awakes.....