Paternity Leave Praise

Paternity leave has been the nicest thing. THANK YOU MOZILLA! We've had such a great 2 weeks of resting and bonding that I'm going to give you a little play-by-play.

The first week we stayed very close to home, but this week we started taking mini-adventures. On Scott's birthday, we took the train up a few stops and had lunch in Redwood City (which has the nation's "climate best by government test" and a sign celebrating it!).

On Tuesday, we went for an easy hike at the Blackberry Farm, where we found community gardens, 4H barns, a playground, a creek, a (closed) swimming pool, plenty of shaded picnic tables ... but no blackberries.  Luke caught a lizard for Scott to examine and we gave the double stroller a good workout.

Wednesday we got burgers and fries at The Counter, which is an incredibly delicious spot in PA that you should insist we visit next time you're in town. (We are very brave taking 2 children to cool restaurants. It all went surprisingly well and we should probably quit while we're ahead.) Then Mark got new casts and the doctor was pleased with how his bones are correcting, hip hip hooray!

Thursday we checked out the library and Mark got his belly button! Today we went out for brunch, and tomorrow it's Free Museum Day and family movie and picnic night at the Giants stadium.

We also had a couple friends over to visit and have taken nice long walks to parks; Scott's getting used to this 2-park-a-day thing. It's been a great time and I feel rested and ready to stay home "alone" with 2 on Monday.

Wolverine diggers!  (Birthday gift from Flash and G-pa)

Jennifer Wagner: modern woman

Watch as she multi-tasks, synergizes, and reticulates, all while nurturing our little squishikins.

Guest post by Luke

2 years old

Happy birthday Scott-man!  You are so big and brave.

Now I'm going to go fix some chocolate milk and give it to you for breakfast, because it is a special day.

Meet Mark

Mark is now 6 days old. To me, he seems more like a 6 week old. He's pretty filled out (gorgeous plump cheeks!), he nurses amazingly well, and he appears to have sorted out his days and nights (meaning I get one 1.5 hour and two 2.5 blocks of sleep, and another 1 to 1.5 hour nap, which equals EIGHT HOURS and is sustainable!!). This morning he started rolling over from his tummy to his back.

Luke and I are both charmed by his newborn-ness: the smells, the sounds, the skin that is so soft and warm that it takes great will power to put him down in the cradle (which we do, because we're trying very hard to start good sleep habits). How do newborns smell so good? I can feel the happy brain chemicals release and wash around my skull when I inhale the scent off his round little head. The bliss of babyhood.

Scott is also doing well with Mark. He mostly continues about his own happy toddler life, but when he hears Mark awake he's very excited to tell us, and he runs to pat his brother or bring him toys. I'm excited for the time when Mark is big and walking and they can play together for real; he's going to love that. Scott has spent a lot of play time with our neighbors this week, who have a 4 year old boy and a 5 year old girl and he LOVES them. LOVES. I hope Mark will love Scott just that much when he's 2.

A little "footnote": Mark was born with clubfeet, which means the bones around his ankle formed in such a way that his feet were bent in toward each other. Happily this is a correctable thing. We went to Stanford on Wednesday and he got his first set of casts. He'll have them changed once a week, and after 4-10 casts the bones should be straightened. He'll wear braces until he starts crawling and then only at night once he's standing, and by 2-4 years old, not at all. No expectations for any long-term issues, and plenty of people with club feet have gone on to be dancers and marathoners and Kristi Yamiguchi and Troy Aikman.

THANKFUL

We are so blessed!

Don't feel weird that I'm not wearing much in this picture.  It's natural.  Plus, it kind of looks like a baby+blanket bustier dress.  Maybe Bjork will wear one to the Grammys.

A few quick thoughts this morning:

Mark Lawrence is amazing. He's really huge, and he's eating like a champ. It is like having a 6 week old instead of a newborn.  He's adorable in little blue cap that hospital volunteers hand-knit for the babies.

The natural birth was just incredible. It was so INTERESTING! I will tell you about it later, but I'd like to recommend to all pregnant women that you get to labor in the shower, surrounded by candles, and with your selfless husband spraying warm water on your back and your soothing midwife rubbing scented oils on your arms. It was not like a hospital. It was like a spa. (Mom, how things have changed in L&D in the last 25 yrs, huh?) Things got a little more, um, intense? during the last 30 minutes, but it was quite an experience.

Also, ladies, you should wear pigtails for delivery. They keep your hair out of the way but you can still lay back without a ponytail bugging you.

I'm full of love and energy and can't wait for everyone else to wake up and play!

Finally, I love nurses. They are wonderful, wonderful, WONDERFUL people.

Mark Lawrence Wagner is here!

Hi friends and family!  This is one of the proud aunts, Karen, and I've hacked into Jennifer's account to bring you all wonderful news!

Mark Lawrence Wagner is here at  9.5 lbs and 20.? inches.  Apparently he's an awesome nurser (keeping up with that 9.5 lbs birth weight!) and is just awesome.  My phone is not fancy enough to upload pictures, but I'm sure Jenn and Luke will be uploading some soon.

Jenn looks gorgeous and did it with no epideral, just Luke's encouragement!  :)
Luke is on his way to pick up Scott to introduce him to his new baby brother now.

CONGRATULATIONS [California] Wagner Family!  We love you!

From all the Aunts (and Uncles!) ... please post pictures! :)

Lazy days

I'm done with work (pretty much).  Aside from spurts of cleaning where I madly scrub the bathroom floor and steam clean the carpets, Scott and I are enjoying long, lazy days.  Want to see?