Barbaric Table Manners

I remember when I was single or married without children and out at a restaurant and a few tables over witnessing a family with a 2 year old who is acting obnoxious and making a huge mess with his food and thinking - "Wow, they really should get control of their child." Well, I have come to the realization that the table has turned and people probably think that of us. The last 6 weeks or so Jonah has really been acting out more and coming up with new habits that I'm not very proud of. Tonight we went out to a Mexican restaurant where kids eat free Mon- Thurs. It all started innocently enough with Jonah dipping the chips in the salsa, sucking the salsa off and redipping the chip - same chip several times. (Papaw would love that one. Jonah likes to do the same thing with french fries in ketchup.) That got boring, so he took a chip and munched it very quickly and systematically and let it fall out of his mouth onto the table - (I think The Cookie Monster may not be the best role model; may have to cover his eyes during that part of Sesame Street from now on.) Then when his plate of quesadilla with rice and beans came, he took the huge spoon they brought with his plate (what were they thinking?) and scooped up a huge spoonful of rice and brought it to his mouth where a small portion went into his mouth and the rest into his lap. He apparently decides he doesn't really like the rice for consumption purposes but enjoys the touch and feel of it and brings other spoonfuls up to his mouth only to touch it to his tongue and spit it back out onto his lap. At one point, Jonah starts picking up the rice and beans with his hands and would have started slinging it if I hadn't intervened with baby wipes and took away his plate of fun. Later he drank some water and then let it slowly pour back out of his mouth -a favorite new past time at every meal these days - his way of playing with water despite having a secure lid on his cup. Needless to say, there was a huge mess of rice sprinkled on the floor around our table and we felt aweful for person who had to clean it up. No doubt she was thinking - "They really should control their child better."
It's funny how we did not teach Jonah any of these behaviors but are faced with the seeming insurmountable task of teaching our brutish boy some table manners. I hope all this gross behavior is typical 2 year old stuff; but I have the sneaking feeling some of it is typical BOY behavior and may last beyond the 'Terrible Twos'.

Thanks Grammie and Papaw!

Special thanks to Grammie & Papaw who were able to come up last week from Florida to support us during this life altering event. It was a real blessing to have them here as caretakers for Jonah. Jonah warmed up quickly to his grandparents with whom he was previously familiar primarily via Skype. They all had a great time together and Jonah barely noticed we were away. They brought Jonah to the hospital to visit all three days we were there. It was a major burden off my shoulders and allowed me to focus on baby Elisabeth and on recuperating.
Jonah also learned some new words and now actually will say yes to questions instead of no all the time. He also learned to say "nasty" which he pronounces 'na-thy' and makes a special face just for this word. Apparently, he got that from Grammie who kept telling our dog Toby he was nasty for eating paper towels and other things he shouldn't. Thanks again Grammie and Papaw. Oh and Jonah loves his early birthday present. We took a walk the other evening and daddy pushed Jonah on his bike and mommy pushed baby in the stroller. It was an interesting feeling taking a walk with two instead of one.

Welcome Elisabeth Rose

Elisabeth Rose Davis made her debut at 1:24 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16, 2008. She weighed 8 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20 1/4 inches long.

We went into UNC Hospital Wednesday morning for an external version knowing that if it was unsuccessful we would then have a Cesarean section. (If successful, the plan was to go home and wait for natural onset of labor.) I was a little concerned that they wouldn't really try to turn the baby, but when two young male doctors came and began pushing and pulling with all their might that was no longer a concern. They managed to get her butt out of my pelvis, but try as they may they could not get her head down. (A very uncomfortable procedure I can assure you!) Apparently she was wearing the placenta like a hat. They finally managed to get her head down a little bit, but then her head would slowly spring back to its preferred position. At that point, they joked that she liked her placenta pillow and we all agreed to move forward with the C-section.

Once the decision was made things happened fairly quickly. We were first in line for a c-section and the procedure went much smoother than when Jonah was born. (I guess it helps not having gone through 30 hours of labor beforehand.) It did take a few minutes to get her out through the incision. I could hear the surgeons repeating "big baby" as they pulled out more and more baby. The head was stuck for a bit and they ended up using the forceps to deliver the head. But little Elisabeth was healthy and pink the whole time and didn't seem to mind her dramatic entry into the world. My stay in the recovery room was shorter and much less painful than what I remember after Jonah's delivery. I was able to nurse her in the recovery room (poor Jonah had to wait a bit longer) before moving to a hospital room.

We've been home from the hospital a few days now and all is going well considering. Jonah is hugging and kissing his baby sister and Elisabeth is settling nicely into life outside the womb. More to come.....