Packing up.

Claire has been helping me pack by decorating the inside of the boxes.

She wants to pack her stuff in this one. I'm sure she'll be playing in this same box on the other end of the move.

Graduation

Three years ago, Mike, Claire and I went to the residency graduation. We sat in a huge room full of strangers and watched a handful of people we didn't know receive their diplomas. This past Friday, Mike, Claire, Milena and I sat in the same huge room filled with familiar faces as Mike and some of our best friends accepted their diplomas. Amazing what three years can do.

It was so nice to have Jim, Monnie and Henry here for the big event. Its been a while since we've had visitors who wanted to see Maine. It was fun making the rounds one last time.

But now its back to business. You can make a lot of friends in three years, and you can also accumulate quite a pile of stuff.

My View

It wasn't that long ago.

'"Mom, do you remember a long time ago Milena's room used to be Dad's office?"

At the Park

In light of having only 18 more days left of living in Maine, I've been trying to take pictures of regular, day-to-day events. I've been bringing my camera along for things I usually wouldn't bother to take pictures of, like picking up Claire from school and stopping at the playground for a few minutes. After all, this is what I'm going to remember when I think about Claire's first year at school.

Happy Birthday, Mike!

Enjoy your jetpack.

The Beach

Milena's first visit.

So many new things to look at, hear, feel and smell. She'll be joining Claire in no time.

Jump!

On our way home from school Claire tries to jump up to reach the leaves.

The Last Day of May

The past several days have been rainy, which combined with being down a car means that I've been spending my fair share of days inside the house. I'm sure its great for the flowers, however. I love the irises we have along our garage.

This afternoon the clouds broke and we couldn't get out the door for a walk fast enough. Lately Claire and I have been playing the 'Alphabet' game on our walk. Weeks ago, when my parents were in town, we started with thinking of something, anything , that starts with each letter.

We've advanced a few levels since then, and now and we have categories. Tonight I had animals and Claire had geography, which we quickly expanded to 'ANY place you can go', meaning Dairy Queen was fair game. We always try to finish before we get home, and since we tend to take longer walks, thats never a problem. With the extra time we play 'I'm Thinking of Something', which is something that Claire could still use a little practice with, specifically her line of questioning:

Is it a person? No.

Is it a thing? Nope.

Is it a place? Yes!

Can you pick it up? No.

Can I go there? Yes.

Does it start with a G? No.

With a bit of help and hard thinking, she always figures it out.

After, we went inside and had a dance party, which we all enjoyed. Milena has been smiling much more often now. I used to have to work hard to get a smile, but now her face lights up

with just the sight of one of us. And if we happen to be dancing, thats a bonus.

Smile!

Robinsin Woods

Robinson Woods in Cape Elizabeth has a beautiful series of trails . Its an easy walk with a lot of bridges over gurgling streams and small waterfalls.

The perfect hike for a 5 year old who recently started a "Nature Club".

Comparing Photos at One Month

I really liked the side by side Claire/Milena pictures at five days old, so here are two more. Both were taken right around one month old and right after a bath. First Claire, then Milena, if it wasn't obvious.

Also, Monnie sent some super cute leg warmers for Milena (as well as a box of goodies from her ArtFire store. Thanks Monnie!). Claire found them and figured they'd be perfect on her arms, especially when she's dressed up as 'Gymnastics Girl'. Turns out she can jump quite a bit higher with leg warmers on her arms. Who knew?

Growing

So Milena is putting on some weight and being much more alert lately. I was even able to get a real smile out of her today (the first I've seen), not a half asleep reflex smile. She likes to make noises, she likes to lay around naked, and she likes to sleep. Who doesn't, right?

Tonight I was on my own with Claire and Milena. Its not the first time, but it is rare enough that it deserves mention. Mike has been able to be home a ton, especially during higher stress times (such as Getting Claire Ready For School Time and Bed Time), and it has been awesome to be able to divide the responsibilities. Still, tonight was great just the girls. We had some popcorn and watched Wall-E, during which Claire very sucessfully held Milena for quite a while. It doesn't always go so well. Usually Milena starts squawking and Claire insists "I don't mind! Really, I don't!" She is very sweet about it.

Claire is in bed now, and Milena and I are soon to follow. I'm hoping for a repeat tomorrow night.

Kite Flying and Baby Pictures

We have been having the most unbelievable weather, so we've been spending a good amount of time outside. Earlier this week we went to the Bug Light to fly a kite. We weren't exactly in the same league as the others with our $4.99 hardware store kite, but we didn't let it stop us. Claire loved it. Milena slept.

She sleeps a lot. But when she's awake she's pretty good natured, and she looks like this:

Or if Claire is around, she looks more like this:

5 Years Between

Here is Claire at 5 days old...

And Milena yesterday, at 5 days old...

Definitely some resemblances going on there.

Making Faces

I forgot how awesome some of the faces a newborn can make are.

Lots of Love.

More Pictures

We're home, and its wonderful. I enjoyed being so well taken care of at the hospital, but home is home and you can't really beat it.

Everything is still very new, and its mostly unbelievable that we have two kids. I know at some point I'll look back and not remember what it was like to only have Claire because I look back now and can hardly remember what life was like before her.

A Sister.

Introducing Milena Rose. She was born at about 3am on April 18th. She is 7 lbs 9 oz and 21 inches long. She has the same thick head of black hair that Claire was born with, though Milena's looks like it might have a little curl to it. Labor was short, and pushing was even shorter. Just like Claire, Milena was ready before anyone else in the room was.













Sisters meet for the first time.













Its been a very special day.

Mackworth Island again

We took a trip to Mackworth Island a few weeks ago, when we had a lot more time on our hands.