Thanksgiving in May

I'm starting to have this feeling that people are thinking, "OK, he was born early, but he's FINE! Get over it already!" And in fact, now that Zach's due date is here, I am about to get over it and stop looking back. But I'm not going to let this particular milestone pass without at least pausing to be so very, very thankful that things worked out the way they did. On that horrible, scary March 2 when I checked into the hospital, we just didn't know how everything was going to turn out - and at that frighteningly early date, the doctors couldn't necessarily give us assurance that it was all going to be fine. Today Dave said that he is only now feeling like he can express some sort of relief, with the acknowledgment that at one point we had to face the unthinkable.

Now fast forward to Memorial Day weekend when I thought I was going to be delivering a baby and here I am with a healthy, happy, nearly five-week-old (?) (see last entry) bundle of cuteness sleeping on my chest as I type. As Unk famously said at our wedding, "What more can we be but grateful?"




So - onward. Yesterday we had the rare treat of having both families together for a joyous Memorial Day barbecue.

Grandma Bobbie and Luke made the guacamole, Suzi made the potato salad, Dave grilled the chicken and burgers, Grandma Joan made the apple cake, Granddad picked out the ice cream, Papa lugged the seltzer, and Bill-o took the pictures - it was a massive group effort and we chowed down big-time.

(Note to Joe: Yes, your grill is bigger than our grill. You win.)

Zach must have been in seventh heaven because he had multiple warm laps to snuggle in and he slept through most of it.


Today Dave set up the big tent at the beach and we all walked down together, with Zach snuggled up on my chest in the Bjorn. It was fun for a while but a little chillier and windier than anticipated. By the time Luke transitioned from "I want to live at the beach right here in this tent!" to "I want to go home NOW!" we knew it was time to call it a morning.


Speaking of Luke, he is so far the sweetest big brother a person could ask for. We've been trying to keep him apart from Zach this weekend because Luke has had a cold, but we've had no such luck. Luke finds Zach nearly irresistible. When Zach cries, Luke is the first to rush to his side, saying, "It's OK, Zach, it's OK!" This morning when Zach was fussing a little, Luke took it upon himself to serenade his brother with the guitar. I can't wait until Zach is able to react and he can show Luke the smile that I know he wants so badly to make.

But Zach's crying seems to be relatively rare, limited mostly to hunger and diaper changes. Today he spent most of the day in a super-alert phase, gazing at the cover of one of Luke's books all through lunch and looking around the table earnestly at dinner time. His only complaint was when I got in the hot tub before dinner (for the first time since September, by the way). I guess he just doesn't want to miss out on any of the fun.

Now that my parents have been here for almost a month, I'm slowly preparing myself for their departure. My mom remarked the other day that we are doing much better than when she first got here. When I expressed disbelief, she pointed out that at the beginning of May I was pumping round the clock and getting pushed in a wheelchair to visit Zach in intensive care. Now I'm walking back and forth to the beach every day and toting around a happy little nursling. She's right, I know, but it will be hard to let them go. I remember when they stayed with us for ten days when Luke was born, and crying after they left about how we were ever going to make it work. This time around it should be twice as hard, but I'm probably twice as confident that we'll figure it out somehow. And - I promise this will be the last mushy thing I'm going to say - I'm just so happy we'll have the chance to learn.