Piper is here!

Piper Santos joined our family on Valentine's Day (one day late) after the quickest labor ever! She's the best Valentine we could have ever hoped for. She weighed in at a whopping 6lbs. 14oz. and 19.5 inches long.
Grandma and Grandpa Heywood had arrived the Friday before Piper's due date so Charlie could get use to them because we assumed he'd likely be spending a day or two with them while we were in the hospital for labor and delivery. By Tuesday (a day past due) we were all twiddling our thumbs and I was starting to feel guilty that we were all here waiting but no baby yet. So on Valentine's Day Steve and I sent my parents to the Academy of Science and insisted they eat lunch and see the planetarium show. They left the house around noon and at 1:15pm I had a contraction. I didn't think much of it because I'd been having little contractions here and there for days. I habitually look at my iPhone every time a contraction happens just to check the time and after about 30 minutes, I realized my contractions were coming regularly and before I knew it they were really strong and about 6 minutes apart. Charlie was just waking from his nap, I was starting to freak out, we couldn't reach my parents because they were at the planetarium show with their cell phones off. We realized we couldn't wait so we grabbed Charlie with the intention of taking him to the hospital with us then realized that Liz was home with Finn! So we called Liz on our drive to her house and explained we were in labor & needed to drop off Charlie. She met us at the curb, took Charlie and even though I was a sobbing mess at this point behind my sun glasses, I was so comforted knowing Charlie was with her. He loves Liz, Jeremy & Finn so much and other than mommy and daddy, probably knows them the best.

We raced to the hospital, Steve dropped me off at OB Triage and went to park the car. By this time it was about 2:30pm and my contractions were about 4 minutes apart. By the time we got to our labor and delivery room contractions were about 2 minutes apart. I got an epidural and just when I thought I might have a moment to rest before the baby arrived my water broke. 20 minutes later we were pushing and after 2 pushes, baby girl was here at 5:11pm. Crazy that one minute I was literally laying on my couch watching Barefoot Contessa wondering when this baby would decide to join the party and fast forward 4 hours and she was with us. Steve spent about an hour with me and baby before I sent him on his way to get Charlie down for bed. Steve was back at the hospital with me and baby by about 8pm after Charlie was safe and sound in bed.

The past two weeks have been a total blur. My awesome parents were here for almost 10 days after Piper arrived and it was such an amazing help. Charlie LOVED having them here and loved all the love and attention they gave him. It helped Steve and me not feel quite as bad for turning Charlie's life upside-down. And, in true Charlie form, he's been such a champ with the addition of "baby sister." He has moments of sensitivity when he sees mommy feeding baby yet again but he's taking it all in stride. I think he even likes her! They are only 18.5 months apart so all we can do is explain things to Charlie and hope he understands since he still communicates mostly in single words. He really is a great big brother already and I can already see that as Piper becomes more interactive and animated that these two will be besties in no time.

And Piper. She's amazing. We were holding our breath to see what type of temperament she'd have. Charlie was a good baby, like a REALLY good baby...he was happy all the time, I can count on one hand the number of crying fits for no reason he had in his first year of life. He was never fussy. We were just really really really lucky and we were well aware that his temperament was atypical. Piper had a few rough nights when we first brought her home that had us worried we were in for it but she's mellowed out to the extreme. She definitely has a voice when she needs something but once she's dry, fed and wrapped up in a warm blanket, she's content. She's sleeping well at night and the fussiness she had those first few days seems to have disappeared for the moment (we're going to enjoy it while it lasts). She's so sweet and cute and reminds us a lot of Charlie. She has quite a bit of dark hair that almost seems to have a reddish tint (she'll probably lose all of this) and her eyes seem lighter than Charlie's (Charlie's eyes were super dark since birth and never really changed while Piper's eyes are a hazy grey/blue at the moment. Who knows what color they'll end up). She seems to have a signature photo face that is basically her looking startled or scared. She has cute little features that remind me of a pixie. Her nicknames so far are Pipe, Pip, Peanut and about 50% of the time we accidentally call her Charlie. :) We are so thrilled that we have these two little people in our lives. It feels overwhelming at the moment but I know we'll get the hang of it.
Piper hasn't really gotten the hang of tummy time yet.
Love these little people.

18 months (AKA 1.5 years)

Charlie turned 18 months old on Monday. We've spent pretty much every minute with this little dude for the past year and a half and it's been the best experience of our lives.We're about to add another little one to our brood any day now and sometimes I feel sad that our days with just little Charlie are numbered. Am I allowed to be honest about that? I'm excited for baby girl and I know in a few months I'll be writing a blog about how I can't imagine our family without her but today, right now, I want to relish in all that our family is at this moment. It's perfect. Charlie is so rad. At 18 months he's constant entertainment. He's funny. He's talking. He's copying us. He's brave. He's sensitive. He's loyal. He's loving. He's so so so cute. He's obnoxious. He's running. He's eating more. He loves his friends. He loves animals. He loves to give us kisses and he also loves to kiss himself in the mirror. His daddy is his best friend in the world. We are so lucky he's ours.