Many Things to Say

Ok, so there are many things to fill in about the past week. I will run them down very quickly here, with pictures to follow:

1. Thrush is under control, quite possibly gone, but I'm not giving it any chances right now. And of course Leo has new quirks--he's injured me a couple more times towards the end of this week, which made me start to realize we had more issues than just the thrush. He's Sophia all over again--an "arching" baby, hypertonic, head held high and all his muscles tense. So now we're nursing with him sitting up, in sort of a football hold, and that seems to help a bit. If he weren't gaining weight I'd be more concerned--things are different from the girls--but at this point, the only thing I'm concerned about is my injuries. Which are healing.

2. The rehearsal dinner at my parents' house was, from my point of view, lovely. Exhausting as well (I can't believe how much better I feel now, which amazes me when I consider how much I did that day).

3. The wedding on Friday evening went off just fine. The reception was, in a word, cute. I only got all verklempt one time, and that was when Mike's mom's cousins Nona, Frank, and Leslie, all children of Leo's namesake (Leo Baudino died last spring), kind of gathered around Mike, holding Leo, quietly, just taking a look at this new one. The three of them have always seemed unassuming and quiet, and this is how they met Leo. I stood there to the side, nervously wondering what they thought, if they were ok with our choice of name, and so on. Then Leslie said, "I'm just wild about his name," and I had to turn away.

4. Mike marched in the parade this year in my place. Sophia and Maeve rode on the float. I sat in the sun and wind and watched all the weirdness go by. After the parade, we went back to McMurphy's Grill, which seemed to be a gigantic timing snafu. Sophia was exhausted and I think felt a little left out--it was a long day and she just seemed a little lost by that point. She danced 4 dances, but seemed rather unsure of herself in comparison to what I've seen her do at the latest feis or more recent shows. Ah well. When we left to go home, she said she was done with dancing for the week. I agreed--we didn't go on Sunday to the nursing home show.

5. On Sunday, we did make it to church and then took a walk in Laumeier Sculpture Park, which the girls were completely enchanted by (as they should be). And then we went home and I worked my rear end off on the baby quilt for Julie:

6. Julie's baby shower was so much fun. Relaxed, filled with brilliant lovely women and babies, good food--just such a nice time.

7. And then today, the cookie saga continues. But that gets its own post after the photos...