Heavy Lifting, Of Two Kinds

Tonight I planned on writing the big post to Sania about how she came to join the world, from K waking up after midnight on Easter morning to the glorious moment at 4:11 pm when she took her first breath, but instead I ended up co-managing the exciting end of our family laundry fast, and folding until the wee hours.

So instead, here's a little something from one of Sania's first trips out into the world. Reid was feeling a little bit jealous (also needed a nap) because Sania was debuting her on-parent travel system. Unfortunately, because he's huge and because she just had a baby, K couldn't scoop up Reid to offer parental balance and stop the whining. The solution: Pack-Daddy.

I had been carrying Sania in the Baby Bjorn because we were visiting Eastern Market and it's a bit tough to maneuver strollers about there. Plus the strolling parent can't get up to the delicious free samples of strawberries and apples, and that wouldn't be right. So I had Sania snapped in pretty comfortably and she was dozing, dreaming, no doubt, of another parent's nourishing contents. To achieve the Reid-on-shoulders trick, I needed to lower myself down on my haunches, instruct Reid of the critical nature that his legs stay far far apart, and then power lift him -- clear of the baby -- over my head and onto my shoulders. The expression on my face tells you that I'm surprised -- and remain so to this moment -- that one or two members of my family weren't kicked in the head Sunday.

Second in our heavy lifting category is the early adventures of Ms. Sania as she attempts to exercise her neck muscles and pick that pretty little noggin up off the blanket. Tummy time is banned (as is riding in the Baby Bjorn) until the umbilical cord makes its long-awaited exit, so she mostly gets to exercise her head when jockeying for position during her marathon feeding sessions. But tonight, she braced herself and decided, "I...will lift...my head."

(You can click on these to see slightly bigger versions.)