Hannah's love letter

to her new baby brother:

Hi Simeon
Happy Birthday
Welcome to our family
We stick together
You're our favorite little brother
Please come home soon
We are hoping home in 1 day
Happy Birthday from Naomi too
Love, Hannah
Love, Naomi
We love you Simeon Joseph Bernstein

Highlights from the birth

After Simeon was born and things had settled down a bit, our OB asked if we'd like some celebration music. Sure, we said, not knowing exactly what to expect. He went out and brought back in a guitar and proceeded to play us some music and sing to us. It was a very sweet moment.

The big sisters

have visited. They love their new baby brother. He's darn cute, of course, so it's not hard to see why. :) They took turns holding him over and over and over. He was very cooperative about all of it and slept peacefully through all the attention and snuggles. They had written notes for Mom, Dad, and Simeon, and had drawn pictures. They had also been up in the night, apparently, so Naomi was a bit overwrought at finding that the new baby and Mama were STAYING at the hospital and not going home. Dada went back for lunch and naptime, and Mama and Simeon stayed at the hospital and slept. It was a joy to see the girls and have them love their new brother so much.

Simeon has cute, curly, dark hair, although there are lighter patches. His eyelashes are blond. He looks a bit like Naomi did at his age. He has long fingers (and long fingernails -- watch out!) like his Dad. He makes cute noises in his sleep and has smiled in his sleep a lot - very sweet.

I am feeling better rested after another nap -- we didn't get much sleep last night for some reason.

Hmmm...the TV in my room just randomly turned on to an infomercial about orthotics. I'm going to have to do something about THAT.

Meet Simeon Joseph

Born September 28, 2008 at 3:09 a.m.
8 lb, 10 oz
21 inches
Sweet, sweet, sweet.

Is it fall now?

If the 21st is the first day of fall, we've got it here. Well, we've had it for a couple of days. However, some members of the family are being especially Seattle-fall-like this morning: Michael, Hannah, and Naomi set off for a walk to the bagel shop after Mass this morning. I had a couple things to get at the store, and when I passed them as I was on my way home, I noticed how very Seattle they looked, walking along in a light drizzle with NONE of their hoods up -- although they all had them.

Breakfast

on Saturday mornings is a big deal at our house. It's not terribly elaborate, usually, but the girls and Michael almost always bake something together. This morning as we were lazing about after sleeping in (until 7:25!), Hannah said, "It's a chilly morning, so it would be a good day for a warm breakfast. Like cinnamon rolls warm from the oven." Naomi, in a similarly dreamy voice, added, "And bacon."

Big girl bed

Naomi's big girl bed is all set up now -- we put the mattress and sheets on this morning. She's very excited, and wanted to make sure, at naptime, that she could sleep in the new bed. Of course, she didn't want to get under the covers. She wanted to sleep on top of the quilt and have her usual blanket covering her. So we still have a little way to go, but the enthusiasm for the bed is definitely there.

Helpful Instructions for the Day

On a tag from a pair of socks I bought for Hannah: "Do not iron."

Phew. I don't have to iron her socks. What a relief.

Quote of the Day

"It's butchering day! But we won't butcher the pig on your new rug, Mama."

Allergy tests

Michael went in to the allergist the other day to see if he'd outgrown his allergies from childhood. He had bee sting and shellfish issues. Well, praise God, he seems to be free of those allergies now! We're excited about that, for sure.

The girls were interested to see his allergy test marks on his arms. They were impressed at how brave he was -- he didn't even CRY for his 20-something scratch tests and subdermal injections (3 levels of 5 different venoms from stinging insects). They were also absolutely appalled when they found out that he didn't even get a STICKER for being so brave! The looks on their faces were really shocked and devastated about such a terrible oversight. Hannah was so taken aback that she went and got him something to make him feel better -- his very own little pad of paper.