where to start...

poor emerson. already, the neglect of the second born is apparent, and this blog is digital evidence. i am not even going to count the number of posts i had written for bryn by this age. but, like most second-borns, emerson seems no worse for the wear and is a very sweet, happy and chubby baby (strangers seem to agree with me on this, although i hear he behaves very differently when i am not around). and he has the most infectious smile - i always catch random people beaming at him when we are out and about.

in my defense, i think i have kept up fairly well with photos and videos, even if they didn't all get posted in a timely manner. emerson also gets to have HD video, all of which is available here on youtube. you can see emerson trying out solid foods, doing his funny crawl, sitting, jumping, laughing, hiccuping and meeting his big sister. you can even see the pediatricians checking emerson out right after he was born. there are also lots of new videos of bryn singing, dancing, talking, and helping/holding/playing with her brother.

as of today, emerson is sitting and crawling (not a proper crawl, but an inchworm kind of breakdance-y move), and starting to pull himself up. he knows what "no" means and recognizes the intonation of his name that means he should not be doing what he is doing although, most of the time, both of these things just elicit a big grin before he proceeds with whatever it is he wants to do (put dangerous/disgusting things in his mouth). he is very vocal and makes a hilarious chortling sound that we have yet to record successfully. when he wants me to pick him up, he often says "mamamama", which i like to believe is really for me. he loves to bounce and jump and, now that he is too big for the jumperoo, he likes to use me as a substitute (someone at a restaurant recently called him the definition of a "bouncing baby"). he currently has four teeth, front and center, and still has very light red-blonde hair, which caused a woman at the park to ask me if my children have the same father.


bryn is still very shy around new people, especially adults, and is notoriously stealth (among our neighbors and sitters). but, she seems to have turned a corner recently and has started chatting with people and engaging more and more. this may be (we hope) due to bryn starting preschool this fall!


while she is not always excited about going (it doesn't help that she is a night owl, and i have to wake her up from a dead sleep to go to school), she does always seem to have a lot of fun. her favorite things so far are painting, making pictures with "sparkles" (glitter), and playing on the playground, and she seems to really like her teachers. but, both at school and at home, bryn's absolute favorite thing is pretend play - dress up, role playing and, lately, a lot of role reversal (i'm the big girl and she's the mommy) and imaginary play (finding pirate treasure, being a dog). she creates very elaborate scenarios ("mommy, you got an ouchie on your foot now, and you need a shot") and is very specific about how they should go ("mommy, you just like the dinner now"). she's also been incorporating "just" and "probably" into her everyday conversation, which is hilarious ("i think i probably spilled the milk") and adorable ("i just love you"), and recently said "oh. my. god." when she saw the trailer for the princess kai-lan movie (ni hao, kai-lan and princesses are her favorite things, so the combination of the two has to be the greatest thing ever).

our spring and summer were very eventful and lots of fun - we went to a couple of minor league baseball games, spent lots of time playing in the backyard and the kiddie pool, went to the fair, visited my grandmother (along with my parents) in dc, visited friends and family in seattle and had a great visit from my sister and her hubby. i am enjoying the fall weather and holidays (pumpkin picking, costumes) but wishing i had more time to play with my babes...

expensive taste

this is what happened the very first morning that i woke up on my own with both kids: bryn woke up early, and i was doing my best to get emerson and myself some more sleep. bryn played quietly on her own for awhile and, by then, emerson was awake and ready for his first breakfast. so i started nursing him and, to keep bryn occupied, i let her play with my wedding band and engagement ring. she does this from time to time - putting them on me, putting them on herself, putting them in her mouth - and i always keep her close to make sure she doesn't deposit them somewhere i don't know about. this time, she was on the bed next to me, so i figured i didn't need to watch her quite as closely. five minutes later, i ask bryn, "where's mommy's ring?" she produces the engagement ring, but not the band. so i ask again, and she says nothing. this is unusual because, "i don't know" is one of her favorite things to say. i ask a few more times, and still nothing. but, this is a very small delicate ring, so i figure it is probably just lost in the sheets somewhere.

when adam gets home, i have him tear apart the bed, but there is no ring to be found. now i remember that bryn was laying down while playing with my ring and OH-MY-GOD-SHE-SWALLOWED-IT!! i tell my mom (yes, my parents were still in town, so i wasn't even really on my own), and she keeps trying to make me feel better, saying things like, "no, i've seen bryn spit out orange seeds, she wouldn't have swallowed your ring." maybe... so we search the carpet (a shaggy frieze) under the bed too, but still nothing. and, sure enough, eight hours and two poopy diapers later, there it is, still shiny.

never, ever let your guard down.

and, no, this is not an april fool's joke. i am really this irresponsible.

life with two

people aren't kidding when they say that two kids is more than double the work. we've passed the two month mark, and i'm finally coming up for air. i'm back at work (and actually enjoying it - i get to put on clothes, leave the house, and talk to adults without worrying about who is making what kind of mess, pets included), turned on my kindle again for the first time last week, and am almost caught up on "lost". of course, there are still things that i miss: showers, hot coffee and food, wearing nice clothes...



but, in exchange i have two (mostly) sweet babies who do lots of cute things. emerson is a good sleeper, about a 5 hour stretch at night, and really only has 1-2 fussy periods a day. all in all, a pretty easy baby, i would say. adam may disagree though; we are constantly debating whether or not he cries more than bryn did. one thing is for sure - emerson is WAY bigger than bryn was. he was 12 lbs., 11 oz. at his two month check-up. bryn didn't get to that weight until almost 5 months old (still 3 months, correcting for prematurity). it's great having a nice, chubby, robust baby - he just feels so much sturdier and is definitely much stronger. he has been holding his head up (ok, not a lot, but it's still impressive) since the first week! he loves cuddling but also likes a chance to stretch out, which is when we get to do my favorite thing: smile and "talk" to each other. emerson will spend 10-15 minutes, a few times a day, just watching me and smiling and cooing, and he has the biggest smile. *sigh*


bryn is growing up so fast. she has really become a little kid, no longer a baby or a toddler. she is a great big sister and loves to help out. she's very concerned whenever emerson cries ("i think he's hungry") and offers to "get baby", give him a pacifier (off the floor though) or help change his diaper. she likes to snuggle with him and see him smile ("look, he's happy!"), but she has also suggested that i "give baby to daddy" or "put brother down" and often throws a fit when i tell her i can't do something with her. then again, these days she throws a fit pretty much any time she doesn't get her way. she likes to tell me, "no, i can't", "i told you", "stop", and "give it", sometimes while flailing her arms and legs and/or throwing things. other times she tries the spoonful of sugar tactic: "oh, mom, it's ok", "it'd be fun/awesome" or just repeating the request with a different inflection and a big, ingratiating smile. we're still working on our approach to discipline.


i know i'm leaving out lots of other things, but if i try to write about them all, i won't get this posted until next month. please check out our flickr page for a better overview of our activities... but i do want to thank aaron, ting, sierra, leah and brian for coming out to visit! and extra special thanks to my parents for all the invaluable post-partum help. we couldn't have done it without you.

Announcing...

Adam, Bryn and I are very happy to welcome the newest addition to our family –

Baby boy, Emerson Wilde Bunnell, born December 31, 2009 at 10:43 a.m., weighing 7 lbs., 9 oz. and measuring 20 inches long.


Despite a case of mild pre-eclampsia starting at 33 weeks, we got our boy to full term (37 weeks - thanks to the greatest OB ever!), and a tax deduction to boot. Labor and delivery went very smoothly, and the whole family is home and enjoying the new year!