Tomorrow marks Torsten's 100th day. I almost feel as though I ought to make some cupcakes or something, but it doesn't seem fair since he cannot eat them yet. Maybe I'll wear a party hat tomorrow whenever I nurse him. (That's a joke.)
I can't quite put it into words, but it simultaneously seems like yesterday that he was born, but also like he's always been with us.
Aldus is also doing and saying new things all the time, too. One new thing? Somersaults!
Have you seen the cuteness lately? I go back to work next week (blargh) and am not really looking forward to missing all this cuteness on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Halmeoni just left after a great two-week visit. Halabeoji was also here for the first week. Just in time to see Torsten really start to smile!
I think it's been a LONG time since Charles's father spent a week doing next to nothing. I think he enjoyed it.
Last Saturday was the annual harvest festival in Lhee. Aldus's favorite part? Trekkers!
Aldus also liked watching at all the old hay-baling equipment.
And Halmeoni enjoyed trying the nieuwe haring.
Charles took these photos on the playground a week ago. Torsten looks so sweet, and Aldus looks so determined - whatever it is he's doing with the sand.
Torsten was one month old yesterday! I haven't weighed him in a couple weeks but can see that he's grown since his birth. Or maybe he's just stretched out more from the fetal position and his head and face are assuming more normal head and face shapes.
It's fun to see how similar and how different he looks from his big brother.
It's also fun to see him in the hand-knit Viking hat he received yesterday from Marion-ajuhma! Thanks, Marion!
Let the pillaging commence!
When Aldus was born, we forgot to ask someone to take a photo of the three of us together. Until Charles's parents visited, we only had photos of Aldus by himself or with each of us individually.
We were fortunate that the midwives attending Torsten's birth immediately volunteered to take a photo of the three of us, and my parents took a photo of all four of us during their recent visit.
Has it been almost a week already? Time flies!
We're doing well, especially with Charles still home and the kraamzorg help during the day. Tuesday may be an adventure when she's gone and Charles (I assume) will be back at work.
Regardless, we've had a great week with Torsten at home with us. I think he sleeps more and cries less than Aldus did. Score! Most importantly, he eats well and is healthy and strong. And beautiful. And sweet. Yeah, I like him.
Aldus likes Torsten, too. He very much wants to touch him and give hugs and kisses. But he's also having a rough time because of all these new rules like not touching the baby when I'm nursing, not pulling on the carrycot of the stroller when Torsten is in it, etc. It's not easy to be two with a new baby in the house.
Yesterday I was feeing great, both pysically and emotionally. The engorgement started to subside, I had energy, etc. This morning I'm a physical wreck. Fortunately, my emotions are still good. Coffee helps. But I'm going to spend the day trying to do almost nothing physical so that I can rest up. I know how susceptible I am emotionally to my physical well-being.
Here are a few pics from our first few days:
Me in labor. Thank goodness Charles took this photo right away because I was like this for less than 10 minutes before I needed to start pushing!
Some people thought Charles didn't look so good in the photo we emailed to everyone. Ha ha! Stress will do that to you. But have you every seen a more proud father?
Aldus likes to see Torsten first thing when he (Aldus) first gets up in the morning and whenever he comes home from the babysitter's or peuterclub.
Torsten's first outing to the playground behind our house. (And a coffee for me!)
Ahhhh....lekker slapen!
Just to spite me for saying that I didn't think he would come on his due date, Baby #2 made a valiant last ditch effort Sunday. Sporadic, mild contractions in the afternoon and evening were followed by my water breaking around 10:40pm. Nothing for a half-hour, then quicker, stronger contractions over the next hour, and we rushed off to the babysitter's and the hospital.
After 15 minutes of evaluation by the midwives and 5 minutes of pushing, we were blessed with another boy!
Torsten Jinsup Yun
Born 1:33am on Monday 22 June
3.81 kg / 8 lbs 6 oz
Lots of black hair and a Yun nose!
Torsten was my grandfather Palmquist's name (changed to Thomas when he immigrated from Sweden). Jinsup is made up of "Jin" (진/眞) meaning truth, faithfulness or real, and "Sup" (섭/燮), the generational family name he shares with his brother and cousins, meaning harmony or flame.
We're all doing great, Aldus and Maui included. More photos and updates to come.
Editor's note: Bad Umma! I got my Chinese characters mixed up in the original post. They've been updated to reflect the correct syllables. I will blame sleep deprivation.
