Don't worry kid, you don't have to play sports

Dear Baby Winnie,

David and I have already discussed your athletic future and we think it's really great if you want to dance or play T-ball or soccer or any kind of organized sport. Whatever you choose we will be your biggest fans. Your dad ran cross country and I danced with a flag (some people call it "colorguard"), but we will try not to bias you toward either one of these things. You can choose what you want to do or not to do and we will always love you.

What you cannot choose is to avoid your destiny. You are the product of the first official writing center romance at the Fred Meijer Center for Writing and Michigan Authors. If it sounds fancy, it's because it is. It is a writer's wonderland full of tootsie rolls, tea and pens, pens, pens.

When you are old enough, we will tell you stories about Fishladders and Manchester essays while we endlessly sip cups of hot chocolate. You will not be able to resist the lure of Lake Ontario Hall and the FWCfWaMA (pronounced Eff-Mc-Fwama). The journey begins at the end of this month when we will bring you home for a visit that includes a tour of the old college stomping grounds. 

Get ready to meet your destiny.

Love, 

Your Mom

former Lead Consultant at the FMCfWaMA

Things you don't say, until you're a mom

My friend and I were recently discussing all of the ways your life changes once you become "a mom." Most of these changes involve the suddenly acquired flair for dealing with a myriad of really gross things -- both mentally and tangibly. As yesterday was my first mother's day (as a mother), I think it's appropriate to share this list of "mother-isms" that I've found to be true in just five weeks, and counting.

1. I prefer pee on my pants to pee on my shirt -- pants pee is more localized.

2. I love my furniture slip covers, a lot.

3.  I slept four hours in a row last night. IN A ROW!

4. Maybe if I rock the crib with my foot I can stay in bed for another twenty minutes.

5. I have to let my hands dry completely after using hand sanitizer because I don't want my baby to get tipsy when I feed her.

6. The good thing about getting puked on is that it gives me an excuse to change my outfit midday.

7. My shirt is dirty anyway, allow me to wipe your mouth with my sleeve.

8. Snaps on infant pajamas are evil (but it is admittedly funny when Dad can't figure them out...).

9. Of course my baby looks like her father, they both have short haircuts.

10. My baby just lifted her head all by herself. She's so advanced!


I love you, Winnie!

Happy 1-Month Birthday, Winnie!

We love you, Miss Winifred

Milestones and revelations

Milestones in the life of Winnie

1.  On Monday, your umbilical cord stump fell off, which isn't a major change, but at the same time it makes you look less like a newborn than when we first brought you home. We've had you for less than two weeks and you're changing already!

2. You now like to grunt when you're hungry. It's very endearing.

3. Today you had your first bath. You're still not communicating verbally, which is normal for a baby your age, and so it's difficult for us to say with absolute certainty how much enjoyment you got from sitting in a plastic tub of lukewarm water -- but you didn't cry the whole time and so we take that as a good sign.

4. Just minutes ago I experienced one of those "exploding diaper changes" that our friends with children have warned me about. Directly in the line of fire were: My jeans, the floor, your changing pad, the dresser, and (as luck would have it) the dirty diaper that had just been opened. My only regret is that your dad is doing errands right now and so he missed the whole thing. I did, however, call Uncle Richard into the room to bear witness before cleaning up the mess.


Recent revelations:

1. Your diapers make all of your pants look like "MC Hammer" pants. I wish we had a gold pair.

2. You've started smiling -- but I know it's just a reflex at this point. What's funny is that this particular reflex seems to be in conjunction with certain eruptions south of the belly button border.

3. You need warmer clothes. We never thought an April baby would need a newborn-sized winter wardrobe. This must have been a momentary loss of memory where we repressed the fact that we live in Minnesota where it snows 8 months out of the year. Every day since we brought you home it has snowed. There is so much snow that the sidewalks have needed shoveling several times and your dad's work shut down early yesterday due to poor road conditions.

Welcome home, Winnie!

It is incredible how a tiny person, weighing less than 8 pounds and unable to speak, can command the schedules of two full-grown adults. But that's how it goes now at the LeGault household. 

After much coaxing from the doctors, young Miss Winifred Katherine LeGault was born on at 8:00am sharp on April 9, 2013. She weighed 7lbs, 4oz and was 20 inches long. She is perfect. 

Winnie's arrival began on April 7, one day after her due date, while David and I were playing board games at home with friends. Around 8:30pm I rushed to our upstairs bathroom because I thought I REALLY had to go... but I guess that's what it feels like to have your water break. 

We ended up spending about 35 hours at the hospital prior to Winnie's arrival. About 34 hours of that is how long it took to get to the delivery stage. It was a lot of drugs, not a lot of sleep and enough ice chips to fill your momma's big punch bowl eighty times over. Since we've come home from the hospital I don't crave ice the way I used to anymore. 

Since we've come home, everyone wants to know where we came up with the name "Winifred." the pediatrician and lactation consultant we met with last week both congratulated us on choosing a truly unique name. Most times, they said, parents choose a name they think will be unique (like Elanore, heehee) and then within a few weeks five more babies with the same name crop up out of the woodwork. So far, though, we haven't met anyone who has heard of a Winifred other than the girl on "The Wonder Years." We didn't just choose this name for it's originality though, there was more thought to it than that. 

Here is what your name means, dear little Winnie, and how we chose it:

Winifred.

(def: Peaceful friend)

This is for your great grandfather, Frederick Borgman, who you will sadly never meet. He passed away this November, but he knew you were on the way and he would have treasured meeting you. Your Great Grandpa loved to laugh and he loved to say funny things to make your Great Grandma squirm in her seat. His hugs were as big as he was and he was never on short supply. Most importantly of all, Grandpa Fred devoted his life to God. He worked very hard to build an honest living for himself and used what he had to bless those around him. It is our hope that you will share Grandpa Fred's enthusiasm for investing in other people and for loving them as God so dearly loves you.

Katherine.

(def: Clear, Pure)

This is a family name in more ways than one. Seven ways, in fact. On your mother's side you have a Great Grandma Katherine, Great Aunt Kathy, Second Cousin Kathy and a Second Cousin Kate. On your dad's side you have two Great Aunt Cathys and one Second Cousin Cathy. Since the K's outnumber the C's (and because your mom really wanted you to have a good, strong German name to go with your fancy French last name) you will be joining the ranks of K.

Dear LeBabe, 

It has been one week since we brought you home. We have heard the very rare Snow Thunder (which is where it thunders and snows at the same time). We have had more than a foot of snow, yes and it's April, but already it is melting again (thankfully). 

You have met one set of grandparents and a handful of our friends. You have met your dog, who loves you, too much sometimes, but it is clear to see how much she already adores you. You have had your photo professionally taken and everyone agrees that you look just like one of those Anne Geddes babies who your dad says are "creepy." I think it is the little animal costumes he doesn't like though, and we didn't dress you up in anything goofy. You're much too classy.

Already, we know so much about you. We know how you like to be held -- cheek to cheek and close to the heart. We know why you cry -- because you're hungry or wanting to be held. We know what you dislike -- having your diaper changed, unless you've just been fed then it's OK.

We love you so much dear little Winnie K. and we are so glad you're finally here.

Welcome home!
-mom

A little something for your inner math nerd

For your mathematical enjoyment, here are a few of the stats taken from our baby pool and compiled into neat little charts and graphs. 

There is still time to enter the pool! Just click this handy link or go to: www.bebepool.com/lebaby2013

Due Date Predictions

Eye Color Predictions

Hair Color Predictions

Dear Baby, Letter #11

Dear LeBabe,

This could be the last letter that I write to you. As my boss said today, "It's like an earthquake. We know it's coming; we just don't know when."

Just like an earthquake, you will rock our world.

Tomorrow is our last scheduled doctor's appointment. Tomorrow our midwife will look for "progress." This is both exciting and a little bit terrifying. Let's be honest, I've never done anything quite like giving birth before. The closest your dad can come to this is having run a marathon, seven of them to be exact. The closest that I have come to running a marathon is running a 5K (which is 8.7xs shorter than a marathon). According to that logic, your dad has -- at this point in time -- had experiences more closely resembling giving birth than I have. Lucky me that I will have him with me to coach me through labor :)

Our bags are packed, your car seat is installed and the house has been baby proofed ever since Mackinac learned how to open the cupboard doors and access the trash we keep under the sink. If you'd like to come on Sunday that would be nice because your dad already has the day off.

Can't wait to meet you!
Mom

Dear Baby, Letter #10

Dear LeBabe,

Your due date is in two weeks. That is just fourteen days from now. FOURTEEN DAYS!

This is the time when I am learning more about patience and timing. God has timing and you have timing, too. Neither your calendar or God's seems to align with my own these days, and so I am trying to trust that it will all work out. For the girl who sat on the floor of her freshman dorm in college and planned out her entire college schedule for the next four years -- the not knowing is really difficult.

At one of the baby showers we had for you my mom made up this game called Baby Jeopardy. In the game, there were different factoids about babies that the guests had to correctly guess from a list of possible answers. One of these facts had to do with the ominous "due date." It turns out, that you alone get to decide when you will make your first appearance. You get to come when you are ready. No amount of poking, prodding, walking or squatting on my end will do much to change that. However, I will warn you, if you decide to wait more than two weeks past April 6th the good doctors will probably intervene.

At this moment I am going to give you one of your first bits of mother-daughter advice: Come any day you want, as long as it is two weeks on either side of your due date.

With this advice in mind, I am now going to begin deep cleaning the house. We may not have much time to spare! Your Uncle Richard pointed out the shameful amount of debris that is lurking in the gap between the stove and kitchen counter the other day and he remarked that "we should deep clean the house before the baby comes." He wants you to have a clean floor to crawl on. If you knew your Uncle Richard this would make you laugh. Out of anyone in this house he is the least likely to suggest cleaning.

You can bet that I am going to capitalize on this uncanny urge to clean before he loses it.

Love you very much,
Mom

Dear LeBabe (Dad Edition):

Dear LeBabe-

Hi, it's your dad! I know that we've talked before (either you hearing my voice, or feeling me push against your mom's stomach as you kick me back) but I figured it was time I wrote you a letter like your mom has been doing on this blog. Yes, I'm sure you'll quickly realize that your mom is much more on top of regular blog writing (and about a million other things!), but just the same I thought it would be nice for us to get to know each other a little better.

For starters, let's talk about how excited your mom and I are to meet you. Surely by now you've seen the pictures from earlier posts, but we've been having quite the adventure getting ready for you: Whether it was painting your new crib (then sanding it down, then painting it again. And again), putting together your stroller (my fingernail is still bruised from the metal clips!), or putting your brand new car seat in the car...believe me, I'll figure out why it's so loose before I put you into it!

But mainly, we're both excited to spend time with you. Your mom laughed at me when I referred to my paternity leave from work as "vacation," but I do think it's going to be great to spend some of your first weeks together even if you're more interested in napping and eating and pooping than you will be to party it up with your dad. Still, there are a bunch of activities I already have planned for our future. Here's a short list:

1) Running through the park- There's a really great park about a mile from our house, right next to the Mississippi River. I go running there all the time and I'm excited to take you along for a ride!

2) Trips to zoos/museums/plays. Kids museums and zoos are way more fun because, unlike the adult versions, you get to touch and play with everything. Also, both of your parents are kind of nerds who like to learn, so get ready to have a lot of fun meeting different animals and learning all kinds of cool stuff.

3) Taking you to the U.P! You'll be born in Minnesota, but you'll still be half-Yooper, which means going back to the homeland to visit your grandma, grandpa, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends. Also, it might be a few years, but trying out a pasty! Maybe we'll even take you sledding at the park where your dad had his first job!

There are plenty of other things I'm excited to do with you, but I'll save those for another letter. Just know that your mom and I already love you like crazy, and we're excited to get to know you better!