Eli's first four days

posted by Brace

Eli is doing great in his first week in Petaluma. Seems like he is into eating, sleeping, and pooping. What a life.

(click images to enlarge)

Thursday, Day-4

Dr. John Dahmen, a UCSF grad, was named a 'Family Favorite' pediatrician by Sonoma Family-Life Magazine, Jan 2008. He examined Eli at Kaiser today. As we well knew, Eli is absolutely perfect - well almost. His conehead is slowing resolving.

Tuesday, Day-2

It's easy to get good pictures of Eli. He doesn't fuss much.

Announcing his arrival -

posted by Brace

Eli Harrison Cooper

born at 5:35pm
May 18, 2008

Kaiser Hospital,
Santa Rosa

7lbs 11oz
20 inches

Ryan entered the hospital with
frequent contractions at 9:00am. As with Leila's delivery, she received no analgesics

Labor went well. Phyllis (an old L&D nurse) commented on how well Ryan managed it. Ryan may appear on the fragile side, but she's as tough as nails. Ask her about the freezing wet bicycle rides to work in Japan, or about her hike up Mt. Fuji. We are proud of her.

Leila is going to be a great big sister. Unprompted,
she showered Eli with kisses.

Phyllis wanted to much to be with Ryan at Leila's birth, but because she was born in Lancaster, England, Phyllis wasn't able to attend. Being there for Eli's arrival meant a lot to her. Leila and I (Brace) had a great fun day together.

Eli appears very healthy. He has demonstrated
a mellow personality so far. No fussiness, no crying while I was there.


Eli will be coming home tomorrow.

It was a great day.

Leila: Two and a Half Years Old

all sunshine and smiles!



























techie in the making, just like daddy!


little rockstar!



















feeding the ponies;
Leila and her classmates took a field trip to the farm












coloring is serious business!














picnic time at the farm

39 Weeks, and Still in Waiting

Well, after all this talk about how I thought little Eli would come early because Leila was two weeks early, I'm now only a week away from my due date and getting impatient. He must be too cozy in there! Either that, or he has been siding with Mark who keeps urging him to come later, after the 40 pages are written and submitted. Meanwhile, I'm still pretty comfortable considering I'm so far along and now 24 pounds heavier. My doctor keeps saying that I'm all baby, just one big bump. Poor Leila has no more room to snuggle up on my lap!



Eli back in December, at 4 months.
I love this picture, one of my favorites.
That's his little fist there above his tummy.





And here are some shots of Eli just a couple of weeks ago. At the time, Amanda our ultrasound tech said that he was just about seven pounds. He'll certainly be bigger when he's born than Leila was when she arrived.

I guess all this waiting has given me a good chance to do some serious spring cleaning. Time to clear out all the junk and start fresh. Seriously, how do we accumulate all this stuff? More trips to Goodwill and some postings on Craigslist are in order. Good thing for that nesting instinct.

New Baby, New Blog

Now that I'm on maternity leave (thank goodness!), I thought I'd take the time to start a fresh blog for Leila and 'baby brother'. Apologies to those who still kindly check my xanga only to find that I haven't updated in, well, a very long time! But, thanks to my dad for putting up new photos from time to time since I never got around to it! (He just posted some pics of Leila the other day www.xanga.com/ryanmw.) Hopefully this new blog for my two little Coops will re-motivate me; after all, it's got a pretty fun polka dot background going on.

Well baby number two is soon to make his debut. The official due date is May 16th. I'm so excited to see him, so I hope he'll come sooner; Mark's hoping he'll wait a bit since he has two 20 page papers due mid May. My co-workers have a bet going to see who can guess his due date. They were also very helpful in trying to find a name for our little guy (and also not so helpful, with suggestions like Peet, haha, and Skeletor). It had become a running joke at work because so many of my name suggestions were completely shot down by Mark, and yet he hardly had any to offer! Finally I came up with a name that he liked: Eli. Eli Harrison Cooper. Once we decided on it, Eli seemed perfect. And I love the way Leila says Eli, "EEE-li!" Very cute.

It has been such a different experience this time around. With Leila, I only worked for the first four months of pregnancy, until I finished teaching in Japan; this time when I reached four months, I got promoted and increased my hours to full time. I love my Peet's job, but working eight hours a day on my feet was sooo tiring. Since I started my leave on Saturday, I've had a nap every single day-luxury! I've spent the last few days trying to get myself, and the house, organized and prepared for baby. I've also been loving this extra time I get to spend with Leila. We've been reading a lot of Green Eggs and Ham and making a lot of Playdough pizza.

The sweetest thing ever is when Leila touches my stomach, puts her ear to my belly and says, "Hi baby brother. I love you!"