Charlie

Daniel and Tracy Dower, and their three daughters, welcomed a new baby last month. Charlie came into the world in the usual way. We are all thrilled! Toni, in her excitement, has become Tigger (bouncy bouncy bouncy). We're trying to find a way to keep the bouncing bouncing bouncing from squishing Piglet, who though 10 pounds, is nevertheless a very small animal.

See him here -- > four minutes old, covered in vernix. Though he was ten pounds, he was barely 38 weeks. I'm so glad he decided to come out -- I had no room left for my lungs, kidneys, liver, heart, stomach, bladder. Oy!!!

Life is GOOD in the Dower house right now. Isabella, my first papoose, is preparing to leave for a summer internship in biomedical engineering, and then she's off to college this fall. Audrey, my second papoose and the main photographer for this site, is learning to play the violin and having a great time homeschooling. Toni, the main baby photographed on this site (so far!!), is now four years old, and loves little Charlie to pieces. Hopefully, not literal pieces. :D She's reliving the birth daily, by "pushing her babies out" of her shirt onto the floor! She hasn't started doing babywearing with her dolls again (she stopped that around the time she stopped being worn daily herself (age 2 1/2). But she is doing a lot of skin-to-skin with her dolls (inside her shirt), and pretending to breastfeed them.

Charlie is accustomed to being held every minute of the day, since he has Mama, Daddy, and 3 devoted sisters fighting over who gets him next. He was quite shocked yesterday when everyone went to bed before Mama and Charlie, and Mama had to lay him down for a few minutes to change clothes for bed. Wow! He was MAD. He nurses like a champ, and, I think, sometimes holds on to the breast just so none of his sisters will take him away from Mommy. :D

While at home, I have worn Charlie kangaroo style inside my shirt, from the day he was born, sometimes using a shawl or large scarf around the outside for extra support. He was up on my back by day 3 when I decided to try a tiny bit of house work because I missed it after months of being taken care of by everyone else while I rested. *You*, however, should stay in your nightgown until several weeks after the birth, lest anyone think your babymoon should be over sooner than you are ready. :D Expect lots of new pictures and videos of babywearing as Charlie grows. I've been taking him to the park and such, too, since after months of bedrest we are all cabin crazy, bored and lonely. Out of the house, I tend to wear him on the front since he nurses so much, and since he's still small and light, and since I tend to be sitting (in a chair at the park, etc.). I usually wear him in a shawl right now, and can easily slide him to my left hip or on my back. Shawls rock! Wraps are nice too, especially when the weather is cold. I have a few very lightweight ones, made out of viscose, which seems too light for babywearing, but is NOT. I have one that I even used with Toni when she was 30 pounds, and it was fine. If you make wraps, consider adding Viscose wraps to your summer inventory -- there is certainly a need for them down here in Texas.

~ Tracy Dower