Strawberry Fields.

Oh How I WISH They Were Forever.

W: There are two seasons in my world:

Berry Season and The Off Season.

Turns out, I much prefer Berry Season and this weekend is, essentially, the Berry Solstice--kicking it all off with STRAWBERRIES!

Yeah, that's a good one, Dad.

Keep up the good work, there, Papa.

Okay! Let's go home and make some shortcake biscuits!

W: Jezzy had her first really alert day today, which I'll let her tell you about, but it was fun to see her eyes for most of the day!
Mom and I made muffins during her morning nap...

This is my favorite part of cooking.

J: Like Winona says, I had my first really AWAKE day today. Ok, so these first two pictures are not a great representation of this, but mom thought they were funny.

W: So mom is under strict orders to spend "one week IN the bed, one week NEAR the bed and one week AROUND the bed." As we 'round the corner from NEAR to AROUND, I'm getting a little antsy for her to get up and going, already. However, it's been super fun having first my Gramma, then my Grammy here to play with me and keep all things running smoothly around the house (i.e. laundry is clean, dishwasher clean and emptied and yummy meals on the table each night!). I've been quite helpful myself, as you can see below. These windows, usually picasso-ed with doggie snuzzles now have nice streaky stripes on them thanks to my handiwork. (Mom says to tell you not to worry-- it's just vinegar and water in my spray bottle).

J: Since I tend to spend most of my days eating and sleeping, I don't have much to report, except for this little interesting tidbit:

my bellybutton is a perfect spiral.

Pretty cool, huh?

What's In a Name?
By the namers of Jezebel The Bold

We've had some raised eyebrows on the subject, so here's the scoop. Jezebel= Bold, boisterous. Once upon a time in a Judeo-Christian myth, there was a Jezebel who was condemned by god as a harlot and a slew of other ungracious, unforgivable things (those Judeo-Christians have never been too merciful to us girls, have they?) The namers of wee Jezebel Alisa have never been known for our religious devotion or our attachment to anything Judeo-Christian, so this little one comes without any of those strings attached. She's our little bold one; her relationship with god and man, we leave up to her.

So, I'm learning that along with a sister comes a lot of sharing. In that spirit, I'm turning over some of the narrative voice on my--er, our--blog to my wee sibling. You will be able to tell who's perspective you're getting by the obvious vocabulary differences between me, Winona, and the newborn, Jezebel. To weed out any possible confusion, we'll also give you an initial at the start of our thoughts.

i.e.

W: This sharing thing is not so bad, so long as I maintain ultimate control.

J: Mmmmmmmmm. Milk.

See how it works? Since I have a three and a half year head start on my version of things, I'll let Jezebel tell you a little something about herself...

J: I came into this world at 9 lbs. 8 oz., 20.5 inches--5 ounces and 1 inch smaller than my big sis, so mama already likes me better. This rather compromised picture of me does highlight the magnificent midwife Colleen who helped me come into this world...

I'm a mellow, happy and peaceful babe, unless you try to change my diaper.
Let that be a warning to everyone.

I'm a good sleeper (too good. I haven't gained enough weight back, yet, according to my checkup this morning, so mom needs to wake me up in the middle of the night more often. And she thought we were already at the "sleeping through the night" stage. No such luck. Sorry, mom...just remember--5 ounces and 1 inch smaller.)

INTRODUCING...Jezebel Alisa, my beautiful little sister!

Here I am with Daddy, in the birthing tub, helping mama do the hard work of bringing Jezzy into the world.

She loves my snuggles.

Jezebel sleeps. A lot.

Mommy and I made a birthday cake during the early hours of her labor. Here it is the night of Jezebel's birth, as Gramma and I sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

More soon... computer is being weird.

In what we keep thinking just might be our last family outing as a threesome, we went down to the Saturday Market this a.m.-- seen here eating strawberries (I ate the whole pint), with Daddy carrying some tomato, spinach and arugula starts in the background...

Tonight, we went out to the farm to meet our farmer... and the goats who give us milk and the ducks who give us eggs!

Family Portrait
Sure, we could get matching outfits, a professional photographer and some photoshop touch ups... but here is a more realistic moment in time.

If you've ever wondered what a mama does on maternity leave during that time in which there is still no baby, allow me to take you on a Nesting Tour...

Flowers get arranged...

Bread rises on the back deck...

The candles from the wee one's blessingway are set up around the tub...

and all the things on the midwife's list of "Things Needed" are put in their place at the ready. (Note reflection of belly in mirror).

And speaking of ready....

Our midwife came over this morning to check up on the babe and mom. Everything looks good--and we're all getting REALLY excited!

This morning, Mom had some quilt squares to make for the Gamma babies and Dad had some gardening to do, so I gave them each a bit of my time. I started out in the garden, watering, potting and making bread from rock gravel. Then I headed up to the craft table to help mom.

I was very focused on this creation, which I called, "A Hat for my Little Brother or Sister."

And once I discovered Mama's button stash, well, let's just say no one heard a peep out of me for a looooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnngggggggggg time.

Ended the day with a trip to the pool to show off my new moves to Dad.

Tub? Check. Towels? Check. Random odds and ends? Check.

Kiddo desensitized to tiger growls and loud moaning? Check.

Boy name? Um, probably not Kembly.

Inspired in part by the coming of a new little one who will inevitably distract us from some of the Nona Moments that are now so centrifugal to our lives, and in part by a friend's recent blog post on her son's latest and greatest antics, I, Julie, am taking the blog narrative over tonight to capture a few things that I just don't want to forget about this stage in little three year old Nonie's life...

(Yeah, you better be nervous. It ain't ALL cuteness and smiles).

But most of it is.

She tells stories that goes something like this: "Okay. So. Let's pretend there's a SEA turtle and he's on an adventure with his HAT. Okay? Okay. And they use a HAIRBRUSH to go to the store and get some BAGELS for their adventure. Not cookies, mama. BAGELS, okay? okay. With Raccoon. Do you want some bagels? Huh? Blueberry bagels? Okay. We get you some. That's okay, turtle? That's okay." (and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Okay? Okay.)

"In just a minute, Dad."

"But I'm DOING something."

"Hang on one sec."

"But I'm PRETENDING not to listen."

And my personal favorite stalling line, used today for what I believe to be the first (and I hope to be the last) time:

"That just doesn't work for me right now, Mama."

She's learning to swim and is very proud of this milestone in her life. That, along with a recent introduction to soccer, she has a newfound (and rather theoretical at the moment) appreciation for all things sporty. Now, when we see kids on a distant soccer field, or the neighborhood boys riding bikes or the water polo team practice, her first reaction is, "I CAN DO THAT!" Sometimes it's followed up with a "When I'm BIGGER, I can do that." Sometimes, not.

Affection and tenderness are big, delicious parts of her personality and she often says, out of the blue, "I love you so much" followed up by a hug and/or kiss. Some variations:

"I love you too much, Daddy" (a phrase coined by a Turkish friend of ours and used by the Grossman family ever since).

"I love you to the moonshine and back, Mommy" (slight variation on a phrase coined by author of a kid's book with bunnies--forget the name).

Silliness comes in many forms.

Dancing the Tushy-Butt Dance is a fun expresssion of that these days--

(I'll leave that visual up to your imagination).

Making up silly songs that end with crazy faces is always a hit.

Words that rhyme are HILARIOUS! If she can't think of a word that rhymes with the one she just said, she'll just say the same word again.

"Did you see that, Mom? I RHYMED!"

She's definitely turning the corner onto Seeking Independence Alley--that dark, somewhat scary stretch of street between Easy To Convince, Distract And Control Avenue and Makes Good Choices and Uses Good Judgment On Her Own Street. I've heard this Alley is about 24 more years long.

We're holding on for the ride and loving every minute of it.