Competition, Companions, Conspirators: COUSINS!

Sylvie's Tremblay-Benali cousins joined the world March 21, 2008 at 1:16pm. They were born at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA. The father's note:

Dear friends and family,

Joc and I would like to share with you this joyous moment. Baby girl and baby boy have just been fed, changed, swaddled, and are taking one of their many little naps.

They joined us yesterday at 1:16pm. The girl was out first weighing in at 5 lbs 15oz and measuring a 17" 1/4. The boy was out second measuring 20" and tipping the scale at a mighty 7 lbs. Both are healthy. Jocelyn is recovering well.

We have not yet reached a final decision on names, but it is more than likely that we'll have a little Iman girl; and judging by the boy's kicking session yesterday, he has definitely earned the right to bear the name of the greatest soccer player in the world: Zidan.

Thank you for all your support.

Jocelyn and Amine

Here are a couple of pictures of the two babes...

Update: Amine & Joc finally settled on names. Officially, let me introduce you to Tayeb & Iman.

Tayeb

Iman
Hey Cuz!

Let the mayhem begin!

The Night Before Babymas, Joc is big as a house

Passing all predictions of the twins' arrival, Joc finally abandoned her quest of LARGEST PREGNANT WOMEN EVER. Let someone else take the prize; you gave it a good run. Here's one last shot at the apex of pregnaciousness.

Flutterbug

You can't tell from this angle, but she's actually hovering an inch off the ground. I swear!

The cousins

I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce Sylvie's cousins. First, there's Ethan and Luke, Katie's sister Amy's two boys. They are the only ones who have so far met Sylvie. Here they are with Amy the last time they came up to Boston to visit:
Unfortunately, Ethan was making a face and moving when this was taken, so his good looks are not so obvious from this picture! Anyway, Amy and the boys have been up to visit twice since Sylvie was born. Ethan, 7, observes her with mild curiosity from a distance while Luke wants to hold Sylvie, "pet" her head, and generally watch her every move closely. My favorite line from their last visit was when Luke asked me why Sylvie was eating my boob. Oh, three year olds!

Katie's other sister Jenny, her brother-in-law John, and Sylvie's two other cousins, Patrick and Lily, live in Chicago. We're going home for a visit at the end of April, so she'll have the pleasure of meeting them soon. Here they are.
This is Lily. The only other girl cousin right now. She'll be two March 17th.

Here's Patrick, and he's 4. Patrick has had a rough go of it this winter. He broke his femur while sledding and is still recovering. We hope he continues to get better and stronger each day.

Sylvie also has two more cousins on the way! Beau's sister Jocelyn is due any day now with twins. It will be so great for Sylvie to have cousins who are not only just three months younger, but also who live just a short drive away. We look forward to meeting the little ones soon. The only drawback will be that Sylvie will no longer receive a shiatsu massage from the kicking twins, as she currently does, whenever Joc holds her.

These are a few of my favorite things...

So, these are some of Sylvie's currrent loves:

Being held and rocked to sleep in daddy's arms to the sound of music in the background...

Her new "Zanzibar" bouncy seat, with little toy animals she loves to coo to and smile at...
3) Her "Ocean Wonders" crib aquarium, complete with moving fish, bubbles, pulsating lights, and songs/soothing sounds...



Oh, to be a baby and be so easily contented!

Our furry baby

So, our cat Marley has been great with Sylvie. For the first week or so, he barely paid any attention to her. Then, eventually he noticed her and didn't seem too happy. That eventually gave way to curiosity and acceptance. and the realization that there were now lots of cozy spots for him to curl up in, such as the bassinet Aunt Joc and Uncle Amine lent us (pictured here), that Sylvie has only slept in a handful of times, but which Marley sleeps in almost daily. (I promise, we'll clean it before giving it back to you guys!!) The crib, when it's accessible, is another popular spot. It just goes to show that he's not about to let us forget that he was our first baby.

Yo, I gotta bounce

Here's Sylvie in her bouncy seat. She's definitely favors the zebra, just like Sheena.

Sylvie and her daddy

This isn't the most recent picture of Beau and Sylvie, but in the absence of more updated photos, I thought that this one should go on the blog in the meantine. As the days go by, she keeps looking more and more like her daddy.