YaYa and Pops Visit

Sadie had her first visitors from the southside of the Mason Dixon line. My parents, YaYa and Popps, came to fawn over their newest grandchild. Grandparents sure have a way with grandchildren, and Sadie is loving the new attention and the new tricks my parents have brought. Their skills have been honed by Preston, Patrick, and Lucy, my siblings' kids who were kind enough to break everyone in before little Sadie arrived with her cry that could clear a crowded auditorium!
The consensus is that Sadie has my hair line and my pouty style when she's about to start wailing. She's been a real trouper-- having her first restaurant meal at Wishbone and her second at Bongo Room. She's a big fan of a brunch menu. Speaking of menus, Jeff and I had our first post-Sadie's-birth date last night. We went to dinner at Buona Terra in Logan Square while my parents babysat Sadie for us. We were gone about 1.25 hours and the report is that Sadie slept the whole time. Jeff and I toyed with the idea of going out again tonight, but I confessed last night that I am too plum tired to go out again. I really just want to hang out and have someone cook for me so I can eat it on the couch in my milk-stained clothes with my disheveled hair thrown in a pony tail. Ah, the magic of asking for what you want and throwing in a little something about your recent "major abdominal surgery"-- it really opens doors.
It was great to see my parents with my daughter. And don't think that my bawling my eyes out every night is a sign it didn't go well. It did. Something about being the middle part of three generations just really gets me. Then, my mom brought a DVD she made last fall for my father's 65th birthday, which showcases all of the parts of my dad's life, complete with 800 pictures from his rural Texas roots, through Vietnam, the early family years, and through the current time. I cried from the minute it started. We watched it twice through and I cried all the way both times. I am not sure what's up with the waterworks but there is something about family and connection and healing and hope and, as always, the sheer exhaustion which has always been a stimulus for my tears.

My parents stayed at a cute little B&B in Wicker Park and made themselves available to whatever we wanted or needed the whole time they were here. I really appreciated it and while it was hard not to play hostess or have a bunch of stuff planned for all of us, I was grateful they were cognizant of my somewhat diminished physical capacity and were happy to sit and hold Sadie for hours at a time.

There's way more feeling stored up about all of this, but my bed is calling and Sadie has grown fond of waking up at about 4:45 p.m. I have to get my beauty rest. Sadie also slept for 6 hours yesterday and that was a revelation to me. She then followed that up with 2 stretches of 3 hour sleep. If I seem like I am obsessed with sleep, I am. Good catch!