little sketches of us…

Thanks, everyone, for making it a special day for us and for Oliver.

I have wanted to get these out there for a while, and now I have a title to match Cristian’s last post. Here are some of the fun things Layla says that we want to remember.

1. Where that from come?
   Meaning: Where does that come from? She likes to ask this about everything! Where do pickles come from, where do windows come from, where do leaves come from, etc.
2. Honey…
   This can be applied to everyone. We are all honeys at one time or another. The funny thing is that she says it exactly how I do, like “hun-knee” with quite a lot of emphasis on the “knee.”
3. Look at that!
   This one comes straight from Cristian. He is constantly saying, “Look at that!” Well, Merayla wants us to look at that too, and that, and that, and everything she is doing.
4. Actually,
   This comes from me. It kind of means that you’re wrong, but, in a nice way…
5. I’m big.
   Cristian already wrote a little about Merayla being big. She likes to remind us about it. Also, she always responds to the question: “How are you?” as “I’m big!”
6. bunalina
   Translation: ballerina
7. ephelante
   Translation: elephant
8. I quite __________
   This means that she CAN’T quite do whatever follows, like reach it or see it or fix it, though she really wants to.
9. woofa
   Translation: with a
10. Why?
    Yes, this is the universal kid’s question. I think in general it means that she wants to know more about what you’re talking about but doesn’t quite know how to ask for information. She is so inquisitive, excited to learn about everything, and constantly seeking input…
11. I’m the fastest girl that you never saw.
    Yep (smiling).

I also catch her singing songs about random things. One day, she was singing a song that went “The Holy Ghost, and then the Holy Ghost.” It was really cute. She is great, and we love her a lot.

She is practicing her gymnastics on the doll swing that my Mom gave her for Christmas…

It’s all an incredible rip-off. Nothing is really worth it, except carrots. (We were really talking about getting the Nexus One android phone and that was her reply)

it came to pass that a $180 phone plus a $30 data plan for 2 years and a voice plan of at least $50 results in something ridiculous, like… $2,100… would you spend that amount of money on a phone that can’t even be used in a family plan? LAME!

If he could speak, he would say, "I’m BIG." That is what Lela says all the time. And he and she are BIG. We like them a lot and are happy that they are healthy, beautiful, and smart. The baby bird, as we sometimes call him has gotten all fattened up. He can hold his own neck and loves bathing.

Well Happy Birthday to him. Here are some pictures for you.

A couple of days before Christmas, we decided to take cinnamon rolls to our neighbors, but by the time I perfected the recipe, most of the people we knew were gone. Merayla and I knocked on a few doors, but no one was home. Later that evening, we were playing outside while Cristian was grilling dinner, and I noticed how there were only two apartments lit in our whole building—ours and a lady from Korea. Then I thought, “Why don’t we just take the Christmas treats to the people that are still around for Christmas like us?”

We only had four plates of cinnamon rolls, so we went quickly to apartments with lights on. Merayla had fun knocking, and Cristian and I had fun saying Merry Christmas to people we didn’t know. It was great to see the looks of surprise on the faces of the people that hadn’t expected us. I decided that gifting the unknown neighbors should be a tradition every Christmas. The best part of the evening, though, was when we were coming back to the house and Merayla said, “The people were home…Yea! That makes me happy. In my heart.” It was the cutest thing ever. Isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

I am one month old and cute. I just wanted to let you know. Here’s a picture of me.

I’m little. So Daddy is writing this for me, though I really wanted to do it myself.

I had Blueberry Clafoutis for my birthday cake. With a vanilla yogurt 1 in the middle. Everyone said it was yummy. But I just drink lapte for now; it is yummy too.

I grow bigger every month. By next month, you won’t even recognize me.

I think it is! And I caught it on camera!

We have a new family member! And we finally have a few spare minutes to update you on the last four weeks. Everything has gone by so fast that it has taken me a while to pull myself together. But, better late than never, here is the announcement:

Oliver is wonderful and beautiful. We named him Oliver Stefan Icleanu. Stefan is after Cristian’s maternal grandfather whom he admired very much and was closest to as a child. We chose Oliver because it is such a happy, nice name. An additional surprise came when we called Cristian’s parents with the news on the morning after the delivery; Oliver was almost born on the birthday of his namesake Stefan. Stefan Popescu was born on October 31st, and Oliver was born on November 1st. He was 6 lbs 11 oz and quite tall, 20 1/2 inches.

Oliver has silvery blond hair, and he seems to like to smile already. He is a joy, and we are re-learning the challenge of being the parents of a newborn. I thought I would remember everything, but I’m now realizing how much I’ve forgotten… Merayla, however, seems to have perfect instincts about becoming Ollie’s good friend. Right now, she is covering him with her favorite green blanky and the Ursul (Romanian for her favorite bear). She also tells stories of Prince Ursul, Princess Layla, Prince Oliver, and Princess Jewanna every night. (I really don’t know where Jewanna came from…or who she is…)

Here is the story of the birth: The delivery was a whirlwind. It started out slow, with contractions during the Saturday evening session of Stake Conference. When we realized they were 3-5 minutes apart, we went home to get ready for the hospital. After a few hours at the hospital, the contractions suddenly stopped. So, what were we to do except stop at Cafe Rio for take-out, watch a few old episodes of Stargate SG-1, and hang out like a long-forgotten date night? (My mom had taken Merayla to a Halloween party at the Eppichs. We are grateful because I think the break from being the Mom is what finally helped me go into labor.) I should have gotten some sleep, however, because the real contractions started at midnight about the time we decided to go to bed. They came hard and fast. The drive to the hospital an hour later was reminiscent of a comedy show with the wife yelling at the husband to either run the red light or pull off to the side of the road because you can’t take the braking. When we finally arrived, the nurse at the front desk said that she hoped my cervix had progressed. My response was, "If not, you can give me some drugs and suck my baby out!" (I include this funny tidbit for all those that know I like to do natural births…) The nurse said she didn’t know if they could suck a baby out, but they would work on the drugs. Well, they didn’t have time even for an I.V. I had some very strong contractions while they got the room set up and Cristian went back to the car to get our bag. By the time Cristian came back, I had gone from a 5 to a 9 1/2 and the nurse was telling me I needed to get on the bed because she didn’t want to deliver a baby on the floor. The body pushes the baby all on its own when there aren’t any drugs confusing it so Oliver was out 3 minutes later at 2:19 am. The speed of everything was a surprise to us all, and it took Ollie a few minutes to catch his breath. After that, he has been healthy and growing well. We have been babying around, and it has been fun and exhausting and interesting and cuddly.

I’ve included lots of pictures because I couldn’t decide which were the cutest… I hope you like them. They include a few at the hospital, his first day home, bathing, sleeping, and hanging out with us. Also, this is going to be our Christmas letter so we hope you are all doing well, and we would love to hear from you!

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Our new scholar super soccer player star artist is born. He is cute and lovely. He was so excited to come out that he did it in three hours. There were some false starts but when he decided to come out he did it at hi speed. We arrived at the hospital at 1 am, helped Heidi with the “contraptions” for a while and then went to the car to get the suitcase. When I came back I found Heidi on the floor in somewhat of agony asking for me. I came and helped her. The nurse asked her to get in bed to have the baby. She got in bed, I got the camera and Heidi had the baby. She went from a 5cm to a 10cm and baby out in about 10 minutes.

Oliver Stefan is great and wonderful, all we could ever want. We welcome him and treasure him as much as we did Merayla.

Here are some pictures of the deed.