So last month we finally put up my Christmas gift from Ann: a bat house!  Hopefully some area bats will discover it, although we probably will have to wait until next summer.

Bat's are great... a single bat can eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes in one hour.  There are a lot of misconceptions about them and it's often difficult for them to find lodging in urban areas.  Being nocturnal, they stay in the bat houses during the day. 

We spent a lot of time trying to find the best location, as it needed to be placed where it gets plenty of sunlight to stay warm.  We ended up placing it along the roof of our old shed.  The bats enter from the bottom.

Some more bat facts:

• Bats are not infected with rabies more than any other animal species, and they very rarely are aggressive when infected (unlike other animals).  Bats that get rabies usually become paralyzed, so you shouldn't touch a bat that is laying on the ground.
• Bats are a protected species.  It is illegal to own, sell, or purchase bats.
• Bats are not aggressive, and will not intentionally people or other animals.  They may bite if you try to touch them, though.
• Bats can live up to 30 years.
• About 70% of all bats are insectivores.
• Bat houses will not encourage bats to roost in attics or attack people.
• In our climate, bats hibernate to warmer areas from late Fall through early Spring.
  

We'll keep you updated on the house's occupancy...

We've been meaning to write a "Rachel is Two Months Old" blog for the last month, but the diaper changes, extra laundry, and hours of rocking to sleep got the best of us and now Rachel is three months old. She is a great smiler, a good nighttime sleeper (she still likes those half hour naps during the day, however), and a fairly calm baby. Occasionally she does feel the need to scream for a bit, we think to steal some of the attention from her big sister.

She's had several big outings for so early in her life: Ardenwood Farms, two Oakland A's games, the Oakland zoo, etc. Madeleine is excited at Rachel's increasing interactive nature and is eager for a time when she can play with her more purposefully.

We've posted new photos here.

Month 2:

Month 3:

Rachel has turned from age zero, as Madeleine says, to one month old. She's done it quickly and quietly as she is a calm and easy-going baby for the most part. Her biggest challenge of the first few weeks was waking up to eat so that she could gain weight. In fact, we actually had to set our alarm clocks a couple of times a night to wake her and feed her since she didn't like to awaken on her own. Now she is more active and alert and we let her wake us when she's ready for some homemade milk. Her continuing challenge is learning digestion. We forgot how hard that is for some newborns and how loud they can be as they try to do it.

Ann has ventured out with her around town a few times, big sister in tow. Mostly, she gets quiet time with mommy at home in the morning when Madeleine has someone special come to play with her (Paul's mom, friends, and neighbors), and "loud" time when Madeleine is around. She seems mostly unphased by the high decibels Madeleine is able to achieve in all manners of her moods, but we have noticed she especially seems to enjoy quiet alert time with both parents after Madeleine goes to bed for the night, just when we're ready for bed. 

...GIRL!

We welcomed seven pound Rachel Claire Canavese into our family on Wednesday, April 22 at 2:50 pm. Our little acrobat, who spent much of her last trimester in a breech position, was born by emergency c-section 10 days before her due date when she decided to lay transverse (horizontal) after the doctor's attempts to turn her.

We named the baby after the biblical Rachel (a physically strong and beautiful shepherdess, one of the early matriarchs, and mother to Joseph and Benjamin). The middle name Claire is in connection with Saints Clare and Francis of Assisi and their love of the natural world because of Rachel’s Earth Day birth date.

Ann and about 90% of family, friends, and random strangers thought Ann was carrying a boy.  Paul, again, knew Ann was carrying a girl.

We will probably share more of Rachel's birth story later, but for now we are focused on getting to know her better!

 

Yes, as you can see here, Ann is very pregnant. The baby's estimated due date is May 2.

This pregnancy has been quite a ride, including a lot more first trimester "all-day-sickness" than with Madeleine, and a little one that decided to go breech on us for a few weeks recently. At the moment, she/he is head down, and we're hoping it will stay that way.

Once again we're among the 7% of Americans who choose not to find out the gender ahead of time, and when people ask, "What are you having?" Paul takes devilish delight in responding, "Well, we know it's a baby."

Madeleine is pretty excited, and we're planning for her to be present either for the birth itself or in the first few moments afterward if the baby is born at home as we're hoping.