William Leon

We're thrilled to announce the arrival of the newest Johnston Kid. William Leon was born at home on January 30th after about 45 minutes of labor. He weighed in at eight pounds, two ounces.

We had planned to deliver at home, with a midwife, which is how Margaret was born. I had a fast labor with Margaret as well (2.5 hours) and had always joked that I was glad we'd planned a home birth because she would have been born at home no matter what. But she took her time coming in comparison to this guy and I really don't think I would have made it to the hospital with William. My midwife lives right next to the hospital, in fact, and she didn't make it to me in time for the birth. Eric caught little William and other than both of us getting a little chilled there were no complications with this birth. I'm doing much better and recovering much faster than after Margaret's birth.

I've gotten the feeling from a few of you that you want to see pictures of our newest arrival. We're doing our best but, as you can imagine, life is a bit full right now. We took many pictures the day of the birth but these were the only two that were both clear and blog-appropriate. We will look for opportunities to photograph the little guy in the coming days.

William does not look at all like Margaret and Joseph. They were both born with full heads of black hair and were wide-eyed from birth. William has a trace of blond fuzz on a big round head and he doesn't open his eyes much. He was two weeks early and is acting it--he sleeps pretty much all the time. His temperament so far is very easy-going which is probably why I'm feeling as well as I am. He sleeps for a long stretch at night and naps well on his own during the day. He doesn't fuss much.

The older siblings are loving him to pieces. They both want to hold him and kiss him and snuggle him and sing to him and give him toys pretty much non stop. We'll see how they adjust in the long term but I think everyone agrees that William is a great addition to our family.