Newborn babies change dramatically day by day. An An was only 4.92 pounds when she was born, and her body was red. After a month, An An is now over 9 pounds, a little heavier than Le Le, who is half a month older than her.
When An An was just born, Liu's mother said that she looked more like Han Chen. Xuemei didn't notice it at that time, but now that she is a full month old, Xuemei feels that An An looks more and more like Han Chen. An An only looks like Xuemei in his eyes and mouth, but in other places he is just like a little Han Chen.
An An has fair skin, and now it is as white and tender as a glutinous rice dumpling. Although he was very noisy in Xuemei's belly, he is very quiet now. Every day he just drinks milk and sleeps.
Lele has grown up a lot. His skin is no longer yellow but has started to turn white. He has fat on both sides of his cheeks and looks cute. Han Chen and Feng Ru both say that Lele looks 50% like Lin Hongzhi when he was a child. Xuemei has only seen photos of Lin Hongzhi in military uniform, so she can't tell that Lele looks like Lin Hongzhi.
Lele is also a very easy child to take care of. Now sometimes Xuemei and Han Chen can take Anan and Lele to sleep in the same room at night. When the two sisters cry, it means they have either urinated or are hungry.
As long as Han Chen and Xuemei helped change their diapers or feed them milk, everything would be fine. The two little ones loved to drink milk together. Sometimes at night, Xuemei had to feed one on each side of the baby's arms. The two sisters seemed to have a sense of competition. Every time they drank milk together, they drank very quickly and choked a few times.
Everyone in the family likes the two sisters very much. Father Liu and Han Chen rush to hold the two sisters after work every day. They both like to walk in the yard holding one in each hand.
An'an's full-moon celebration took place on the twenty-fifth day of the second lunar month, along with Lele's family recognition banquet. It wasn't a large affair, with only the grandparents from the old house, Liu Guanghui's family, Liu Xiu's family, Wang Weimin and Wang Weidong, and Wu Yuezhu's family attending. They had a simple lunch to celebrate An'an's full moon and officially accept Lele as their godparent. An'an and Lele both received generous red envelopes, much to the envy of Lin Jin and Lin Ren.
While Xuemei was in confinement, the packages sent from Beijing on the day Feng Ru left also arrived. Liu's father and Han Chen each rode a bicycle to pick them up. There were two large packages and two small packages. In addition to clothes and some small items, they also contained a complete set of bedding, including a quilt, sheets, pillows, etc.
However, Xuemei did not receive any letter from Beijing after her confinement. Only then did everyone realize that Beijing was planning to temporarily cut off contact with this side. No wonder Lin Hongwen specifically asked Han Chen and Feng Ru not to send letters or telegrams home before they left unless they contacted first.
Feng Ru was very worried about the Lin family. Lin Jin and his brother often missed their grandparents, father, etc. But Feng Ru had no choice. She could not do anything now and could not ruin Lin Hong and his plan. She could only hope that the Lin family would contact her sooner.
A few days before Xuemei left her confinement, Han Chen drove a tractor and took Feng Ru, her mother and her two children to Wang Weimin's house to install the newly made bunk beds. Now Qingya was sleeping on a single bed and said there was no need to change, so Han Chen moved the bed to the room next to Xuemei and Han Chen's room for the children to sleep in the future. There was no wooden board inside yet.
Feng Ru picked out a wardrobe and a desk, moved the square table from her room out, and placed it in the main room of the new brick house.
Xuemei went back to work ten days after her confinement. He Wenting took over Xuemei's shift for more than forty days, and Xuemei gave He Wenting 25 yuan as a substitute fee.
After Xuemei started working, An'an and Lele needed to be fed, so she and Feng Ru would each ride their bicycles to work in the mornings, each wearing a breast milk strap. Feng Ru would also have to give Lin Jin a ride. Initially, Liu's parents and Han Chen disagreed, thinking it would be too much work for Xuemei and difficult to take care of two children.
But after trying it for a few days, Xuemei found that the two sisters were as obedient as they were at home, so she continued to take them to work.
Feng Ru first went to the supply and marketing cooperative with Xuemei and placed the two children together in a cradle in the lounge. This cradle had been used by Xuemei and her four siblings when they were young, and had been kept on the second floor by Liu's parents until Han Chen moved it to the cooperative's lounge. An'an and Lele were still young, so the two children didn't feel crowded together.
Feng Ru would get lunch at school and ride her bicycle to the supply and marketing cooperative with Lin Jin to eat with Xuemei. The commune primary school was not far from the supply and marketing cooperative, and Feng Ru could get there in about five minutes by bicycle. After dinner, Feng Ru would watch over the two sisters and let Xuemei take a nap.
Feng Ru gets off work at four o'clock in the afternoon. She will bring Lin Jin to the supply and marketing cooperative to pick up one of the two sisters An An and Le Le. The other one will wait for Xue Mei to get off work before going home together.
When Feng Ru is on vacation every week or when the family is not busy, An An and Le Le are left at home to be taken care of by Feng Ru and others. Xuemei feeds the two sisters in the morning, comes back to eat at noon, and feeds the two sisters. At other times, she gives the two sisters malted milk.
As a result, Xuemei only took the two sisters to work about twenty days a month. Lin Ren usually stayed at home, either with Liu's mother or with Liu's father and Han Chen. Usually, the adults would go to work while Lin Ren, carrying a water bottle, played with the village children. Sometimes, when the village was busy, Xuemei would take Lin Ren to the supply and marketing cooperative on her way to work in the morning, and then Lin Ren would go to school with Feng Ru and Lin Jin.
Children learn to speak very quickly. Now Lin Ren can speak the local dialect of Liujia Village. Feng Ru is afraid that the Lin family members will not be able to understand what Lin Ren and his brother say in the future, so she teaches them to read in Mandarin every night.
When the two sisters An'an and Lele were three months old, they could lift their heads and roll over, and they would hold adults' fingers tightly. When they were four months old, Xuemei felt that she could not take care of the two sisters alone in the supply and marketing cooperative.
Now, An'an and Lele, the two sisters, were awake and playing much more often. They loved to listen to people talking and would easily fall over the side of the cradle if they weren't paying attention. Therefore, when An'an turned four months old, the two sisters were left at home with Liu's mother. Xuemei and Fengru discussed it and decided to give Liu's mother 12 yuan a month, splitting the difference. Fengru had long wanted to ask Liu's mother for some money each month, but Liu's mother had always refused. So, while Xuemei was asking Liu's mother for childcare money, she took the opportunity to join in, as Lele was her responsibility.
Xuemei will go home at noon to feed and eat. Now Xuemei’s lunch break has become longer, two hours, and Xuemei can also take a half-hour nap at home before going to work.
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