Welcome home, Daddy!

The last three days, when Zach got home and picked up the baby, he was rewarded with a huge gummy grin. When it happened the second time, we were pretty sure it wasn't a coincidence, so I had the camera ready when he came home last night. Sure enough- it took a minute of cooing to coax it out of him, but Kael is definitely smiling for real now. I love how his little tongue curls up when he smiles (or when he wails, come to think of it.) I just got another one out of him- ha! So fun. I wish I could take a picture of every one. :)

This time around

Addicting little buggers.

And not just because they're full of sugar. There is something about the unpredictability- once you bite down, you never know what's going to happen next. Unfortunately, if you are nursing a baby, they make diaper changes just as unpredictable. Once the diaper is off, you never know...

Don't worry, I didn't take a picture of that.

Instead, I will grace you with another fun image:


Our little jaundiced kid soakin' up some rays. Yay for big sisters with style.

He's a month old today. When the twins hit this milestone, they were just reaching full gestation age, Mia wasn't two yet, and I was getting my gallbladder out. I can't believe how different everything is this time around. Even with Zach working 80-90 hours a week, this is hands down 10 times better. I have three little "helpers," one of which can actually help. I don't have to fight with this kid to keep him awake during feedings. My body is in tact. I'm not moving out of state any time soon. I've just got to remember all of this when the girls wake up at the butt-crack of dawn, and I've just finished a feeding that started at 4 and ended with an unpredictable S'more diaper explosion.

And just in case you forgot...



Mia didn't want to finish hers.

She actually wanted S'mLESS.

Whose child is this?

First Family Picture

While we were at the hoedown activity for the twin group, a photographer was taking pictures, and we got the first shot of all of us with the new kid. :)

Outings

Last week was Kael's first trip to the zoo. I had to wait for the rest of the family to go on the boat ride. A great remedy for baby blues- get him out in public where everyone wants to see him and ask about him and coo at him. 2-week-olds rival the greatest attraction at any zoo. ;)
First train ride!




Also that weekend was our first outing with the Columbus Mothers of Twins group. They had a cute hoedown at Friendship Park. I didn't look closely at my calendar and mixed this activity up with another party hosted by Mia's homeschooling group, so we dressed her up in the cowboy costume, and didn't bother trying to find anything for the twins. When we got there, I started up a conversation with the gal sitting at our table. "We have twins, too!" She looked at me funny and asked me if I came to many of these activities. I told her Mia was just starting Kindergarten, so we hadn't been to anything yet. Then I looked around and realized there were a bunch of twins all over. Drrt! Not just a coincidence...



Our friends who just had twin boys in May were there- Mia loves their daughters to peices!

And we love the hand-me-downs they gave us!

He's getting bigger! This morning he slept from 4:20 to 9:10- his first 5 hour stretch! Mine, too... bliss. He does really well at night- just eats and goes right back to sleep. We've asked the girls to go downstairs in the mornings without waking up Mom. Most mornings it works: we set out cereal bowls and put some milk in a little pouring cup that Mia can handle. They just watch some Mickey Mouse and wait for me to come down. Usually we're up and about by 7:30- but I got to sleep in this morning!