Big Sister Love

They really are getting along really well these days. These big kids of ours!

Auntie Love

Claire Kathryn got a lovely onesie from her namesake.

Daddy Blog (2/27/12)

Almost Time

By: Danny Thomas

there is something mystical about a
morning
when the sky is bluer than blue
azure
and the sun is bright
but soft
and it’s ten degrees

something otherworldly
about the combination
of cold
and soft

I turn
39
next month
that is an
“almost” forty

I have the biggest problems
with the
“almost” numbers

I am not okay in
almost time

I am barely okay
in any time
but
“almost” years

feel like
potential

w/out fruition.

I like fruition.

there are people
who were born at a time
and in a place
that makes
Britney Spears
the beginning
of music for them.

This as much as anything else
makes me feel old…
right now.

what is it that makes
a time
your time?

that makes
this time
our time?

We have a new baby.
a third girl.
We’ve been calling her Zuzu.

She was born five months and twelve days
before her big sister’s birthday
who was born five months and twelve days
before her big sister’s birthday.

my wife did this math
this calculation
while in labor
hard labor
she was in sort of a trance at the time
out of her mind
somewhere shaman
and laboring mothers
and Buddhas go

eventually the epidural kicked in
and she came back to earth
and shared
those numbers with me…

I don’t even know what to do with that information
but it seems significant…

mystical,
otherworldly…

She is magical,
Zuzu.

She is strong
and delicate
and unique
and full of potential.

and she has two big sisters
filled with love,
and two goofy stumbling,
bumbling parents,
also filled with love
and a very furry cat,
that is filled with something…
like love…
only more feline.

how lucky she is
and how lucky we are to have her.

in this time
our time

I guess the thing about time is that
time
is all potential
it’s always
almost
time.
it happened.
it’s happening.

2.5 weeks? Really?

Claire has phenomenal head control. It is constantly amazing us. She sat like this on Danny's chest for several minutes. She is definitely anxious and ready to take in the world and catch up with the big sisters! :D

Skateland!

It was another Family Night for Maya's school at Skateland! Maya brought the flyer home at the beginning of February and couldn't quit talking about it. Saying that she was excited doesn't even begin to describe her feelings about Skateland events.


Maya and Fin both declared that since I didn't have Zuzu in my belly anymore that I could skate this time. Thankfully I was able to use the "someone has to stay with Zuzu" excuse this time. I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to get away with that. At some point, I'm afraid, I will have to try skating after a 30 year break!


Fin sitting on the other side of the rink. She got fiercely independent and so she was left to her own devices.

Maya really got the hang of skating this time around. She came running up to me at some point during the night and said, "Mom I've got it! I know how to do it! I can skate!" She was ecstatic!!!

Early in the night.

Dad and Fin.

Eventually, Maya took the bull by the horns and figured it out!

Claire doing her best Elvis impersonation.

Sometimes Fin just cracks me up.

2-Week Well Baby Check

Today was Claire's 2 week check. She passed with flying colors.


She weighs 8 pounds 6 ounces (47th percentile) and 22 inches long (94th percentile). In other words, we have a scrawny, long kid! She is definitely our first that isn't in the 90+ percentile for weight! :D


Dr. Hutchison said she looked wonderful. He asked if we had started doing tummy time yet and I said not officially but she does crane her head around to keep an eye/ear on her sisters. He laughed and then when he started doing the exam he was very shocked to find out that she can easily hold her head up by herself. She is definitely the strongest baby we've had at this age! It is insane.


Here are a couple 2 week pictures of her!

And one specially doctored for her by Bruce! :D

Claire Close-ups

I took a few shots of Claire that are pretty fab. I have a few set-ups that I want to try with her as well as with the other girls but I haven't gotten around to it yet. So...we stick with the snapshots!

Funny Fin

Sometimes she is just funny!


Here she decided to put on her sister's pants and gave us a fashion show!

Claire's First Bath

Okay. Don't judge. Claire finally had her first bath at 2 weeks and 2 days old! :D


It's alright. Babies aren't too stinky in the beginning...but she was definitely ready to get some schmuz off!


We don't have a bathtub in this house, so Claire's bath happens on the kitchen floor right in front of the heater.


Things started off well.

She was a bit perplexed and looked to her sisters for a little confidence boost!

Hey!!! There is water on my face!

What a funny little face!! It almost looks like she is having fun!

BUT I'M NOT!!!!!

She chilled out a bit more. And sisters kept an eye out to make sure Danny was doing everything correctly.

Even diapered and clean she was still a bit fussed...but very clean smelling! :D

Sisters...A similar look?

Maya

Finley

Claire

Mardi Gras at Cobber Kids

Fin's school had a Mardi Gras program. They sang some songs in French and had some crepes. It was a fun little event and Fin loves having us all at her school.

 

Body Functions

Mid-sneeze

Mid-yawn

Couple of Clowns

These two are constantly cracking us up. Sometimes it is a joke, sometimes it is a look, sometimes a detailed and lengthy modern dance piece. Today all it took was a nose.