Dale

This is Wren's sock monkey, Dale. Actually, it's Tex in drag. Dale is still two Rockford red heel socks in my craft cabinet. Until I find the time to make Dale, Tex will suffer the indignity of wearing a skirt. Get over it, Tex.

This is Wren's first sock monkey picture. It was taken when she was two weeks old. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to take this picture sooner since she's already much bigger than the tee-ninetsy baby I brought home. She weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces on Monday, about a pound and a half more than her birth weight. Her head circumference has increased by an inch, too. My delicate little flower might surpass her brother on the growth chart.

She has an internal dinner bell that rings every couple of hours during the daytime and every three hours at night. We're getting a fair amount of sleep each evening - two nights ago, she missed the dinner bell and slept for six hours straight. She spends more of the daytime hours awake, and she's making better eye contact. I am counting down to the six-week mark, when we should begin seeing intentional, social smiles. Her sleepy smiles tell me that she's going to have a gorgeous grin.

Levi is getting used to Wren. He goes between mild jealousy and infatuation with her. He either pouts because I'm tending to Wren and can't play with him/read to him/give him a snack, or he's hovering inches over her face, fascinated by her, poking at her eyes, mouth, nose and ears. He also likes to give her 'head hugs' - he puts his head on hers and smiles. It's very sweet.

It's clear to me now that Levi understands most of what we say. I was surprised to find out that he can follow easy verbal directions and yesterday he correctly pointed out all the animals in his farm toy set. He repeated the word 'shoes' yesterday with gusto - he knew it meant he was going 'out-sigh' (outside). He's very perceptive, too. He's figured out that my ability to discipline him is diminished when I'm nursing Wren, so he pushes more boundaries then. Oh, and he's invented a cuss word. He uses the same made-up word whenever he's angry. It starts with a 'b', and it doesn't sound like any English words that we know. As soon as he says it, his frustration and anger are over. We're addressing the attitude, but it's hard not to laugh about it later.

Have I mentioned that Levi's an Elmo addict? He would watch it over and over all day if we let him (we don't). He gets super excited when he sees us put the DVD into the player. He goes into a trance for the entirety of the show. If it gets any worse, we'll have his friends from the church nursery over to stage an intervention. This is how we found him during a recent episode:

If you will, go back and check out the size of that kid's feet. He came by them honest, but still...

Our summer staff are arriving and getting the ranch into shape. Our season starts a week from this Sunday. This off-season has gone so slowly, and I'm looking forward to the faster summer pace and seeing old friends. This summer should be great for Levi - making friends, playing outside in the grass and dirt, and riding the ranch's miniature horse, Brownie (the one, ironically, who hates kids). So many who visit say that this is a wonderful place for kids to grow up, and I agree. As much as I miss Texas, I wouldn't want to be anywhere but here right now.

Lynda

Spider Monkey Babies

I love skinny, gangly babies - I call them spider monkey babies. Fat babies are great and all (but they have no pride - name that reference!), I have a special place in my heart for the babies who are all extra skin and angles. My babies are all extra skin and angles. For your viewing pleasure, my newest spider monkey:

Lynda

The Cure

My labor started within hours of the last post and Wren was born early Sunday morning, April 25th. I am left to conclude that snarky complaints bring on contractions. Wren's birth was quite a ride! Fast labor and no drugs...the opposite of Levi's birth. Levi is handling the advent of his sister well; for the first 8 days he kept asking, "What's that?", but that question comes with less frequency, and now he gives her hugs and kisses. He's always very curious about what we're doing with Wren. He wants to sit with me while I feed her and watch when I change her clothes or diaper. One day I set a stool up next to the changing table so that he could see the goings on.

Both sets of parents were on hand to welcome Wren and give Levi plenty of attention. We snapped this family photo before Bob and Betty left:

This is a recent picture of my sweet baby girl. This isn't the best angle to see it, but she resembles her brother a bit. The consensus is that she looks more like me than Levi did. As much as Levi favors Rob, we may end up with his and hers babies.

We haven't learned all there is to know about her, but this is what we know so far:

She's quite an eater. She weighed 6 lbs., 4 oz . when she was born. At her six-day check-up, she weighed 6 lbs., 11 oz.!

She's an even better sleeper. She sleeps between 18 and 20 hours a day. Unfortunately, most of her wakeful hours are between 10:00 pm and 7:00 am.

She HATES wet and dirty diapers. They send her from serene to extremely angry in the span of four seconds.

She has strong lungs. She usually only exercises them when she needs a diaper change, but when she gets going, it's of the screaming-bloody-murder variety.

We're looking forward to seeing her personality reveal itself over the coming months. Like her birth, something tells me it's going to be quite a ride.

Lynda