our little "big girl"

well, claire had her two year visit to the dr. today. she was great in the waiting room, but as soon as they called her back, she lost it. she just clung to me (lynn) and cried and cried. she didn't want to be undressed, weighed, measured or even looked at by the nurses. thank goodness that the staff are used to this kind of behavior at 2yrs old (or so they tell me). claire did finally calm down for the dr. (can you say miracle worker!!). according to the dr., she is perfect. but of course, we already knew that :). she measure in at around 34in and weighed in at approximately 27lbs. i say around and approximately b/c she wouldn't stay still for the scale and we had to pin her down while she screamed and thrashed about to measure her length. i actually think the numbers are pretty close. these vitals put her right at the 55% mark for both height and weight. her head still measures on the small side (18.5 in and in the 36th percentile). guess it just goes to show you that size doesn't matter (when it comes to intelligence!).

all in all, claire is a really great kid. she is sweet and funny. when we got home, we played outside with carson for a while (he is 7mos older than claire). they had a good time and played really nicely together - sharing and taking turns with the golf clubs, etc. she is now napping and i suspect recovering from the "trauma" of the morning. laura, oblivious to all of this, is also napping.

as for me, i am off to finish compiling our tax documents to send to the tax preparer. good times.

Claire, how old are you?

Somebody had a weekend's worth of birthdays. Uncle Larry and Auntie Char came from Syracuse to spend a few days with us and the girls. They call it the 2nd annual world baby tour. Claire loves having them here. So, we pose the question to Claire, "how old are you? And we get the answer "Clocks". Everytime. not sure how she came up with that. In addition to Larry and Charlene, our friend Luis, from Salta, Argentina was in town and he took a ton of pictures of the girls. A lot of pictures from the weekend are posted here.

Surprisingly, Claire was not into the cupcakes. Not surpringly, she was into the presents. Thanks you to everyone who sent a gift. You will be receiving a thank you card as soon as Lynn finishes them. Today, we hung out with the neighbors, enjoying the first signs of spring. Laura and Sam slept for most of the time, while Claire played with the other kids, especially on the trampoline.

All in all, it was a great way to start spring break. If you get a chance, please look at our friend Michelle Garvin's website (she is the photographer who took pictures of Laura). She has posted a few photos of Laura. Look for the March 7 entry.

Routine is good, right?

Lynn and I have been blessed with two angels. One who sleeps through the night and one who is slowly getting there. It is interesting to watch Claire grow as she tries exert her independence, helps us change Laura's diaper, learns new words ("what happened?" is the latest phrase), and engages in conversations with us. She is changing fast. I can barely remember when she was Laura's age, but at least they could pass for twins if you look at their baby pictures. I was thinking about actual photographs from my childhood and how my mom would write on the back of them so we would know how was who. No longer.

Speaking of routine, I forgot how much I enjoy washing bottles and pump accessories. But at least I don't have to use them! Lynn is such a trooper only 49 more weeks to go. We already have 15oz in the freezer! Hopefully in another month Laura will be sleeping through the night, as will her parents. We both noticed that Laura is more of a crier than Claire, and she gets mad when she cries if you don't figure out why she is crying. But at this stage is only a handful of things that make her cry. Well, Uncle Larry and Auntie Char are visiting this weekend, because someone turns 2 on Saturday. I'll post some photos from the weekend.

Growing like a weed!

well, i (lynn) took laura in for her 2 week checkup. she is doing great! she weighed in at a whopping 7 lb 6 oz and measured 20.5 in. that means she has gained 14 oz in 11 days and grew 1.5 inches in 2 weeks. she is a truly sweet little baby. she sleeps really well and for 4-5 hours at a stretch at night. and, one of the most special parts is that laura has an angel for a big sister. claire has been absolutely wonderful with her, giving her kisses and bringing "baby yora" clean diapers and pacies. we are absolutely in love with our two beautiful girls. more pictures to come in the next few days.

Poor 'baby' is sick

Well, Laura turns 2 weeks old on Sunday. It hard to believe. Auntie Kim came to visit this past week for 4 days and was a tremendous help, as I have a cold. To remedy the imbalance of photos of Laura v. Claire, we had a friend (Michelle) and professional photographer come over today to photograph Laura. She spent 3.5 hours shooting photos which was amazing. We'll get to see the photos in about 2 weeks. (The picture on the right is of Claire giving Baby Laura a kiss on the head - one of Claire's favorite things to do).

So, as I noted above, I have a cold. This year is the first year I started using that purell stuff, on a regular basis, to clean my hands often. And as luck would have it, this is the first year in 3 years, that I have been sick. The hardest part about being sick is not how crappy you feel, but how little sympathy you now get from your spouse (the mother of a newborn and a 2 year old :) ). Ok, the hardest part is not being able to hold and play with your kids.

There are new photos posted here.

Lastly, if you have a moment, please think about and pray for the people of Chile. I have emailed many friends there (some who live near the epicenter) and have not heard from anyone yet.

It's music to our ears...

It's been awhile and I forgot how soothing the sound of a newborn crying is. Especially when you are trying to sleep. Yes, this morning I went to the hospital to pick up Lynn and Laura and bring them home. When I brought Claire home from the hospital for the first time, I drove 60 mph. This time was a little different - not that I sped, but I didn't have the nervousness as I did the first time. Anyway, here are some new pictures.

and the name is....

Laura Katherine Patterson.

Laura is on the bili-lights to treat high bilirubin levels. We hope to go home tomorrow. Will post more pictures/videos later.