It’s not what you think
The last ten days have been full and busy, but not in the way you might expect. Suddenly having twice as many children in the house has been something of an adjustment, but not nearly as drastic as we’d anticipated.
Magda and Alek came home from the hospital last week after the minimum allowable stay. Their Wednesday release surprised us all after the ten-day stint Adam required, the sickly little twig, two winters ago. In the last week we’ve been working Alek into a routine, which he’s adopted quite willingly, and nipping any incipient jealousy in the bud in the case of Adam. Big brother seems adequately distracted, though, by his own progress. New baby eats, sleeps, farts, repeats, more or less, and Adam babblingly narrates the endless inventorying of his toys, books, and crap, occasionally pausing to not eat before launching into a detailed description of Christmas. Certainly we will have our Nights of Crisis, but so far the transition from one kid to two has been smooth enough for us to be consciously very thankful and subconsciously ever so slightly, slightly, smug.
Does this mean I get to be an International/Internet Auntie to the boys? one correspondent inquires, and the answer is yes. If you are reading this, you don’t necessarily meet all of the criteria, but you can consider yourself in the running. However, all Internet Aunties, International or not, need to be aware of a few things:
- The Alek/Aleks thing proved to be too much for us, so for the time being he is called Jeżyk (or Ježek), since he looks like a little hedgehog
- Jeżyk is one gassy little baby
- His neck has the strength of a four-month-old
- Adam is not jealous of the new one, but it doesn’t hurt if you play Domino Animalies with him for a few hours
- The Jeż is currently sloughing off his fetal skin, so photos will be at a minimum for a few days. We want the Jež thing to stick, so keep your chameleon references to yourselves
This post is also my way of blowing off all of the many, many of you who have written with words of congratulations, joy, thanks, warning, and so on, not to mention gifts for the new boy, and to say that it may be a long while before I’m able to reply individually to you, but I will try. In the meantime, posting here really will be curtailed while we wait for the skin to flake away and grow back. And for the time in the day to return to its former shape, if ever.
Hedgehog? Fantastic.
I’m glad to hear that things are going well even though you’re children are so incredibly cute that I have spontaneously developed diabetes. Thanks a lot.
Comment by Jane — Thursday 25 January 07 @ 12.56 MST+2.00
I don’t think anyone is expecting personal correspondence from you right now, so no worries.
That photo is so so so great: Adam’s tender expression and the sweet gassy little hedgehog. Best wishes to Alek through his molting!
Comment by juliloquy — Thursday 25 January 07 @ 14.10 MST+2.00
the transition from one kid to two has been smooth
Obi-wan and I once thought as you do. The first two weeks were such a snap for my wife and I that we were already thinking about having a third. A month later we were annihilated.
Comment by Michael M. — Thursday 25 January 07 @ 15.49 MST+2.00
A gassy hedgehog? That’s the coolest thing ever.
I’m really hoping I’ll meet the criteria for being an international auntie, including, but not limited to, actually meeting the gassy hedgehog and the superfluously chatty twig at some point.
Awaiting vasectomy pics…
Comment by jdog — Thursday 25 January 07 @ 17.26 MST+2.00
Ah, I love the visiting friends and relatives stage. Especially when they look at the newborn, coo for a minute, then fall silent. Then say “Doesn’t actually DO much, does she?”
Enjoy your slight smugness while it lasts (and here’s hoping it lasts for a while longer).
Comment by simon — Friday 26 January 07 @ 09.48 MST+2.00