A Trip to the Zoo

This morning, we took Norah for her first trip to the zoo. She loved it! I mean, she is only 7 days old, and she slept the entire time we were there, but I'm sure she loved it. Gabe enjoyed it, though, as did Finn (Kris and Jess joined us there).

Gabe and Finn eating. Gabe decided to eat only foods that started with the letter "c" today. He would only touch carrots, corn, and cookies. And he was drinking cherry limeade, which I'm willing to accept as a "c" food.

Gabe and Finn's first chicken fight! As per Alabama rules, Gabe won because he stayed mounted the longest. Neither of the boys were terribly impressed with their rides. I was surprised Gabe didn't have more fun considering his inherent daredevil nature.

Everything is going pretty well so far. We're SORT OF adjusting to the sleeplessness. See, we got Gabe when he was 3 months old. Since he was a premie, and had been pretty badly neglected once he got home, he was just 10 pounds when he came to live with us. And he was already a screamer, a relentless, ear-splitting screaming shrieker, which is a habit we've almost been able to break him of, though it's taken us two years to do it. Despite the fact that he was, developmentally speaking, about where he should have been as a one month old when we got him, he was already sleeping in somewhat longer spurts that come with newborns. So, we got to skip the every-hour feedings. And, believe it or not, that extra hour between feedings makes a HUGE difference. With Gabe, Libby and I were able to take turns with feedings, which meant we'd get about four hours of sleep between turns.

But Button is an every hour girl, and a completely unpredictable sleeper. Take this morning, for instance. She woke twice to be fed while we were at the zoo, but went promptly back to sleep. Otherwise, she slept from the time we left until the time we got home, almost five hours. But last night, from 11:00 until 2:00, she barely slept for five minutes at a time. I know this because Libby and I have split the night in two. I get to stay up from 8:00 until 2:00 in the morning and she gets her from 2:00 until 8:00.

Sorry, no pictures of Button from the zoo. She was bundled up in her little carrier all morning, so there wasn't much to take pictures of. But here's one of her sporting this summer's hottest new look, The Burrito. Mark my words, all the kids will be wearing this until Labor Day. Unless they are losers, of course. Or their parents are too poor to afford a hoity toity "receiving blanket."

However, aside from the slight sleep deprivation we're fighting through right now, everything is as right as rain. I've only heard her cry maybe three times--and once was for her first bath last night, which she desperately needed because she smelled like a wedge of cheese that had shit itself. It's almost unsettling some times, to be honest. I've attuned myself so completely to Gabe's wails of abject anguish--which was his go-to mode of communication until he started "speaking"--that, not hearing them all the time coming from the new baby, I assume she's asleep. When I notice that, in fact, she isn't, I instinctively wonder what's wrong with her that she's not crying. I suppose I'll get used to it eventually, but I'm already enjoying it immensely.

And here is a little video of the boys splashing in a puddle at the zoo. Even though there were only TWO puddles in the entire zoo this morning, they managed to find both of them and splash them completely out of water. Boys.