...and now we are four!

Well, it's been a week since Cora joined our family and things seem to be following the "it's easier the second time around" pattern so far. Is this because second (and third, etc) babies are inherently more laid back or perhaps that parents are less freaked out and anxious about every little thing? I'm guessing maybe a combination of both, but speaking for myself, I'm definitely less anxious about things this time. We had our first checkup at 5 days old and Cora had gained almost half a pound...could be just a different scale, but I think at least some of it is real. She is already too big for the smallest size diapers, good thing I only bought one pack!

Larson & Nana meeting Cora

Yesterday we had a lovely day at home for my birthday. Brett, Cora & I went to Trophy Cupcakes for a treat and brought some more home for the whole family at dinner. Larson probably would have eaten all of them if we let him. He tried really, really hard to be patient until it was time to eat his cupcake, but couldn't control himself to ask for one about every 20-30 seconds. For dinner, I got to eat something I've been craving for months: sushi! It was yummy. Larson kept asking to see it, but was not interested in trying any. Maybe next time.

All ready to go home!

The heat that we've been escaping this summer is here for a few days: today the high is going to be 90! That is really hot for this un-air-conditioned neck of the woods. We have our fans working overtime to keep the house cool until it passes, which will hopefully be in the next few days. I was a little nervous last night because I've been swaddling Cora for sleeping and it was just too hot to do it...would she sleep anyway? Fortunately last night she did, so we'll just have to see how it goes.

So, yes, our lives are definitely different now that our family is bigger and even simple things, like trying to have dinner together, have their new challenges. Despite all this, I couldn't be happier. Larson is really excited to show Cora all his toys and wants to help out with just about everything. He follows me around the house and alerts me when Cora cries that she "needs to eat, Mama!" Some of our happiest moments are spent playing on our bed or on the couch, en famille, laughing, etc and now we will just make room for another body to jump on the cushions and get buried in the pillows. Life is good.

Tomorrow, Brett and our friend Stephen are going to swim in an open water event at Seward Park. Hopefully we'll get some fun pictures from that, even though I'll be home with Cora. In the meantime, here's a couple of photos of Larson: first, watching Olympic swimming with dad and second, enjoying his own swim class (and despite a rocky start, he loves it now and gets into all the activities...last week he even did the "submarine" on his own - that's toddler speak for putting your head under the water :)