The passage of time

Today my twins, Annabelle and Daisy, are 4 years old. I'm trying to keep things light and a smile on my face for them, but the truth is, I am feeling a little sad today. It's the passage of time. My kids' birthdays and milestones do it to me every time, leave me feeling melancholy. It's just so hard to believe that it was four whole years ago that I pushed these two little girls out into the world and felt like I had won the lottery (that "winning the lottery" feeling has been pretty fleeting of late - these two are a handful and a half, and I swear they're going to be the death of me).

Since we won't be officially celebrating their birthday until next weekend, I took cupcakes and goody bags to their preschool class today. Here they are in the seat of honor:

And speaking of the passage of time, Finn is 11 weeks old today. And just like with the girls, I am having a hard time believing that that much time has already marched by since his birth. In some ways it seems like it was yesterday, and in some ways it seems like it's been a lifetime.

As for how Finn is doing these days: he is nursing like an old pro (and now refusing a bottle - we stopped doing bottles for a couple weeks and now he doesn't want any part of them, which means I can't be away from him for more than a couple hours at a time) and gaining 1 - 2 ounces per day. As of this morning, he tips the scale at 8 pounds 13 1/2 ounces. I expect him to hit 9 pounds in the next couple of days. I am trying to wean myself off the baby scale so I can give it back to my friend :)

Finn still rolls from tummy to back and can roll from back to tummy with a lot of effort (and he is a determined little guy!). I'm big on cloth diapers (and yes, I use BG for those who asked a while back . . .) - have been since the twins were born - but I'm actually wondering if, because of their bulkiness, they may hinder his ability to develop certain motor skills like sitting, crawling, etc. He has physical therapy later this week so I'm going to ask the therapist about this.

He's a fairly good sleeper. He naps well during the day as long as he's swaddled. At night he wakes twice usually to nurse. He's gotten a little better about nursing while laying down, but I still usually have to get up and sit with him, and he's difficult to put back to sleep so I'm usually up with him for 30 - 40 minutes each time. Yep, I'm sleep deprived.

As for his disposition, I hate to say it, but he's a rather cranky baby. We refer to him as Grumpy Old Man. When people tell me how happy DS people are, I just want to laugh out loud and say, "Yeah? So when does that set in?"

His incision has healed nicely. Its a little more visible in person than it is in this photo, but really it's hardly noticeable.

And one more cute photo - this is an outfit sent to him by my friend Angie :)