Playing Catchup, or The New Normal

As Tommy's birth approached, everyone said "your whole life will change, nothing will be the same".  As Charlie's birth approached, everyone told us "one is easy, two only begins real parenting".  Boy, they were right.  I've often marveled at how these tiny little babies have fundamentally changed every facet of our lives.  With one, we could tag-team, but now with two only the strong survive as we match wits one-on-one.  So far, Katie and I are winning, but it often feels like just barely.

Life's been really good.  Tommy continues to grow fast every day, assembling 2-3 word structures, and surprising us with all sorts of copycat behaviors.  Thus far in his life Grandma Chris has been cutting his hair, and faithful followers of our blog will recall that process hasn't been going well.  I decided to take him to Cookie Cutters to see if a stranger might get better behavior out him.

He got to sit in an airplane!

 There were moments where he wasn't too happy.

 He was very distracted by the little girl in the background.

 And lo, not a single tear was shed.

 Balloons & suckers make everything better.

 He even got to spend some time playing with his little lady-friend.

Charlie's been growing like a weed - all he wants to do is nurse, which makes snapping pictures a little dicey.  He's packing on over an ounce a day which makes us happy.  

Brand new.

About 2 weeks old.

Resting in between feeding.

These are courtesy of Sarah - thanks!  He's about 3 weeks old here.

And from just this morning, 5 weeks old. 

He looks like he's about to tell a joke in the fine Bakker tradition. 

Tommy's still the champion pancake eater.  He's just finished 2 here.

 And this is his 3rd.

Followed by an amuse-bouche of frozen blueberries. 

Of course, it's 60 degrees out at the moment, but summer is really here, accompanied by all the fine summer traditions like playing with the hose.

He's disconcerted that his shirt is wet. 

Tom's just helped me clean up Grandpa Pat's lawn mower for sale. 

My summer flowers are in full bloom.  This is a blanket flower, and it blooms all summer long.

Grandma & Grandpa came over last Sunday for a hot dog dinner. 

This was during the eclipse, which made the light quality unique. 

Hundreds of crescent suns, cast through pinholes in the tree foliage. 

Matching dinosaur pj's 

Brushing Charlie's hair.

It may look like Charlie's biting Tom, but he's actually trying to nurse...  The biting will commence in a couple months I'm sure. 

Katie's new glider is big enough for both of her boys. 

Tommy likes to hold his brother, sometimes too much. 

Thanks for bearing with me everyone.  I seem to have enough time to snap photos through the days, but time enough to sit and post is rare at the moment.  We're all doing well, though it seems like Charlie's got similar issues to what Tom went through.  We've had some pretty sleepless nights, but are weathering it okay.  Tommy's at least sleeping really well, and doesn't seem to bothered by the baby crying at night.  We did discover that Charlie's got an ASD, or atrial septal defect.  We visited a cardiologist, and have another appointment in August.  At this point, he shows no signs or  symptoms (blue toes, fainting, etc.), but can hear a faint murmur.  We're told there's a good chance it will heal on its own.  However, please be praying for healing for our little boy.  I'll update everyone once there's an update to share.