Mouse at rest.

Meet the twin: Anna.

Today's subject: Anna.

Anna, as we all know, is smaller. Her face looks more like those of the babies on Ginger's side of the family. She was more active in utero and, at least to my observation, more likely to be flailing her arms at any given moment even today.

That said, Anna is also a sleeper. Within two weeks of coming home, she was stretching her feedings to four and five hour gaps, which is not supposed to happen. We had to wake her up to give her a bottle. Even now, we sometimes realize all of a sudden that it's been way too long since Anna's last feeding, because she's been quiet and cuddly without any complaint.

She's a better nurser of the two, although her lighter weight means that we're supplementing her with bottles while Evelyn is basically at 100% breastfed for now. You might conclude by looking at them that their size disparity is fundamental to their natures and may be permanent. Perhaps I'm jumping to this conclusion because Patrick was underweight for some time and is today a skinny little kid, while Charlie, well, has always been Charlie. Even considering this, Anna just seems like a more delicate type. We're prepared to be surprised.

She is showing signs of red hair, like Charlie's, though a bit lighter.

On the nickname front, our use of "Kitten" for Evelyn in daily life is growing more infrequent. It comes up now and again, but there's no nickname for her that's in regular use. We sometimes still use "Mouse" for Anna because she still squeaks quite a bit, particularly when we are waking her up. More frequently we refer to Anna as "Anna Banana" or just plain "Banana." Ginger shortens this to "Anna B." or sometimes just "B."

Links of interest.

Article about a NICU nurse who's also a NICU graduate.

Meet the twin: Evelyn.

People ask if the girls are yet displaying personalities, so I've decided to introduce their nascent characteristics. Today's subject: Evelyn.

Evelyn is larger than Anna, but her personality footprint is somewhat smaller. She is, on the main, more even-keeled (so far). She is less likely to spit up, but not reliably so. We are convinced that if Evelyn had been in the "Baby A" position, Ginger might very well still be pregnant, because Evelyn was probably not in any kind of hurry to get out into the world. She was brought into the world when she was because the perinatologist broke her water after Anna had already started the process and made it inevitable. This was probably a rude awakening as far as she was concerned. She was less kicky in utero and this remains true today. She is a pretty sloppy nurser; her latch involves a good deal of inefficient slurping, which probably cuts down on her intake. Still, her weight gains are usually greater than Anna's, at least until recently.

Evelyn also looks more unlike Patrick and Charlie. Anna bears more of a resemblance to the babies that have come before. This is not a personality trait per se, but it's probably an indication that she's more of me than of Ginger and therefore her temperament will remain (to Ginger) maddeningly stable, like her father's.

I said I would tell you about her personality characteristics. I never promised there would be a lot to talk about, at least at this point.

How's your mental health?

Have I yet said that it's gotten to the point that, when I see someone with their baby in public, my first thought is "I wonder who she got to watch the other one?"

Kitten, checking you out.

Boys on retreat.