Anyrate, they loved the pics, and they have been displayed on the refrigerator since rediscovery. Also, they immediately made the connection that "baby brover" would take baths in the sink, and they waited patiently for healing of the umbilical area so that he could be submerged. Once it healed, Lauren immediately exclaimed, "Now he can get in the sink!!!"
Too bad George did not exactly share her enthusiasm.
When I posted the photo of George, I looked all over my computer for digital copies of their photos as well. They were nowhere to be found. Clearly, I had the pics on display in the kitchen so I knew the photos were taken and had to be captured somewhere. But, the photos were taken and originally uploaded four+ years and three computers ago; recovery seemed like a remote possibility. (Sure, I could have scanned the hardcopies, but locating them became an obsession.)
Finally, I clicked around long enough to find them, and here they are. First up, Gracie:
And, then there's Lauren:
Those photos were taken in December 2006, when the girls were 2+ months old. We forget how tiny they were, how we brought them home from the hospital weighing 4 pounds 10 ounces, how they might have been eight or nine pounds in those two month photos. Having George to feed has reminded us how we systematically fed the girls. We created forms to track their feedings and kept records on two clipboards, in a makeshift, home version of charts. We finally realized that Gracie simply does not like milk -- would not drink formula -- and simply waited for food to be proffered at six months. Before that epiphany, we purchased every type of bottle and feeding system available. Lauren outweighed Gracie consistently the entire first year of their lives. Gracie started bridging the gap once fruits and vegetables were introduced. At the introduction of most foods at one year of age, her growth soared, and she has been consistently taller/heavier than Lauren since then. She finally made her peace with milk, but she prefers water.
Now we are in the constant feeding phase with George, "Groundhogging" (blatant "Groundhog Day" reference coined by Skip to capture the essence of the never-ending quality of caring for children) each and every day, making batches of formula, preparing bottles, cleaning bottles, etc., although, admittedly, there is only half as much work this time, i.e., having only one baby to feed means half the number of bottles, half the crying, half the diapers... you get the idea.
Tonight, as Skip was mixing formula and getting the bottles prepped and staged for the next 12 hours, he wondered aloud about how many bottles we have prepared over the years. The math is straightforward:
1) Lauren & Gracie
Feedings every four hours = six bottles per day x 2 babies = 12 bottles per day x 7 days per week = 84 bottles per week x 52 = 4,368 bottles
2) George (projected)
Feedings every three hours = 8 bottles per day x seven days per week = 56 bottles per week x 52 weeks = 2,912 bottles
3) Grand total = 7,280 bottles. Approximately.
George is negotiating with the girls for more bottles in exchange for giving them vanity space.
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