Roly Poly

Roly poly little things, those babies of ours.  Plump, yes, but also literally rolling around!  Front to back, back to front.  They have made the "big role" just once each (Dorothy, front to back, Clara, back to front).  But put them on a horizontal surface, and they will start to reach and turn and try so so hard to roll over.  Three months to the day tomorrow, blue eyes, and a fuzzy head of short, light hair (Clara's looks darker, as she lost less of her dark baby hair: it's a trick to telling them apart), they are such lovely little babies.  Very sweet and mild, and filled with the most varied conversational squeaks.  I feel like I've had the most satisfying intellectual interchange after a few minutes with their "oohs" and "ahs" and "eeee!"s.  Lily and Zosia are the masters of imagining what the babies might be trying to relate at any moment, and are content to sit next to them and chatter away, while Hugo prefers to try to hug and kiss as much as possible (which, much to his chagrin, is not nearly enough).

We've all been working our way through a cold the past couple of days, and the babies have still managed to be quite chipper.  Oh, except the other night.  I had pulled Clara into bed with us, and she was limp and asleep, nursing just the littlest bit.  The room was quiet.  These nighttime feedings, you resent them as a first time parent, but as a parent of many older children, there's something so beautiful and serene about them!  A totally quiet house, and one sweet little baby nursing.  Not a bad deal.   (I should add that over the past month, I have almost entirely been nursing the babies one at a time.  It's easier for me, they nurse very quickly, and they are mellow enough just to hang out while their sister is nursing).  Anyway, a totally quiet house, and just like that, Ben sneezes.  A single sneeze.  One sneeze, and before I can even say bless you, Clara opens her mouth and just starts screaming.  Not crying, screaming.  I had to nurse, hold, rock, and console her for almost a full hour for her to calm down.  Which was just so funny, because she really isn't too particular as far as babies go.  So do what you will, people, but seriously: no sneezing.  Got it?

Two big pots of chicken soup (have you tried some with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top?  Delicious), one constructed play villiage, one epic wooden train track, and many books in bed later, I do think we're most of the way back to healthy.  We have some black bean brownies cooling off, and I think that this three month birthday deserves a little celebration.