A firstborn among us

I think this short series captures Ivan as the quintessential firstborn, trying to have fun and get his parents' attention - especially as they tend younger siblings with more needs. We so love our firstborn.

Kids in the woods

My kids are just the best, full stop. Ivan's a character and a sweetheart who loves his siblings. Vic is super funny and a snuggler. Astrid is a hoot and such a personality - also, very drawn to her brothers!

Family in the trees

People, it was cold. Like under 20 degrees. And mister Vic was getting sick and we didn't know it. And we woke the two little ones from a nap.

But. Amy and Kim from The Wild Child are great. We already knew this - it's their second time with us and Amy's third (she took my wedding photos in 2005!). They are super talented and I'm grateful that they can help us capture these memories!

Holton, Kansas. November 10, 2018.

With hats:

Without hats:

True story.

Family photos of V + the lice story

Do you all remember that time I had our third baby and then we went to our oldest's kindergarten musical performance and I looked down at his brother's head and said oh, dear and C asked if I forgot diapers, because yes, well, that too, but no, Honey, the oh, dear was for the bugs crawling among my baby boy's reddish curls and oh, crap? And then we were 100% distracted and I don't know what the performance was about (was it the dinosaur rock where I made him a dinosaur hoodie that you couldn't see from the front and it took eight hours while my lovely MIL watched my newborn and I kept saying I didn't realize it would take this long and he has to have a dinosaur costume). And then there were still bugs and I just needed 14 seconds to call my best friend who dealt with lice so many times and destigmatized it, but I still didn't want to tell my parents or inlaws, who were also at this performance I don't remember, because I couldn't manage their feelings or emotions (turned out I underestimated them, my bad, but also postpartum and living heavily in my head).

The torturous performance ends and we all go outside where I awkwardly cancel dinner plans with all the parents - maybe I say we're tired? C confirms the lice and the parents overhear that "We need to confirm" and leap to wild conclusions I will later share, because when it's a shit show, it's flying feces. We call my bestie, she gives us the low down and we race to CVS/Walgreens/whatever and pick up all the things - I think she said the COMB IS THE MOST IMPORTANT.

We head home, I give in and call the parents (who are all together) and share our predicament and ask that they bring home food. We have two boys in the bathtub with stinging shampoo. Middle dude is the originator, for sure, but the oldest had one adult louse on him and gets treated too. Luckily, the older one has a crew cut. Then, C begins combing through super fine two-year-old curls that we've never cut. And that's, uh, challenging. So at 1030 at night, after the baths with the bad-smelling shampoo, after I collected all the sheets/clothes/stuffed toys/blankets/carseats/etc., after C tried to comb through unruly curls, waking V u[ every couple of seconds, we made an executive decision. C shaved V bald. The C shaved himself bald. This is a big deal because everyone had so many feelings about V's strawberry blond curls. But it was okay. Except, V looked a little bit like a child experiencing cancer and that broke a bit of my heart. But he had C with the same haircut.

And, it took care of the lice. [Perceived gender question - would C and I have shaved our 2yo daughter's hair? I don't know.]

A couple of side notes: one set of our parents overheard us say the word "confirm" at the school, post-performance and jumped to the conclusion that I could be pregnant again. Ugh. Also, lice has a stigma and it should not - it happens. My friend told me there is a lice season in Greece. Also, when you shave someone's head in April, it's cold - hats are good, then it's hot and sunny and hats are also good. We forced V into becoming a hat guy.

More family photos to come, but these of V have my heart. His little bald head.

The biggest brother photos

Our firstborn is my favorite firstborn. He is a child I am proud of. He is challenging and so smart. He is an excellent big brother and while his brother sees his tenderness, he saves a lot for his sister. He's also funny and charming and outspoken.

Our new family of FIVE

Little A's birth story precedes this post in three or four parts, but the essence is that we are SO happy she is here. We needed her. And we love her hard.