Talitha Makes 6

It's been a pretty good couple of days, just getting to know each other and figuring out this family of 6.

We had a lovely surprise upon coming home. Some friends left gifts and made banners. This is a girl who is loved and accepted and it shows.

The house was very clean, mother-in-law clean in fact. Matt's face was alight with the happiness of a thousand dreams as he took in the cleanliness of the house. I punched him a little.

We made it to sleep around 2 am, some 30 hours after we woke up. Yesterday was a little blurry as jet lag wrapped all my thoughts in fondant. Today is a little better, not much. Matt, Jack, and I were all up at 4 am. Matt and I mowed the lawn and swam in the pool at the height of the sunshine today, trying to stay awake and reset our clocks.

My parents brought Kate and Noah over yesterday evening. Oh how I missed them! Noah was huge and heavy and seemed to blossom into saying little sentences overnight. The countless treats at both grandparents' house were apparent as we struggled to lift him up. Katie hugged us tightly then happily went off to meet her sister. Matt's parents and my parents were over. There was cake and a balloon and presents- welcome to the family, sweet girl!

Talitha fell asleep in the playpen in our room without too much fuss but woke up a little after midnight. As I held her, I noticed she kept looking around and seemed very scared, as if the unfamiliar surrounds were too much late at night. She finished off the night between us in bed, one hand up by Matt's face, one foot on my back.

This morning Matt ran errands with Kate and I got to see how Noah and Talitha interacted. There was a little snatching of toys and a vehement "Mine!" from Noah, a little snatching of toys by Tali and a wee bit of sharing. Noah spent a lot of time today pointing at Tali or petting her hair and saying "Black hair?" Tali will take petting from anyone but Noah. She makes a little squeal of irritation. It's going to be interesting with these two. Noah is five months older than Tali so for half a year, they will be the same age.

He is 26 months, she is 21. She weighs 15 lbs to his 25 lb.

He was not happy about not being able to get into the Johnny Jump-Up. He pouted in the girls' room for awhile and then we found him in it a few minutes later. Nice try, Sumo.

Overall, she's adjusting pretty well. She is no fan of Toby's. He doesn't seem to have a major opinion of her. He saw another child in the house and his little doggy mind said "Ok." She flips out if she's in the high chair and he walks by where she can't see him. Can't blame her a bit. It will just take time. For now, we are easing into our new normal.