it’s crazy how quickly things change in the land of all things baby.  things that weren’t around when mikey was born are available in abundance now.  and he’s only four.  everything is new!  improved!  bigger!  better!  the turn-around seems to be every two years.  pack-n-plays have even more features now and come in hip brown-and-green styles.  the navy blue one we have is so… yesterday’s news.    strollers are tricked out beyond belief.  born-free-what?    i’m very thankful that we didn’t have to buy much this time around.  all the decisions would have been overwhelming to generally indecisive me.  and the money spent on it all would have sent phil through the roof. …

i haven’t worked up the nerve to venture out alone with all three yet.  i may never work up that nerve.  but thankfully, the kids and i have been happy as clams holing up together here at home.  and even better, my energy level is gradually coming back, so that doing fun things with mikey and allie doesn’t seem so impossible anymore.  so while lauren naps after eating (bless that girl), i try to do some fun activity with the kids each day. earlier this week, i brought out the paint supplies leftover from mikey’s party and let them have at it.  the looks of pure enjoyment on their faces while they painted more than made…

so phil began his second year of residency last month.  just in time for lauren’s arrival.  looking back, it appears that each of our children were born at just the *wrong* time– mikey came just before phil began third year of med school when he had to start taking overnight call.  allie came just before phil began intern year when his call schedule became more demanding and stressful.  and now lauren has arrived just as phil begins the year in which he has to take call on either friday or saturday of every week in addition to mid-week call and now it has been decided to extend the regular workday…

for her first haircut?      phil and i love her long hair and it’s never been cut before aside from her bangs two or three times.  but i’m tempted to have it cut (i wouldn’t attempt it myself!) because it’s so long that it now gets stuck under her armpits.  and the poor girl gets so hot that her whole head often is wet with sweat.  yuck.  but, i don’t know…  i don’t know…   and my other girl?  well, she wouldn’t be a tsai baby unless… her hair went up into that crazy mohawk for the next six months!  i thought that maybe, just maybe, she would escape the mohawk…