Back by Popular Demand

It has been about a month since we have updated you, Waiting Audience. I know you have been holding your breath, counting the seconds, hours, days without a blog post, wondering when will the suspense finally come to an end?

No, but in all seriousness, I am pleased to discover that people missed me and my witty repertoire. So, here you go:

Thaddeus is almost six weeks old, and it is amazing how little I remember about having an infant. I remember Aurelia being a demanding little sucker, but I also somehow recollect that we just hung out on the couch together and that everything she did was frikin adorable. Thad is cute, too; make no mistake. He has a dimple on his right cheek, and his little arms and legs never stop flailing about. His eyes are the same slate blue that will inevitably turn into the bright sky irises of their father. Thaddeus is so strong, already; he loves being put up on one of our shoulder's and he holds his neck up, bobbing his heavy head from side to side, eyes wide and attentive. A milestone in the making. I can see more of my family's traits in him than I could in Aurelia at his age. Matthew likes his lump-on-a-log-like qualities; I think he and Aurelia and I will have more fun as he gets a little older.

Aurelia is adjusting well to the new addition. She misses having me all to herself, but she does not blame the baby--thankfully. Matthew likes to say she walks the line between genius and idiot; here is an example: she has been able to figure out that negative attention is still attention, so she has been getting into ev.er.y.thing. She pulls the DVD's off the shelf; she opens every drawer and cabinet, intent on spreading every item therein over the floor. She pushes buttons on all the appliances. Every stumble and subsequent fall, however mild or slow-motion, is a traumatic experience. So, is she uber intelligent for determining a way to catch my eye, or is she an idiot for doing things she knows will get her into trouble? So far, it's been easy to tell myself "she's one" and just clean the mess up again. We shall see once T.J. starts spending more time awake. Every day is a triage.

We learned the hard way that tall people and giant car seats can't fit in a Dodge Caliber. Those of you that know Matt know that he is not a small person. At six-foot-three, he basically needs to sit in the backseat of the car in order to give his legs enough comfort. Turns out, putting a baby behind the driver's seat scrunched Matt up like an accordion. The passenger (usually me) was already in a similar bind with Aurelia's seat behind them, but Matt couldn't handle the pressure. Our other car, an adequately-sized Taurus, was terminally ill. A disconcerting thunk, a non-functioning heater, and a leak under the dash that, after a rain, left the inside of the car looking like someone had showered inside led us to one obvious conclusion: time to get a different car. After a week in a 2009 Toyota Camry, Matthew is now a spokesperson for the model's space, comfort and heated leather seats. He doesn't know how he lived without them before, and it gives me sadistic pleasure to remind him that the Camry fits the kids so it's my car, and he'll be driving the much less luxurious Civic we will inherit from his parents as soon as they begin their water bound adventure. So sad.

Thanksgiving is coming up, and I'm excited to post some photos of the holiday. It's at our house once more. I think fall last year was when I started this bloggy nonsense, and so much has changed.

Here's to hoping we get back up to once a day real soon.