What a beautiful sight to wake up to yesterday morning!
And Luka.
They really look more alike in these pictures. It makes me think of something Grandpa Wayne shared with me this morning:
Just like this, isn't it?
I can't help but think of the twins and the distinct difference in their color and temperament.
When watching Annika look at the world in her waking state, or with her eyes in a half open and content milk induced coma, Annika has the exact same look as that little girl in the boat.
And you'd never guess seeing Luka in these pictures that Luka looks like the snapping turtle he behaves like when it's time to latch for feeding time at the dairy farm:
Here's a little tidbit from the Wikipedia entry for snapping turtles, to give you a sense of what it's like to feed Luka:
Contrary to claims that alligator snapping turtles possess one of the strongest bite force of any animal, it has been recorded at 158 ± 18 kgf (1,550 ± 180 N; 348 ± 40 lbf), which is lower than several other species of turtles and at about the same level as humans, relative to the turtle's body size.[12][13] Still, these turtles must be handled with extreme care and considered potentially dangerous.[11] This species can bite through the handle of a broom and rare cases have been reported where human fingers have been cleanly bitten off by the species.[14] No human deaths have been reported to have been caused by alligator snapping turtles.[14]
Wow! Now that's some snapping power. Be careful, Luka! Play nice.
So much for the tranquil image of wise, old, kelp eating, Kauaian turtles:
No, sir, it's the hard shelled, wide mouthed, spiked, leathery beast who comes to feed!
And you'd also never guess looking at these two cuties in the pics above that they were inconsolable night terrors just a few hours before these pictures were taken.
I'm not really sure who this guy is, and I'm not sure if he represents our terror last night, or how the kids felt, but it pretty much sums it up for a guy I found on the internets. (Who says internets, anyways? It's interwebs!)
But I do wonder how it feels to be the guy that pops up when you do a Google image search for night terror. Hmmm... I must consult the oracle and ask it.
But back to the morning. The morning was another story, no night terrors, just these beautiful images of playfulness and serenity:
Notice they are still drawer babies. The drawers have been working well so far, so there has been less urgency about building the crib, especially since yesterday was such a busy day.
First, we had a visit to the lactation consultant, who was awesome and super helpful (more on that later) and also with our new family practitioner:
Yup. R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe
Annika and Luka's first wellnes check went well. And to Grandma Diane's utter joy, he confirmed that we cannot spoil the kids by holding them too long. Grandma was soooo happy to hear that news!
His medical practice and life philosophy really matches ours, and it was very reassuring to have him give us the thumbs up on the kids progress.
He has this cool way of looking at parenting from a geopolitical, social historical perspective, a sort of parenting and life through the ages kind of thing, combined with science, reason, a little Zen, compassion, and a laid back, "chill while you wait for the world to continue to evolve as seen through History and Philosophy" kind of approach to life and parenting.
Plus, he looks like R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, which kind of adds to the Philosophical abstract mystique of a wellness check with him.
Thank you, Michael, for squeezing us in at the end if the day, for your kindness and empathy, for your knowledge, philosophy, and your encouragement of our parenting, and for "Green." I just love that album! Man, what a seminal piece of music!
And, to close, the end of the world as we knew it with an image of sibling serenity:
Sweet dreams, little ones. May you never get your fingers caught in these drawers that held you so sweetly!
