Here are a couple pics of Anna and Tara in the same spot, in the same chair. I’ll probably do this again when they’re at the same age, but I don’t know if Tara even fits in the yellow outfit Anna was wearing in the shot.

Today, Tara clocked in at ten pounds, five ounces, for two-pound gain in a little over two weeks (she lost a pound in the first few days after her birth). This is great news to us, because she’s thriving despite the fact that she usually only gets fed once in the middle of the night. She has, however, solidified a consistent “fussy time” in the evenings. As long as she sleeps ok, I guess we’ll let it slide.

This morning Anna was in a very chipper mood, so we decided to go to a playgroup function at the lake to feed the ducks. When we arrived, twenty minutes late, there were no other members of the playgroup present, so we took our lunchbox full of bread and Kix down to the duck panhandling area.

When we have previously fed the ducks, they have generally loitered near the shore and boat launch, but today, they were all out further away from shore along the floating pier. Walking out on a floating pier with a) a three-year-old and b) an $1800 camera was somewhat distressing. The pier wobbled with every step, and Anna wound up for every toss like a major league pitcher. In my mind I was working through my exact sequence of actions I would take when Anna would inevitably fall in. Should I put the camera down carefully and jump in after her, or should I lie down near the edge and try to reach her from the pier? If I didn’t set down the camera first, I might accidently drop it in or fall in myself in the heat of the moment. I decided that either way I should set the camera down first. In the end, Anna stayed dry and upright, so my careful forethought was wasted.

When our supply of bread and Kix was exhausted, we were headed back to the car when we spotted some old friends who have moved to Colorado, but were in town visiting, along with their baby boy. Anna would have no part of them. She is normally quite shy around new people, but this was unusual. After they left, everything was back to normal. She proceeded to pick up rocks in her Zoo bucket in the event that the ducks would like to eat them.

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Finally, Anna and I hauled our bucket of rocks back to the pier, where Anna demonstrated that, much like the seagulls who would not eat sand, ducks and geese will not eat rocks.

I’ve done a little more work on the blog, specifically to bring it up to WordPress v1.5. I don’t think this really means anything to anyone but me, except to say that there may be some weird stuff going on in the short term.

While I’m writing about the blog, I have received a lot of compliments on the design and writing of the blog. Thank you, everyone. I have spent a lot of time on it, and for that I have Jennifer to thank. Based on the amount of time I have spent as a web application developer, technical writer, graphic artist, photographer and web designer, it could be better; it’s good enough for me and that’s what matters.

This blog started out for me as the zillionth in an even longer string of gadgets for me to play with, but I have really taken to it for several reasons. First, I get all sorts of compliments for it, and I definitely am all about that. Second, because of the whole blog phenomenon that is going on, I feel like I’m part of something cool, that I missed out on when I graduated college and took a job that was less glamorous than what I once dreamed of. Third, it’s therapeutic to sit down and sort out my thoughts for the day, to look back on things with a little humor and perspective. Last, it’s yet another way to capture a little bit of what this part of my life is like and to share it with my friends and family. Someone noted that the way I write is different than the way I talk, and that’s very true. I don’t know how to explain it except to say that my “comfort zone” is far larger in the world of computers than it is in the world of people. At least it is today.

I was able to schmooze my way into an exclusive interview with area baby Tara Jane, or “T. Diddy” as the members of her posse call her. She met with me in my office between bouts of eating, sleeping, and pooping, but I was privileged to have her attention for all of about thirty seconds. Get out a fresh tape and hold it close to your speaker, you’re going to want to pop the tabs out on this one.

Grandma D. took Anna to the bookstore this morning, so I busted out the photo studio and shot The Birth Announcement. The order has been placed, so early next week you can go stand by your mailboxes and begin pressing “reload.” I think it turned out rather well.

Although I was only out of the office for a week, somehow I had three weeks of work to make up when I got back. Overall I would say things are back to normal, which is to say, three feet below water.

I’m glad to have been doing some noodling with my computer lately; I got a new USB hub and, finally, a 12-in-1 card reader so that I can read the dinky memory card from Jennifer’s camera without the adapter which makes the card slightly less dinky. Also, I played around with some recording via my high-quality microphone, so that I can put “books on tape” for Anna. I don’t know how she’ll take to it, but I consider it a worthwhile experiment.

I’ve been cooking like a fiend this week. I say this not because I’ve been doing so much of it, but because there has been a lot of fire and cursing. The steaks turned out well, though. This weekend, I’m thinking of making chicken & dumplings, which is the most simple dish imaginable, but if you don’t like it, then you seriously have no soul.

I was glad to get at least a little exercise this week in the form of 3.5 hrs of volleyball. The time away from the court is definitely manifested in my play.

There were two baby-related coincidences this week. While Jen was in labor, there was another woman who was also at about the same stage of labor in the next room, and the nurses and OB were splitting their time between the two. At the newborn pediatrician checkup, we met the father of the other baby in the waiting room. Coincidence number two is that before my Tuesday volleyball game, I overheard one of the other players talking about how he just had a kid, and it turns out that a) she was born the day before ours, b) she was born at the same hospital, and c) she was also named Tara. Ironically, the other player and I both liked the fact that Tara was not a particularly common name. Doh!

Finally, my bike (which I rode to work the day Tara was born) is still at work because the weather has really sucked lately. I realize it’s only February, but seriously, if things don’t clear up soon I’m going to have to withhold some of my state taxes.

Although we didn’t go today, I put up a movie of Anna at GTC Academy making a tumbling pass on the runway trampoline.

It is now seven o’ clock in the morning, and both girls are asleep. Anna woke up at eleven last night, needing a couple minutes with me to get calmed down, but on the other hand, she has now slept half an hour past lights out. This has happened maybe five times in her life. Tara went almost six hours between feedings last night waking up only at four (though she was ravenous when she woke up).

I don’t have any complaints about Tara. She’s a good little baby. Her bouts of fussiness are seldom, and last night she slept for five hours straight.

Anna has been more of a challenge. She is really starting to be moody around the baby. Understandably, she has seen a drop in the amount of attention she receives, and she equates it to being loved less. I feel sorry for her, because I can’t seem to convey the fact that this is temporary, and one day, Tara will be her buddy. I’m also frustrated that Anna does not respond well to pressure; she slows down when you tell her to hurry up, and for as smart as she is, natural consequences don’t seem so natural to her.

Also, she has a real problem with hearing Tara crying–she can’t stand it and she shrieks and yells at her in response. I think she might be jealous because Tara’s crying yields attention, while Anna’s crying is generally yields ultimatums. It’s a crueld world when you’re three.

I hope that we can work through this phase without Anna developing any long-lasting resentment of Tara–we really did want to have two kids who get along, or at least give each other something to do.

Jen cut this cartoon out and stuck it on my desk, but it wasn’t available online until now.