Comparisons

I know "they" say you shouldn't compare your kids (who IS this mysterious THEY anyway? And why are we supposed to listen to them?!?!), but it's not like I'm going to post "You know, now that we have Delilah and she is just so much more perfect than Oliver, we are giving him away" or "You know, Delilah really doesn't live up to her brother's mold, so away she goes"...This post is more about comparing looks and attributes at different stages in life. It's a way for me to hit memory lane with my son; was he ever as small as Delilah? The pictures say so, but when I had to carry him up the stairs today for "chill out time" in his room, I think the pictures lie...

Also, this is a way for me to participate in a long standing Smith/Fountain family ritual. Come on Smiths/Fountains, you ALL know what I'm talking about. It's "WHO DOES SHE/HE LOOK LIKE?" game. Drives my brother nuts when we all have get togethers and we start with the "He really looks like so and so" or "She has so and so's eyes". David has said on a few occasions "I look like me. Moving on..." Ha! Sorry brother, it's a genetic/behavioral imperative that we compare. Connects us to the past, to the people we are related to. So, I compared, especially with the help of Photoshop allowing me to find and put pictures together so easily. Hopefully, at some point in time I'll find and scan photos of Shawn and I at similar ages and let the games REALLY begin! (This activity is so vital to family wellness that I will be calling my mother after I post this to start hashing it out!)

For the sake of consistency, Oliver's photos will always be on the top or left, Delilah's on the bottom or right.

The official post birth weigh in. Something I noticed that hadn't really popped out at me before I did this was how PURPLE Oliver was. He spent the next 5 days on oxygen for immature/wet lungs, but I don't' think I realized the extent of his breathing issues at the start until I saw this! Also, he was so skinny! Delilah only had a pound on him, but he was longer. She also got about 4 more weeks to cook, so she came out screaming and pink. I remember thinking at her birth that they really didn't resemble each other. Oh how wrong that first impression was...

Daddy with his babies. Crazy how similar they are!

So, I officially make babies with a lot of hair who don't like to breathe...You all are pretty aware of Oliver's 16 day NICU stay, but might have missed our debacle with Delilah. When she was 4 days old, she decided to hold her breath while she was sleeping and turned white as a sheet. We brought her to Children's in Seattle where, after a 5 day stay, she was diagnosed with "apnea of prematurity". While she wasn't premature, apparently it's a breathing thing that can happen to kiddos until 44 weeks gestation. She was on caffeine until her 4 week birthday, and seems to be fine now. So, in some respects after Oliver's NICU stay we were pretty prepared for the Children's experience, but man, it sucks to see your kids hooked up to monitors and IV's, to be worried that they won't be well, that they hurt. All is well now, of course, but both of my babies are now on Premera Blue Cross's "expensive baby" list!

Going home! Delilah seems so much chunkier to me than Ollie was. It's also fun to see the difference between a summer baby and a winter baby!

This is a fun one; Oliver at 4 weeks, Delilah at 2. My dad noticed that she's got more "delicate" features than Oliver, ie somewhat the same nose, just smaller. I've noticed that her face is a lot rounder than his, but their expressions are soooo similar that it takes me down memory lane daily when she smiles just like her brother!

This one is the best! Same arms, same smile, just the same insane level of cute!

I hope you enjoyed this installment of "mama should really be taking Oliver out riding his bike on a sunny day, but instead she's playing with photoshop and the blog...."