Sequoia Alsea & Axel Summit Newberg: Fun times and time flying.....

So, WOW.....time has been flying by here at our house. keeping up with a baby who can not even move is somehow incredibly exhausting and time consuming.

Colleen, Sequoia and I have been happily, if groggily, adapting our worlds to the realities, pleasures and challenges of adding Axel to our family.

It should go without saying, but I will say it just to be clear, Axel is a wonderful, beautiful and astounding addition to our family. It is astounding that hearts living in a home that had felt so complete and full prior to his arrival can so quickly and seamlessly absorb another young soul into the mix.

My mother (mom to six children of varying degrees of wonderfulness..) told me more than once that before the next kid showed up she couldn't imagine how they would fit, and immediately upon their arrival she couldn't imagine them never having been there.

Obviously I wish she could have stayed around long enough to actually get to meet and know young Axel, as I know she would have loved him dearly, but as it is I find it very comforting that she accomplished her goal of hanging in there until he was born.

Her final conversation with me as I showed her the pictures of his birth and initial weighing etc...was one that I will never forget.

She was very sick at that point, to the point that I barely recognized her when I walked into her room, but how her eyes lit up when she saw me and we started to talk about Sequoia, Axel, Colleen and everything involved in a growing family.

It took so much strength for her to concentrate on the pictures but she absorbed each one and effortlessly rolled off stories about each of her own kids and I could tell that she was comfortable in the memories in a way that her physical condition did not often allow.

The last thing she said to me as I left that night was "He's a part of our story now. Axel is here and he is a part of our history and the family story."

I will always treasure the memories of my mom....especially those memories of her love of my kids. It was a wonderful way to close that chapter of our lives together and start the next chapter of our story. The story that has a unique and beautiful path stretching out towards the future for two beautiful kids who were so deeply loved by their grandmother.

So as is the nature of life, my sadness at losing my mother has been comforted and blessed by the magic that is a loving family that is quite literally lost in the magic of seeing the world for the first time.

Axel is a beautiful, healthy and happy baby. He has learned to smile and has just started laughing.

Colleen was able to structure her work commitments in a way that allowed her to stay home with him the first 3 months. She worked very hard at keeping him and Sequoia happy and comfortable.

As with most mommies, the only family member that was not well rested was mommy during this time. I think she may finally be getting in to a better sleep rhythm now that Axel is sleeping more consistently through the night.

Sequoia has been an excellent big sister. She has had to adjust to the center of the universe shifting slightly out of kilter, but she has done it very well in our opinion.

She believes that Axel is the moon itself and he likewise thinks she is the sun. They genuinely adore each other and often the only thing that calms him down is sequoia's crazy antics.

The ubiquitous phrase that she has been saying to him for the past month is " Who are you and what do you eat?" We don't know why, but this gets the whole family laughing.

And in her oh so proud, big sister way, she can't help bragging about him to complete strangers...her favorite boast use to be "You know he is not even 1 yet and he is already drinking from a bottle!"

He is 3 months old now and growing up big and strong.

He is wearing 6-9 month clothes for the most part and looking quite good in them.

Just like Sequoia, he is long and lean...measuring in the 95% for height and 50% for weight.

There are many similarities between he and Sequoia, but oh so many differences as well. There is no doubt that these kids come out pre-wired with a unique personality.